The Project Gutenberg eBook of Coronation Rites, by Reginald Maxwell Woolley, B.D.

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NOTE BY THE EDITORS

The purpose of The Cambridge Handbooks of Liturgical Study is to offer to students who are entering upon the study of Liturgies such help as may enable them to proceed with advantage to the use of the larger and more technical works upon the subject which are already at their service.

The series will treat of the history and rationale of the several rites and ceremonies which have found a place in Christian worship, with some account of the ancient liturgical books in which they are contained. Attention will also be called to the importance which liturgical forms possess as expressions of Christian conceptions and beliefs.

Each volume will provide a list or lists of the books in which the study of its subject may be pursued, and will contain a table of Contents and an Index.

The editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions expressed in the several volumes of the series. While offering suggestions on points of detail, they have left each writer to treat his subject in his own way, regard being had to the general plan and purpose of the series.

PREFACE

While it is hoped that this book may prove of service to those who wish to study the history and structure of the Coronation Rite, it will be evident that a subject so large can only be treated, in the space at my disposal, in outline. Those who wish for more detailed information must be referred to the texts themselves.

May I also here point out that since the Rite was probably never used twice in identically the same form in any country, and since it was thus in a continually fluid state, the ‘Recensions’ into which the rites of the different countries are here and generally divided, are to a certain extent arbitrary, and must be taken as marking periods at which the rites reached certain stages of developement?

Both Dr Swete and Dr Srawley have by their criticisms added considerably to the accuracy of the book. To Dr Srawley in particular I am much indebted for his patience in the discussion of various[vii] doubtful points that arose, and also for the trouble he has taken with the proof during the passage of the book through the Press. I am indebted, too, to the Rev. Chr. Schmidt for going over my translation of the Scandinavian documents. I have to thank M. H. Omont for permission to reproduce the miniature of Nicephorus Botoniates, and Mr H. Yates Thompson for like permission in the case of the picture of St Louis. All the photographs, except of this last named picture, were made by Mr Donald Macbeth. Lastly I must express my sense of obligation to the readers and printers of the University Press for the care with which they have printed the book.

PLATES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. DOCUMENTS

I. Eastern Rites.

1. Constantinople.

2. Russia.

Maltzew, A. Die heilige Krönung. In Bitt-Dank- und Weihe-Gottesdienste der orthodox-katholischen Kirche des Morgenlandes. (Berlin, 1897.)

3. Abyssinia.

Lobo, Jeronymo. Voyage Historique d’Abissinie, Traduite du Portugais, continuée et augmentée de plusieurs Dissertations, Lettres, et Mémoires. Par M. Le Grand, Prieur de Neuville-les-Dames et de Prevessin. (Paris, MDCCXXVIII.)

Tellez, Balthasar. The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia translated into English. (London, 1710.)

II. Western Rites.

1. The Imperial Rite.

Mabillon, J. Museum Italicum, 2 vols. (Paris, 1687-9.) For Ordines Romani, see also Migne, P.L. LXXVIII.

(The first edition of this work published in 1702 does not contain all the documents which are found in the editions of 1736 onwards.)

Panvinius and Beuther. Inauguratio, Coronatio, Electioque aliquot Imperatorum, etc. (Hanover, 1612.)

Pontificale Romanum Clementis VIII et Urbani PP. VIII auctoritate recognitum. (Louvain, n.d. Other edd., Paris, 1664, Rome, 1738-40.)

Waitz, G. Die Formeln der deutschen Königs- und der römischen Kaiser-Krönung. (Göttingen, 1872.)

2. The Coronation of a King.

(a) England.

Greenwell, W. The Pontifical of Egbert Archbishop of York. (Surtees Soc., vol. XXVII. 1853.)

Wickham Legg, J. Missale ad usum Ecclesiae Westmonasteriensis, vols. II. and III. (H.B.S., 1893-6.)

Wickham Legg, J. The Order of the Coronation of King James I. (Russell Press, London, 1902.)

Wordsworth, Chr. The Manner of the Coronation of King Charles I of England. (H.B.S., 1892.)

The Form and Order of the Service that is to be performed and of the Ceremonies that are to be observed in the Coronation of Their Majesties King Edward VII and Queen Alexander in the Abbey Church of S. Peter, Westminster, on Thursday, the 26th day of June, 1902. (Cambridge, 1902.)

The Form and Order of the Service that is to be performed and of the Ceremonies that are to be observed in the Coronation of Their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary in the Abbey Church of S. Peter, Westminster, on Thursday, the 22nd day of June, 1911. (Oxford, 1911.)

(b) France.

Ménard, H. D. Gregorii Papae I. Liber Sacramentorum. Paris, 1642. (Reprinted in Migne, P.L. LXXVIII.)

Procès-Verbal de la Cérémonie du Sacre et du Couronnement de LL. MM. L’Empereur Napoléon et L’Impératrice Joséphine. (Paris, An XIII. = 1805.)

(d) Milan.

Magistretti, M. Pontificale in usum eccles. Mediolanensis necnon Ordines Ambrosiani. (Milan, 1897.)

(e) Germany.

(f) Hungary.

(g) Spain.

Çurita, Geronymo. Los cinco libros primeros de la segunda parte de los anales de la corona de Aragon. (Çaragoça, MDCX.)

(h) Papal.

Sacrarum caerimoniarum sive rituum ecclesiasticorum S. Rom. Ecclesiae Libri tres. (Venetiis, MDLXXXII.)

(i) Other Countries.

Actus Coronationis seren. Dn. Frederici Com. Pal. Rheni ... et Dom. Elisabethae ... in Regem et Reginam Bohemiae. (Prague, 1619.)

Allernaadigst approberet Ceremoniel ved Deres’ Majestæter Kong Christian den Ottendes og Dronning Caroline[xv] Amalias forestaaende, höie Kronings-og Salvings-Act paa Frederiksborg Slot, Sondagen den 28ᵈᵉ Juni, 1840. Hendes Majestæt Dronninges allerhöieste Födselsdag. A. Seidelin. (Kjöbenhavn, 1840.)

Ceremoniel ved deres Majestæter Kong Haakon den Syvende’s og Dronning Maud’s Kroning i Trondhjem’s Domkirke Aar 1906. Steen’ske Bogtrykkeri, Kr. A., 1906.

Kurtze Beschreibung wie Ihr. Königl. Majest. zu Schweden Karolus XI: zu Upsahl ist gekrönet worden. Aus dem Schwedischen verdeutschet. (1676.)

Ordning vid Deras Majestäter Konung Carl den Femtondes och Drottning Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandra Anna Lovisas Kröning och Konungens Hyllning vid Riksdagen i Stockholm. 1860.

Wickham Legg, J. An Account of the Anointing of the First King of Prussia in 1701, in Arch. Journ. LVI. pp. 123 ff. 1899.

B. SPECIAL TREATISES

I. The Vestments.

Bock, F. Die Kleinodien des heil. römischen Reiches deutscher Nation. (Leipzig, 1864.)

Brightman, F. E. The Coronation Vestments. In The Pilot, vol. VI. pp. 136, 137.

II. Various.

Brightman, F. E. Byzantine Imperial Coronations. In Journal of Theological Studies, II. 369 f. (Cited as J. Th. St.)

Diemand, A. Das Ceremoniell der Kaiserkrönungen von Otto I bis Friedrich II. (München, 1894.)

Leclercq, H. Dictionnaire d’archéologie et de liturgie chrétienne. (Paris. In progress.) Cited as DACL, ‘Charlemagne.’

CHAPTER I
EARLY CONCEPTIONS OF KINGSHIP AND RELIGIOUS RITES IN CONNECTION WITH A KING’S ACCESSION

Kingship is one of the most ancient institutions of civilisation. At the very dawn of history the king is not only already existent, but is regarded with a reverential awe that shews that the institution must have had its beginnings in very remote times. His functions are twofold, civil and religious; not only is he set apart from those over whom he rules, but by virtue of his other function, that of mediator between God and his people, we find him invested as it were with a halo of quasi-divinity. And so in early times we find the king possessing certain priestly prerogatives. Pharaoh was not an ordinary man but the son of Horus, and almost as one of the Gods. The kings of the Semites were priest-kings. In Homer the king is Θεῖος [1], he is set upon his throne by Zeus, he is invested with the divine sceptre as in the case[2] of Agamemnon [2] and stands in a very special relation to the Deity. In ancient Rome it was the same; and when in Rome and Athens kingship was abolished, still it was necessary to have an ἄρχων βασιλεύς or a Rex Sacrorum to perform the special priestly functions hitherto belonging to the king.

In view then of the sacred character of the king it is only natural to expect to find some religious ceremonial accompanying his accession to his office, and although in the West there is little or no direct evidence of this, in the East there is found in very early times a solemn religious ceremony consecrating the king to his office.

The first actual reference to the consecration of a king occurs in the Tel-el-Amarna correspondence. In one of the letters Ramman-Nirari a Syrian king writing to Pharaoh speaks of the consecration of his father and grandfather, and that by unction with oil [3].

In the Old Testament there are a number of instances of the consecration of a king by anointing[3] with oil, a rite parallel to the consecration of a priest or prophet. In the parable of the trees of Lebanon in the Book of Judges (ix. 15), the consecration of a king by anointing with oil is regarded as the general and accepted custom. Accordingly we read (1 Sam. ix-xi) of the first Israelitish king Saul being solemnly anointed by the prophet Samuel on his election as king. In the account of the inauguration of Saul, if we may use the term, three distinct features are noticeable—

(1) He is anointed with oil, and so is endowed with special gifts, for the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him.

David was anointed at first privately by Samuel, and by this unction he was endowed with the Spirit of the Lord ‘from that day forward’ (1 Sam. xvi. 13). But he was twice again anointed as king publicly, and in each case in connection with his recognition by the people, on the first occasion when he was made king by the men of Judah (2 Sam. ii. 4), and on the second when he was made king over all Israel (2 Sam. v. 3). Moreover on the second occasion we read of a covenant being made—‘King David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David king over Israel.’ In the case of Solomon (1 Kings i. 38-40), we are given more information as to the ceremonial used. Solomon[4] riding on the royal mule goes in procession to Gihon; he is anointed from a horn of oil out of the tabernacle by Zadok the high-priest; trumpets are blown and the people acclaim him with the cry ‘God save King Solomon.’ He is brought and enthroned on David’s throne.

In Israel and Syria we find kings consecrated in like manner by unction. Thus we read of Elijah being charged to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria and Jehu king over Israel (1 Kings xix. 15, 16). The somewhat informal manner in which Jehu was anointed by a son of the prophets (2 Kings ix. 1 ff.) may have been due to the special circumstances of the case, or it is possible that there was a more gradual development of the ceremonial in Israel than in orthodox Judah.

The fullest account given in the Old Testament of a coronation is that of Jehoiada (2 Kings xi. 12 ff.). Here is the first actual mention of the crowning, and there are a number of separate ceremonial acts.

(2) The king is given the ‘testimony,’ for which we should probably read the regal ‘bracelets [4].’

(5) A covenant is made not only between the[5] Lord and the king and the people, but also between the king and the people.

Here then we have investiture with crown and perhaps with other regal ornaments. A recognition is probably implied in the expression ‘they made him king.’ He is anointed and acclaimed. The covenant made between king and people is, to use a later phraseology, the coronation oath. It was his refusal to make a satisfactory covenant with his people that was the occasion of trouble between Rehoboam and Israel.

At a much later period Isaiah refers to Cyrus as ‘the Lord’s anointed.’ The prophet’s language may be merely metaphorical, but on the other hand may imply that the anointing of a king at his accession was a rite common to the whole East. In later times there was a ceremonial crowning of a Persian king, as we happen to know from Agathias’ story of unusual circumstances attendant upon the coronation of Sapor [5].

Reference has been made above to certain regal ornaments mentioned in the accounts of the coronations of various Jewish kings. The crown and regal bracelets are mentioned among Saul’s kingly ornaments (2 Sam. i. 10). To these may perhaps be added the shield (2 Sam. i. 21), and the spear (1 Sam. xviii. 10, xxvi. 7, 22)[6].

Ezekiel (xxi. 26) mentions the crown and diadem in connection with Zedekiah as the special insignia of the king. There is also special reference made to royal robes distinctive of kingly rank (1 Kings xxii. 10, 30), but there is no evidence as to the nature of these robes.

If the book of Esther can be relied on, there was a definite royal apparel used by the Persian kings as well as a ‘crown royal’ (Esth. vi. 8); and a ‘crown royal’ is also mentioned in connection with the queen, in the case of both Vashti and Esther (i. 11, ii. 17). There can be little doubt that crown and royal vesture reach back to remotest antiquity.

CHAPTER II
THE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CORONATION RITE

The Christian rite of the sacring of kings does not derive its origin from the older Jewish rite, though doubtless during the process of its developement it borrowed details from the older ceremony.

The origin of the rite must be sought in Constantinople, and from the Byzantine ritual the idea of the Western rite is ultimately derived. But what then is the origin of the Byzantine rite itself? It is the Christian developement of the ceremonies connected with the inauguration of the Roman Emperors in pre-Christian times. Of these ceremonies we have no very full or detailed account, but although we have no exact and complete record of the actual ritual used, yet certain historians tell us in somewhat general terms of what happened on the accession of various Emperors. For example, the circumstances of the election of Tacitus to the Empire in 275 were as follows [7].

The Senate was convoked and asked to elect an Emperor, and Tacitus the Princeps Senatus on rising to give his opinion was suddenly acclaimed Emperor by the whole Senate, with the acclamation ‘Tacitus Augustus, the Gods preserve you. You are our choice, we make you Princeps, to you we commit the care of the republic and the world. Take up the Empire by the Senate’s authority. The honour which you deserve is in keeping with your life, your rank, your character’ etc., and the acclamations conclude with the repetition of the formal words, ‘Tacitus Augustus, the Gods preserve you.’ He was thereupon elected, and the Senate proceeded to the Campus Martius, where its choice is announced to the people in these words, ‘You have here, Sanctissimi Milites et Sacratissimi Quirites, the prince whom the Senate has elected in pursuance of the vote of all the armies, I mean the most august Tacitus; so that he who has hitherto helped the republic by his votes, will now help it by his commands and decrees.’ The people greet the announcement with the acclamation: ‘Most fortunate Augustus Tacitus, the Gods preserve you,’ and the rest that it is customary to say. Lastly the Senate’s choice is proclaimed to the army, and the customary Donative is given.

Pertinax was suddenly and irregularly acclaimed by army and populace without waiting for the Senate to make an election. Thereupon he proceeded to the Senate, and after delivering an address to the senators he was acclaimed by all, and received from[9] them all honour and reverence, and ‘was sent to the temple of Jupiter and the other sanctuaries, and having celebrated the sacrifice for the Empire, he returned to the palace [8].’

Thus we see that in theory the new Emperor was first elected by the Senate, and then accepted or recognised in the Campus Martius by the people and army with acclamations which followed a definite and fixed ritual, and finally the Donative originated by the Emperor Claudius, and followed by his successors, was bestowed. But in actual fact the election by the Senate tended to become more and more a very perfunctory affair, and the choice of an Emperor came more and more to fall into the hands of the armies.

The Emperor had, however, some power in providing his successor. He could and often did nominate a colleague who would normally possess a right of succession. But while he was merely colleague in the Empire, though he was invested with some of the marks and functions of the Imperial dignity, he had no actual ‘imperium.’

There were also certain definite imperial insignia, such as the purple cloak, once the mark of a general in the field; the laurel wreath, which the Emperor habitually wore; the purple-striped toga and tunic; and the scarlet senatorial shoes.

The ceremonies of the inauguration naturally tended in process of time to develope. The election by the Senate, as has been remarked, became more[10] and more of a form, and new customs gradually came into being. A considerable developement is noticeable in the account of the inauguration of Julian, though the whole ceremony in his case was under the circumstances somewhat informal and makeshift. It is the army which elects him. In spite of his protests he is acclaimed as Emperor; he is then elevated on a shield; and finally he is crowned, a torque serving temporarily to represent the diadem. Afterwards, we are told, he assumed a gorgeous diadem at Vienne [9]. The elevation on a shield, which henceforward always occurs in the inauguration ceremonies, appears for the first time at Julian’s accession to the imperial throne. It was a custom followed among the Teutonic tribes [10], and was doubtless introduced by the Teutonic soldiers who formed so important a part of the Roman armies at this time. The diadem, which is of oriental origin, was perhaps introduced by Aurelian. It seems to have been habitually used by Constantine, and there was a gradual advance during this period in the matter of ceremonial and the sumptuousness of the imperial vestments.

There is no sign, for some time after the acceptance of Christianity as the religion of the Empire, of any Christian influence on the rites of inauguration. It is not until the time of the Emperor Leo I that we meet with the coronation rite in the religious sense of the term. In the year 457 the Emperor Leo I[11] was formally crowned and invested as Emperor with religious rites. Constantine Porphyrogenitus [11], to whom we owe so much of our knowledge of the court functions and ceremonial of the Byzantine period, describes the rite which took place at the accession of Leo. The new Emperor, accompanied by the high officials of the Empire, went down in state to the Hippodrome, in which was gathered together a vast concourse of people. Here he ascended a lofty tribunal in view of all the people and was greeted with acclamations. A maniakis (apparently a kind of fillet) is placed upon his head, and another in his hand, amid the cheers of the people. Then under the cover of a testudo, raised by the candidati, he is arrayed in the imperial vestments, and so shews himself to the people, with the diadem on his head and the imperial shield and spear in his hands. He is thereupon greeted with the ritual formula, Mighty and victorious and august, prosperously, prosperously. Many years, Leo Augustus, thou shalt reign. God will keep this realm, God will keep this Christian realm, and other such things. The Emperor then makes a speech to the people, and promises the customary Donative.

Nicephorus, Theodore the Reader, and Theophanes, assert that Leo was elected by the Senate, and that the diadem was set upon his head by the Patriarch Anatolius [12], but Constantine does not make any[12] reference to any act of coronation by the Patriarch, and does not mention him at all, except as being among the high officials who accompanied the Emperor to the Hippodrome. Evidently as yet the Patriarch took no very public or prominent part in the ceremonial.

We are told more, however, in connection with the inauguration of the Emperor Anastasius I in 491 [13]. On the death of Zeno, the choice of his successor to the Empire was left in the hands of the Empress Ariadne. The Senate summoned the Patriarch to exhort her to make a worthy choice, and she chose as Emperor Anastasius the Silentiary. After the funeral of Zeno, Anastasius takes up his position before the portico of the great Triclinium and the magistrates and Senate require of him an oath that he will retain no private grudge against anyone, and that he will rule the Empire well and justly. The Patriarch Euthymius then demands an oath in writing [14] that he will make no change in the Faith or Church, and that he shall sign the Chalcedonian dogmas. Anastasius then proceeds to the Hippodrome and enters the triclinium from which the Emperor is wont at race times to receive the adoration of the Senate. He is clothed in the golden-striped Dibetesion (a tunic reaching to the knees), girdle, greaves, and royal buskins, his head being uncovered. The military standards are in the meanwhile lying[13] on the ground, to signify, apparently, the vacancy of the throne. The people acclaim him, he is raised on a shield, and a campiductor places a torque about his head. This last is perhaps a perpetuation of the makeshift coronation of Julian with a military torque. The standards are then lifted up, and people and soldiery together acclaim the Emperor. The Emperor re-enters the triclinium, and is invested with the regalia. The Patriarch says a prayer which is followed by the Kyrie eleeson, and then the Patriarch invests the Emperor with the imperial chlamys (the purple robe), and sets a gorgeous crown upon his head. After this the Emperor goes to the Kathisma and shews himself to the people, who greet him with the cry Auguste, Σεβαστέ. The Emperor then proceeds to address the people in a special ritual formulary, a book containing which is put into his hand for the purpose.

Emperor. It is manifest that human power depends on the will of the supreme Glory.

People. Abundance to the world! As thou hast lived, so rule. Incorrupt rulers for the world! and so on.

Emp. Since the most serene Augusta Ariadne with the assent of the illustrious nobles and by the election of the glorious Senate and mighty armies, and the consent of the sacred people, have advanced me, though unwilling and hesitating, that I should assume the care of the Empire of the Romans, agreeably to the clemency of the Divine Trinity....

