an ornament worn on the head by kings, sovereign princes, and noblemen, as a mark of their dignity.

In scripture there is frequent mention of crowns, and the use of them seems to have been very common among the Hebrews. The high priest wore a crown, which was a fillet of gold placed upon the forehead, and tied with a ribbon of hyacinth colour, or azure blue. It seems also as if private priests, and even common Israelites, wore also a sort of crown, since God commands Ezekiel not to take off his crown, nor assume the marks of one in mourning. This crown was no more than a ribbon or fillet, with which the Jews and several people in the east girt their heads. And indeed the first crowns were no more than a bandlet drawn round the head, and tied behind, as we still see represented on medals round the heads of Jupiter, the Ptolemies, and kings of Syria. Afterwards they consisted of two bandelets; by degrees they took branches of trees of divers kinds; at length they added flowers, inasmuch that Claudius Saturninus says, there was not any plant whereof crowns had not been made. The woods and groves were searched to find different crowns for the several deities; and they were used not only on the statues and images of the gods, by the priests in sacrifices, and by kings and emperors, but also on altars, temples, doors of houses, sacred vessels, victims, ships, &c.

The Roman emperors had four kinds of crowns, still seen on medals, viz. a crown of laurel, a radial or radiating crown, a crown adorned with pearls and precious stones, and the fourth a kind of bonnet or cap, something like the mortar.

The Romans had also various kinds of crowns, which they distributed as rewards of military achievements; as, 1. The oval crown, made of myrtle, and bestowed upon generals, who were entitled to the honours of the lesser triumph, called ovation. 2. The naval or rostral crown, composed of a circle of gold, with ornaments representing beaks of ships, and given to the captain who first grappled, or the soldier who first boarded an enemy's ship. 3. The crown called in Latin vallaria, or castraria, a circle of gold raised with jewels or palisades; the reward of him who first forced the enemy's entrenchments. 4. The mural crown, a circle of gold indented and embattled; given to him who first mounted the wall of a besieged place, and there lodged a standard. 5. The civic crown, made of the branch of a green oak, and given him who had saved the life of a citizen. 6. The triumphal crown, consisting at first of wreaths of laurel, but afterwards made of gold; proper to such generals as had the honour of a triumph. 7. The crown called obeliskalis, or graminea, made of grass growing on the place; the reward of a general who had delivered a Roman army from a siege. 8. The radial crown, given to princes at their translation among the gods. We meet also with the corona aurea, often bestowed on soldiers, without any other additional term; athletic crowns, and crowns of laurel, destined to crown victors at the public games, poets, orators, &c. All these crowns were marks of nobility to the wearers; and upon competitions with rivals for rank and dignities, often determined the preference in their favour. See Plate LXXXII. figs. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. For an account of modern crowns, see HERALDRY, n° 42.

Crown is also used to signify the possession and dignity of a king. The crown of England, according to Sir William Blackstone, is, by common law and constitutional custom, hereditary; and this in a manner peculiar to itself: but the right of inheritance may from time to time be changed or limited by act of parliament, under which limitations the crown still continues hereditary. See SUCCESSION.

Plates of the Crown. See PLEAS.

in commerce, a general name for coins both foreign and domestic, which are of, or very near, the value of five shillings sterling.

CROWN-Office, an office belonging to the king's bench court, of which the king's coroner or attorney is commonly matter. In this office, the attorney-general and clerk of the crown severally exhibit informations for crimes and misdemeanours at common law, as in the case of batteries, conspiracies, libelling, &c., on which the offender is liable to pay a fine to the king.

Crown-Glass, denotes the finest sort of window-glass. See GLASS.

Crown-Seals, in farriery. See there, § xxxvi. 2.

Crown-Wheel of a Watch, the upper wheel next the balance which by its motion drives the balance, and in royal pendulums is called the swing-wheel.

Crown Imperial, in botany. See FRITILLARIA.