Imperial Cross

The Imperial Cross (Latin: Cross Imperatoria, German: Reichskreuz) is part of the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire. It served as the container for the two "Great Relics of Christ" (Perveniens Reilquias magna Christi, Großen Reliquien Christi): the Holy Lance in its horizontal arms and the reliquary of the True Cross in the lower shaft. It is thus the original reliquary of the Imperial relics. The Imperial cross is kept in the Imperial Treasury in the Hofburg. It has been suggested that the cross was probably created some time around 1024–25 or 1030 in Lotharingia. A somewhat earlier creation as a commission of Conrad's predecessor Henry II (1002–1024) is also found in scholarly literature. An older base was replaced with the current gilt silver base of the cross in 1350 in Prague at the command of Charles IV. In addition he had new reliquaries made for the relics which had hitherto been stored inside the Imperial Cross.