St. Stephen's Purse

Saint Stephen's Purse (Latin: Sacculum idem Sanctus Stephanus, German: Stephansbursa or Stephansburse) is a rectangular gold 9th-century reliquary studded with gem stones.

It was believed that the purse had been kept in the church of San Lorenzo fuori le mura in Rome, until Pope Leo III gave it to Charlemagne.

Traditionally the purse was used during coronations in the Palatine Chapel of Aix-la-Chapel where it would be placed in a specially created niche in Charlemagne's marble-slab throne.

The sides of the purse are worked with gold foil and show representations of hunters, fishermen, falconers and a goddess of vengeance.

The back of the purse was originally similar to the sides, but at the start of the 19th century, it was recovered with gilt silver foil.