Origin of name
The Sancy Diamond gets it's name from Nicholas Harlay de
Sancy of France, who was the one time owner of this fiery stone of Indian
origin, shaped like a shield and weighing 55.23 carats. Harlay de Sancy
acquired the stone either in 1570 when he was the French Ambassador to
Turkey, based in Constantinople or in 1592 when as financier to King Henry
IV of France, was on a mission to the Netherlands on royal business.
The exact year and the circumstances under which Harlay
de Sancy acquired this unique and historic diamond seem to be controversial,
and this confusion and controversy can be seen throughout the long, colorful
and interesting history of this diamond.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The diamond is a 55.23-carat shield-shaped stone, without
a pavilion, that attests to it's old cut. The stone is almost colorless,
with a very faint greenish-yellow tint. The stone was considered to be the
largest white diamond in Europe until the arrival of the Regent diamond in
the seventeenth century.
Early history
The stone is undoubtedly of Indian origin, considering
the period, it made it's first appearance in the 14th century, when India
was the only source of diamonds in the World. The famous Golconda mines of
southern India had not been discovered around this time, and therefore the
stone might have originated in the Sambalpur mines by the banks of the
Mahanadi River, situated on the eastern side of the central provinces of
India. Most of the diamonds of ancient origin and the middle ages are
believed to have originated in these mines. The diamond river mentioned by
Ptolemy is believed to be the Mahanadi River.
The diamond is believed to have been smuggled out of
India in the 14th century, by a Venetian diamond cutter. The first recorded
evidence of the existence of the Sancy in Europe is in the dowry inventory
of Valentina Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo di Visconti, the Duke of Milan,
in 1389. At that time the diamond weighed over 100 carats. Valentina married
the Duke d' Orleans Louis I, brother of King Charles VI of France
(1380-1422). Louis sat on his brother's council, after Charles VI decided to
rule alone having attained the age of 20 years in 1388. He dispensed with
the services of his uncles who were serving in the administrative council,
with Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, acting as regent. Around 1392,
just 4 years after assuming full powers as King of France, Charles became
ill with fever and convulsions, the first of his 44 attacks of madness. The
attacks lasted from 3-9 months and were interspersed with 3-5 months of
sanity, for the remainder of his life.
With royal authority weakening, a power struggle
developed between the Duke de Orleans, Louis I and his uncle Philip the
Bold, Duke of Burgundy. However Philip died in 1404, and the rivalry
continued with his son John the Fearless, successor to Philip the Bold. The
family feud finally ended up with the murder of Louis I, by the agents of
John the Fearless, in 1407. Immediately after the assassination of Louis I,
a long feud ensued between the Armagnacs, partisans of Louis' heirs, and the
Burgundians. John the fearless allied himself with King Henry V of England
and defeated the French forces at the battle of Agincourt in 1415.
Valentina who was very bitter over her husband's
assassination by the Burgundians, used the Sancy diamond to obtain funds, to
finance the struggle by the Armagnac faction against the Burgundians. But
following the defeat of the Armagnac faction, the Sancy diamond fell into
the hands of Duke John the Fearless, as a spoil of war. The Sancy then
remained with several generations of the Dukes of Burgundy, until it reached
Charles the Bold, the great grandson of John the Fearless. The diamond was
believed to bring good luck to the Dukes of Burgundy, and Charles carried it
into battle on several occasions, always ending up victorious, until it was
lost in the Battle of Granson in 1476. Misfortune followed after this,
Charles losing two battles against the Swiss. In the last Battle at Nancy on
Jan 5,1477, Charles was killed and his mutilated body was discovered some
days later.
It now appears that the Sancy that was purported to
have been lost in battle, was actually hidden away by the Bishop of Basel
along with another famous Jewel, the "Three Brothers Jewel", also belonging
to Charles the Bold. After a lapse of almost 14 years the "Three Brothers
Jewel' was sold secretly to Jacob Fugger who was a great financier. Fugger
also acquired the Sancy after this through the Hertenstein family of
Lausanne. It was Fugger who got the Sancy cut to it's present weight of
55.23 carats.
