Crown of Holland

When the Emperor Napoleon proposed that his younger brother Louis Napoleon Bonaparte would become the king of a new kingdom, a state that would replace and succeed the age-old Dutch republic, at that time called the "Batavian Republic", he chose the name "Holland", the name of the most important province, and as "Hollande" was much used in France as a name for the Netherlands or "Pays-Bas".

The statute [Traktaat van Parijs van 24 mei 1805, artikel 9.] described the royal arms and mentioned a royal crown. On the 20th of may 1807 [Decreet van 20 mei 1807, cited in Nahuys, Histoire Numismatique, 1858.] a precise drawing of the royal coat of arms was approved by the king. The crown was topped with an orb with a cross.

In practice crowns without a cross became part of the crosses of Louis' Order of Knighthood, the Order of the Union, and the new coins. The second coat of arms, approved on the 6th of February 1806, showed no cross.

As the country was ruined by the Napoleonic wars and the resulting lack of trade there was no opportunity for a coronation. The crown existed on paper alone until the French annexed the country in 1810. In 1813 the Dutch "chose" a new souvereign ruler, later king, William I who had a new crown, the crown of the Netherlands designed and wrought in gilded silver [Hubert de Vries] .

References

Literature

* Hubert de Vries, "Wapens van de Nederlanden", Amsterdam 1995

ee also

*Circlet
*Coronet
*Diadem
*Helmet
*Tiara
*Papal tiara
*Crown jewels
*List of Royal Crowns