These ideals, articulated over a thousand years ago, are still central to European political life today. Here's Lord Bingham again:

"In the centre of the Lothair Crystal, one sees the king who commissioned it to be made in the role of judge, and this is of considerable interest and importance, because historically the crown and monarchy has always been regarded as the fount of justice. Interestingly, the Queen, when she took her Coronation Oath in 1953, swore-it's a very old oath prescribed by an Act of 1688 - but she swore to do justice and mercy in all her judgements. And this is exactly the role in which one sees King Lothair, in the role of actually personally administering justice which, of course, the Queen no longer does. But the judges who do it in her name are very proud to be called Her Majesty's judges, recognising that they're exercising their judicial functions on her behalf."

The Susannah Crystal was made for a king without an heir, in a kingdom without a future. In 869, when Lothair died un-divorced, his uncles did indeed partition his lands, and all that remains of Lotharingia today is the name of Lorraine. For over a thousand years, indeed until 1945, Lothair's Middle Kingdom was bitterly fought over by the successors of the wicked uncles, France and Germany.

But if Lothair had succeeded in divorcing his wife, and had a legitimate heir, Lorraine might now rank with Spain, France and Germany as one of the great states of continental Europe. Lotharingia perished, but the principle that Lothair's Crystal proclaims has survived. A central duty of the ruler of the state is to guarantee that justice is done, dispassionately and in open court. Innocence must be protected. The Lothair Crystal is one of the first European images of the notion of the rule of law.