Wawel Castle in the context of Renaissance in Poland

The Crown of Bolesław I the Brave (Polish: korona Chrobrego), also known as the Corona Privilegiata, was the coronation crown of Polish monarchs and the centrepiece of the Polish crown jewels. The original crown was made for the coronation of Ladislaus the Short in 1320 and symbolised the regalia bestowed upon Bolesław I the Brave by Emperor Otto III over three centuries earlier. Following the Partitions of Poland, the crown along with other insignia was stolen from the royal treasury at Wawel Castle in Kraków and melted down.

According to historical accounts, the crown was two-arched, made of gold and featured 474 uncut gemstones on a fleur-de-lis setting. Its near-exact replica from 2003 comprises salvaged gold from the original. In its present state, the crown is 26 centimetres (10 in) tall, 18.5 centimetres (7.3 in) in inner diameter and weighs 1.28 kilograms (2.8 lb).

The only surviving original piece of the Polish crown jewels (Polish: Polskie klejnoty koronne) from the time of the Piast dynasty is the ceremonial sword Szczerbiec. It is currently on display along with other preserved royal items at the Wawel Royal Castle Museum in Kraków.

Several royal crowns were made, including several during the 16th century, a "Hungarian Crown", a "Swedish Crown" used by the Vasa kings, and others that were subsequently lost or destroyed. The crown regalia used by the Saxon kings, and some remainders of older Polish monarchs which were appropriated by king Augustus II, also the Elector of Saxony — like a cup of Queen Jadwiga so-called roztruchan, and the magnificent scale armour, so-called karacena, of King John III Sobieski — are today on display in the Grünes Gewölbe and the Rüstkammer in Dresden, Germany.

The Wawel Cathedral (Polish: Katedra Wawelska), formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Saint Stanislaus and Saint Wenceslaus, (Polish: Bazylika archikatedralna św. Stanisława i św. Wacława) is a Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1,000 years old, it is part of the Wawel Castle Complex and is a national sanctuary which served as the coronation site of Polish monarchs.

The current Gothic cathedral is the third edifice on this site; the first was constructed and destroyed in the 11th century and the second one, constructed in the 12th century, was destroyed by a fire in 1305. The construction of the existing church began in the 14th century on the orders of Bishop Nanker. Over time, the building was expanded by successive rulers resulting in its versatile and eclectic architectural composition. There are examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and Neogothic elements in the cathedral's façade and interior. The exterior is adorned by side chapels and representative mausoleums, most notable being the golden-domed Sigismund's Chapel.

A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also called caissons ("boxes"), or lacunaria ("spaces, openings"), so that a coffered ceiling can be called a lacunar ceiling: the strength of the structure is in the framework of the coffers.

Szczerbiec (Polish pronunciation: [ˈʂt͡ʂɛr.bʲɛt͡s]) is the ceremonial sword used in the coronations of most Polish monarchs from 1320 to 1764. It now is displayed in the treasure vault of the royal Wawel Castle in Kraków, as the only preserved part of the medieval Polish crown jewels. The sword is noted for its hilt, decorated with magical formulae, Christian symbols, and floral patterns, as well as for the narrow slit in the blade which holds a small shield with the coat of arms of Poland. The name of the sword is derived from the Polish word szczerba ("gap", "notch", or "chip"), and its meaning is incorrectly perceived as "the Notched Sword" or "the Jagged Sword" (which is included in the sword's legend), though the edges of its blade are straight and smooth. Proper meaning and rendering into English would be "the Notching/Jagging Sword" — as "a sword that is meant to notch/jag other weapons".

The legend links Szczerbiec with King Boleslaus I the Brave who was said to have chipped the sword by hitting it against the Golden Gate of Kiev during his intervention in the Kievan succession crisis in 1018. However, the Golden Gate was only constructed in 1037 and the sword is actually dated to the late 12th or 13th century. It was first used as a coronation sword by Ladislaus the Short in 1320. Looted by Prussian troops in 1795, it changed hands several times during the 19th century until it was purchased in 1884 for the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. The Soviet Union returned it to Poland in 1928 as part of war reparations for their loss against Poland in the Polish-Soviet war. During the Second World War, Szczerbiec was evacuated to Canada and did not return to Kraków until 1959. In the 20th century, an image of the sword was adopted as a symbol by Polish nationalist and far-right movements.