Of these the one which claims perhaps to the British Empire the greatest interest is the great ruby, which is indeed as large as a small hen’s egg, and is given the place of honour in front of the King’s State Crown. This is the celebrated and historic jewel which first in its English history belonged to the Black Prince, the eldest son of Edward III.
THE BLACK PRINCE WITH THE FAMOUS RUBY IN HIS CORONET
The ruby came to him in true knightly fashion on the field of battle. In those days the potentates of Europe were accustomed to lend each other armed forces, large or small, to accomplish such military achievements as might be dear to one or the other or to both. Thus it was that Edward III lent a small force of some four or five thousand English troops to Don Pedro, King of Castille, to be employed during a short campaign in Spain. Mainly through the skill of the Black Prince, aided by the courage of the English soldiers, Don Pedro defeated his enemies at the Battle of Najera, which is near Vittoria, where the Duke of Wellington many centuries later won another British victory. In gratitude for this signal service Don Pedro gave to the Black Prince his most treasured jewel, an enormous ruby.
The ruby, red as human blood, had come to Don Pedro in bloody fashion. In 1367 it belonged to the King of Granada, another minor sovereign in Spain, and Don Pedro greatly coveted the greatest gem of the Western world, as it then probably was. He therefore took direct action towards obtaining the stone, and in cold blood slaughtered the King of Granada and carried off the ruby. His gift to the Black Prince, therefore, however generous it may have seemed, was not improbably a decent pretext for getting rid of a treasure ignobly acquired, and which when once possessed lost its value. How old the ruby was in 1367 history does not relate, but it bears visible evidence that it had previous to that date an oriental origin, which may have extended over many centuries.
This is judged by the fact that at the top of the ruby may be seen a piercing, made evidently so as to enable it to be worn suspended from a necklace. This piercing of precious stones is of very ancient oriental origin, from which it is concluded that the ruby came from the East, and not improbably from Burmah, where similar rubies have been found. The ancient piercing has in a later century been filled up by inserting a small ruby in a gold setting.
However ancient its origin, the ruby came into the possession of the British Crown in 1367-68, and has since been through many and great adventures before it reached its present well-earned security in the Tower of London.
The Black Prince, using the pierced hole, had the ruby sewn to the velvet cap he wore under his coronet, and an ancient print shows the gem thus disposed. The Prince died in 1376, a year before his father, and therefore never came to the throne; but he bequeathed the ruby to his son, who afterwards became Richard II. Henry IV, on usurping the throne probably usurped the ruby with it, but it does not reappear in history till the next reign, that of Henry V. Here it had a very notable and thrilling adventure, for it took part in one of the greatest of British victories, the battle of Agincourt. It was the custom in those days for the King, if a doughty warrior, and Kings were expected to be so, to take the field with his troops and to fight at their head. Nor did he go to battle meanly clad, or disguised as a knight of small account. On the contrary, he went armed, caparisoned, and mounted, as a king; and so that there should be no mistake about it, wore a regal diadem round his helmet. Thus went forth Henry V on the morn of Agincourt, and glittering on the front of his coroneted helmet was the great ruby. As the battle swayed backwards and forwards many exciting encounters took place between redoubted champions on either side, each choosing out an opponent worthy of his steel. In this knightly quest the great Duc d’Alençon, searching no doubt for an English duke or earl, came upon a commanding figure, who from his bearing, rich armour, and coroneted helmet was evidently a knight of importance. Him, therefore, the Duc d’Alençon challenged to mortal combat; and lesser folk, as was the chivalry of the day, stood aside and held the lists.
The duel was fierce and strong, and many a shrewd blow was dealt and parried, but at length Henry V prevailed, and the Duc d’Alençon was unhorsed and made a prisoner, to be later held to ransom. It was only after the battle was over, and the victory of Agincourt emblazoned for ever on the standards of England, that the King being unhelmeted, and his armour removed, it was discovered that a shrewd blow had only just missed the great ruby, or perhaps had been turned by it. Indeed, a mighty cut from the Duc d’Alençon’s sword had hewn off a portion of the golden diadem in which the ruby was set.
Some say that this was the last occasion on which the ruby has figured in battle, whilst others are of opinion that so striking a jewel would always have been in the crowns of succeeding monarchs. If this was so another decisive battle, though not on the victorious side, may be added to its war record. A little more than a hundred years after the battle of Agincourt was fought in England another battle of importance, which decided not only a local quarrel, but influenced the course of the history of the nation. In this battle, which was fought at Bosworth Field, Richard III, the Hunchback, was defeated by Henry Tudor. According to the well-known story, when the tide of battle turned against him, Richard, who had worn his crown throughout the day, though probably behind a safe barbed wire of knights, was seized with panic, and to ensure a less conspicuous retreat, took off his crown and hid it in a hawthorn bush. There some lucky underling, doubtless in quest of loot, found it in good and appropriate season, so that the victorious army was through its appointed leaders enabled to crown there and then, amidst the dead and dying, Henry VII King of England. Let us hope that the great ruby was in the crown on this historic occasion, for it was the birth of the House of Tudor.