Peo. Kyrie eleeson. Son of God, have mercy upon[14] him. Anastasie Auguste, tu vincas! God will keep the pious Emperor. God gave thee, God will keep thee! and so on.

Emp. I am not ignorant how great a weight is laid upon me for the common safety of all.

Peo. Worthy of the Empire! Worthy of the Trinity! Worthy of the City. Out with the informers. (This last is doubtless an unauthorised interpolation.)

Emp. I pray Almighty God that as ye hoped me to be, in this common choice of yours, so ye may find me to be in the conduct of affairs.

Peo. He in whom thou believest will save thee. As thou hast lived, so reign. Piously hast thou lived, piously reign. Ariadne, thou conquerest! Many be the years of the Augusta! Restore the army, restore the forces. Have mercy on thy servants. As Marcian reigned, so do thou ... (and much more to the same effect).

Emp. Because of the happy festival of our Empire, I will bestow 5 solidi and a pound of silver on each man.

Peo. God will keep the Christian Emperor. These are the prayers of all. These are the prayers of the whole world. Keep, O Lord, the pious Emperor. Holy Lord, raise up thy world. The fortune of the Romans conquers. Anastasius Augustus, thou conquerest! Ariadne Augusta, thou conquerest! God hath given you, God will keep you.

The Emperor then proceeds to the church of[15] St Sophia and lays aside his crown in the Mutatorium, and it is deposited in the sanctuary. He then offers his gifts, and returning to the Mutatorium reassumes his crown, and thence returns to the palace.

In the account which he gives of the inauguration of Leo the Younger in 474 [15], Constantine illustrates the ceremonies observed at the inauguration of one associated in the Empire during his father’s lifetime.

The reigning Emperor, accompanied by the Senate and by the Patriarch Acacius, proceeds to the Hippodrome, where the populace and soldiery are already assembled. The Emperor standing before his throne begins to address the troops, who pray him to be seated. Saluting the people the Emperor seats himself and the concourse greeting him with cries of ‘Augustus,’ beseeches him to crown the new Emperor. The Magister and Patricians then lead forward the Caesar, and place him on the Emperor’s left hand. The Patriarch recites a prayer to which all answer ‘Amen.’ The Praepositus then hands a crown to the Emperor, who himself sets it on the Caesar’s head, the people shouting ‘Prosperously, prosperously, prosperously.’ The Emperor seats himself, while the new Emperor addresses the people who greet him with shouts of ‘Augustus.’ The Eparch of the city and the Senate come forward and present the new Emperor, according to custom, with a modiolon, or crown of gold. Finally the Emperor addresses the soldiery, and promises the usual Donative.

In these descriptions we still find a reminiscence of the old election by the Senate, ratified by the soldiery and people. The military assent is signified by the raising aloft on the shield, and by the imposition of the military torque, which was retained as late as the time of Justin II. Leo I also received a second torque in his right hand, which may perhaps be identified with the second golden crown given to Leo II. The meaning of this second crown is not clear, but Mr Brightman [16] has suggested that it may represent authority to crown consorts in the Empire. The acclamations evidently follow a fixed ritual, and the imperial speech is a written document.

It is to be noticed that the inauguration of an Emperor took place at first in the Hippodrome. It is not until the days of Phokas (602) that we find the ceremony being performed in a church. The Emperor Phokas was crowned by the Patriarch Cyriacus in St John in the Hebdomon; Heraclius (610) by the Patriarch in St Philip in the Palace; Heraclius II in[17] St Stephen in Daphne. The Empress, unless crowned with her consort or father, was not crowned in church, and if crowned at all, the ceremony was of a private and domestic nature and took place in the palace, the Emperor himself setting the diadem upon the head of the Empress.

We have not much information as to the developement of the rite during the seventh and eighth centuries. The following description is given by Theophanes of the coronation of Constantine VI by his father Leo IV in 780 [17].

On Good Friday an oath of allegiance was taken to the new Emperor by all classes in writing. On the Saturday the imperial procession went down to St Sophia. There the Emperor, according to custom, arrayed himself in the imperial vestments, and accompanied by his son and the Patriarch ascended into the Ambo, the written oaths of allegiance being deposited on the Holy Table. The Emperor informed the people that he had acceded to their request, and had associated his son with himself in the Empire. ‘Lo, ye receive him from the Church and from the hand of Christ.’ The people respond, ‘Answer us, Son of God; for from thy hand we receive the Lord Constantine as Emperor, to guard him and to die for him.’ On Easter Day the Emperor proceeds to the Hippodrome, where an antiminsion (a portable altar) having been set up, in the sight of all the people the Patriarch recites a prayer, and the Emperor sets the[18] crown on the head of his son. Thereupon the procession returns to the Great Church.

In the tenth century we have from the pen of Constantine Porphyrogenitus [18] a full description of the ceremonial of the coronation of an Emperor, except for the actual prayers used. These however can be found elsewhere, for there are extant two patriarchal Euchologia belonging to this same period, one of the end of the eighth century, the famous Barberini uncial codex, and the other the Grotta Ferrata codex of the twelfth century [19]. These both contain the rite, and it is noticeable that it is the same in both books, except for the fact that the second includes the coronation of an Empress. The rite therefore had remained unchanged from at least the end of the eighth century until the twelfth.

The Emperor proceeds to the church of St Sophia and enters the Horologion, and the veil being raised, passes into the Metatorion, where he vests himself with the Dibetesion and the Tzitzakion (a mantle, probably flowered), and over them the Sagion (a light cloak). Entering the church with the Patriarch he lights tapers at the silver gates between the narthex and the nave, and passes down the nave until he comes to the platform before the sanctuary, which is called the Soleas. Here before the Holy Doors leading through the Eikonostasis he prays and lights more[19] candles. The Emperor and the Patriarch then go up into the Ambo, where the Chlamys or imperial robe, and the Stemma or crown, have already been set out on a table. The Patriarch then says the ‘Prayer over the Chlamys,’ and the chamberlains put it on the Emperor. The Patriarch next says the ‘Prayer over the Crown,’ and at the end of it takes the crown and sets it on the Emperor’s head, and the people cry Holy, holy, holy, Glory be to God on high and on earth peace, three times; and then acclaim him, Many be the years of N., the great Emperor and Augustus.

If it is the son of a reigning Emperor who is being crowned as an associate Emperor, the Patriarch gives the crown into the hands of the Emperor, who himself sets it on his son’s head, the people crying, He is worthy, and the standards are dipped in obeisance.

Cantors. Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace. The people likewise thrice.

Cant. Glory be to God who declared thee (τῷ ἀναδείξαντί σε) Emperor. The people likewise.

Cant. And He who hath crowned thee, N., with his own hand.... The people likewise.

Cant. With the consort Augustae and the Princes born in the purple. The people the same.

Cant. Long life to you, Lords, and to the Augustae, and to the Princes born in the purple.

The cantors proceed; But the Creator and Lord of all things, (the people repeat) who hath crowned you with his own hand, (the people repeat) will multiply your years with the Augustae and the Princes born in the purple, (the people repeat) unto the perfect stabiliment of the Romans.

Both choirs then chant Many be the years of the Emperors, etc., and the Emperor descends, wearing the crown, into the Metatorion, and seated upon his throne, the nobles come and do homage, kissing his knees. After which the Praepositus says At your service, and they wish him Many and prosperous years.

The ceremonial at the coronation of an Empress [20] was much the same as that observed in the case of the Emperor. The coronation act, however, was performed not by the Patriarch but by the Emperor himself. If the Emperor was married after his[22] accession, the whole ceremony of the crowning of his consort took place immediately after the wedding, and not publicly in the church of St Sophia, but as a private court function in the Augusteum.

The Euchologia, as has been mentioned above, give the text of the prayers used, which Constantine only indicates. They are as follows [21].

As the Emperor stands with bowed head with the Patriarch in the Ambo a deacon says the Ectene or Litany.

O Lord our God, King of kings, and Lord of lords, who through Samuel the prophet didst choose thy servant David, and didst anoint him to be king over thy people Israel; hear now the supplication of us though unworthy, and look forth from thy holy dwelling place, and vouchsafe to anoint with the oil of gladness thy faithful servant N., whom thou hast been pleased to establish as king over thy holy people which thou hast made thine own by the precious blood of thine Only-begotten Son. Clothe him with power from on high; set on his head a crown of precious stones; bestow on him length of days; set in his right hand a sceptre of salvation; stablish him upon the throne of righteousness; defend him with the panoply of thy Holy Spirit; strengthen his arm; subject to him all the barbarous nations; sow in his heart the fear of Thee, and feeling for his subjects; preserve him in the blameless faith; make him manifest as the[23] sure guardian of the doctrines of thy Holy Catholic Church; that he may judge thy people in righteousness, and thy poor in judgement, (and) save the sons of those in want; and may be an heir of thy heavenly kingdom. (He goes on aloud) For thine is the might, and thine is the kingdom and the power. Amen.

The Patriarch then hands the Chlamys with its fibula to the Vestitores, who array the Emperor in it. (If however it is the son, or daughter, or the wife of an emperor who is to be crowned, the Patriarch hands the vestment to the Emperor, who himself puts it on the person to be crowned.)

Patriarch. To Thee alone, King of mankind, has he to whom thou hast entrusted the earthly kingdom bowed his neck with us. And we pray Thee, Lord of all, keep him under thine own shadow; strengthen his kingdom; grant that he may do continually those things which are pleasing to Thee; make to arise in his days righteousness and abundance of peace; that in his tranquillity we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity. For Thou art the King of peace, and the Saviour of our souls and bodies, and to Thee we ascribe glory. Amen.

The Patriarch then takes the crown from the table, and sets it on the Emperor’s head, saying:

Here however there is apparently a disagreement between the Euchologia and the account of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. The Barberini Euchologion of the eighth century states that the Patriarch ‘celebrating the liturgy of the Presanctified administers to him the lifegiving communion,’ and the Grotta Ferrata Euchologion of the twelfth century speaks of the communicating the Emperor with the presanctified Sacrament, while Constantine says nothing of the Emperor being communicated in the reserved Sacrament, but implies that he was communicated in the ordinary course of the Liturgy. It has been suggested by Mr Brightman [22] that ‘the apparent discrepancy may be explained by supposing that the ecclesiastical rubrics are drawn up on the assumption that the Coronation will not necessarily be a festival with a Mass, while the Court ceremonial assumes that it will be.’ He goes on to point out that ‘in ordinary cases of accession the coronation was generally performed at once, festival or no festival: in the case of a consort, when the day could be chosen, it was generally a festival.’

The Greek rite in its final development is found in the writings attributed to Codinus Curopalates [23] (c. 1400).

The Emperor proceeds to the church of St Sophia, and there makes his profession of faith both in writing and orally, reciting the Nicene Creed and declaring[25] his adhesion to the seven Oecumenical Councils, professing himself a servant and protector of the Church, and promising to rule with clemency and justice. Then he proceeds to the triclinium called the Thomaite [24], and medals are scattered among the people, and he is raised aloft on a shield. He then proceeds once more to St Sophia, where screened by a wooden screen erected for the purpose he is clothed in the imperial vestments; the Sakkos (the dibetesion or dalmatic), and the Diadema (girdle)[25], which have already been blessed by bishops. The Liturgy is now begun, and before the Trisagion, at the Little Entrance, the Patriarch enters the Ambo and summons the Emperor. There in the Ambo the Patriarch recites the ‘Prayers composed for the anointing of Emperors,’ part secretly and part aloud, and the Emperor having uncovered his head, the Patriarch anoints him in the form of a cross saying, ‘He is holy,’ the people repeating the words thrice. The Patriarch then sets the crown on the Emperor’s head saying, ‘He is worthy,’ the people repeating this also thrice. Thereupon the Patriarch again recites prayers, doubtless the second prayer ‘To Thee alone.’ If however the Emperor to be crowned is a consort, associated during his father’s lifetime, the Patriarch gives the crown to the Emperor, who himself crowns his colleague.

If the Empress is to be crowned, she takes up her position in front of the Soleas, and the Emperor receiving the already consecrated crown from the Patriarch, himself sets it on her head.

The Emperor and Empress being now crowned, they go to their thrones, the Emperor holding in his hand the Cross-sceptre; the Empress her Baion or wand, both remaining seated except at the Trisagion, Epistle, and Gospel. When the Cherubic Hymn is begun at the Great Entrance the chief deacons summon the Emperor to the entrance of the Prothesis and he is invested with the golden Mandyas (a vestment something like a cope) over his Sakkos and Diadema, and so vested, holding in his right hand the Cross-sceptre and in his left a Narthex or wand [26], he leads the procession at the Great Entrance in virtue of his ecclesiastical rank as Deputatus or Verger. He goes up to the Patriarch and salutes him, and is then censed by the second deacon, who says, ‘The Lord God remember the might of thy kingdom in his Kingdom, always, now and ever, and for ever and ever,’ all the clergy repeating the words. The Emperor greets the Patriarch, and putting off the mandyas returns to his throne, rising only at the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Elevation. If he is not prepared to communicate he remains seated until the end of the Liturgy. If however he is prepared to communicate, he is escorted to the sanctuary by the deacons, and censes the altar and the Patriarch, and is censed by the Patriarch.[27] Then committing his crown to the deacons he is communicated after the manner of a priest. When he has made his communion, he replaces his crown and returns to his throne. After the Liturgy is over, he receives the Antidoron, and is blessed by the Patriarch and by the bishops present, and kisses their hands. The choirs sing an anthem called the ἀνατείλατε, and the Emperor is acclaimed by the people, and so returns in procession to the palace.

In this account the most important feature is the explicit mention of the unction. There is no definite allusion hitherto in any account to any anointing in the Eastern rite, until the time of the intruding emperor Baldwin I, who was crowned with a Latin rite in 1214.

In 1453 Constantinople was taken by the Turks, and the Greek Empire came to an end. But the Greek coronation rite still survives, and is used in the Russian tongue at the coronation of the Czars of Russia [27], who regard themselves as the successors of the Greek Caesars.

The Russian Czar is crowned at Moscow in the Cathedral of the Assumption (Uspenski Sobor). The imperial procession is met at the church door by the Metropolitan, who blesses the Emperor and Empress with holy water and censes them. Entering the church they make their devotions and ascend to their thrones. The 101st Psalm is sung, after which the[28] Emperor is interrogated as to his belief, and recites in a loud voice the Nicene Creed. Then is sung the hymn ‘O Heavenly King, O Paraclete,’ and after the Litany (Synapte) the hymn, ‘O Lord, save thy people’ is sung thrice, and the lections follow at once; the Prophecy (Is. xlix. 13-19), the Epistle (Ro. xii. 1-7), and the Gospel (Matt. xxii. 15-22). The Emperor now assumes the purple robe, assisted by the Metropolitan who says, ‘In the name of the Father,’ etc. The Emperor bares his head and the Metropolitan making the sign of the cross over it and laying on his hand recites the prayer, ‘O Lord our God’ (cp. p. 22), and then the prayer of the Bowing of the head, ‘To Thee alone’ (cp. p. 23). The Metropolitan now presents the Crown to the Emperor, who puts it on his head, the Metropolitan saying, ‘In the name of the Father,’ etc., and then proceeding to explain the symbolical meaning of the crown. Next the Metropolitan gives the Sceptre into the Czar’s right hand and the Orb into his left, saying, ‘In the name of the Father,’ etc., and explaining the symbolical meaning of these ornaments.

The Czar then seats himself on his throne and the Czarina is summoned. The Czar takes off his Crown and with it touches the brow of the Czarina, and then replaces it on his head. He then sets a smaller Crown on the Czarina’s head, and she immediately assumes the purple robe and the Order of St Andrew.

Thereupon the Archdeacon proclaims the titles of the Czar and Czarina, and the clergy and the assembled[29] company do homage by making three obeisances to the Czar.

The Czar then gives the Sceptre and Orb to the appointed officers, and kneeling down says a prayer for himself that he may worthily fulfil his high office, after which the Metropolitan says a prayer on his behalf. Te Deum is sung and the Liturgy proceeds.

The Anointing takes place after the Communion hymn (κοινωνικόν). Two bishops summon the Czar, who takes his stand near the Royal Gates, the Czarina a little behind him, both in their purple robes, and there the Czar is anointed on the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, and on both sides of his hands by the senior Metropolitan, who says: ‘The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.’ The Czarina is then anointed with the same words, but on her forehead only.

After he has been anointed, the Czar is conducted through the Royal Gates and receives the Holy Sacrament in both kinds separately, as if he were a priest, and then are given the Antidoron and wine with warm water, and water to wash his mouth and hands. The Czarina is communicated in the usual manner at the Royal Gates, and is given the Antidoron, wine, and water.

The Father Confessor reads before the imperial pair, who have returned to their seats, the Thanksgiving for Communion. After the dismissal the Archdeacon says the royal anthem, πολυχρόνιον, the choir repeating thrice the last part, ‘Many years,’ and the clergy and laity then present congratulate[30] their Majesties, bowing thrice towards them. The Metropolitan presents the cross for the Czar and Czarina to kiss, and the imperial procession leaves the church.

The Abyssinian Rite

A curious and unique variety of the Eastern rite survives to this day in Abyssinia [28].

The Negus enters Axum in state, accompanied by his principal officers. At a little distance from the church he alights, and his progress is barred by a cord held across the road by young girls. Thrice they ask him who he is, and at first he answers that he is King of Jerusalem, or King of Sion, and at the third interrogation he draws his sword and cuts the cord, the girls thereupon crying out that he verily is their king, the King of Sion. He is met at the entrance of the church (or sometimes apparently in a tent which is perhaps a moveable church)[29] by the Abuna and the clergy, and enters to the accompaniment of music. He is anointed by the Abuna with sweet oil, all the priests present singing psalms the meanwhile. He is next invested with a royal mantle. Finally a crown of gold and silver, in the shape of a[31] tiara and surmounted by a cross, is set on his head, and a naked sword denoting Justice is placed in his hand. The liturgy is then celebrated, and the Negus receives the Holy Sacrament. When he leaves the church the first chaplain ascends a lofty place and proclaims to the people that N. has been made to reign, and the assembly greet the new monarch with acclamations and good wishes, and come forward in order to kiss his hand.

Unfortunately none of the forms of this rite are accessible. The chief point of interest in it lies in the fact that the Negus is anointed. In view of the obscurity which shrouds the history of Abyssinia during the six centuries which followed the Arab conquest of Egypt it would be precarious to say whence this rite with the accompanying anointing was derived. It may have been an independent development in Abyssinia, derived from the accounts of the anointing of kings found in the Old Testament, more especially as many Judaising practices survive in Abyssinia.

CHAPTER III
THE ORIGIN OF THE WESTERN RITE

The Eastern rite was one and one only. There was only one monarch in the East to be crowned, and therefore the rite was subject only to a natural and internal development.

When, however, we turn to the history of the Western rite, we approach a very much more intricate matter, for the contemporary western documents give only general accounts and are not explicit as to details.

In the old Empire the coronation of the Emperor took place always at Constantinople and never at Rome, and therefore the old rite was essentially Eastern. When, however, the Neo-Roman Western Empire came into existence, and Charlemagne was crowned at Rome on Christmas day 800, there came into existence a Western Imperial rite. There is no record of the forms used, nor do we even know for certain what took place on that occasion, but we may perhaps presume that the Pope intended to do what was proper on the occasion of the accession of[33] an emperor, and followed the Constantinopolitan ritual in outline, while it seems probable that the actual prayers used were Roman compositions made for the occasion. Here, at any rate, in the coronation of Charlemagne we have the beginnings of the Roman Imperial rite.

But if the coronation of Charlemagne marks the origin of the Western imperial rite, it does not mark the introduction into the West of the rite of the consecration of a king, for such a rite had already been in existence in Spain some two centuries before this time. Whether this Spanish rite, which appears to have been well established in the seventh century, was an independent religious developement of the ceremonies which seem to have been observed at the inauguration of a new chieftain among most of the northern peoples, or whether the idea of it was in any way borrowed from Constantinople, there is not sufficient evidence to show.

The Spanish rite was, as has been said, well established in the seventh century. In the canons of the sixth council of Toledo in 638 a reference is made to the oath taken by a Spanish monarch. Julian Bishop of Toledo in his Historia Wambae[30] gives a short description of the anointing of King Wamba, at which he himself was present in 672, and in his account speaks of the customs observed on such occasions. It is then abundantly clear that a consecration ceremony was observed at the accession[34] of the kings of Spain some two centuries before the rite of the coronation was introduced at Rome.