In the early 16th century the Sancy was sold to
Manuel the Fortunate, the King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521, in exchange
for northern European exclusivity for the lucrative pepper contract from
Portugal's colonies. The death inventory prepared after Manuel's death in
1521, lists the Sancy as the first item of jewelry weighing 11.046 grams
equivalent to 55.230 carats (11.046 x 5 ).
The Sancy remained a part of the Portuguese Crown Jewels
until 1580, when Philip II of Spain invaded Portugal to assert his right as
the heir to the Portuguese throne against Antonio de Crato, who was defeated
and sought refuge in Paris. Antonio de Crato escaped with most of the crown
jewels to France. later he sold some of the crown jewels to King Henry III
of France and the others to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Antonio's sale of
the valuable crown jewels of Portugal, to the Crowns of France and England
was done with the intention of obtaining help from either France or England,
for any future campaign to regain his lost throne. This is confirmed from
the official historic documents of both countries. The Sancy was sold
to Queen Elizabeth I. It is said that Queen Elizabeth I got her
portrait painted while wearing the Sancy diamond. The Entry of the Sancy
into the crown jewels of England was also significant, as it was united with
the Three Brothers Jewel, acquired by Elizabeth's brother, Edward VI in
1547. The two stones were re-united after 1477, when they were part of the
jewels belonging to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Later Elizabeth I
needed funds to finance a military campaign to assist the Dutch in their
struggle for independence from Spain. To obtain the funds she decided to
pawn the Sancy diamond, which was dispatched to Antwerp through the Earl of
Leicester to be pawned to Francesco Rodriguez.
The Sancy that was pawned n Antwerp was never redeemed
and found it's way to Netherlands, where it was purchased in 1592 by
Nicholas Harlay de Sancy, the financier to Henry III and later Henry IV of
France. Subsequently when Nicholas Harlay de Sancy visited England on an
official mission, Queen Elizabeth I had wanted the diamond back, but Harlay
de Sancy politely refused. Later Nicholas Harlay had to explain to
King Henry IV as to how he acquired the diamond. He said that he acquired
the diamond on one of several missions to Netherlands on royal business.
Another version of how the Sancy came into the possession
of Nicholas Harlay de Sancy, states that he purchased it in 1570, at
Constantinople, when he was the ambassador of France to Turkey. But,
how the Sancy came to Constantinople, when it was still a part of the crown
jewels of Portugal and remained so up to 1580, is quite puzzling. Therefore
this version of events is untenable, and might have been created by Nicholas
Harley de Sancy, to convince King Henry IV, that he had been in possession of
the stone all along.
The childless Elizabeth I died on March 24, 1603 and was
succeeded by James VI of Scotland, the first Stuart King of England, who
took the title of James I. At the beginning of the 17th century, Harlay de
Sancy, was in dire financial straits, and looked desperately for a
prospective customer for his valuable Sancy diamond. Eventually he was able
to sell his diamond to King James I of England in 1604, and thus the diamond
returned back to England.
In March 1625, when James I died, his second surviving
son Charles I, succeeded as King of Great Britain. Charles I
inherited the Sancy with the other crown jewels, and presented it to his
wife Henrietta Maria (daughter of Henry IV of France) as a wedding gift, when
he married her soon after ascending the throne. The Sancy along with other
Crown Jewels was pawned around 1626 in Amsterdam, when Charles I was in
desperate need of funds to pursue his unpopular war efforts against Spain and
later France. It was around this time that the Dutch jeweler Thomas
Cletscher made his famous drawings of the Sancy diamond.
In the 1630s Charles redeemed the crown jewels including
the Sancy, but the continued conflicts between Charles I and his Parliament,
one trying to limit the powers of the other, eventually led to a serious
confrontation between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians in 1641, both
groups enlisting troops and collecting arms for a possible outbreak of war.
Queen Henrietta went to Holland in February 1642 to raise funds for her
husband, by pawning the crown jewels again including the Sancy. Around
July 1642 tension had been running high in both camps and on August 22nd
Sporadic fighting broke out all over the Kingdom. In February 1643, a
shipload of arms from Holland, purchased by Queen Henrietta after pawning
the crown jewels, landed in Yorkshire, a royalist stronghold. Charles I had
his court and military headquarters in Oxford, and Henrietta joined him at
Oxford in July 1643. Queen Henrietta gave her husband all the encouragement he
needed during this crucial moment of his rule.
