The Crown of Saint Stephen, known also as the Holy Crown, was sent to St. Stephen of Hungary ("Szent István") by Pope Sylvester II in the year 1000. The crowning of István, the first Christian king of Hungary who was later canonized St. Stephen, marks the beginning of Hungarian statehood. The date is variously given as Christmas 1000 or 1 January 1001.

The Crown was bound to the Lands of the Crown of St Stephen (historical Hungary). Since then, no king of Hungary has been truly legitimised without being crowned with it.

Charles Robert (Charles I of Hungary) had to be crowned three times because it was not until he was crowned with St Stephen's Crown, in 1310, that the coronation was seen as legally binding. Another, more recent, example of the powers of the Crown is the fact that inter-war Hungary - after the last Hapsburg king of Hungary, Charles IV, was dethroned in 1921 - remained a kingdom without a king.

The Holy Crown has had a lively history, having been stolen, hidden, lost and taken abroad many times. It last returned to Hungary from Fort Knox, Kentucky, in 1978. After the fall of Communism, it made its return to the national coat of arms in 1989, the National Assembly choosing the pre-war coat of arms in favour of the crown-less Kossuth arms.

The Crown consists of two pieces. The lower part is a Byzantine crown (Corona Graeca), dating from the 1070s. Its enamel medalions indicate that it was a gift of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Dukas to the Byzantine princess Synadene, wife of the Hungarian King Géza I (1074-75). The upper part is cross-shaped, and originally probably had some other function. From its Latin inscriptions it is known as the Corona Latina. The two parts were joined into the present shape probably around 1200, at the time of King Béla III.

In a unique case in Europe, almost the entire medieval ensemble of coronation insignia survived. On January 1, 2000, the Holy Crown of Hungary was moved to the building of the Hungarian Parliament from the Hungarian National Museum. The sceptre, orb and the coronation sword moved to Parliament as well, but the Coronation Mantle remains at the National Museum.

See also

• Crown Jewels
• Coat of Arms of Hungary