But not only in Spain did such a rite exist before the introduction of the imperial rite at Rome. It is found in existence in the eighth century in France, and probably it was used there before this date. We read how the first of the Carolingian kings sought the official recognition of his dynasty from the Church, and that in response to his appeal Pope Zacharias, ‘lest the order of Christendom should be disturbed, by his apostolic authority ordered Pippin to be created king and to be anointed with the unction of holy oil [31].’ He was accordingly consecrated in 750 by St Boniface, on which occasion we are told that he was elected king according to the custom of the Franks [32]; and to make assurance doubly sure he was a second time consecrated by Pope Stephen himself, who came over the Alps for the purpose and ‘confirmed Pippin as king with the holy unction, and with him anointed his two sons Carl and Carloman to the royal dignity [33].’

For England, if we leave out of consideration the Pontifical of Egbert, which cannot be ascribed to Egbert with any confidence, and of which the date is uncertain, we have only scanty evidence of the[35] existence of any coronation ceremony before the tenth century, though we read of two isolated instances in which, in Northumbria and in Mercia, under special circumstances, kings are said to have been ‘consecrated’ during the eighth century [34].

There remains the fact, then, that in Spain in the seventh century it was the custom to consecrate the Visigothic kings with unction, and a similar practice appears in France during the eighth century in connection with the new dynasty inaugurated by Pippin. For England the evidence is slight, though we read of kings being consecrated in two isolated instances. This evidence is earlier in date than the period at which the exigencies of the Roman Empire called an imperial rite into existence at Rome. Thus there were in the West two separate and distinct introductions of the consecration rite, the first into the Visigothic kingdom of Spain from which, in all probability, the Frankish and Anglo-Saxon rites were derived; the second in Rome on the occasion of the renaissance of the Western Empire. About the end of the ninth century these two rites began to influence one another, and from the Roman rite of the coronation of an Emperor a Roman rite of the coronation of a King was produced.

In the consideration of the different Western rites and their developements, perhaps the method most convenient to follow is, first to treat of the imperial rite, and then of the royal. Though this method has its disadvantages from the point of view of the[36] interaction of the two rites upon each other, yet on the whole it is the simplest and clearest way of treating the many varieties of rite that accumulated in process of time.

Note

There seems to be no evidence of the existence of any coronation rite among the Britons. Gildas is sometimes quoted as evidencing the existence of a British rite. He says as follows; ‘Kings were anointed, and not by God, but such as stood out more cruel than other men; and soon they would be butchered, not in accordance with the investigation of the truth, for others more cruel were chosen in their place [35].’ It is plain that this language is merely metaphorical.

There is a passage occurring in Adamnan’s life of St Columba which is more to the point [36]. It speaks of an ‘ordination’ (ordinatio) of King Aidan by the saint. ‘And there (i.e. in Iona) Aidan coming to him in those same days he ordained (ordinavit) as king, as he had been bidden. And among the words of ordination he prophesied things to be of his sons and grandsons. And laying his hands upon his head, ordaining him, he blessed him.’

I do not think that this occurrence can be regarded in any sense of the word as a consecration of Aidan. It appears to be nothing more than a very solemn blessing. The word Ordinatio is curious, but it is probably referring to the laying on of the hand in benediction.

CHAPTER IV
THE WESTERN RITE OF THE CORONATION OF AN EMPEROR AT ROME

The Western coronation rite came into existence on the foundation of the Neo-Roman or Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne. The rite by which he was crowned was evidently regarded as the equivalent to that used at Constantinople, for the contemporary accounts claim that the ceremony was carried out ‘more antiquorum.’

The two earliest accounts of the coronation of Charlemagne agree closely but give only scanty details. The Chronicle of Moissac[37] describes the event thus. ‘Now on the most holy day of the Nativity of the Lord, when the king arose from prayer at Mass before the tomb of the blessed apostle Peter, Leo the Pope with the counsel of all the bishops and priests and the Senate of the Franks and also of the Romans, set a golden crown on his head, in the presence also of the Roman people, who cried: “To Charles the Augustus crowned of God, great and[38] pacific Emperor of the Romans, life and victory.” And after the Laudes had been chanted by the people, he was also adored by the Pope after the manner of the former princes.’

Very much the same is the account given by the Liber Pontificalis[38]. ‘After these things, the day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ arriving, they were all again gathered together in the aforesaid basilica of the blessed Apostle Peter. And then the venerable and beneficent pontiff with his own hands crowned him with a most precious crown. Then all the faithful Romans, seeing the great care and love he had towards the holy Roman Church and its Vicar, unanimously with loud voice cried out, by the will of God and the blessed Peter, key-bearer of the kingdom of the heavens, “To Charles, the most pious Augustus crowned of God, great and pacific Emperor of the Romans, life and victory.” Before the sacred tomb of the blessed Apostle Peter, invoking many saints [39], thrice was it said; and he was constituted by all Emperor of the Romans. In the same place the most holy priest and pontiff anointed[39] with holy oil Charles, his most noble son, as king, on that same day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ.’

The forms by which Charlemagne was crowned have not survived and we have only such short descriptions as these as to what took place, and a comparison in other cases of such descriptions with the rites actually used warns us how precarious it is to rely too much on the accounts even of eyewitnesses.

In the two accounts given above it will be noticed that the Chronicle of Moissac seems to desire to keep up the old fiction of a constitutional election when it speaks of the coronation as taking place ‘with the counsel of all the bishops and priests, and the Senate of the Franks and also of the Romans’; and also some sort of recognition by the people seems to be implied by the statement of the Liber Pontificalis that Charlemagne ‘was constituted by all Emperor of the Romans.’

Einhard [40], in his Life of Charles, expressly states that Charles had no idea beforehand of the intention of the Pope to crown him as Emperor, and that if he had known he would not have entered St Peter’s on that eventful Christmas Day. But the words of the Chronicle of Moissac certainly imply that it was a prearranged thing, and if Charlemagne was really taken by surprise, it was probably the method of the coronation, at the hands of the Pope, which[40] constituted the surprise. The occurrence of the Laudes need not present any difficulties to the view that the whole affair was unexpected, for as we have seen they were a familiar part of great public functions, and it is possible that the people were led on such occasions by official cantors, as we know was the practice at Constantinople.

But the most important question connected with Charlemagne’s coronation is, Was Charles anointed? There is no reference whatever to any anointing in the contemporary accounts of the Chronicle of Moissac and the Liber Pontificalis, nor yet in other almost contemporary matter such as the verses of the Poeta Saxo[41], or the Chronicle of Regino[42]. To this must be added the fact, inconclusive in itself, that there is no mention of any unction in the earliest extant Order of the Western imperial rite, that of the Gemunden Codex. On the other hand it is expressly stated by a contemporary eastern historian, Theophanes, that Charlemagne was anointed ‘from head to foot [43],’ and this statement is repeated by a later Greek writer of the twelfth century, Constantine Manasses, who adds, ‘after the manner of the Jews [44].’

If Charlemagne was not anointed but only crowned[41] by the Pope, then his coronation was strictly in accordance with the rite of Constantinople, for it is probable that there was no unction in the Eastern rite at this date, and thus the Western rite on its first introduction into the West would be similar in its outstanding feature to the Eastern rite.

Of course the use of an unction at the consecration of a king had long been the central feature of the Western rite of the consecration of a King. But it must be borne in mind that Charlemagne was here being crowned as Roman Emperor, and that he had been anointed as King of the Franks on the occasion long ago of his father Pippin’s anointing as Frankish King at the hands of Pope Stephen. Moreover it is added in the Liber Pontificalis that after the coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor, the Pope anointed his son Charles as King. Duchesne finds here the explanation of the statement of Theophanes that Charlemagne was anointed, and thinks that he has confused the two events which took place on the same occasion, the coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor, and the anointing of the younger Charles as King.

It may be noticed, before we leave Charlemagne, that at the coronation of his grandson Louis the Pious in 813 as associate in the Empire, he himself crowned Louis with his own hands, thus following exactly the Eastern precedent in such a case. It may be that here we have the explanation of the alleged dissatisfaction and surprise of Charlemagne at his coronation on Christmas Day, 800. He may[42] have intended to crown himself instead of being crowned by the Pope.

The earliest Roman forms used at the coronation of an Emperor are found in the Gemunden Codex, and constitute Martène’s Ordo III [45]. This rite is very early, being of the ninth century, and it is possible that with some such forms as these Charlemagne himself was crowned.

The rite begins with a short prayer for the Emperor: Exaudi Domine preces nostras et famulum tuum illum, etc., and then follows at once the prayer Prospice Omnipotens Deus serenis obtutibus hunc gloriosum famulum tuum illum, etc., at the end of which the Emperor is crowned with a golden crown with the words, Per eum cui est honor et gloria per infinita saecula saeculorum. Amen. Next follows the Traditio Gladii, with the form Accipe gladium per manus episcoporum licet indignas, vice tamen et auctoritate sanctorum Apostolorum consecratas tibi regaliter impositum, nostraeque benedictionis officio in defensione sanctae ecclesiae divinitus ordinatum; et esto memor de quo Psalmista prophetavit dicens: Accingere gladio super femur tuum potentissime, ut in hoc per eundem vim aequitatis exerceas.

R. Domino nostro illi a Deo decreto summo Pontifici et universali Papae vitam.

R. Domino nostro illi Augusto, a Deo coronato magno et pacifico imperatori vitam.

C. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat. (Twice, and R. the same.)

Rex noster Christus vincit, Christus regnat. Spes nostra Christus vincit. Gloria nostra Christus vincit. Misericordia nostra Christus vincit. Auxilium nostrum Christus vincit. Fortitudo nostra Christus[44] vincit. Victoria nostra Christus vincit. Liberatio et redemptio nostra Christus vincit. Victoria nostra Christus vincit. Arma nostra Christus vincit. Murus noster inexpugnabilis Christus vincit. Defensio nostra et exaltatio Christus vincit. Lux, via, et vita nostra Christus vincit. Ipsi soli imperium, gloria, et potestas per immortalia saecula, Amen. Ipsi soli virtus, fortitudo, et victoria per omnia saecula saeculorum, Amen. Ipsi soli honor, laus, et iubilatio per infinita saecula saeculorum, Amen.

In conjunction with this rite Martène gives another very close to it but differing in some respects. The form at the crowning is different, Accipe coronam a Domino Deo tibi praedestinatam. Habeas, teneas, possideas, ac filiis tuis post te in futurum ad honorem, Deo auxiliante, derelinquas. Then follows at once the prayer Deus Pater aeternae gloriae. The Collect is given of the Mass, Deus regnorum. It is to be noted that the earliest Milanese rite [47] of the coronation of a king, of the ninth century, is almost identical with this rite of the Gemunden Codex.

What may be regarded as a second recension of the Roman rite is the Order of the Coronation of an Emperor given in Hittorp’s Ordo Romanus [48]. This[45] is of the tenth or eleventh century. It differs considerably from the last recension, and is more fixed and definite in character, but is still definitely Roman.

First the Emperor takes the oath as follows: In nomine Christi promitto, spondeo, atque polliceor ego N. imperator coram Deo et beato Petro apostolo, me protectorem ac defensorem esse huius ecclesiae sanctae Romanae in omnibus utilitatibus in quantum divino fultus fuero adiutorio, secundum scire meum ac posse.

As he enters St Peter’s the Cardinal Bishop of Albano meets him at the silver door, and recites the prayer, Deus in cuius manu corda sunt regum, a new form. Inside the church the Cardinal Bishop of Porto says the prayer Deus inenarrabilis auctor mundi, another new form, and after the Litany has been said, before the Confessio of St Peter, the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia anoints the Emperor on the right arm and between the shoulders with the oil of catechumens, using the form Domine Deus Omnipotens cuius est omnis potestas—again another new form, which however is found in the rite by which Pope John VIII crowned Louis II of France at Troyes in 877. The Pope then crowns the Emperor, using one of three forms which are given, Accipe signum gloriae in nomine Patris, etc., or (alia) Accipe coronam a Domino Deo praedestinatam, or (alia) with the prayer Deus Pater aeternae gloriae.

III

A third recension of the Roman rite may be seen in a group of orders of the twelfth century, that of the Pontifical of Apamea [49], the Order of the Pontifical of Arles [50], and Ordo III of Waitz [51]. It must be borne in mind that the rite was in a continual process of developement in all lands, and therefore however convenient it may be to trace its history by means of recensions, yet these ‘recensions’ must be to some extent arbitrary, and indeed even in a group chosen to illustrate any given recension the documents vary to some extent from each other.

The second of the orders mentioned above was that by which the Emperor Frederick I was crowned in 1155.

The Emperor first takes the oath on the Gospels in the church of St Mary in Turri to defend the Roman Church; thither he is attended by two archbishops or bishops of his own realm, and thence he proceeds to St Peter’s, where he is met at the entrance by the Bishop of Albano, who says the prayer Deus in cuius manu. Inside the church the Bishop of Porto says the prayer Deus inenarrabilis auctor mundi. The Emperor then goes up into the[47] choir, and the Litany is said, he lying prostrate the while before the altar of St Peter. The Litany over, he is anointed by the Bishop of Ostia on the right arm and between the shoulders, before the altar of St Maurice. The three orders do not quite agree in the prayers of consecration. In the two orders of Martène the prayer of anointing is Domine Deus cuius est omnis potestas, or Deus Dei Filius, this latter perhaps a non-Roman form, and here first found in the Roman rite. In the Ordo of Waitz the consecration prayer is Deus qui es iustorum gloria, the unction being made at the words Accende, quaesumus, cor eius ad amorem gratiae tuae per hoc unctionis oleum, unde unxisti sacerdotes, etc., followed by Domine Deus omnipotens cuius est, etc. Then the Pope sets the crown on his head, with the form (M. VIII and W.) Accipe signum gloriae, W. also adding the prayer Coronet te Deus.

M. VI is more developed here. After the anointing the Pope gives the Emperor the sword at the altar of St Peter, Accipe gladium imperialem ad vindictam quidem malorum, etc., and kisses him; he then girds the sword on him with the words Accingere gladio tuo super femur, etc., and kisses him; and the Emperor brandishes it and then returns it to its sheath. Then the sceptre is delivered with the words Accipe sceptrum regni, virgam videlicet virtutis; and finally the Pope crowns him, saying: Accipe signum gloriae, and once more kisses him. The Teutons then chant the Laudes in their own tongue, and Mass is celebrated.

The rite is still simple at this period, but two[48] developements in the ceremonial have taken place. The Emperor from this time forward takes the oath in the church of St Mary in Turri; and is no longer anointed before the Confessio of St Peter, but in the chapel of St Maurice, no one henceforth being anointed before the Confessio but the Pope at his consecration [52].

Note

The account given by Robert of Clary [53] of the coronation of the first Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin of Flanders, in 1204, shews it to have been a purely Western ceremony.

The Emperor accompanied by the clergy and nobles went in procession from the imperial palace to the church of St Sophia. Here he was arrayed in his royal vesture in a chamber specially prepared for him. He was anointed kneeling before the altar, and was then crowned by all the bishops. There is no mention of any other investiture, though the sword, sceptre, and orb are all referred to. Finally he was enthroned holding the sceptre in his right hand and the orb in his left, and Mass was celebrated.

The account given by Robert is very meagre, but the rite described is clearly Western, and apparently one very similar to the third recension of the Roman rite.

The end of the twelfth century is marked by a further developement in the rite contained in the Liber Censuum of Cardinal Cenci [54]. This particular rite was probably used at the coronation of Henry VI and the Empress Constantia by Pope Celestine III in 1191 [55].

The Emperor and Empress go in procession to St Mary in Turri, the choir singing Ecce mitto angelum, and there the Emperor takes the oath to defend the Roman Church. The oath has become longer and the Emperor swears fealty to the Pope and to his successors and that he will be a defender of the Roman Church [56], and kisses the Pope’s foot. The Pope gives him the Peace, and the procession sets out to St Peter’s, singing Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel. At the silver door of St Peter’s the Bishop of Albano meets the Emperor and recites the prayer Deus in cuius manu sunt corda regum. As[50] the Pope enters the Responsory Petre amas me is sung. Then under the Rota the Pope puts to the Emperor a series of questions concerning his faith and duty, and while the Pope retires to vest, the Bishop of Porto recites the prayer Deus inenarrabilis auctor mundi. Next the Emperor is vested in the chapel of St Gregory with amice, alb and girdle, and is led to the Pope, who ‘facit eum clericum,’ and he is thereupon vested with tunic, dalmatic, pluviale, mitre, buskins, and sandals. The Bishop of Ostia then proceeds to the silver door, where the Empress has been waiting, and recites the prayer Omnipotens aeterne Deus fons et origo bonitatis, and she is then led to St Gregory’s altar to await the Pope’s procession. The Pope proceeds to the Confessio of St Peter and Mass is begun. After the Kyrie the Litany is said by the archdeacon, the Emperor and Empress lying prostrate the while. The Emperor is then anointed (apparently before the altar of St Maurice)[57] by the Bishop of Ostia with the oil of exorcism on the right arm and between the shoulders with the prayer Dominus Deus Omnipotens cuius est omnis potestas, followed by the prayer (once an alternative) Deus Dei Filius. The benediction of the Empress follows, Deus qui solus habes immortalitatem, and she is anointed on the breast with the[51] form Spiritus Sancti gratia humilitatis nostrae officio copiosa descendat, etc. The Pope, the anointing over, descends to the altar of St Maurice, on which the crowns have been deposited, and delivers a ring to the Emperor with the form Accipe anulum signaculum videlicet sanctae fidei, etc., followed by a short prayer, Deus cuius est omnis potestas, a much shortened form of the prayer already used at the anointing; next the sword is girt on with the form Accipe hunc gladium cum dei benedictione tibi collatum, and the prayer Deus qui providentia; and he crowns the Emperor with the form Accipe signum gloriae, etc. The Empress is then crowned with the form Accipe coronam regalis excellentiae, etc. The Pope delivers the sceptre to the Emperor with the form Accipe sceptrum regiae potestatis, virgam scilicet rectam regni, virgam virtutis, etc., followed by the prayer Omnium Domine fons bonorum. Then at the altar of St Peter the Gloria in excelsis is sung, and the special collect Deus regnorum omnium follows. The Laudes are now sung and then the Mass proceeds, the Emperor offering bread, candles, and gold; and the Emperor offering wine, the Empress the water for the chalice. Both communicate, and on leaving St Peter’s the Emperor swears, at three different places, to maintain the rights and privileges of the Roman people.

The most noticeable thing in this recension is the appearance of the investiture with the ring, which comes from non-Roman sources and disappears again in the next recension.

In the fourteenth century further developements appear. The order used at the coronation of Henry VII [58], and the Ordo Romanus XIV of Mabillon [59], may be taken as representative of this period.

The oath is slightly varied. It is made, as usual, in the church of St Mary in Turri, where the Emperor is received by the canons as a brother canon, and the Emperor swears that he will be the protector of the Roman Church, but does not swear fealty to the Pope and his successors as in the preceding recension. In St Peter’s the Bishops of Albano and Porto say their accustomed prayers, and the Litany is said before St Peter’s altar. Then the Bishop of Ostia, before the altar of St Maurice, anoints the Emperor on the right arm and between the shoulders with the prayers Domine Deus Omnipotens cuius est omnis potestas and Deus Dei Filius. After the anointing the Pope kisses the Emperor ‘sicut unum ex diaconibus’ and Mass is begun at the altar of St Peter, the collect Deus regnorum omnium being said after the collect for the day. After the gradual the Pope first sets a mitre on the Emperor’s head, and then crowns him with the form Accipe signum gloriae: the Sceptre and Orb are then delivered, though no forms of delivery are given, and lastly the Sword is delivered with the form Accipe gladium[53] ad vindictam, etc., a longer form than hitherto used containing the words ‘per nostras manus, licet indignas, vice tamen et auctoritate beatorum apostolorum consecratas imperialiter tibi concessum,’ and girt on with the words Accingere gladio tuo super femur, etc., and the Emperor thereupon kisses the Pope’s feet. After the gradual the Laudes are sung. At the offertory the Emperor offers first gold, and then acting as sub-deacon (more subdiaconi) offers the chalice and water-cruet to the Pope.

