Bible Encyclopedias
Tiara

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

the name of the pope's triple crown, which is the badge of his civil rank as the keys are of his ecclesiastical functions. It is composed of a high cap of gold cloth, encircled by three coronets, with a mound (and cross) of gold on the top. The tiara was originally a round high cap, and was first used by pope Damasus II, A.D. 1048. Pope John XIII first girded it with a crown pope Boniface VIII added a second crown in 1295; and pope Benedict XII added the third in 1335, although some ascribe the latter to Urban V (1362-70); The tiara, when used as an imperial portion of dress, had at the bottom of it one golden circle of a crown like shape. (See POPE).