Ceremony of the handing over of the keys
More about the ceremony of the handing over of the keys
Ceremony of the handing over of the keys
While the key is primarily an everyday implement used to lock and unlock things, it can also represent power and rank, as in the medieval custom of the ceremonial handing over of the keys by the city to the state ruler or governor.
In the Middle Ages heavy hand-wrought iron chests were the safes of wealthy burghers, the nobility and guilds, used for the safe-keeping of money, jewellery and valuable or important documents. Such chests mostly had complex locking mechanisms. The front often bore a dummy keyhole; the real lock was concealed in the lid.