The Empress is met at the entrance of St Peter’s and the prayer Omnipotens sempiterne Deus fons et origo, etc., is there said. When the Empress has been crowned she is brought to the Pope, who, after reciting the prayer Deus qui solus habes immortalitatem, anoints her with the form Spiritus Sancti gratia, this form being longer than in the last recension. Then he places the mitre on her head ‘ita quod cornua mitrae sint a dextris et a sinistris,’ and finally crowns her with the form Officio nostrae indignitatis in imperatricem solemniter benedicta accipe coronam imperialis excellentiae, etc.

After the Communion it is added that the Pope may, if he wish, say the prayers Prospice, quaesumus, Domine Omnipotens Deus serenis obtutibus, Benedic, Domine, quaesumus, hunc principem, or (alia) Deus Pater aeternae gloriae, all of which occur in earlier Roman rites.

The final recension of the Roman rite appears in the Pontifical of 1520 [60]. There is very little difference between this and the last recension. It is mentioned that the Emperor is clad in surplice and almuce at his reception as a canon at St Mary in Turri. The old privileges of the Cardinal bishops of Albano, Porto, and Ostia have passed away, and any Cardinal bishop may officiate in their place. The order of the investitures is different, first the delivery of the Sword, which the Emperor thrice brandishes after it has been girt on him; secondly the Sceptre and Orb, which are delivered, the Orb in his right hand and the Sceptre in his left, under one form, Accipe virgam virtutis atque veritatis; lastly the Crown, after which the Emperor kisses the Pope’s feet. The Empress is crowned as before. At the offertory the Emperor serves the Pope as a sub-deacon. After the Communion the Emperor kisses the Pope’s cheek and the Empress his hand, and the Pope can say, if he wish, the three prayers allowed in this place in the last recension.

Here we leave the Roman imperial rite at the last stage of its developement. It may be noted that the Roman Emperor was three times crowned; first at Aachen, later sometimes at Frankfort, as King of the Eastern Franks, or after the time of Henry II as[55] King of the Romans [61]; secondly at Milan (or more often as a matter of fact at Monza) as King of Italy or King of the Lombards; thirdly at Rome by the Pope as Roman Emperor. Until he had been crowned at Rome he was only Imperator Electus or Erwählter Kaiser. As a matter of fact no Emperor was crowned at Rome after the time of Frederick III (1440), though Charles V was crowned as Emperor at Bologna.

CHAPTER V
THE CORONATION OF A KING.
THE ENGLISH RITE

As we have seen, the coronation rite is found existing in the new kingdoms of the West some two centuries before an imperial coronation rite was called into existence in the West at the resuscitation of the Empire by Charlemagne. In Spain the rite is found in use in the seventh century, in Frankish lands it was already well established in the eighth century, and in England a rite was used at the end of the same century certainly on two occasions though under special and abnormal circumstances [62].

In the ninth century a Roman rite for the coronation of a king came into being, partly derived from the Roman imperial forms but largely influenced also by the other existing royal rites. From this time there was a continual reaction of the Roman and the national rites upon each other, and it is safe to say that on no two occasions even in the same country was the rite used in exactly the same form, so unceasing was the developement.

The classifying of the different developements of the rite even of one country is a work of considerable difficulty. The ‘Recensions’ by means of which the developement of each rite is marked are, to a certain extent, arbitrary, and simply mark periods at which the process of developement has evolved definite changes. There is a vast number of forms in existence, many of which were probably never used but simply served to render the Pontificals in which they occur complete.

The history of the rite is most easy to follow in the older kingdoms of England and France, in which both the monarchical and the national spirit were most marked, and which accordingly were inclined to shew a somewhat independent spirit towards the Papacy. Germany and Hungary were largely influenced in their rite by the Roman, while those lands, such as the Scandinavian kingdoms and Scotland, which emerged somewhat late from a condition of semi-barbarity, only attained to the dignity of possession of a coronation rite at a time when the prestige of things Roman was well established, with the result that their rite appears to have been more or less Roman.

The English Rite

(4) The Order of the Liber Regalis, which lasted (in English from the time of James I) until the reign of James II.

(6) The Order of William and Mary, which with comparatively unimportant changes has been used down to the present time.

The earliest form of the English rite is that which is found in the so-called Pontifical of Egbert, Archbishop of York 732-766. Of this rite Dom Cabrol [63] says that it is ‘sans doute le plus ancien qui existe.’ But the whole question of the date of this Pontifical, and its connection with Egbert is one that much needs investigation, and in the absence of any recent and thorough discussion of these points, it is precarious to deal with this document as belonging to the eighth century.

As to the existence of a coronation rite among the Anglo-Saxons, we find two allusions to a religious ceremony in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle at the end of the eighth century. Thus under the year 785 we are told that Ecgferth, who was associated on the throne by his father Offa, was in that year ‘hallowed as king [64]’ (to cyninge gehalgod). The same authority[59] speaks of the consecration of Eardwulf on his accession to the Northumbrian throne in the year 795; ‘he was then consecrated and raised to his throne’ (geblestod ⁊ to his cinestole ahofen). Eardwulf who was of the old line of kings had been called to the throne after a usurpation.

Both these kings were, however, raised to the throne under peculiar circumstances, and we cannot therefore regard this evidence as proof that a coronation rite was definitely established in England by the end of the eighth century because of these isolated instances occurring in the two Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, all the more so as in both cases it was the influence of the Church that set these kings on the throne. We are also told by Asser a story of the consecration of Alfred as king by Pope Leo IV at Rome, whither he had been sent by his father Ethelwulf. This story is embellished and repeated by other writers [65], who add that Alfred retained the regalia and vestments used at this Roman coronation, and that they were preserved[60] henceforward among the English regalia. But a fragment of a letter from Pope Leo to Ethelwulf disposes of this legend altogether, for in it he informs King Ethelwulf that he has invested his son Alfred with the insignia of a Roman consul [66]. Asser makes no mention of any coronation of Alfred in England.

The Order then of the Pontifical of Egbert must be used with caution. All that we can say with respect to its date is that a comparison between it and the so-called Order of Ethelred, which is of the tenth century, shews that the former is an earlier compilation than the latter, and much simpler and less fixed in character.

The Order [67] is called Benedictio super regem noviter electum, and the Mass into which it is inserted is called Missa pro regibus in die benedictionis. The Mass collect is Deus regnorum omnium et Christiani maxime protector imperii, da servo tuo regi nostro N. triumphum virtutis suae scienter excolere, ut cuius constitutione sunt principes eius semper munere sint potestates.

The Epistle is Lev. xxvi. 6-9, and the Gospel is that which is used in the English rite to this day, Matt. xxii. 15-22. After the Gospel the coronation service begins, and seven prayers are contemplated as being used.

3. Deus electorum fortitudo. This is the consecration prayer, and while one bishop says it all the other bishops anoint the king on the head. During the unction is sung the anthem Unxerunt Salomonem and the Ps. Domine in virtute tua.

4. A series of 15 benedictions, said probably by different bishops, following the delivery of the Sceptre to the king: Benedic Domine hunc praesulem, etc.

5. The Verge or baculus is delivered to the king with the form Omnipotens det tibi Deus de rore caeli.

6. The crowning takes place. All the bishops set the Crown on the king’s head with the prayer Benedic Domine fortitudinem regis. The people immediately acclaim the king with the cry Vivat rex N. in sempiternum, and the nobles salute him with a kiss [69].

After this the Mass proceeds, and there is a special Preface. It is noticeable that all the variable Mass prayers are Roman.

At the end of the rite there is appended a short charge on the three chief duties of a king, Rectitudo regis est noviter ordinati ... haec tria praecepta populo Christiano sibi subdito praecipere, namely to secure the peace of Church and people, to repress violence and rapine, and to be just and merciful. Probably in such words as these the king’s oath ran. The oath in the next recension is in almost the same words, and most of the prayers reappear later in other rites. There is no provision made for the coronation of a Queen consort, just as in the Eastern rite there is no provision made for the ceremonial crowning of the Empress. But there seems to have been some prejudice among the Anglo-Saxons against any very close association of the king’s consort with him on the throne [70], apparently on account of the matrimonial irregularities of which Saxon kings were guilty in common with most other Teutonic monarchs.

It is to be noticed that the crown is called the Galeus, a word which recalls the περικεφάλαιον Καισαρίκιον of the Eastern Emperor. The Saxon[63] kings of later date called themselves βασιλεῖς. And in the charter of Burgred and Aethelswyth, to which reference has already been made, one of the regular Greek terms for the imperial crown is actually used ‘Ego Burgred rex necnon ego Aethelswytha pari coronata stemma regali Anglorum regina.’ These facts may possibly indicate the influence of the Eastern Empire on the courts of the West, though they may simply illustrate the Latin of the period.

The order that marks the second recension of the English rite, and which is called the Order of King Ethelred, was in all probability that used at the coronation of Edgar in 973.

In this second recension of the English rite every portion of the older is represented but there is more solemnity. In the delivery of the insignia there is a greater formality; and whereas the rite in ‘Egbert’s’ book is simply called Benedictiones super regem, in this order it is called Consecratio Regis. Alternative forms are provided, and whereas in ‘Egbert’ the rite is inserted into the Mass, in later recensions the whole rite precedes the Mass.

As the king enters the church the anthem Firmetur manus is sung. Then the king prostrates himself before the altar during the singing of Te Deum. After this the king takes the oath, which is the charge at the end of ‘Egbert’s’ order transformed into a direct oath by a slight alteration of the first few words [71].[64] Then is said Te invocamus, (alia) Deus qui populis, (alia) In diebus eius oriatur. Here probably the ‘alia’ means ‘or’ though it may mean ‘also.’ Now comes the Consecratio, Omnipotens sempiterne Deus creator ac gubernator, (alia) Deus electorum fortitudo, (item alia) Deus Dei Filius. Of these three prayers the first is found in the rite used by Abp Hincmar at the coronation of Louis II in 877, and also in the Ordo Romanus of Hittorp of about the same date; the second is the consecration prayer of ‘Egbert’; the third is an early Roman form, and is found in nearly all subsequent rites. Then follows a new feature, the investiture with the Ring, with the form Accipe anulum signaculum videlicet sanctae fidei and the prayer Deus cuius est omnis potestas, both of them found in Hittorp’s Ordo Romanus. The king is then girt with the Sword with the form Accipe hunc gladium, which is different from the Roman form, and now first occurs, and the prayer Deus qui providentia tua, which also now first appears, and is based on a collect in the Gregorian Sacramentary for use in time of war. The king is crowned with the form Coronet te Deus, which was used at the coronation of Charles the Bald at Metz in 869; and the prayer Deus perpetuitatis follows. The Sceptre is delivered with the form Accipe sceptrum regiae potestatis[65] followed by the prayer Omnium Domine fons bonorum, both of which occur first here and in the contemporary French order of Ratold. The Verge is then delivered with the form Accipe virgam virtutis atque aequitatis[72], which first occurs in the Ordo Romanus of Hittorp. A series of nine benedictions follows, six of which occur in the orders of Charles the Bald (869) and Louis II (877), and the last three in ‘Egbert’s’ rite. Finally the king is enthroned with the form Sta et retine, a form which first occurs here and in Ratold’s rite, followed by the blessings Omn. det tibi Deus de rore, (alia) Benedic Domine fortitudinem principis, both of which occur in the forms of ‘Egbert.’

The Mass prayers, which are different from those of ‘Egbert,’ are found in the Missa quotidiana pro rege of the Gregorian Sacramentary.

In this recension the coronation of the queen consort first occurs. She is anointed on the head with the form In nomine Patris ... prosit tibi haec unctio olei in honorem, etc., and the prayer Omn. semp. Deus affluentem spiritum[73]. Both these forms[66] here first occur. The Ring is then given with the form Accipe anulum fidei signaculum sanctae Trinitatis, and the prayer Deus cuius est omnis potestas (which is not the same prayer as that found elsewhere with the same beginning in the coronation of a king), both of which appear now for the first time. Lastly the queen is crowned with the form Accipe coronam gloriae, and the prayer Omnium Domine fons bonorum; the second of which is a shortened form of the corresponding prayer in the order for the coronation of the king, while the former is a slightly different edition of the form in Hittorp’s Ordo Romanus. It may be noted that the forms for the coronation of a queen given in the order of Ratold, and forming the second recension of the French rite, are almost identical with those of the English recension.

The developement of the rite in this second recension is most marked, and it is interesting to note that the same influences have been at work on the French rite of this period, which is very close to the second English recension.

III

In the twelfth century a third recension of the English rite [74] appears, in which the rite has been subjected to a very considerable Roman influence. The Ordo Romanus of Hittorp or some kindred order has been followed to a large extent in preference to the old national order.

As the king enters the church the anthem Firmetur manus is sung, and the king lies prostrate before the altar during the Litany. The introduction of the Litany is a new feature and Roman. After the Litany the king takes the oath, In Christi nomine promitto haec tria populo Christiano. A bishop then asks the people whether they accept the Elect as king, Si tali principi, etc., and they answer Volumus et concedimus. This recognition is a new formal feature, but informally it had taken place long before, e.g. at the coronation of William I. It also appears in the French order of Louis VIII, but disappears again from the French rite later on. Then is said the prayer Omn. aeterne Deus creator omnium, followed by a series of benedictions, the same as those which follow the delivery of the sceptre in ‘Egbert,’ but in a shorter form. Next is said the prayer Deus ineffabilis auctor mundi, which is first found in the order by which Pope John VII crowned Louis II at Troyes in 877. It occurs henceforward in practically every order, but[68] whereas the word ineffabilis is always used in the English orders (and the German Aachen order) elsewhere inenarrabilis is always found. The anointing is much more elaborate than heretofore; first the hands are anointed Unguantur manus istae, etc., then follows the consecration prayer (Roman) Prospice omnipotens Deus, after which the king is anointed on head, breast, shoulders and bends of arms, Unguantur caput istud, pectus, etc., and during the anointing the Responsory Deum time is sung. This elaborate unction is identical with that prescribed in Hittorp’s order, though the forms are not the same. After the anointing is said Deus Dei Filius, (alia) Deus qui es iustorum gloria. The investitures are then made; the Sword with the Roman form Accipe gladium per manus, etc.; the Armills and the Pallium with forms now first appearing, Accipe armillas sinceritatis, and Accipe pallium, etc. Then comes the coronation, the crown being blessed with the prayer Deus tuorum corona, and the king being crowned with the form Coronet te Deus, which is first found at the coronation of Charles the Bald in 869. The prayer Deus perpetuitatis follows the coronation. The ring is given with the Roman form Accipe regiae dignitatis anulum; the sceptre with the old form Accipe sceptrum regiae potestatis, and the prayer Omnium Domine fons bonorum; and lastly the verge with the old form. The benedictions which follow are those contained in Hittorp’s order, and finally the king is enthroned with the form Sta et retine.

The queen’s coronation follows in substance[69] Hittorp’s order, while retaining some of the features of the last English recension.

The first prayers Omn. semp. Deus fons et origo and Deus qui solus habes both follow the Roman order. At the unction the Roman prayer Spiritus sancti gratia is found, while the actual form of anointing In nomine Patris and following, Omn. semp. Deus affluentem, etc., are of the last English order. The ring is given with the old English form slightly altered and the prayer Deus cuius est omnis potestas, also from the English rite. There is the same benediction of the queen’s crown as of the king’s, and she is crowned with the old form or (alia) the Roman Officio nostrae indignitatis, and the rite ends with the English Omnium Domine fons bonorum.

A fourth recension is that of the Liber Regalis[75], and was probably the order used for the first time at the coronation of Edward II. This recension, which represents the English rite in its most elaborate form, returns in part to the second recension and combines it with the Romanised rite of the last recension. This conflation renders it very long. This fourth recension remained more or less unchanged until the time of James II, although in English for James I onward.

The recognition takes place as a preliminary to the rite, and then the rite begins with the anthem[70] Firmetur manus as in the last recension, and the king makes his first oblation, and then is said a prayer now first appearing, Deus humilium visitator, which is adapted from a collect in the Gregorian sacramentary ‘in adventu fratrum supervenientium.’ A sermon is now introduced, after which the king takes the oath, no longer directly, but in answer to interrogations as in the Roman rite. Finito quidem sermone ... metropolitanus ... interroget, Si leges et consuetudines ab antiquis iustis et Deo devotis regibus plebi Anglorum concessas cum sacramenti confirmatione eidem plebi concedere et servare voluerit; et praesertim leges, consuetudines, et libertates a glorioso rege Edwardo clero populoque concessas.

The king promising that he will maintain these rights, the Archbishop then puts to him the following questions:

Servabis ecclesiae Dei cleroque et populo pacem ex integro et concordiam in Deo secundum vires tuas? Resp., Servabo.

Facies fieri in omnibus iudiciis tuis aequam et rectam iustitiam et discretionem in misericordia et veritate secundum vires tuas? R. Faciam.

Concedis iustas leges et consuetudines esse tenendas, et promittis eas per te esse protegendas, et ad honorem Dei roborandas quas vulgus elegerit secundum vires tuas? R. Concedo et promitto.

Then follows the bishops’ petition Domine Rex a vobis perdonari and the king’s promise to preserve the rights and privileges of the Church, which is probably derived from the French rite. After this[71] Veni Creator is sung, and then is said the old prayer Te invocamus—reintroduced into the rite—and the Litany, after which are sung the Penitential psalms—a new feature.

The consecration section of this recension is a curious conflation of a number of consecration prayers. Omn. semp. Deus creator omnium[76], (alia) Benedic Domine hunc regem, (alia) Deus ineffabilis, followed by the restored Deus qui populis tuis, and then the actual consecration prayer, the old Deus electorum fortitudo, introduced by Sursum corda and Preface. The king is now anointed on the hands with the form Unguantur manus, the anthem Unxerunt Salomonem being sung the while, and after the prayer Prospice omn. Deus serenis obtutibus (the Roman consecration prayer) the king is anointed in the form of a cross on the breast, each shoulder, between the shoulders, at the bend of each arm, and on the head. After the anointing the prayers Deus Dei Filius and Deus qui es iustorum are said. The king is now arrayed in the ‘Colobium sindonis,’ and the Archbishop proceeds to bless the regalia, using for the purpose the prayer here first occurring, Deus rex regum. The king is then arrayed in tunic, hose, and buskins, and the Archbishop then blesses the sword, using the prayer Exaudi Domine preces nostras, which now appears for the first time. The investiture with sword, armills, pallium, and crown[72] then takes place, the accompanying forms being those of the last recension. After the crowning the anthem Confortare et esto vir is sung, and the ring is first blessed with two prayers now first occurring, Deus caelestium terrestriumque and Benedic Domine et sanctifica anulum, and then delivered with the form of the last recension followed by the prayer Deus cuius est omnis potestas. The sceptre and verge are then delivered with the forms of the last recension, and finally after the three benedictions and Te Deum comes the enthronisation. The king being enthroned the homage is done.

In this recension the coronation of the queen consort is very similar to the rite of the last recension, the differences being that the first prayer in the third recension, Omn. semp. Deus fons et origo, is omitted, the prayer Spiritus Sancti gratia before the unction disappears, and Officio indignitatis is no longer an alternative form, but is said after the coronation has taken place with the older English form. The queen is anointed on head and breast.

The Mass prayers are similar to those of the second recension, but there are some differences; a collect is said for the queen as well as for the king; the two prayers Omn. Deus det tibi de rore and Benedic Domine fortitudinem (which are said immediately after the enthronisation in the second recension, but had disappeared from the third) are said at the king’s second oblation of a mark of gold; an alternative Secret is given, that of the Roman Missa pro Imperatore; a blessing of the king and[73] people is inserted before the Agnus Dei; and the alternative Postcommunion is different from the alternative of the second recension.

The rite of the Liber Regalis was used, as has been said, until the time of James II. It was rendered into English for James I [77], and served in an almost identical form for the coronations of Charles I and Charles II. The version is not very elegant, but it is certainly as good an English composition as the original is a Latin. The miraculous chrism [78] was last used at the coronation of Elizabeth, and was then either exhausted or had become unfit for further use. The form with which Archbishop Laud consecrated the chrism for the coronation of Charles I still exists [79].

