Let’s Talk About The Black Prince’s Ruby
It is believed
that the black prince gemstone was mined in Kuh-i-Lal. In the book of Al-Biruni,
he exposed details of geology, mines and operations of all the rubies that had
made this mine noticeable. All the magnificent stones such as Timur’s ruby, the
Black Prince’s ruby, The Samarian ruby and Katherine the Great’s ruby and other
magnificent stones in the British, Indian, Iranian, Russian, French and Turkish
treasuries originated from here.
When this
gemstone got stolen by Don Pedro the cruel (the ruler of Seville, Spain) from
the Prince Abu Sa’id of the Moorish Kingdom of Granada, then this gemstone came
into notice in the 14th century.
It was said that
when Prince Sa’id decided to surrender to king Pedro, Pedro showing has his
cruel plans. In 1366, he first welcomed Prince Sa’id to discuss the terms and
conditions of his surrender, but he tricked Prince Sa’id and murdered him, also
he found a large red gemstone and took it to possession.
In 1367, in one of his fights with his brother named Henry of Tastamara, he had to ally with Edward of Woodstock (famously known as the black prince) to defeat his brother Henry. The ruby was presented to Edward as payment for his services.
After his
victory, he continued several battles with his brother but King Pedro's victory
would only last a short while and lead to his bankruptcy and death three years
later. Before taking the English throne, Edward the Black Prince would also
pass away from a slow illness, leaving Richard II to inherit the jewel.
Richard II would
eventually become king, but Henry IV Bolingbroke killed him when he was just 21
years old. Then this ruby gemstone comes into the hands of Henry V, the king of
England. On his battle of Agincourt, he wore a helmet which was designed with
rubies (also including the black prince ruby), sapphires and pearls. Then this
gem was passed over to Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth.
When the Stuart
family came to power in England in 1603, the ruby was gifted to Queen Mary of
Scots, who gave it to King James I. The execution of King James's son, Charles
I, during the American Civil War and the sale of the Crown Jewels brought about
yet another wave of misfortune in the years that followed the exchange.