Roman helmets were bronze cast in one piece. In the third century, cast as one piece in iron. Over the next two centuries they started being cast in halves, the seam covered by an iron band front to back, the whole reinforced by a headband. I think we can see the beginnings of the band and arch. A copper helmet next emerged as:
x.x.x.x | Message modified by user Nellie January 18, 2013, 11:05 pm
Now turning to European Regalia by Lord Twining for this topic, because The Crown Jewels 1998 takes time and closer study.
In the following, the italics are my comments, linking snippets from Twining.
“ In this section the relationship of the helmet with arches, an ornament known in Germany as Spangenhelm, to the development of the arched crown is discussed.”
Link for images - http://www.google.com/search?q=spangenhelm&hl=en&lr=&tbo=u&as_qdr=all&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=FTn5UKTuJIqKkwXk8IDABQ&ved=0CDUQsAQ&biw=1018&bih=658
“ ... a ceremonial parade headdress. Its dome was formed by arches of four and sometimes six strips of copper rising from a circlet, which was usually decorated, and closed together at the summit, the spaces between these arches being filled with sheets of copper.”
“ The cross, indicative that the wearer was a Christian, first appears at the apex of the arches of the Imperial Ceremonial Helmet in the latter part of the fourth century. “
“ The arched crown first appears in the West during the ninth century. “
“ The English King Edward the Confessor (1042-65) ordered an Imperial crown from Abingdon Abbey in 1052, and it is this which is probably depicted on his coinage and seals in the latter years of his reign. This ornament may have survived and been subsequently used as the Coronation Crown of the English kings.”
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