LA TIARE À TROIS COURONNES: UNE INVENTION DE LA PAPAUTÉ D'AVIGNON (XIIIE-XVE SIÈCLE)

The three-crown tiara was worn by the popes on solemn occasions until 1963, that means until the election of Paul VI (1963-1978) who, after his coronation, decided to sell it so to donate to the poor. From the tiara with only the diadem (symbol of priestly sovereignty), we pass under Boniface VIII (1294-1303) to the triregnum (a diadem and two crowns), then during the Avignon Papacy to the tiara with three crowns. This last type of papal headgear symbolizes the pope’s temporal power in a very theocratic way. Why was the three-crown tiara invented after the papacy of Boniface VIII – what a historical paradox! – and by which pope? These are the issues which are still to be clarified. With the help of documentary and iconographic sources, we will try to understand the meaning of this sort of papal crown which, between the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century, became the exclusive headgear of the popes within the framework of the Western Schism. The Roman pope and the Avignonese antipope, glorified or defamed, always wear this same liturgical garment which can be, depending on the occasion, a “crown of gold or thorns”. Is it clear, however, that after the pontifical crisis, the tiara with three crowns gains its full legitimacy, and its status evolves to the rank of headgear of solemn use of the Roman Papacy up to now.