Comparing The Gold And Jade Crown And The Merovingian Looped Fibulae

The Gold and Jade Crown and the Merovingian Looped Fibulae are similar in their context and content. The Gold and Jade Crown was produced by the Silla Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period of Korea. The crown is an ornate display of the religion and wealth of the queen who wore it during ceremony and was eventually buried it in. The Merovingian Looped Fibulae was also worn by a queen who was buried with the object. The fibulae is an intricate metalwork object that fastened the queen’s garments while also displaying her wealth and religion through the use of ornate materials and religious iconography. The fibula and crown both show the wealth of the wearer and their religious inclination in order to establish power of the Silla and Merovingian

dynasties during times of political upheaval in Korea and Europe.
The Three Kingdoms period and the atmosphere surrounding the Frankish Merovingian dynasty were similar because both groups were attempting to fill a power vacuum in Asia and Europe respectively.

The Three Kingdoms period was an era of Korean history in which, as the name suggests, three major kingdoms were fighting over territory in Korea. The Silla Kingdom was the largest of the three kingdoms and would eventually take control of Korea. In their bid to take control the Silla Kings and Queens saw their garments as a way to display their power. The Gold and Jade Crown is crafted out of semi-precious stones, including jade and gold. In the Silla Kingdom, gold was reserved for the highest ranking royals. The value of the materials used in the crown was a tangible way for the Silla royalty to display their wealth and power. The Merovingian fibulae were created by the Frankish Merovingian dynasty. The Frankish Merovingian dynasty was one of several different Frankish royal groups vying for power after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The fibulae itself was adopted by the Merovingians and many other barbarian groups from the Romans. The red garnet used in this fibula and the eagle are also thought to be nods to the fallen Roman Empire. During the long reign of the

Roman Empire in Europe red and the eagle became associated with Imperial Rome. Because these symbols represented Imperial Rome it is likely that the Merovingians appropriated this color and symbol in order to create an association with the Romans. After the fall of the Roman Empire, this could have been in order to take control of the lands that were now devoid of a strong central government to protect them. The Merovingians wanted to be seen as the new great center of power in Europe. The fifth and sixth centuries in which these objects were created was a time of upheaval across the globe. The lands of Korea and Imperial Rome were ripe for takeover. Creating a tangible connection with power through their crowns and garment fasteners were intended to assist the Merovingian and Silla kingdoms in gaining new land.
Both of these art objects also hold a religious significance.

The Merovingian Looped fibulae feature a fish and again the inclusion of the red garnet and the eagle hold significance. The fish was a symbol of Christianity that was highly recognizable even among the mostly illiterate population in Medieval Europe. The red of the garnet symbolizes the blood spilled by Christian martyrs and the Passion of the Christ. The eagle evolved from a symbol of the Roman Empire to a symbol of the Christian St. John. By including religious iconography in the fibula the Merovingian Queen who wore it was identifying herself as a Christian. Again, this could have been a way for the Merovingian dynasty to gain power. Their conversion to Christianity and identification of themselves as Christians through this fibula would have allowed the Merovingians to capitalize on the growing influence of Christianity in Europe and would have created an avenue through which to unite Europeans under their rule. The Silla dynasty also saw religion as an avenue to gain power and the symbolism in the Gold and Jade Crown reflects this. The crown known as a daegwan was worn by royalty during religious ceremony. The Silla people followed the beliefs of Korean Shamanism which highlighted the connection between the natural and spiritual world. The horizontal elements on the daegwan mimic the appearance of tree branches. In Korean Shamanism the inclusion of imagery relating to trees was important because it was

thought that a tree connected the heavens and the earth. The jade elements of the daegwan represent ripe fruit. Ripe fruit was associated with fertility. Including fertility symbols on the crown of a queen would have been representative of her role in continuing the growth of the Silla dynasty by producing male heirs. The Queen’s role as a religious figure and as the creator of new life would have been representative of her power and the power of her kingdom. The kings and queens of the Silla dynasty cemented their power by uniting their people under a religion in which they were the most powerful. The relationship of the Merovingians and Sillas to religion is evident in the symbolism included in the crown and fibula. Creating a relationship to religion allowed these dynasties to unite people under their rule.
The Merovingians and the Silla dynasty never came into contact with one another. The Merovingians were European Christmas and the Sillas were Koran followers of Shamanism. These cultures don’t seem to have anything in common at first blush. But. the striking similarities between The Gold and Jade Crown and the Merovingian Looped Fibulae reveal the true similarity in these cultures. Both objects show the cultural belief that wealth is power. Both the crown and the fibula are tangible representations of the wealth of the queens who wore them and their dynasties at large. Including religious iconography on your tangible representations of wealth and power relates the religion to the dynasty. In relating religion to their dynasties rulers had the ability to grow in power and popularity because they become central features not only in politics but in religion as well. Religion was another avenue to gain power in a time when there was land ripe for the picking from two other kingdoms and from the fallen Roman Empire.
The Gold and Jade Crown and the Merovingian Looped Fibulae both relate to humans struggle for power. The art objects, although they come from very different cultures, show the power of the wearer in the same way, through wealth and religion. This relates to the universal human idea of power and what a ruler should be. A ruler is powerful because they are wealthy and have the ability to control and unite their people under common values. A person who displays their wealth and their values on their person is immediately perceived to be powerful. This was the intention of the Silla and Merovingian people when they created the Gold and Jade Crown and the Looped Fibulae.