In the year 1645, Charles sent his family away to France,
and full scale war broke out on June 14, 1645. Charles forces suffered defeat
after defeat and eventually Charles I was captured in 1647. Charles was put
on trial for treason in January 20th 1649, on the insistence of the Army,
found guilty and sentenced to death on Jan 27th, 1649. Charles I was finally
put to death by beheading on Jan 30, 1649.
After the death of Charles I, Cardinal Mazarin, the Prime
Minister of France and regent of King Louis XIV took over Henrietta's debts.
Cardinal Mazarin redeemed the crown jewels that were pawned and with the
Queen's consent took possession of the gems and bequeathed them with other
fine stones to Louis XIV (1643-1715). From Louis XIV, the Sancy passed to
Louis XV, who was King of France from 1715 to 1774. Louis XV was the great
grandson of King Louis XIV. His rule as king was ineffectual and contributed
to the decline of royal authority, that led to the outbreak of the
revolution in1789. Louis XV died in 1774 and was succeeded by his grandson
Louis XVI, formerly Louis Auguste, duke de Berry. Louis XVI (1774-1792) was
the last king of France in the line of Bourbon monarchs, preceding the
revolution of 1789. The monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792.
Subsequently both Louis XVI, and his Queen consort Marie Antoinette, were
guillotined on charges of counter revolution on January 21, 1793.
Modern history
In 1792, the French crown jewels, which included the Sancy,
the Tavernier blue, the Regent, etc. were stolen from the Garde Meuble (royal
treasury) in Paris. Some of the gems were later recovered, but there is
controversy about the recovery of Sancy. Some historians believe that the
Sancy was recovered, only to be sold by the Directorate as a expendable
symbol of royal decadence. It was reported to be sold to the Spanish Crown's
Minister, Manuel de Godoy, but was never confirmed, The Sancy is believed to
have been in the possession of the Queen of Spain, until the arrival of
Joseph Bonaparte, to take over the Iberian peninsula on behalf of his
brother, Napoleon Bonaparte. Joseph took possession of the Sancy, and hid it
with other treasures, without the knowledge of his brother. The stone then
re-appeared only after 20 years in Florence after the expiry of the statute
of limitations, and was sold to the fabulously rich Prince Anatoly Demidov
of Russia. Demidov's exceptionally beautiful wife Aurora is pictured with
the Sancy in a portrait hanging in Ekatereinburg.
According to other historians the Sancy was never
recovered after it was stolen from the Garde Meuble, but re-appeared in
1828, and was sold by a French merchant to Prince Anatoly Demidov of Russia.
The Sancy remained with Prince Anatoly Demidov up to
1865, when he decided to sell it to an Indian entrepreneur, Sir Jamsetee
Jeejeebhoy for £50,000. Two years later the stone was displayed by the
French Jeweler G Bapst, at the Paris exposition, with a price tag of
1,000,000 French Francs.
In 1906, the Sancy was purchased by Viscount William
Astor (Ist Viscount Astor) as a wedding gift when his son Waldorf Astor (2nd
Viscount Astor) married Nancy Langhorne of Virginia. Lady Astor often
wore the big shield shaped gem in a tiara on state occasions. Lady Astor
holds the unique distinction of being the first woman to sit in the British
House of Commons, being elected to Parliament on November 28 , 1919. In 1962
the Sancy diamond featured prominently at the "Ten Centuries of French
Jewelry" exhibition held at the Louvre Museum. When Lady Astor died in 1964,
the Sancy was inherited by her son the 3rd Viscount Astor, and remained in
the Astor Family until 1976. Finally the Louvre Museum of France purchased
the Sancy from the Astor Family in 1976, for an undisclosed sum , in a deal
financed by the Banque de France.