The Recognition becomes at this time an integral part of the rite, and is introduced by an anthem. Immediately after the Recognition the anthem Firmetur manus and Ps. lxxxix are sung. The king then makes his first oblation and the Archbishop says the prayer O God which visitest those that are humble (Deus visitator humilium). The king now takes the oath, which is given in Latin[74] and French as well as English, and the petition of the bishops, Domine Rex a vobis perdonari, which is left untranslated. Veni Creator is then sung, followed by We beseech thee, O Lord, Holy Father (Te invocamus), and the Litany in English with a special petition proper to the occasion. Then are said the four prayers O Almighty and everlasting God, Creator of all things (Omn. semp. Deus creator omnium); O Lord, thou that governest all kingdoms (Benedic Domine); God the unspeakable Author (Deus ineffabilis); and God which providest for thy people (Deus qui populis). The consecration follows, God the strength of thy chosen (Deus electorum fortitudo), introduced by Sursum corda and Preface, the prayer being slightly altered in some of its phrases. The king’s hands are then anointed with the form Let these hands be anointed (Unguantur manus), followed by the anthem Zadok the priest (Unxerunt Salomonem) and the prayer Look down, Almighty God (Prospice omnipotens); the king is then anointed [80] on the breast, between the shoulders, on both shoulders, on the boughts of the arms, and on the crown of the head. Then follow the prayers God the Son of God (Deus Dei Filius) and God which art the glory of the righteous (Deus qui es iustorum gloria). The king is now vested with Colobium and Dalmatic, after which the Archbishop says the prayer O God the King of kings (Deus Rex regum); then with the Supertunica or close pall, hose, and sandals by the Dean of[75] Westminster, and with the spurs by a nobleman. The Sword is blessed with the form Hear our prayers (Exaudi quaesumus), and is delivered to the king with the form Receive this kingly sword (Accipe gladium). He is invested with the Armill, Receive the armill (Accipe armillas); with the Mantle or open pall, Receive this pall (Accipe pallium); with the Crown, the Archbishop taking it in his hands and saying God the crown of the faithful (Deus tuorum), and O God of eternity (Deus perpetuitatis), and crowning the king with the form God crown thee (Coronet te Deus). The choir in the mean time sings the anthems Be strong (Confortare) and The king shall rejoice (Deus in virtute). The Archbishop now blesses the Ring with the prayers O God the creator of all things in heaven (Deus caelestium) and Bless, O Lord, and sanctify (Benedic Deus), and places it on the king’s right wedding finger, saying Receive the ring of kingly dignity (Accipe regiae dignitatis anulum). Then the prayer O God, to whom belongeth all power (Deus cuius est), after which the king offers the sword and it is redeemed. The Archbishop delivers the Sceptre, Receive the sceptre (Accipe sceptrum), and prays O Lord, the fountain of all good things (Omnium Domine fons); likewise the Verge, Receive the rod (Accipe virgam). The Archbishop then blesses the king, The Lord bless thee (Benedicat tibi); Te Deum is sung, and the king is enthroned with the form Stand and hold fast (Sta et retine), after which the peers do their homage.

The order of the queen’s coronation follows that of the Liber Regalis. First is said by a bishop at the west door of the Abbey the prayer O Almighty and everlasting God, the fountain (Omn. semp. Deus fons et origo), then at the altar God, which only hast immortality (Deus qui solus). She is then anointed on the crown of her head with the form In the name of the Father (In nomine), and then on the breast, the same form being repeated, after which is said the prayer O Almighty everlasting God, we beseech thee (Omn. semp. Deus affluentem). She is then given the Ring with the form Receive this ring (Accipe anulum), and the prayer God, to whom belongeth all power (Deus cuius est omnis potestas). The Archbishop blesses the Crown saying O God the crown of the faithful (Deus tuorum), and crowns her with the form Receive the crown of glory (Accipe coronam), adding: Seeing you are by our ministry solemnly consecrated (Officio indignitatis), after which he says the prayer O Lord, the fountain (Omnium Domine fons), and so ends the queen’s coronation.

The Communion service follows, beginning at the collect O Almighty God, we beseech thee that this thy servant (Quaesumus omn. Deus ut famulus). The epistle and gospel are the same as in the Liber Regalis. The offertory is sung, and the king offers bread and wine and a mark of gold. At this point are inserted the two blessings Almighty God give thee (Omn. Deus det tibi) and Bless, O Lord, the virtuous carriage (Benedic Domine fortitudinem), which occur in the Liber Regalis after the enthronisation. The[77] Secret is the old prayer Bless, we beseech thee, O Lord, these thy gifts (Munera Domine quaes. oblata). There is no longer a special preface as heretofore.

In the Order of Charles I there are a few unimportant variations. A sermon is introduced before the king takes the oath. In the Consecration prayer (God the strength) a return is made to the original, which had been slightly altered for James I. The old order of the prayers God crown thee and O God of eternity is reverted to. The first of the two blessings of the ring disappears. Perhaps the prayer God the unspeakable author was not used [81], as it does not occur in the copy of the order which the king himself used on his coronation day. In the Eucharist the two blessings after the offertory are said after, instead of before, the Secret.

At his trial, among the many accusations brought[78] against him, Laud was accused of having tampered with the coronation oath [82] in two particulars. He was charged with adding to the first section the qualifying words ‘agreeable to the King’s prerogative,’ and of omitting from the last section the words ‘quae populus elegerit.’

There was an alteration made in the first section. This concludes in the old oath of the Liber Regalis, which was used in English at the coronation of James I, with the words ‘granted to the clergy and people by the glorious King, Saint Edward your predecessor.’ In the oath as taken by Charles I the words ‘and people’ were omitted, while there was added at the end of the section ‘according to the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel established in this kingdom, and agreeing to the prerogative of the kings thereof and the ancient customs of this realm.’ Laud denied any knowledge of this alteration.

In the last section of the oath the Liber Regalis has Concedis iustas leges et consuetudines esse tenendas, et promittis per te eas esse protegendas quas vulgus elegerit? Here again in the oath of Charles there is a modification of the wording, Sir, will you grant to hold and keep the rightful customs which the commonalty of this your kingdom have? But this alteration had as a matter of fact been made at the time of the last coronation, for this passage is almost identical with the oath taken by James I. That there[79] was in Stuart times a deliberate attempt to weaken the force of some of the language in the oath is evident. Henry VIII had been dissatisfied with the terms of the oath and made some attempt to alter it by the insertion of such modifying expressions as ‘not prejudicial to his jurisdiction,’ ‘not prejudicial to his crown,’ ‘which the nobles and people have made and chosen with his consent.’ But his attempted revision came to nothing, and both he and Edward VI took the oath at their coronation in the form in which it stands in the Liber Regalis[83].

It may also be noted here, as a matter connected with the oath, that up to the time of Henry VII the years of a king’s reign were reckoned from the day of his coronation, the oath being regarded as the compact or covenant made between him and his people, sealing as it were his election to the throne. From the time of Henry VIII onwards the king’s reign has been reckoned from the death of his predecessor [84].

Laud took infinite pains in the preparation of the coronation ceremony, in which he acted in the place of the Dean of Westminster. His copy of the Order with his MS. annotations still exists in the library of St John’s College, Cambridge. No detail is neglected and some of his notes are very amusing; for example, in connection with the putting on of hose and sandals he remarks, ‘These both—Hose and Shews the K: would haue putt on vpõ his other shoes:[80] wᶜʰ had almost indaingered yᵉ tearinge of yᵉ old Tinsin Hose. It is safer to vnlase them before hand when they be vsed againe [85].’

The recipe for the preparation of the chrism used is preserved. The chrism was consecrated by Laud, who was at that time Bishop of St David’s, and who was acting for the Dean of Westminster. It is the dean’s function to bless the chrism if he is a bishop. If he is not a bishop the archbishop himself consecrates it.

It is perhaps most convenient at this point to deal with the coronation of King Charles at Holyrood by Abp Spotiswoode on June 18, 1633, for the rite then used was manifestly based on the English order, and was the work of Abp Laud. There are in it certain variations from the English rite, which were probably deliberately made with the intention of imparting a special Scottish character to the ceremony.

After the Litany, instead of the four prayers of the English order only one occurs, which is a combination of the two English prayers O Almighty and everlasting God, creator of all things and O Lord, thou that governest all kingdoms. The prayer after the anointing, God the Son of God, is shortened. At the investitures the prayer O God, the King of kings, a prayer of benediction of the ornaments, becomes a benediction of the king. The form accompanying the investiture of the Sword is shortened, and O God of eternity disappears at the crowning. On the other hand there appears after the crowning what may[81] be a feature of the old Scottish rite, the ‘Obligatory oath of the people,’ which is read out by the Earl Marshal: We swear, and by the holding up of our hands do promise all subjection and loyalty to king Charles our dread sovereign: and as we wish God to be merciful to us, shall be to his majesty true and faithful, and be ever ready to bestow our lives and lands and what else God hath given us, for the defence of his sacred person and crown. The form at the delivery of the Sceptre is slightly shortened. After the benediction, as in the English rite, the king kisses the archbishop and the bishops. The form of enthronisation is slightly altered, and after the enthronisation a royal pardon is proclaimed and the homage of the peers is done. Of the Communion service which follows no details whatever are given.

With the accession of James II we come to an important point in the developement of the English rite. Since James was a member of the Roman Church he was not allowed to receive the Holy Sacrament after the use of the English Church, and Abp Sancroft was accordingly commissioned to edit the rite and omit the Communion altogether. Unhappily Sancroft in his work of editing made many and considerable alterations in the rite itself, which have never subsequently been properly rectified [86].

After the Recognition the king and queen make their first oblation, and then is said the prayer[82] O God, who dwellest in the high and holy place, which is a much altered version of Deus visitator humilium. The Litany is said, and then follow the prayers Almighty and everlasting God, creator of all things, which has been altered and shortened, and O God, who providest, practically unchanged. The two prayers O Lord, thou that governest and God the unspeakable author are omitted. Here follows the sermon, and the sermon over, the king takes the oath, which is the same as that of Charles I, except that in the first question ‘The Gospel established in the Church of England’ is changed to ‘The Gospel established in this kingdom’; after which is sung the Veni Creator in the version now in use. Then is said We beseech thee, O Lord, Holy Father (unaltered), and then, introduced by Sursum corda and Preface, the consecration prayer God, the exalter of the humble and strength of thy chosen (shortened), after which the choir sings Zadok the priest. The king is then anointed as hitherto with the form Be this head anointed with holy oil; and as kings and prophets were anointed, etc.; and the archbishop says the prayer God the son of God; the prayer God which art the glory of the righteous being omitted. Certain changes are made in the forms of investiture; the prayer said after the vesting with the Colobium is changed into a benediction of the king; from the form with which the Sword is delivered it is noticeable that the words for the defence of Christ’s holy church are omitted, and the reference to the persecution of infidels and heretics also disappears; the form[83] accompanying the investiture with the Pallium is made to include the delivery of the Orb, an unfortunate innovation which has been retained to this day, for the orb is perhaps but another form of the sceptre; at the crowning O God, the crown of the faithful appears in its present form, much altered from the original, and the prayers God crown thee and O eternal God (O God of eternity) are also altered; the archbishop reads the first anthem Be strong, and the choir sings the second The king shall rejoice; the blessing of the Ring is omitted, and the prayer following its delivery, O God, to whom belongeth all power, also disappears; the form of the investiture with the Verge is much changed. At this point the king makes his second oblation, which should have taken place at the offertory, and the archbishop blesses the king with the blessing The Lord give thee of the dew of heaven, a much altered edition of the older form, which in the previous order followed the Secret; and then curiously enough there reappears a short edition of the old In diebus eius (In thy days may justice flourish), which last was used in the second recension of the English rite. A new benediction appears, The Lord preserve thy life, and the old, The Lord bless thee and keep thee, is altered, the last prayer for clergy and people acquiring much of its present form, And the same good Lord grant that the clergy and people, etc. After Te Deum the king is enthroned in much the present form, and after the homage a final anthem is sung.

At the queen’s coronation the prayer Almighty[84] and everlasting God, the fountain of all goodness is somewhat altered, and the next prayer God, which only hast immortality is omitted. In the prayer following the anointing the words that as by the imposition of hands she is this day crowned queen becomes that as by our office and ministry she is this day anointed and solemnly consecrated our queen. The form with which the ring is given is quite different from the form hitherto used after the opening words, and the prayer following, God, to whom belongeth all power, is omitted. At the crowning God, the crown of the faithful is omitted, and the forms Receive the crown of glory and Seeing you are by our ministry are combined into one. The order ends with the prayer O Lord, the fountain of all good things and a final anthem.

There was no Communion service, and after the crowning of the queen three final collects were said and then the Blessing.

Archbishop Sancroft has been much blamed for his handiwork on the coronation rite, and it is certainly much to be regretted that he made so many and unnecessary alterations in the language of the old prayers. On the other hand it is a question whether the rite has not gained by the omission of some of the prayers, for the order as he found it was very conflate, many of the prayers being originally alternatives, which in process of time had become additional prayers in such a way as to cause a great deal of repetition and to make the service unnecessarily long and burdensome.

At the election of William and Mary as King and Queen the rite was once more subjected to revision, and this time by one less fitted for the work than Sancroft, Henry Compton, Bp of London. The Order of William and Mary [87] is practically that which has been handed down to the present day.

There is prefixed to the order a feature unique among English coronation rites, an Order of Morning Prayer to be said on the morning of the coronation because ‘it is fit and congruous, and accordingly the king is to be desired that he will be present at Morning Prayer in Whitehall, and so begin that glorious day with Him by whom kings reign.’ The Order is derived from the Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving authorized by James II for the day of his accession.

Another unique feature in this rite is that by it two joint monarchs were crowned, for both William and Mary were regnant.

The order begins with the anthem I was glad. The Recognition is somewhat apologetic in tone, and in the place of ‘King James the rightful inheritor of this crown’ appears ‘King William and Queen Mary, undoubted King and Queen of this realm.’ The new anthem Blessed art thou, O Lord, is then sung in the place of the old, Let thy hand be strengthened, and the king and queen make their[86] first oblation, after which the Bp of London (acting in the place of Abp Sancroft) says the prayer O God, who dwellest in the high and holy place, and the Litany is sung, with the prayer O God, who providest for thy people in the place of the prayer of St Chrysostom. The Communion service is now begun, the commandments being omitted and the two collects for the king combined into one. After the Creed the sermon is preached, and then the king and queen take the oath. This was altered from the form in which it was taken by James II, and the expression ‘Protestant reformed religion’ makes its first appearance; the petition of the bishops also vanishes at this time. There were also noticeable changes in the consecration; Veni Creator is sung, and then is said the consecration prayer O Lord, holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, the exalter of the humble and the strength of thy chosen, but without Sursum corda and Preface. There is moreover a great deal of alteration in the prayer itself, which is made to include a blessing of the oil, and has the conclusion of the prayer said before the laying on of hands in the Order of Confirmation. The anthem Zadok the priest is retained. The king and queen were anointed on the crown of the head, breast, and palms of the hands only, the hands being anointed last instead of first as hitherto, the anointing being followed by the prayer Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and then the anthem Behold, O God, our defender. Certain changes are also made in the forms of investiture; at the investiture of the Sword[87] the prayer Hear our prayers is slightly altered; Receive this kingly sword appears as in the present rite; at the girding Remember him of whom the royal psalmist did prophesy is also slightly changed; there is no mention of any delivery of the Armill; the form with which the Pall and Orb are delivered is much expanded; the investitures with Ring and Verge precede the crowning instead of following it as hitherto, and the form with which the Verge is delivered is much enlarged; at the crowning the prayer O God, the crown of the faithful is more or less unchanged, but that following the crowning, God crown you, is considerably altered. Then comes a new anthem, Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. At this point is introduced an entirely new feature, the delivery of a copy of the Bible with a form consisting of two parts, Thus saith the Lord of old, etc., and To put you in mind of this rule and that you may follow it, we present you with this book, etc. Then comes the Aaronic blessing, followed by the four benedictions as in the order of James, and the prayer for clergy and nobles. After the Te Deum the king and queen are enthroned, the words ‘Whereof thou art the lawful and undoubted heir by succession from thy forefathers’ being omitted from the form of enthronisation Stand firm and hold fast. After the homage a final anthem is sung, which is really the introit out of place. The Communion service now proceeds, the king and queen offering bread and wine, and the Bp of London, who was celebrant, saying the Secret, Bless, O Lord, we[88] beseech thee, these thy gifts. The king and queen then make the second oblation, the same prayer being used, O God, who dwellest in the high and holy place, as at the first oblation. A proper preface appears again, By whom kings reign and princes rule, etc. Before the blessing three final collects are said, two of them from those in the Communion office, and the other that for the king and royal family used in the corresponding place in the Order of James II.

The most interesting feature about the rite of William and Mary is its position in the Eucharist, a return to the old arrangement of the rite of ‘Egbert,’ which has been preserved at all subsequent coronations.

The recension of William and Mary is that which has been followed up to the present time. There have been certain changes, but none of a far reaching character.

The anthem after the Recognition from Anne to George II, The Queen (King) shall rejoice, was at the coronation of George III and onwards sung after the crowning. In the Communion service the commandments were said from George II till Edward VII, but in the rite of George V, after the introit Let my prayer come up into thy presence, the Communion service begins with The Lord be with you, and proceeds at once to the proper collect O God, who providest for thy people. From William and Mary till George III there was no introit, but from George IV till Victoria the Sanctus was used for the[89] purpose. The declaration against transsubstantiation had a place in the coronation oath from the time of Anne till George III, but since that time has been made (now in a milder form) before Parliament at the time of the king’s accession. The anointing on the breast was omitted from motives of delicacy at the coronation of Victoria (and of the queen consort Adelaide), but has since been restored in the case of the king. The consecration prayer O Lord, holy Father, who by anointing with oil (the old Deus electorum fortitudo) has commenced as at present since the time of George III, and still bears signs of the preface that once introduced it. From the time of Anne the sentence blessing the chrism has been omitted, but the chrism was certainly consecrated beforehand for the anointing of George II. The chrism used in the case of Edward VII was consecrated before the ceremony with the form used by Abp Sancroft, and King George was anointed with chrism of that consecration. The Armill was delivered with a form in the case of the four Georges, but is not mentioned in the rite of Victoria, though it was used; it has since been delivered without any form. The vesting with sandals and buskins has been discontinued since the time of George II. At the crowning the prayer O God, the crown of the faithful was restored for Edward VII to the form in which it appears in the rite of James II, and the prayer after the crowning, God crown you with a crown of glory, which had been omitted from Anne till George III, restored for George IV and then again omitted, was[90] brought back once more for George V; also the old anthem Be strong, which had become an admonition from the time of William and Mary, became once more an anthem for our present king. At the delivery of the Bible only the second section of the form, and that shortened, has been used from the time of King Edward VII. Of the benedictions only two remain, the Aaronic blessing and The Lord give you a fruitful country. The final anthem has been subjected to many changes. In the Communion service the benedictions of the king after the Secret have disappeared and a proper preface, which was for some reason omitted from the rite of Edward VII, was restored to the rite of George V.

Certain changes have also taken place in the coronation of the queen consort. From the time of Queen Adelaide there has only been one anointing, on the crown of the head. The prayer after the anointing, Almighty and everlasting God, we beseech thee of thy abundant goodness, has vanished from the time of Edward VII onwards, and the prayer at the delivery of the sceptre loses its first sentence and begins O Lord, the giver of all perfection. The final anthem has also disappeared in the rite of King Edward VII. In the order of George V the Te Deum is ordered to be sung after the Blessing.

CHAPTER VI
THE FRENCH RITE

As we have seen, there was in all probability a Frankish coronation rite in existence in the time of the Merovingians, and certainly in the time of the Carolingian kings, but it seems to have been very variable and without much stability before the tenth century.

A group of orders of the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century may be taken as representing the Frankish or French rite in its earliest and unfixed stage.

