Among the Crown Jewels of England is a large, red, uncut stone called the “Black Prince’s Ruby.” The gem is not actually a ruby, which was the name given to all red gems in the Middle Ages, but is instead a spinel, with slightly lesser density and hardness. The Black Prince’s Ruby weighs about 170 carats and is approximately the size of a chicken’s egg. It is the centerpiece in the state crown.
The jewel has something of a checkered history. Its probable origin is the Middle East, or points beyond (perhaps India), but its first historical appearance occurs during the Fourteenth Century in Spain. It is named the Black Prince’s Ruby because it was acquired in 1366 or 1367 (depending on which wiki account you read) by Edward of Woodstock, oldest son of Edward III, subsequently nicknamed the Black Prince, possibly because of his coat of arms, which is black with three white ostrich feathers. Woodstock served as his father’s representative in Aquitaine, where he and his wife/cousin Joan, the “Fair Maid of Kent,” kept a reputedly brilliant court. (The picture below is Joan.)
Woodstock received the red stone as a reward, of sorts, for assisting a Spanish prince, Don Pedro the Cruel of Castile, who had been deposed by his own brother. As an interesting aside, Don Pedro originally acquired the stone by murdering a rival, Abu Said, Moorish Prince of Grenada, who was attempting to negotiate a surrender.
Edward of Woodstock died in England in 1371 of a disease thought to be cancer, becoming the first Prince of Wales not to succeed to the throne. His son, Richard (II) succeeded Edward III when he died a year later. The Black Prince’s Ruby then disappears from historical accounts until 1415, when it reappears as part of a “gem-encrusted helmet” worn by Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt.
The above picture of Kenneth Branagh in the role of Henry in the 1989 production unfortunately shows him wearing a crown, not the helmet history records. Shakespeare chronicled Henry’s fabled pre-game pep talk with the "Eve of St. Crispin’s Day" speech:
….
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
The English won the battle and Henry survived, but the Black Prince’s Ruby brought him no particular luck, as he was hit on the head by a French duke’s battleaxe. History also reports that Richard III (that “foul hunchback’d toad”) wore the Black Prince’s Ruby in his helmet at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard was not as lucky as Henry. Later, James I (Mary Queen of Scots’ son) had the Black Prince’s Ruby set into the state crown. However, in a post revolution fit of fiscal responsibility, Oliver Cromwell subsequently ordered all the Crown Jewels taken apart and sold, and the metal was melted down. In 1660, when the monarchy was restored, the jewel was sold back to Charles II. It remains part of the Crown Jewels today, having been re-set into the state crown. The Crown Jewels are displayed in the Tower of London.
Most of the information in this post comes from wiki. A much longer and very interesting history of the Black Prince’s Ruby can be found
here.