The following is a summary of the ownership of the Sancy
in chronological order :-
|
S/N |
Name of Owner |
period |
number of years |
|
1 |
Valentina Visconti-daughter of Duke of Milan |
1389-1415 |
26 |
|
2 |
Duke John the Fearless-Duke of Burgundy |
1415-1419 |
4 |
|
3 |
Philip the Good-Duke of Burgundy |
1419-1467 |
48 |
|
4 |
Charles the Bold-Duke of Burgundy |
1467-1477 |
10 |
|
5 |
Bishop of Basel-Switzerland |
1477-1491 |
14 |
|
6 |
Jacob Fugger |
1491-1495 |
4 |
|
7 |
Manuel I-King of Portugal |
1495-1521 |
26 |
|
8 |
John III-King of Portugal |
1521-1557 |
36 |
|
9 |
Sebastian-King of Portugal |
1557-1578 |
21 |
|
10 |
Henry-King of Portugal |
1578-1580 |
2 |
|
11 |
Antonio de Crato-King of Portugal |
1580-1580 |
0 |
|
12 |
Queen Elizabeth I-Queen of England |
1580-1581 |
1 |
|
13 |
Pawned to Francisco Rodriguez at Antwerp |
1581-1592 |
11 |
|
14 |
Nicholas Harlay de Sancy |
1592-1604 |
12 |
|
15 |
King James I-King of Great Britain |
1604-1625 |
21 |
|
16 |
Charles I-King of Great Britain |
1625-1642 |
17 |
|
17 |
Pawned at Holland by Queen Henrietta, Queen Consort of Charles I |
1642-1649 |
7 |
|
18 |
Cardinal Mazarin-Prime Minister of France |
1649-1654 |
5 |
|
19 |
King Louis XIV-King of France |
1654-1715 |
61 |
|
20 |
King Louis XV-King of France |
1715-1774 |
59 |
|
21 |
King Louis XVI-King of France |
1774-1792 |
18 |
|
22 |
Burglary of French Crown Jewels |
- |
- |
|
23 |
Recovered and sold to Spanish Crown's Minister |
1792-1793 |
1 |
|
24 |
Queen of Spain |
1793-1808 |
15 |
|
25 |
Joseph Bonaparte-Brother of Napoleon Bonaparte |
1808-1828 |
20 |
|
26 |
Prince Anatoly Demidov of Russia |
1828-1865 |
37 |
|
27 |
Sir Jamsetee Jeejeebhoy of India |
1865-1906 |
41 |
|
28 |
Lady Nancy Langhorne Astor of England |
1906-1964 |
58 |
|
29 |
3rd Viscount of Astor of England |
1964-1976 |
12 |
|
30 |
Louvre Museum |
1976 to date |
- |
|
31 |
Total |
1389-1976 |
587 |
Thus, since it's arrival from India in the late 14th
century, the Sancy had passed through at least 15 countries in Europe,
affecting almost all the royal families of Europe. The countries in the
sequence of it's appearance in history are Italy (Milan), Burgundy
(France), Switzerland, Portugal, England, Antwerp (Belgium), France,
England, Netherlands, France, Spain, France, Russia, India, England, France.
At least in two countries, England and France, the diamond had appeared on
more than one occasion, five times in France and thrice in England. The
stone also returned for a short time to it's country of origin India.
The total number of years the stone remained in each
country up to 1976 when it became the property of the French Louvre Museum
are as follows :-
|
S/N |
Country |
Number of years |
|
1 |
France |
263 |
|
2 |
England |
109 |
|
3 |
Portugal |
85 |
|
4 |
India |
41 |
|
5 |
Russia |
37 |
|
6 |
Switzerland |
18 |
|
7 |
Spain |
16 |
|
8 |
Antwerp |
11 |
|
9 |
Holland |
7 |
|
10 |
Total |
587 |
Thus the Sancy is the most celebrated stone in history,
that has passed through more countries, and affected more royal families
than any other diamond in history.
Considering the long period the diamond had remained in
France, about 263 years out of a total history of 587 years, the Sancy
Diamond is without any doubt an outstanding relic of the proud National
Heritage of France, and it's present home the Louvre Museum, is the most
appropriate abode for such a great and historic diamond.