Charles the Bald was crowned as king of Lotharingia in 869. The rite [88] begins with an address from Adventius, Bp of Metz, after which the king takes the oath to preserve the rights of Church and people. Another address is then delivered by Hincmar of Rheims, which perhaps is additional and exceptional. Adventius says the prayer Deus qui populis, and then follows a series of nine benedictions said by different bishops, four of the[92] benedictions being identical with forms occurring in the second English recension. The unction follows, Bp Hincmar anointing the king on his right ear, from his forehead to his left ear, and on the crown of his head, with a form beginning Coronet te Deus, which does not occur again and is not to be confounded with the coronation prayer beginning with the same words. Hincmar then recites two benedictions, identical with the last two of the second English rite, and the prayer Clerum ac populum, which here appears for the first time. The king is now crowned, all the bishops uniting, as in ‘Egbert’s’ order, to set the crown on his head, the form used being Coronet te deus corona gloriae, which is found in the second English order and in most subsequent rites. The bishops then give the Sceptre and the Palm, with a form commencing Det tibi Dominus velle et posse.

A second example of the Frankish rite may be seen in that by which Louis II (the Stammerer) of France was crowned at Compiègne in 877 [89]. First of all the bishops ask that the rights of their churches shall be maintained, A vobis perdonari nobis petimus, and the king grants their petition Promitto et perdono vobis, a section which is found henceforward regularly in the French orders. Next is said the prayer Deus qui populis, and then follows the anointing, the king being anointed during the prayer Omnipotens[93] sempiterne Deus creator et gubernator, which occurs in the second English order and in Hittorp’s Roman order. The crowning then takes place with the form Coronet te Deus, and the sceptre is given with the form used in the second English order and henceforward, Accipe sceptrum regiae potestatis. The order ends with a benediction consisting of fourteen prayers, among which occur all those used in the order of Charles the Bald.

These two orders are very simple, and while the former is manifestly in an unfixed stage, the latter is the first recension of the definite French rite. It is noticeable that it presents many points of similarity with the second English rite, and this is probably due to the influence of the Roman rite.

Louis II was crowned a second time in 877 at Troyes by Pope John VIII. The order used on this occasion [90] is quite different from that used at Compiègne, and is, as might be expected under the circumstances, somewhat Roman in character, but otherwise it is rather puzzling; perhaps it was specially composed for the occasion, or else it belongs to the unfixed stage and may be classed with the order of Charles the Bald.

The first prayer Deus cui omnis potestas et dignitas famulatur (an early form of the familiar Deus cuius est omnis potestas) occurs here for the first time and is found later in most French orders and in the English second and fourth recensions. Then follows Omnium, Domine, fons bonorum, also found in the[94] second English recension, after which come the first ten of the benedictions which accompany the delivery of the Sceptre in ‘Egbert.’ Then comes the prayer Deus inenarrabilis, which here first occurs; and finally a prayer, evidently composed for the occasion, Oratio qua benedixit Apostolicus Johannes regem nostrum, and Spiritum sanctificationis quaesumus Domine, Hludowico regi nostro propitiatus infunde, which does not occur elsewhere.

There are two examples of the coronation of queens in Frankish lands at this time, the earliest examples of the rite in the case of queens in the West.

In 856 Judith [91], the daughter of the Emperor Charles II, was married to Ethelwulf, king of England, and was crowned at the time of her marriage. The actual coronation prayers, which are inserted in the marriage rite, are as follows: Te invocamus, and then, preceded by Sursum corda and Preface, Deus electorum fortitudo, in which however are inserted a few lines proper to the occasion. The queen is then crowned with the form Gloria et honore coronet te Dominus, etc.

The coronation of Queen Hermintrude [92] at Soissons in 866 is still more a special adaptation of the nuptial ceremony. There is first of all a very long allocution made by two bishops, after which follows the marriage prayer containing allusions to the royal position and duties of the bride, and then the queen is crowned[95] with the words Coronet te Dominus gloria et honore et sempiterna protectione, qui vivit et regnat.

In England there was no coronation of the queen consort at this time, and the same was probably the case ordinarily in France. It will be remembered that in the Eastern Empire if an emperor was married after his accession his bride was crowned at the time of her wedding not only with the nuptial crown but also as empress. It is noticeable that both these coronations of Frankish queens took place at the time of their marriage, and it is most probable that there was some such adaptation of the nuptial coronation (which was at this time used in the West) to the special circumstances of the royal bride. The occurrence of Sursum corda and Preface before the consecration prayer in the case of Judith is the first occasion of their use in this connection, but probably this too is due to the influence of the special Preface of the nuptial rite with which it is combined.

In the tenth century there appears a definite French rite. This is represented by the orders contained in the codex of Ratold of Corbey [93] and Martène’s Ordo VII [94], which are very close to the almost contemporary second English recension, and manifestly derived from an English source.

It begins, as does the rite of Louis II in 877, with the petition of the bishops, A vobis perdonari,[96] and the king’s promise, Promitto vobis. Here in M. VII comes the Oath Haec tria[95], which has been lengthened by the insertion of a promise to persecute heretics. Then comes the Recognition, two bishops asking the people if they will accept the king as the ruler, and Te Deum is sung, followed by the prayers Te invocamus, Deus qui populis and (alia) In diebus eius. In M. VII the investiture with the sword followed by Deus qui providentia and the Litany are inserted after Te Deum. Now comes the Consecratio regis, consisting of the prayer Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, creator et gubernator, during which the king is anointed, the anthem Unxerunt Salomonem being sung at the time of the anointing, (alia) Deus electorum fortitudo, (alia) Deus Dei Filius. There is no indication of the number of anointings in Ratold’s order, but in M. VII there are five, the head, breast, between the shoulders, on the shoulders, and the bend of the arms being specified. The investitures follow; the Ring with the form Accipe anulum signaculum and the prayer Deus cuius est omnis potestas, and the rest of the regalia, Sword, Crown, Sceptre, and Verge, are delivered in the same order and with the same forms as in the second English recension. After the investitures comes a series of six benedictions, all of which already occur in the orders of Charles the Bald (869) and Louis II (877), followed (item alia) by three more that are found in ‘Egbert’s’ rite. The king is then enthroned[97] with the form Sta et retine, and last of all occurs in Ratold the charge as to the duties of a king, not yet in the form of an oath, but as in Egbert, Rectitudo est regis noviter ordinati. In M. VII the enthronisation is followed by two prayers, Omn. Deus det tibi de rore and Benedic Domine fortitudinem.

As has been remarked, there is a very close similarity between this order and the almost contemporary English rite, and it is evident that the compiler of Ratold’s order had before him one or more English orders; for in the consecration prayer, where in the English order the words occur, ‘famulum tuum N. quem ... in regnum Anglorum vel Saxonum eligimus,’ in Ratold’s order, in the corresponding position, are found the words, ‘quem ... in regnum N. Albionis totius videlicet Francorum,’ and elsewhere in the same prayer the words ‘totius Albionis ecclesiam.’ Probably the passages occur in this form in Ratold’s order as the result of an oversight on the part of the compiler. But this explanation is not altogether satisfactory, for in M. VII and in the order of Louis VIII (1223) the sentence in Ratold’s consecration prayer ‘ut regale solium vid. Francorum sceptra non deserat’ appears as ‘ut regale solium Saxonum, Merciorum, Nordanhymbrorum sceptra non deserat,’ which can only be explained as being retained for the purpose of making a claim to the English throne [96]. A further proof of the English[98] origin of this rite is the occurrence of the name of ‘St Gregory the Apostle of the English.’ The clause ‘Rectitudo regis’ of Egbert is also found here. But while no really satisfying explanation of these features in the French rite of this period has as yet been forthcoming, they at least bear witness to the influence of the English rite on the French at this time.

The sacring of the queen is exactly like that of the second English order except that in the French order the prayer Adesto supplicationibus, which is said before the anointing, does not appear at all in the English.

III

The French rite in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was subjected, as was the English rite of the same period, to considerable Roman influence. Of this recension Martène’s Ordo VI [97], and the order of Louis VIII [98] (1223) may be taken as examples.

In this recension appear first the preliminary prayers as in the Roman order of Hittorp; the prayer Deus qui scis humanum genus on his entrance into church, and on his entrance into the choir Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque moderator. Between Prime and Terce (the king enters the church after Prime) the Abbot of St Rémi goes in procession to fetch the holy chrism.

The order begins with the petition of the bishops, A vobis perdonari, after which the recognition takes place and Te Deum is sung. The king then takes the oath in the old form, Haec tria populo christiano. Then follows a section directly taken from the Roman rite, and largely a repetition of what has already taken place; the Litany, the king lying prostrate the while, an oath in answer to interrogations, and another recognition in the Roman form, Si tali principi, followed by a series of benedictions all of which occur in the Roman rite.

(1) Deus inenarrabilis, during which the king is anointed, the anthem Unxerunt Salomonem being sung at the time of anointing.

(2) Alia Oratio. Deus Dei Filius. Then the anointing of the hands with the form Unguantur manus istae. Then the prayer from the Roman rite Prospice Omnipotens.

(3) Alia. Deus qui es iustorum gloria, and, introduced by Sursum corda and Preface, Deus creator ac gubernator.

The unction of the hands here first occurs and is found henceforward in the French rite. It is first found in the English rite at this same time in the third recension, but in the English rite it always[100] precedes, while in the French it comes after, the unction proper.

The investitures of Sword, Ring, Sceptre, Verge, and Crown follow the order of Hittorp’s rite, and the old forms used at the delivery of Sword, Ring, and Crown give place to the forms of the Roman order. The Sceptre is given at the same time as the Verge and has no special form of its own, here again showing the Roman influence. The investitures are followed by three benedictions derived from the Roman rite, and then follows the enthronisation, Sta et retine. In Martène VI the king takes another oath, Roman in form, at this point and Te Deum is sung, again shewing that there was already a tendency to transfer the latter to this, the Roman position, from its original place at the beginning of the rite.

The consecration of the queen is different from that of the last recension. It begins with the prayer Adesto Domine supplicationibus nostris and follows exactly the ordo of Hittorp, with the exception that the form used at the crowning exhibits slight verbal variations.

Note

There are two orders [100] given by Martène, VIII and XI, which stand quite by themselves, and are not easily placed. Ordo VIII is taken from an Arles pontifical, dated by Martène c. 1200-1300. The rite is short and shews Roman influence. It begins with Te Deum, after which the king takes the oath[101] in the later Roman form Profiteor coram Deo et angelis. The king is then presented to the metropolitan by two bishops and the consecration begins with the prayer Omnipotens sempiterne Deus creator omnium, followed by Deus Dei filius, during which the king is anointed on the head. He is then crowned with the Roman form Accipe igitur coronam regni, invested with the Verge, Accipe virgam, and enthroned with the Sta et retine. After the enthronisation is said either Deus qui victrices Moysi, a Roman form here first appearing, or Deus inenarrabilis. The forms of the coronation of the queen are almost identical with those of the Roman pontifical of 1520.

The Archbishop of Arles had no official part in the coronation of the French monarch. On the other hand, in strict theory, the emperor should be crowned at Arles as King of Burgundy, as well as at Aachen, Milan, and Rome; it is possible therefore that this order may represent the rite used on such an occasion, though but few emperors were actually crowned at Arles.

Ordo IX is still more puzzling. It is found in the Pontifical of Peter, Bishop of Senlis, who died in the year 1356. The consecration of the king is introduced by Benedic Domine hunc regem, then follows Deus inenarrabilis, after which the king is anointed, during the Deus qui es iustorum gloria, on feet, shoulders, and arms. The forms of the investitures with Sword (after which is said the prayer Deus qui providentia, which however is given[102] out of place), Ring, Sceptre (which is followed by the benediction of the Oriflamme), and Crown follow more or less the Romanized third recension, but the benediction of the Oriflamme is inserted among them. The anointing of the feet is unique, and there can be very little doubt that this ceremony has never had a place in any rite. The probabilities are that both these orders are quite unauthoritative and were never used.

We come now to the final recension of the French rite, which is represented by the order of Charles V, who was crowned in 1364 [101]. This recension, like the corresponding fourth recension of the English rite, returns to the older rite anterior to the Romanized third recension in so far as it is a conflation of the second and third recensions, containing nearly everything that had appeared in all previous rites, and therefore much matter that was originally alternative.

There is the short preliminary service. At the end of the prayers said at the king’s entrance into the choir, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Veni Creator was sung. The king enters the church between Prime and Terce, and while waiting for the arrival of the Sainte Ampoule Terce was sung. The rite begins as usual with the bishop’s petition and the king’s reply, and then follows the oath Haec populo[103] christiano, in which is inserted, in this order, a clause, which vanishes finally in 1484, promising to maintain the rights of the French crown (doubtless against English claims). Te Deum is then sung, though a note remarks that this should be sung, according to Roman use, after the enthroning. Deus inenarrabilis is now said, and the Buskins are put on and the Spurs. Then follows the investiture with the Sword in the position it occupies in the Roman orders, with a benediction, and a conflate form combining the old French Accipe gladium with the Roman Accipe gladium per manus nostras. Then follow the anthem Confortare and the prayers Deus qui providentia, Prospice omnipotens, Benedic Domine quaesumus hunc principem, and Deus pater aeternae gloriae. While the unction is preparing, a series of versicles and responses peculiar to the French rite, and beginning Gentem Francorum inclitam, and a collect are said. The Chrism was miraculous. Brought down from heaven by an angel for the coronation of Clovis, it was carefully preserved in the Abbey of St Rémi, and brought in solemn procession from the Abbey at the time of the coronation. A tiny particle of the contents of the ampoule was mixed with Chrism. The Litany is now said, closing with the prayers Te invocamus, Deus qui populis, (alia) In diebus eius. Then comes the consecration. The king is anointed during the prayer Omn. sempiterne Deus creator ac gubernator, which is followed by the prayers Deus electorum fortitudo and Deus Dei filius, the anthem Unxerunt Salomonem being[104] sung during the anointing. He is anointed on the head, breast, between the shoulders, and at the bend of both arms. The king’s hands are then anointed with the form Unguantur manus, and he then puts on gloves blessed with two forms adapted from the benediction of a bishop’s gloves. The investitures follow; the Ring, with a benediction and the old form Accipe anulum restored in place of the Roman form introduced into the last recension, and the prayer Deus cuius est omnis potestas; the Sceptre, with the usual form and the prayer Omnium Domine fons bonorum; the Verge, with the usual form; the Crown, with the prayer Coronet te Deus, and a conflate form combining the French Accipe coronam and the Roman Accipe inquam coronam, which is followed by Deus perpetuitatis. A series of benedictions are now said, all of which are found elsewhere. After the enthronisation with the usual form the anthem Firmetur manus is sung and the Roman prayer Deus qui victrices Moysi is said, and finally the archbishop kisses the king, saying Vivat Rex in aeternum, and the cry is taken up by the Peers. The Mass, as in the English corresponding rite, is a Mass for the king, and before the Pax the benedictions Benedicat tibi Deus custodiatque, Clerum ac populum and Quatenus divinis monitis are said over king and people. The king communicates, as did the French kings always at a coronation, in both kinds [102].

The queen’s coronation begins with the prayers Adesto Domine supplicationibus, Omn. aeterne Deus fons et origo, Deus qui solus habes and Omn. semp. Deus hanc famulam. She is anointed on head and breast as of old, In nomine, etc., and then follow Spiritus sancti gratia and Deus Pater aeternae gloriae. The Ring is given with the form Accipe anulum, as in the second recension, followed by Deus cuius est omnis potestas; the Verge with the form Accipe virgam and the prayer Omn. semp. Deus affluentem. Lastly she is crowned with the form of the second recension, and the prayer follows Omnium Domine fons bonorum.

This order remained in use, with small and unimportant variations, as long as the monarchy lasted in France. But the coronation of the queen was dispensed with for some reason. The last queen to be anointed and crowned was Marie de Médicis in 1610, and probably a sacring took place in her case only because there was every prospect of her being left Regent and so virtual monarch.

V
Napoleon

The rite by which Napoleon [103] was crowned stands by itself. The arrangement was that he should be crowned according to the rite of the Roman Pontifical, but at the last moment changes were introduced from the French rite itself.

Napoleon came into church already clad in the imperial robes, the Pope having already heard Terce. According to the Roman order the metropolitan should, after certain questions, address the monarch on his duties, and then the oath should be taken. But in place of this Veni Creator was here sung, as in the French rite, and after the versicle Emitte Spiritum and its Response, and the Whitsunday collect Deus qui corda fidelium, Napoleon took the oath. This was much modified, for the Emperor refused to confirm the Church in property which it did not possess, and indeed refused to recite the oath itself, simply saying Profiteor when it was read. Then followed, as in the Pontifical, Omn. semp. Deus creator omnium with the necessary alterations, such as imperatorem for regem, and the addition of et consortem eius whenever the Emperor was named. During the Litany the Emperor and Empress remained[107] seated, and only knelt at the special petitions. According to the Pontifical the anointings should be on neck and right hand, but Napoleon ordained that it should be on the head and hands, and he was so anointed with Chrism with the prayers from the Pontifical, Deus Dei filius and Omn. semp. Deus qui Hazael super Syriam, the anthem Unxerunt Salomonem being sung the while. Josephine was anointed in the same places immediately after the Emperor with the prayer Deus pater aeternae gloriae. At the Mass, at the Emperor’s request, a collect of the Blessed Virgin as patron of the Church was used instead of the proper collect. After the epistle the benediction and delivery of the ornaments took place. As the Pontifical has no forms of benediction of ornaments, the forms for the blessing of Sword, Rings, and Gloves were taken from the Cérémoniel françois, and from the same source were derived forms for the delivery of Main de justice (Verge) and Sceptre, while forms for the benediction of the Orb and the delivery of the Mantles were composed for the occasion. The form for the delivery of Ring and Mantle were used in the plural for Emperor and Empress at once. At the time of the crowning the Emperor ascended to the altar and taking from off it the imperial Crown crowned himself, and then crowned Josephine, the Pope saying Accipe coronam regni and Coronet vos Deus corona gloriae. At the enthronisation the French form of the Sta et retine was used instead of the Roman, as affirming the independence of the sovereign. Te Deum was then sung, followed by the[108] anthem Firmetur manus and the prayers Victrices Moysis and Deus inenarrabilis, and Mass proceeds. Neither Emperor nor Empress communicated. After Mass, while the Pope was unvesting in the Chapelle du Trésor, Napoleon took the constitutional oath at which the Pope had refused to be present, and was proclaimed ‘Le très glorieux et très auguste Empereur Napoléon Empereur des français, sacré et intronisé.’ The Emperor and Empress then proceeded to the Archevêché whither they were followed by the Pope, during whose procession the anthem Tu es Petrus was sung.

CHAPTER VII
THE ROMAN RITE OF THE CORONATION OF A KING

The Roman rite of the coronation of kings is based on the imperial rite, but at the same time owes much to the various national rites which had been in existence some time before the genesis of the Roman. The earliest known Roman rite of the coronation of a king is that contained in the Ordo Romanus of Hittorp [104], and is probably of the tenth or eleventh century.

It begins with the preliminary prayer Omn. semp. Deus qui famulum and the responsory Ecce mitto angelum and the prayer Deus qui scis humanum genus as the king enters the church. This is all purely Roman. The order begins with the prayer Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque, which is first found here, after which is said the Litany, another Roman feature. The oath is put to the king in interrogatory form, Vis sanctam fidem, etc.,[110] Vis sanctis ecclesiis, etc., Vis regnum, etc., and the king answers Volo. The people are then asked whether they will accept the king, and they answer Fiat, fiat.

The consecration of the king is preceded by a benediction, Benedic Domine hunc regem, and two alternative forms of consecration are given.

(1) Omn. aeterne Deus creator omnium, which is found in the rite by which Louis II was crowned in 877, and after this is said by another bishop Deus inenarrabilis, after which the king is anointed on head, breast, shoulders, and bends of arms with the form Ungo te in regem de oleo sanctificato in nomine, etc., and finally on the hands, Unguantur manus. Then is said Prospice Omnipotens, which appears in the earliest form of the imperial rite and in the Milanese rite of the ninth century [105].

(2) The alternative consecration consists of the prayers Deus qui es iustorum gloria, a Roman prayer, and Sursum corda, Preface, and the Deus creator omnium of the first alternative.

