The Armour Archive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomakh%27s_Cap
Monomakh's Cap is an early 14th-century gold filigree skullcap composed of eight sectors, elaborately ornamented with a scrolled overlay with sable trimming, decorated with precious stones and pearls. The cap is surmounted by a simple gold cross with pearls at each of the extremities.

Its obvious Central Asian origin[citation needed] has led some[who?] modern scholars to view the crown as a gift from Uzbeg Khan of the Golden Horde to his brother-in-law, Ivan Kalita of Moscow during the period of the Tatar yoke in Russia[1]. Boris Uspensky, in particular, argues that the Tatar headgear was originally used in coronation ceremonies to signify the Muscovite ruler's subordination to the khan.[2]. At some point in the 15th or 16th century the crown was surmounted by a cross


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomakh%27s_Cap
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Armoury-flickr09.jpg/800px-Armoury-[/img]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_of_Aragon
Constance of Aragon's Crown



I see quite a bit of similarity in the stone settings. I don't think it is merely that there are only so many ways to set stones, but I thought I'd see what others think.

Baron Alcyoneus wrote:I see quite a bit of similarity in the stone settings. I don't think it is merely that there are only so many ways to set stones, but I thought I'd see what others think.

I think the generalised "glory" of the stone settings is also why the crown of Monomah often passed for Byzantine.
However -
My understanding (based on articles like the one I pointed out in an earlier thread http://luiza-m.narod.ru/smi/tarih/30-shap-koron.htm )
is that it is not the big stones that identify the crown as of a later Tatar origin (and certainly not the fur -- which was actualy added quite a while later).
Rather, it is the specifics of the attachment of the eight plates to the underlying fabric, a distinctive filigree metal design, and the use of Lotus blossom and six-pointed star (with flower inside) main decorative motiffs.
Here are two detail repros that may show these things better than elsewhere

[img]http://www.arco-iris.com/George/images/shapka_top.jpg[/img]

Of course, even if one crown is 12th century Hungarian and the other 14th century Tatar, the similarities would most probably not be coincidental at all -- both are in close cultural proximity to Byzantium as well as the Slavic/Turkic cultural mix of Eastern Europe.
But I know nothing about stone settings -- maybe they are just very common ways of setting with no stylistic indication of any sort.

And to correct the English wiki history a bit --
As I understand Khan Uzbek's sister Konchaka (Christened Agafiya) was married to Yuriy of Moskow. That style of hat among the Tatars is a women's hat and therefore it most likely belonged to Konchaka until she died. The inheritance and the kingdom passed to Yuriy's brother Ivan Kalita and at that point the hat went into the treasury.