The Receptions and Rejections of Sicilian Regalia in Late Medieval Nuremberg

Abstract

When the imperial coronation garments, the Reichskleinodien, arrived in Nuremberg in 1424, they were celebrated as the relics of Charlemagne. In reality, however, this collection included various Norman and Hohenstaufen Sicilian clothes, including the red mantle of Roger II, the white alb of William II, and the jeweled gloves of Frederick II. While scholars have studied the place of these textiles in Sicily, their afterlives remain unexamined. This study explores the mechanisms of conversion that transformed the Sicilian garments into holy objects in late medieval Nuremberg, focusing on the role of the representations of the clothing in constructing their new identity. The article argues that Nuremberg’s relic sheets and relic books, together with Albrecht Dürer’s fictive portraits of Charlemagne and Sigismund of Luxembourg, worked in coordination with the changing imperial conception, the myth of Charlemagne, and organized public performance to embed in the cultural memory an idea of the garments as Carolingian. Through their play of real and imagined details, the images of the regalia effaced their Mediterranean characteristics and refashioned them as Germanic objects. This review of the Sicilian regalia’s place in Nuremberg illuminates how artifacts are integrated into new settings and the roles they play in the construction of history.