The investitures follow; the Sword with the form Accipe gladium per manus episcoporum; the Ring with the form Accipe regiae dignitatis anulum, both these forms occurring here for the first time; the Verge with the form, found in all orders but that of ‘Egbert,’ Accipe virgam virtutis; and lastly the Crown with the form, here first occurring, Accipe coronam regni. The three benedictions which follow the investitures, Benedicat tibi, Clerum ac populum,[111] and Quatenus divinis, also appear for the first time in this order. After the responsory Desiderium animae the king is enthroned with the Sta et retine, which is found with variations in all orders except that of ‘Egbert,’ the metropolitan gives the king the kiss of peace, and finally Te Deum is sung.

At the consecration of the queen, after the prayers Omn. aet. Deus fons et origo, and Deus qui solus habes immortalitatem, she is anointed with the form Spiritus Sancti gratia, and she is then crowned with the form Officio indignitatis.

There is a large number of Roman orders varying in places, but in general agreement with the Ordo of Hittorp.

The Roman rite does not seem to have undergone the number of revisions to which the national rites were subjected, and what revision it did undergo was all in the direction of simplicity.

The rite of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is very close to that which is found in the present Pontificale Romanum. An order [106] of this period is as follows. The king is led by bishops to the metropolitan with the request that he be crowned, and in answer to the metropolitan’s question they declare that he is worthy. The king then takes the oath,[112] which has become direct, Ego N. profiteor coram Deo et angelis. The oath is rather shorter in the Pontifical of 1520. After the prayer Omn. aeterne Deus Creator (a variant form of Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque) the Litany is said, the king lying prostrate before the altar. The metropolitan [107] then anoints the king on the right arm [108] and between the shoulders with the prayers Deus Dei filius and (alia in the Munich order) Omn. semp. Deus qui Azahel[109]. Mass is then begun, the Mass for the day being said with a second collect Deus regnorum omnium. In the present Pontifical of Clement VIII, the special collect is that of the ‘Missa pro rege.’ The king is invested with Sword, Verge, and Crown; in the Pontifical of 1520, and that at present in use, after he has been invested with the sword the king brandishes it thrice, and in the present Roman order the form of the investiture with the sword is the old form with which it was girded on, Accingere gladium tuum. The king is then enthroned with Sta et amodo retine, Te Deum is sung, and finally after the responsory Firmetur manus, the two prayers Deus qui victrices Moysi and Deus inenarrabilis (this latter under an alia in the Munich order) are said. The Secret and Postcommunion[113] are the same as in ‘Egbert,’ except that in the present rite the Postcommunion is that of the ‘Missa pro rege.’

The later forms of the queen’s coronation have changed considerably. In the Pontifical of 1520, followed by that in use at present, the king presents his consort to be crowned, and a short Litany is said. Then comes a benediction and Sursum corda, Preface, and Deus honorum cunctorum auctor. She is anointed in the same way as the king with the prayer Deus pater aeternae gloriae, and then comes the crowning and, a new feature, investiture with the Sceptre.

CHAPTER VIII
THE RITE OF MILAN

The rite of Milan, in which city the Emperor was crowned as king of Italy, appears in its earliest form [110] in the ninth century. It is very simple and short, being almost identical with the earliest Roman imperial rite. The whole consists of four prayers only; Exaudi Domine preces nostras; the ‘Consecratio’ Prospice Omn. Deus serenis obtutibus; the crowning form Accipe coronam; and lastly Deus Pater aeternae gloriae. Of these prayers the first three occur in the imperial rite of the Gemunden codex, and the last is found in Hittorp’s order. It is also interesting to note that there is no mention in any rubric of the anointing, which, if it occurred, doubtless took place during the consecration prayer [111]. There is no reference to any coronation of the queen[115] consort. The Mass prayers are those which are found in ‘Egbert’s’ rite and are Roman.

A second stage of the Milanese rite, as found in an order [112] which Dr Magistretti assigns to the eleventh century, shews an interesting development. It is much longer than the older rite and is an amalgamation of the Anglo-Frankish rite as represented by ‘Egbert’ and the Roman. The whole of ‘Egbert’s’ order is found in it, the remaining forms being Roman.

This order begins with the prayer Omn. aeterne Deus creator omnium. Then follows the ‘Consecratio seu Benedictio regis,’ consisting of the forms in ‘Egbert’ Te invocamus and In diebus eius combined into one, and the king is anointed with the form Deus Dei filius, (alia) Deus electorum fortitudo. The investitures follow in unusual order: the Crown, Accipe coronam regni licet ab indignis; the Verge, Accipe virgam virtutis atque aequitatis; the Sword, Accipe gladium per manus episcoporum; and the Ring, Accipe regiae dignitatis anulum; all the forms being those of Hittorp’s order. A series of benedictions follow the enthronisation, all of which are to be found in ‘Egbert,’ and then comes the acclamation Vivat rex ille in sempiternum, the kiss of the nobles, the prayer Deus perpetuitatis, and the charge Rectitudo regis est noviter ordinati, all as in ‘Egbert.’

The queen was also crowned in this order, but the MS. which contains it is mutilated and gives only the two first prayers, Omn. semp. Deus fons et origo and Deus qui solus, which are the first two prayers of Hittorp’s order.

III

A third recension of the Milanese rite may be seen in the order used at the coronation of Henry VII and his Queen, Catharina [113], at Milan in 1311. This order represents the most elaborate stage of the Milanese rite and seems to have been subject to both French and Roman influence.

The short preliminary service now first appears from the Roman rite. As the king enters the choir the prayer Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque is said, and then the king’s oath is put to him in interrogatory form. Then appears a French feature, the petition of the bishops A vobis perdonari, and the king’s reply. The Recognition follows, the people answering Kyrie eleison. The Litany concludes with the three prayers Te invocamus, Deus qui populis and In diebus eius, the second of which appears in this recension only of the rite of Milan. The consecration prayer is that of the English and French rites, Omn. semp. Deus creator ac gubernator (in which there still remains the allusion to the Saxons), the anthem Dilexisti iustitiam or Unxerunt Salomonem being sung during the anointing, which seems to have been only on the shoulders, and after which was said[117] Deus Dei filius. The Ring is given with the form of the last recension, followed by the prayer Deus cuius est omnis potestas; the Sword with the non-Roman form Accipe gladium and the prayer Deus qui providentia; the Crown with the form Accipe coronam regni and the prayer Deus perpetuitatis; the Sceptre with the form Accipe sceptrum regiae potestatis and the prayer Omnium Domine fons bonorum; and the Verge with the usual form. Then follow six benedictions, of which the first two are found in the old French and English rites, and the others in the last recension. After the enthronisation an Orb and Cross is delivered to the king with a form beginning Accipe pomum aureum quod significat monarchiam omnium regnorum. The king answers Fiat to the charge Rectitudo regis, and then Te Deum is sung.

The order of the queen’s coronation begins with the prayer Omn. semp. Domine fons et origo, then follows the consecration prayer Deus qui solus, and the queen is anointed with the form In nomine ... prosit tibi haec unctio, which is followed by Spiritus sancti gratia. The anointing is made on the shoulders. She is then invested with a Ring, which is an entirely new feature, the form Accipe anulum fidei signaculum s. Trinitatis and the prayer Omnium fons bonorum Domine being those of the French rite, from which this is probably derived. She is crowned with the form Accipe coronam gloriae, and finally are said the two prayers Officio nostrae indignitatis and Omn. semp. deus affluentem spiritum, the last of which is French.

A fourth recension is found in a Milanese order of the fifteenth century [114], and is a revised and shortened edition of the last.

On the king’s entry into church Deus cuius in manu is said, and the oath follows at once as in the last order. The petition of the bishops has disappeared, and immediately after the taking of the oath Mass is begun ‘with the saying of the Confiteor by the aforesaid Pontiff together with the aforesaid King,’ after which the Litany is sung and then follows the Introit. The collect of Pentecost is used, followed by Deus regnorum omnium. After the epistle the archbishop anoints the king on the head, the clerks singing meanwhile Dilexisti iustitiam. The consecration prayer itself is omitted, probably by an oversight, but doubtless it was the same as was used in the last recension. After the anointing come the prayers Dom. Deus Omn. cuius est omnis potestas and Deus Dei filius. The investitures with Sword, Ring, Crown, Sceptre, and Orb (under one form) are all as in the last recension, except that the prayers following the delivery of the ornaments are omitted, and the form of investiture with Sword gives place to the Roman form Accipe gladium per manus. After the investitures come three of the benedictions of the last recension, but in different order, and Te Deum.

Alternative Mass prayers are given, either those of the Ambrosian Missa pro imperatore as in the order of Henry VII, or a combination of those of the Vigil of Pentecost, and of Pentecost according to the Ambrosian use.

The order of the queen’s coronation is identical with that of the last recension.

CHAPTER IX
THE GERMAN RITE

The earliest account of a German coronation rite is Widukind’s description of the coronation of Otto of Saxony at Aachen in 936. Widukind [115] relates that Otto was first elected king by the nobles, who then swore allegiance to him and ‘more suo’ made him king. The royal procession went to the church of Charlemagne, where it was met by the metropolitan, who presented the new king to the people and demanded whether they accepted Otto as their king, on which the people lifting their right hands acclaimed him king with loyal cries. The Recognition over, the procession went up to the altar, on which the regalia were already deposited. The archbishop then invested Otto with Sword and belt, using a form beginning Accipe hunc gladium, which, though shorter, is very similar to the corresponding form of the second English and French recensions. Then follows[121] the investiture with Armills and Chlamys under one form, which does not occur elsewhere; the Sceptre and Staff (baculus) are then delivered also under one form, and that again is unique. The king is then anointed with holy oil and crowned with a golden diadem by the Archbishops Hildiberht and Wicfrid together, but the forms used are not given, and the king is enthroned by the same bishops. Te Deum is then sung (divina laude dicta)[116] and Mass follows.

This rite is manifestly very far from being fixed, and is to be classed with the earliest examples of the Frankish rite. It is independent of the Roman rite, belonging to the Hispano-Frankish family. The Greek names of two of the regal ornaments, the Diadema and the Chlamys, are instructive.

The German rite proper comes into prominence in the thirteenth century, and is the rite by which the Roman Emperor elect was crowned at Aachen as king of Germany. The Emperor was in theory crowned three times, first at Aachen as German king, secondly at Milan as king of Italy, and thirdly at Rome as Roman Emperor. In later times the German coronation often took place at Frankfort, where he was elected. The officiating Prelates were the three ecclesiastical Electors, the Archbishops of Cologne,[122] Mayence, and Trier. The German rite changed hardly at all, for there is scarcely any difference between the order used at the coronation of Rudolf I in 1273, and that of Matthias II at Frankfort in 1612.

The order used in the case of Rudolf I [117] is as follows. The consecrator, the Archbishop of Cologne, assisted by the Archbishops of Mayence and Trier, receive the Emperor elect at the entrance of the church, and the Archbishop of Cologne says the prayer, Omn. semp. Deus qui famulum tuum; then is sung Ecce mitto angelum, and the two prayers follow, Deus qui scis genus humanum, and Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque. These are the preliminary prayers of the Roman rite which seem here to have become part of the rite proper. Mass now is begun, and the Mass used on this occasion in the German rite is the Mass of the Epiphany. In Rudolf’s order this collect was followed by the collect of St Michael. After the Sequence Litany is sung, and the Archbishop of Cologne puts a series of six questions to the king, to which he answers Volo. The first three of these are found in Hittorp’s order; the fourth asks whether he will maintain the laws of the Empire; the fifth whether he will maintain justice. The sixth demands whether he will shew due submission to the Pope. It runs thus: Vis sanctissimo in Christo Patri et Domino Romano Pontifici et sanctae Romanae ecclesiae subiectionem debitam et fidem reverenter exhibere? This question bears[123] traces of the long struggle between the Empire and the Papacy, and is an oath such as the kings of England and France never took. At the end of the questions the king lays two fingers on the altar and swears. At the Recognition the people answer Fiat thrice. The Consecration follows, after the prayers Benedic Domine hunc regem, as in the order of Hittorp, and Deus ineffabilis. Here the German Order agrees with the English Orders in using the word ‘ineffabilis’ in the place of ‘inenarrabilis’ which always occurs elsewhere. At the end of this prayer the Archbishop anoints the king on head, breast and shoulders, with the oil of catechumens, saying Ungo te in regem de oleo sanctificato in nomine, etc. and then on the hands with the form Unguantur manus istae. The anointing is followed by a number of prayers, Prospice Omn. deus serenis obtutibus, Spiritus Sancti gratia, Deus qui es iustorum, Sursum corda, Preface, and Creator omnium, and Deus Dei filius. Of these Spiritus Sancti gratia in the Roman rite follows the anointing of the Queen; the others are an example of a conflation of consecration prayers; perhaps they were not all actually used, for it is difficult to imagine that so manifest a consecration form as a prayer with a preface should be used after the consecration had already taken place. The forms with which the king is invested with Sword, Ring, Sceptre and Orb, and Crown, are all Roman. The Sword is delivered with the form Accipe gladium per manus episcoporum, as in Hittorp’s Ordo Romanus; the Ring with the form Accipe regiae[124] dignitatis anulum, as in Hittorp; the Sceptre and Orb together under the form Accipe virgam virtutis atque aequitatis which is used in Hittorp’s and other orders for the delivery of the Verge; and the Crown with the form Accipe coronam regni, as in Hittorp’s order. After the investitures the king takes the oath again in the direct form of the later Roman rite, Profiteor et promitto coram Deo, etc. in Latin and German—another example of conflation. Then the responsory Desiderium animae is sung and the king is enthroned with the Ita retine[118]. Here in the coronation rite of Charles V the Archbishop of Mayence delivered a long address of congratulation in German.

The coronation of the queen, which was performed by the Archbishops of Mayence and Trier conjointly, follows exactly that of Hittorp’s order. After the Queen’s coronation Te Deum was sung.

The rite in the later days [119] hardly varied at all from this. Thus the orders according to which Maximilian I was crowned in 1486, Charles V at Aachen in 1519, Matthias II [120] at Frankfort in 1612, differ only in the slightest details from the order of Rudolf I.

The Crown and the imperial vestments with which the Emperor elect was crowned in Germany were those of Charlemagne, which were most carefully preserved. An eye-witness [121] of the coronation of Leopold II at the end of the eighteenth century says that they were still in use, and that the Emperor adapted his coiffure and beard to the style of Charlemagne, and appeared like a man of the seventh (sic) century. During the singing of Te Deum Charles V created a number of knights with the sword of Charlemagne, but in later days the creation of knights took place after the service. In England the creation of knights of the Bath took place the day before the coronation.

CHAPTER X
THE HUNGARIAN RITE

We have very little material for the Hungarian rite. Martène gives us the order by which Albert II (afterwards Emperor) was crowned in 1438 [122], and Panvinio and Beuther give us a general account of the coronation of Matthias II (afterwards Emperor) as king of Hungary in 1612 [123].

The Hungarian rite is very close to the later Roman rite. The king is presented to the metropolitan by a bishop who requests him in the name of the Church to proceed to the coronation. After the usual questions and answers the king takes the oath, Ego Albertus profiteor et promitto coram Deo. Then is said the prayer Omn. semp. Deus creator omnium, which is followed by the Litany, and the king is then anointed on the right arm and between the shoulders with ‘oleum exorcizatum,’ the metropolitan saying[127] the prayer Deus Dei filius. The metropolitan begins the Mass, which is that for the day, the collect Deus regnorum omnium being also said. After the Gradual and Alleluia the investitures of Sword, Crown, and Verge take place, the forms used being those of Hittorp’s order, and the king is enthroned with Sta et retine. Then is sung Firmetur manus, and the prayer Deus qui victrices Moysi is said or (Alia benedictio) Deus inenarrabilis, and Mass proceeds, the Secret and Postcommunion being those of the Roman rite of the fifteenth century.

Panvinio and Beuther give us a few additional details. After the king is girt with the sword of St Stephen he brandishes it thrice. The Recognition takes place dramatically just before the coronation itself, the officiating Cardinal handing the crown to the Court Palatine who lifts it up, and shews it to the people, and asks according to ancient custom whether they bid the elect to be made king; and the people answer Placet, fiat, vivat Rex. After the delivery of the Verge, the Orb and Cross is put into the king’s left hand without any form. According to this account, after the enthronisation Laudetur Deus is sung, by which is probably meant Te Deum, which occurs here in the Roman rite, and they greet the king with the acclamation Vita, Salus, Felicitas, Victoria.

The last coronation of a king of Hungary, that of the Emperor Francis Joseph in 1867, was according to the rite of the present Pontificale Romanum.

CHAPTER XI
THE SPANISH RITE

It was in Spain that the coronation rite first appeared in the West. The actual date at which the rite was first used in Spain is not known, but in the seventh century it was evidently well established. Thus in the Canons of the sixth Council of Toledo (638) reference is made to the oath which the king takes on his accession, in which he swears to persecute the Jews, and in the Canons of the eighth Council this oath is again referred to. Julian, Bishop of Toledo [124], has left us a short description of the coronation of King Wamba in 672, at which ceremony he was himself present. He tells us that the king, standing in his royal robes (regio iam cultu conspicuus) before the altar of the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Toledo, ‘according to custom made his oath to the people, and then on bended knees the oil of benediction is poured on his head by the hands of the holy bishop Quiricius and an abundance of benediction is manifested.’ Here we have the oath, the anointing, and the curious[129] expression ‘benedictionis copia,’ which probably means a series of benedictions. There are no early Spanish forms extant, though there are slight traces of the rite and evidence that there was a proper Mass for the occasion in the old Spanish service books [125].

From the time of the Arab conquest until the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain was little more than a geographical term. Three small Christian states, Aragon, Castile, and Navarre, maintained their independence against the flourishing Arab kingdom of Granada. The realm of Aragon was in itself a confederation of different states, and therefore in strict theory the king should, to obtain due recognition, be crowned in each state. But, probably owing to the inconvenience of an oft-repeated coronation, the rite seems to have been discarded altogether in Aragon by the fifteenth century. Nevertheless the order used at the coronation of Dom Pedro IV of Aragon in 1336 is still preserved. Castile was even more than Aragon a confederation of different states, and the king of Castile was king also of Léon, Galice, Toledo, Jaen, Murcia, etc. Here again, doubtless from considerations of convenience, the rite seems to have passed out of existence early, being replaced by a series of proclamations, and the taking of the oath by the new king before the Cortes.

The third Christian state in Spain was the kingdom of Navarre. In this state, up to the fifteenth century, a coronation rite was used which possessed[130] even more clearly marked characteristics than the rite of Aragon.

After the union of the Spanish states into the one Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella, the rite seems to have passed out of existence altogether, the custom of Castile serving for the whole of Spain.

The order of the coronation of Dom Pedro IV of Aragon [126] in 1336, while shewing Roman influence, on the other hand exhibits, with the rite of Navarre, more clearly marked national characteristics than any other Western rite.

The order of the coronation of Dom Pedro is as follows. The day before the ceremony the king entered the church in which he was to be crowned on the morrow, and kneeling down said a prayer for himself in Spanish. The Sword, Shield, and Helmet were then set on the altar, where they remained through the night watched by nobles, the king reposing in the Sacristy. Next morning he hears Mass privately, and at the time appointed he is summoned by the archbishop and other bishops, and is arrayed in his royal vesture; an ample linen camisa, like a Roman rochet; an amice of linen; a long camisa of white linen; a girdle; a stole over the left shoulder hanging before and behind; a maniple on his left wrist; a tunicle; and a dalmatic. The king thus arrayed goes in procession to the altar, and the Litany is said, followed by a prayer for the king and the collect Actiones nostras. At this point comes a section peculiar to the Spanish rite, the[131] Benedictio super omnia arma regis; first a general benediction, then the Benedictio super scutum, the Benedictio super lanceam, and the Benedictio super ensem. After these benedictions, if he is not already a knight, the king is invested with the Sword, the archbishop saying Accipe ensem desuper altare, as in the Roman rite, and the king says a prayer for himself in Spanish. The Mass for the day is then begun, and after the Epistle the king takes the oath in the direct form, Nos N. profitemur et promittimus coram Deo[127]. The more important bishops now lead the king to the archbishop and ask that he may be crowned, as in the Roman rite, except that the petition is made in Spanish. The archbishop then says Deus in cuius manu corda sunt regum, and there follow three prayers under the heading Alia oratio which are probably to be regarded as alternative to the foregoing, Omn. semp. Deus qui famulum tuum N., Deus qui scis omne humanum, and Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque. The archbishop then puts the questions to the king Vis fidem sanctam, etc., and asks the people whether they will accept him as king, as in Hittorp’s order. The archbishop blesses the king with the prayer Benedic Domine hunc regem, and proceeds to the consecration; after Sursum corda, Preface, and the prayer Creator omnium Imperator angelorum he anoints him in the threefold Name on the breast and each of his shoulders, and then says[132] Prospice Omn. Domine hunc gloriosum regem nostrum serenis obtutibus. At this point under the heading Alia oratio are given a number of prayers Domine Deus Omn. cuius est omnis potestas, in a longer version than usual, Omn. semp. Deus qui Azahel super Syriam, Spiritus Sancti gratia, Deus qui es iustorum gloria, and Deus Dei filius.

