Uncrown

v. [UN-² 4. Cf. Du. ontkroonen (Sewel), G. entkrönen.]

  1.  trans. To take the crown from (a ruler); to deprive of royalty.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 9084. ‘Tas of,’ he said, ‘mi kinges croun Þat i na langer agh to bere … I will þat yee vncroun me.’

1593.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., III. iii. 232. He hath done me wrong, And therefore Ile vn-Crowne hin, er’t be long.

1605.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iii. II. 85. The voyce which made all things, Which sceptereth Shepheards, and un-crowneth Kings.

1645.  E. Calamy, Indictm. Eng., 18. They seeke his life, and would uncrowne Him and his Posteritie.

1705.  Hickeringill, Priest-cr. (1721), I. 39. The insulting Priest … let him know, that he that Crown’d him could Uncrown him.

1747.  W. Horsley, Fool (1748), II. 222. Where an Inquisitor-General … is uncrowning the Monarchy.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xi. III. 7. They had meant to obtain from him some guarantee…, but not to uncrown and banish him.

  fig.  1638.  Ford, Lady’s Trial, II. iv. Prepare a welcome to uncrown the greatness Of his prevailing fates.

  refl.  1846.  Literary Gaz., Oct., 842. Francis II. uncrowned himself, declaring that the holy Roman empire was at an end.

  2.  To remove a crown from (the head); to divest of (a crown).

1598.  Florio, Disghirlandare, to vngarlande, to vncrowne.

a. 1658.  Lovelace, Poems (1864), 167. Of the wet pearls uncrown thy hair.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, XII. 449. The Italians strip the dead Of his rich armour, and uncrown his head.

  b.  fig. To uncover; to display.

1849.  M. Arnold, Shakespeare, 4. The loftiest hill That to the stars uncrowns his majesty.

  Hence Uncrowning vbl. sb.

1611.  Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., IX. viii. § 45. 499/1. That the mindes of the vulgar should not bee vnpossessed with like expectation of Iohns vn-crowning.

1862.  R. H. Patterson, Ess. Hist. & Art, 357. The uncrowning of the Seven-Hilled Queen by the barbarians of the North.