In a source from 1938, St. Stephen’s 11th century biographer is said to have recorded that
“the apostolic blessing, the crown, and the cross having been brought”,
on Christmas Eve of the year 1000,
“the Magyar people exultantly proclaimed St. Stephen their king,
and the priesthood anointed him with consecrated oil,
and crowned God’s chosen, István (Stephen)
with the symbol of royalty.”
Source: Hómán, Bálint. Szent István, 1938.
To commemorate the millenium of the Hungarian Conquest,
a group from the High-school of Arts and Crafts created replicas of the coronation regalia in 1896. Two copies were made of each of the crown, scepter, and orb. Of these replicas, one went to Kalocsa, the other to Rome, in commemoration of the fact that
Asztrik, the first archbishop of Kalocsa, was the one who brought the crown from the Pope to St. Stephen of Hungary (
I. István). From then on, the replica of the Crown is kept safe in the
Celebration Hall of the library at Kalocsa.
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Kalocsa
The "Paprika Capital" of Hungary, Kalocsa is located on the left side of the Danube, 75 miles from Budapest.
The Archbishopric of Kalocsa was
founded by St. Stephen in 1001, and the city's first Archbishop,
Bishop Astrid had the honor of bringing the Holy Crown to Saint Stephen, founder of the Christian state of Hungary.
Image:
Statue of Asztrik on Kalocsa's Szt. Istvan Street
Cathedral Library of Kalocsa
Hundreds and
thousands of ancient codices have been gathered together in the private and archbishopric libraries being predecessors to this final, complex
library in the Cathedral.