The king is now crowned, the archbishop saying the form Accipe igitur coronam regni, as in Hittorp’s order except for a few words, and the king takes the Crown from off the altar and crowns himself, the archbishop saying Accipe signum gloriae, diadema et coronam regni, as in the Roman rite of the coronation of an emperor. The king then takes the Sceptre from the altar, the archbishop saying Accipe virgam, etc.; then the Orb, the archbishop saying Accipe dignitatis pomum et per id, etc., which is the form with which the Ring is delivered in Hittorp’s order with the necessary changes. After the investitures, under the heading Alia oratio come the two prayers, Benedic Domine quaesumus hunc regem, and Deus pater aeternae gloriae, and the king is then enthroned with the Sta et retine, the anthem Desiderium animae being sung the while.

The queen’s coronation now follows. After the prayers Omn. semp. Deus fons et origo, and Deus qui solus, she retires to the sacristy, where she is arrayed in a camisa romana; a camisa of white silk; a girdle of white silk; a maniple on the left arm; and a dalmatic. Then the Litany is sung, followed by two prayers for the queen, Praetende, quaesumus, Domine, famulae[133] tuae, and Omn. semp. Deus hanc famulam. The consecration prayer follows, Deus bonorum cunctorum auctor with its preface, and the queen is anointed on head, breast, and on one shoulder, and after the anointing are said the prayers, Deus pater aeternae gloriae, and Spiritus Sancti gratia. The king now takes the Crown from off the altar and sets it on the queen’s head, the archbishop saying the short Roman form, Accipe coronam gloriae, or the form of Hittorp’s order Officio indignitatis. The king then gives the Sceptre into the queen’s right hand, the archbishop saying Accipe virgam virtutis, and the Orb into her left hand, the same form being used as in the case of the king. The coronation of king and queen now over, Te Deum is sung, and Mass is begun. The Postcommunion is the old Roman form adapted, Deus qui ad defendendum aeterni regni evangelium regium Aragonum solium praeparasti, and before the Mass blessing are said Omn. semp. Deus qui te populi sui voluit esse rectorem, and Haec Domine salutaris sacrificii perceptio, this latter, which is the Postcommunion of the Missa pro imperatoribus, being evidently a Postcommunion out of place.

It will be seen that at this stage the Spanish rite had been considerably influenced by the Roman rite. On the other hand it still retained very ancient features. The Shield and Spear are among the insignia of the Eastern emperors [128]. The Crown is still called the ‘Helmet,’ as in the Order of ‘Egbert.’[134] The taking of the insignia by the king himself, and his investing the queen with her insignia, of which usages there are signs in some of the early Frankish rites, all are reminiscent of the old Eastern rite, as are the private prayers of the king himself, which have their parallel in the living form of the Eastern Imperial rite, that which exists in Russia at the present day. The use of the vernacular, too, is very noticeable. Indeed the parallels between their rite and the earlier Eastern rite raise the question whether there has been at any stage a borrowing by the former of elements from the latter.

The coronation rite seems to have lasted longest in Navarre of all the Spanish kingdoms. Moreover the rite of Navarre, though very similar to the rite of Aragon, is still more peculiarly Spanish than that of Aragon. The general character of the rite of Navarre is seen in the description of the coronation of Charles the Noble in 1390, though unfortunately the actual forms used are not available [129]. The ceremony took place at Pamplona, and is begun by the Archbishop of Pamplona requesting the king, ‘before you approach the sacrament of your unction,’ to take the oath to the people which custom requires. The king accordingly laying his hand on cross and gospels, swears to maintain the rights and privileges of the people and to maintain justice. Then in their turn the nobility and gentry present with one voice swear to be loyal and obedient to the king, and lastly[135] the officials of the towns, etc., take the oath of fealty. The king then proceeds to the chapel of St Stephen, disrobes, and is arrayed in white vestments designed with special openings to admit of the anointing. The Archbishop of Pamplona proceeds to anoint him in front of the high altar according to custom, but unfortunately what the custom is is not specified. The king after the anointing changes his raiment for precious vestments, and returns to the high altar. The archbishop then proceeds with the accustomed prayers, and the king takes the Sword off the altar and girds it on himself. He draws it, brandishes it, and returns it to its sheath. The king next takes the Crown from off the altar and sets it on his head, the archbishop saying the special form for the crowning; and then in the same way he takes the Sceptre. Finally, with Crown on head and Sceptre in hand, he is raised aloft on a large shield by twelve barons and deputies of various towns, who thrice shout ‘Real, real, real.’ Certain prayers follow, and Te Deum is sung. High Mass is then begun, the king offering certain palls of cloth of gold, and money according to custom. He makes his communion.

The rite by which John and Blanche were crowned in 1429 is more or less the same [130]. The oaths were made as usual, and the elevation on the shield took place, both John and Blanche being elevated, ‘according as the Gothic Kings of Spain were wont[136] to be elevated, and before them certain Emperors of the Roman Empire.’

There are certain features of the Spanish rite which are very reminiscent of the Byzantine rite. For example, the Crown is called the ‘Helmet.’ The Shield and Spear are among the regalia. The monarch is elevated on a shield. And again the king invests himself with the various regal ornaments as was done in some circumstances at Constantinople. On the other hand it is to be remembered that after all the Shield and Spear were arms in general use and common to all nations. The elevation on the shield at Constantinople was without doubt derived from the practice of the Teutonic tribes who furnished the Empire with so many of her soldiers, and may well have been the custom of the Goths. The self-investiture by the king is curious in a land so much under the domination of the Church as was Spain from earliest Visigothic times. And there is no definite evidence of any derivation of the rite of the Spanish kingdoms from the rite of Constantinople.

CHAPTER XII
PROTESTANT RITES.

Scotland

The Scottish pre-reformation rite has not been preserved. It was not until the time of Pope John XXII that the kings of Scotland were crowned with an anointing, but in 1329 there was conferred upon the kings of Scotland ‘the right to receive anointing and coronation by the sacred hands of a Pontiff,’ a privilege which most of the kings of Europe at that time enjoyed. There was, however, long before this time some sort of inauguration ceremony. The ‘Ordination’ of King Aidan by St Columba has been mentioned, and there is reference fairly frequently in the Scottish annals to a ‘Custom of the nation,’ some ceremony that took place at the accession of a king, but of the details of which we have no knowledge. It was probably of the nature of an enthronisation. Again we can perhaps obtain some information on a detail of the coronation rite in general from a question that came up over the inauguration of Alexander III in 1249. The king was eight years old, and a dispute arose whether the[138] king should be knighted before he was made king. It will be remembered that in the rite of Aragon the king was invested with the Sword at his coronation only if he had not been knighted before. It would seem that originally the investiture with the Sword was no part of the coronation ceremony, but was in process of time taken into the rite from the order for making a knight. Perhaps, too, we may see in the obligatory oath of the people of the post-reformation Scottish rite a survival of a peculiarity of the old rite.

In 1567 James VI was crowned during the lifetime of his mother, when he was one year old. The rite on this occasion was the old one, except that there was no Mass, and the officiating prelate was Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, the king being duly anointed, and the usual ceremonies taking place. The sermon was preached by John Knox, and the Earl of Morton acted as sponsor for the king. In the oath the king swore to extirpate heretics, but this was probably in accordance with the old form, the only difference being that heretics were now those who did not hold the doctrines of the ‘true Kirk.’

The second occasion on which a coronation ceremony took place in Scotland in post-reformation times was when Anne of Denmark was crowned as Queen-consort in 1590. This was the first occasion on which a definitely protestant rite was used. The[139] service was of appalling length and lasted from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. There was no singing of any kind, not even of a psalm, and the unfortunate Anne had to listen to six discourses, three addresses, and three sermons, the last being in English, French, and Latin. After these Mr Andrew Melville recited two hundred lines of a poem of his own composing. The Queen took an oath against Popery. She was then anointed on the breast, and the method of anointing must have been very unpleasant, for we are told that ‘Mester Robert Bruce immediately puires furthe upon thois partis of hir breist and arme of quhilk the clothes were remowit, a bonye quantitie of oyll.’ Pressure had to be put on the Kirk to consent to use any anointing at all, and it was only when James threatened to procure a Prelate to perform the rite, if the Kirk was obdurate, that it was agreed to perform the obnoxious ceremony, and then on the understanding that it should be regarded as a civil and not as a religious act, and should be done without any form of words. After the anointing the Sceptre was delivered into her hands by Mr Melville, and the Duke of Lennox, receiving the Crown from the King’s hands, set it upon her head. And so the rite was concluded.

In 1651 Charles II was crowned as king of Scotland at Scone. The rite used [132] on this occasion was purged of ‘superstition’ inasmuch as no anointing was used. Otherwise it is based to some extent on the old rite and probably owes something to the English-Scottish[140] order used at the coronation of Charles I at Holyrood.

Before the procession started, the king was addressed by the Lord Chancellor to the effect that his subjects desired him to be crowned and to maintain the Covenant and to defend their rights, and Charles having given the required promise the procession set forth. During the first part of the proceedings in the church the king occupied a chair by the pulpit, the regalia being deposited on a table. The ceremony began with a sermon of inordinate length, preached by Mr Robert Douglas, Moderator of the Assembly. Basing his discourse on the narrative of the crowning of Jehoiada, the preacher dealt with many subjects, the meaning of the Coronation ceremony, the need of a reformation of their ways on the part of the king and his family, the freedom and independence of the Kirk and of the king’s duties towards it. The sermon being over, the king swore to maintain the Solemn League and Covenant. The Recognition then followed, the king ascending a stage and being presented to the people at the four sides by the Lord Great Constable and the Marischal, the people crying God save King Charles II. The oath was then tendered by Mr Douglas, and the king swore to maintain the established religion, to defend the rights of the crown of Scotland, and to extirpate heretics.

The oath taken, the Lord Great Chamberlain divested the king of his purple mantle in which he was arrayed from the first, and girt on him the Sword,[141] saying: Sir, receive this kingly sword for the defence of the faith of Christ and protection of his kirk and of the true religion which is presently professed in this Kingdom and according to the National Covenant and League and Covenant, and for executing equity and justice, and for punishment of all iniquity and injustice. This is based on the old form. The king was then crowned by the Marquis of Argyll, the minister praying that the crown might be purged of the sin of his predecessors, and firmly settled on the king’s head. The homage follows, the Lyon king of Arms summons the nobles to come and touch the crown and swear faithful allegiance, and then takes place what is perhaps a feature peculiar to the old Scottish rite, the obligatory oath of the people. The Lyon king of Arms dictates the oath at the four corners of the stage, and the people holding up their hands repeat: By the Eternal Almighty God who liveth and reigneth for ever, we become your liegemen, and truth and faith will bear with you, and live and die with you against all manner of folk whatsoever in your service, according to the National League and Solemn League and Covenant. The Earl of Crawford next delivers the Sceptre, saying: Sir, receive this Sceptre of royal power of the Kingdom, that you may govern yourself right and defend all the Christian people committed by God to your charge, punishing the wicked and protecting the just. This again is based on the old form. The king is then enthroned by the Marquis of Argyll with a very short form based on the Sta et retine, Stand and hold fast from[142] henceforth the place whereof you are the lawful and righteous heir by a long and lineal descent of your fathers which is now delivered unto you by authority of Almighty God. The minister then delivers a ‘word of exhortation,’ after which one by one the lords kneel and swear allegiance, and finally the minister blesses the king and closes the proceedings with a long address to the people.

The Coronation of the Winter King

In 1619 Frederick Count Palatine of the Rhine and the Princess Elizabeth (daughter of James I) were crowned with a reformed rite at Prague [133].

The king goes in procession to the parish church of Prague, and arrays himself in his regal vestments in the chapel of St Wenceslaus. As he enters the choir from the chapel he is blessed by the Administrator (the officiating minister) and, preceded by the procession of the Regalia, goes up to the high altar. The Veni Creator is sung [134], and then is said a collect for the king, in Bohemian, after which the king goes to his seat and the sermon is preached. After the sermon a Litany is sung in Latin with special petitions for the king, then a lesson is read, and the Administrator says a prayer for the guidance of the Holy[143] Spirit. Here comes the Recognition; the Burggraf demands of the people whether it is their wish that the king be crowned, and on their signifying their desire, the king takes the oath in the vulgar tongue, after which another prayer is said. The Administrator then anoints the king in the form of a cross on the forehead with an explanatory form which has no connection with the old forms. The investitures follow, and the king is invested with the Sword with the form Accipe gladium Rex electe a Deo, etc., which is based on the old Catholic form; then with Ring [135], Sceptre, Orb or Reichsapfel, and with the Crown, the forms in all cases being new. The enthronisation then takes place, after which the Burggraf summons all present to take the oath of allegiance, during the taking of which all who could laid two fingers on the Crown, and all others held up two fingers, the oath being repeated in common. A long benediction [136] of the king then takes place. The coronation of the queen is now proceeded with. As she comes from the sacristy she is blessed by the Administrator and kneels before the high altar while a prayer is said. The king then asks the Administrator to crown his Consort. Litany is sung, with special petitions for the queen, and the lesson read before is read again. A prayer is said, and then the Administrator anoints her in the same way as the king was anointed. The Sceptre is delivered to her with a form which is based on the old Catholic form, and the Reichsapfel and[144] Crown with the same forms as were used in the case of the king. There is no mention of a Ring. A long benediction [137] of the queen follows here, and then the queen returns to her throne, and the proceedings close with the singing of Te Deum.

The Prussian Rite of 1701

In 1701, on the transformation of Frederick Elector of Brandenburg into the first King of Prussia, a consecration rite was provided for the occasion [138]. The ceremony took place at Königsberg, and two court-preachers, one Lutheran and the other Evangelical, were appointed to act as Consecrator and assistant-Consecrator. On the morning of January 18th, the king, already vested in his royal robes, betakes himself to the Hall of Audience and there crowns himself with his own hands, and then proceeding to her apartments crowns the queen. A procession then sets out to the Lutheran Schloss-Kirche, at the entrance of which they are met by the Consecrator and blessed by him, and they proceed to their thrones. A psalm (67) is sung and the Consecrator says a prayer at the altar, praying that the king and queen may receive by the anointing the gift of the Holy Spirit. A hymn is then sung, after which comes the sermon. After[145] the sermon Veni Creator is sung, and the Grand-Chamberlain hands to the assistant-Consecrator a vessel containing the oil of unction, from which the Consecrator anoints the king (who has in the meantime laid aside his Crown and Sceptre) on the forehead and on both wrists, saying: Let your royal Majesty receive this unction as a divine sign and token whereby God formerly by His priests and prophets did testify to the Kings of His people that He Himself alone is the most high God: and that He makes, sets up, and appoints Kings; and let the Lord our God Himself herewith anoint your royal Majesty with the Holy Ghost, that you, as an anointed of the Lord, with a resolute, courageous and willing heart may rule and govern this your people and Kingdom; and in good health and prosperity for many years and times to come may serve the counsel and will of your God: through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The anointing is not in the form of a cross, but of a circle as being the most perfect figure known to mathematicians! Then the choir sings Amen, Amen. Prosperity to the king. Prosperity to the king. God grant him length of days. After this anthem the queen is anointed in the same way as the king with the form: Let your royal Majesty receive this unction as a divine sign and token that your Majesty has this anointing and appointment to your royal Dignity and Majesty from God; who espoused you to your King, that he should have from you both joy and comfort: and the Lord our God anoint you more and more with His Holy Ghost, that you may be courageous and[146] willing to glorify God and serve Him, for Jesus Christ our Lord. After which the anthem Amen, Amen. Prosperity to the Queen, etc., is sung. A fanfare is then blown on the trumpets, and the ministers make a deep reverence to the king and queen, and then the Consecrator blesses the king saying: Prosperity to the King, King Frederick, King of Prussia, and the Lord the God of our Lord the King say so: as the Lord hath been with him hithertowards, so let Him be with him for the time to come: that his royal throne may daily be greater and greater. Amen. The anthem is then once more sung. The Consecrator then blesses the queen in similar terms, and the anthem is once more sung. Then the choir sings Glory be to God on high, and the Consecrator addresses the people, saying, Fear God, honour your King and Queen, and blesses the king and queen. An anthem follows, then a hymn, and then the assistant-Consecrator makes a prayer of thanksgiving for the erection of the kingdom and the anointing of the king. The usual blessing is given and the ceremony ends with the Te Deum.

Denmark

There is no evidence as to the coronation rite in the Scandinavian kingdoms before the reformation, but as these nations only obtained the privilege of a coronation ceremony comparatively late and at a time when the Roman rite had become predominant, it is fairly certain that the rite, when introduced, was Roman, with perhaps a few national peculiarities.

In Denmark a coronation ritual continued to be used until the year 1840, since which date it has been entirely given up. Until then each Danish monarch was crowned on his accession.

We have an account of an early post-reformation rite in the case of Frederick II in 1559. The description is unfortunately written in verse by the Poet Laureate, Hieronymus Hosius [139], and of course no forms are given. The description given by Hosius is as follows. The king goes in procession to church, accompanied by the nobles by whom the regalia are carried. The church is decorated with red hangings for the occasion, and a throne set up in front of the altar. The king enters the church and proceeds to his throne, and the regalia are deposited on the altar. The king having made his private devotions, the officiating minister delivers an admonition to him, and then is sung Veni Creator or Veni Sancte Spiritus[140]. After the hymn, the king and nobles standing before the minister who remains seated, the Lord Chancellor presents the king as lawful inheritor of the throne, and demands that he be crowned, and the minister replies that in response to their demand he will proceed with the coronation. He then once more addresses an admonition to the[148] king on his kingly duties, and the king then takes the oath, in which he swears to preserve the peace of the Church, to defend the realm, and to maintain justice. An anthem is then sung praying for the king’s prosperity. The minister then anoints Frederick between the shoulders and on both wrists, using a form which expresses the signification of the unction. After the anointing during the singing of Te Deum[141] (?) the king is arrayed in his regal vestments. The minister delivers the Sword, with an admonitory form which contains something of the ideas of the old form of the Church, and girds it on the king. He then addresses the people, warning them of the king’s power and authority to punish, and the king draws the Sword and brandishes it towards the four corners of the compass. The king is then crowned, the minister and as many of the nobles as conveniently may setting the Crown on the king’s head together, and the minister delivers the Sceptre into the king’s right hand, charging him to rule well, and the Orb and Cross into his left, with a long address, in which he explains the meaning of the ornament. The singing is then resumed, and the king delivers the regalia to the nobles appointed, and returns to his throne. Homage is done, and the king, according to custom, creates eight knights.

It will be noticed that this order is based on the Roman rite. The presentation of the king by the[149] Chancellor has taken the place of the presentation by bishops; the king is anointed as in the Roman rite; the brandishing of the Sword is Roman, and there is no Ring.

The later history of the rite is somewhat obscure, and by the nineteenth century it had been subjected to considerable alterations and omissions. As used (for the last time) at the accession of Christian VIII in 1840 [142] it is very similar to the Prussian rite of 1702.

The king and the queen come to the church in separate processions. Three bishops meet the king at the entrance of the church and conduct him to his throne during the singing of the Introit, and then three bishops meet the queen’s procession and conduct her to her throne. The Introit over the Bishop of Sjaelland delivers a first address, and after it the Bishop Olgaard reads a lesson, which is expounded by the Bishop of Sjaelland. A copy of the Statutes and the anointing vessels are then deposited on the altar, and the Bishop of Sjaelland delivers another address with special reference to the Constitution. The three bishops then kneeling before the altar, the Bishop of Sjaelland begins the Lord’s Prayer. The king in the meanwhile lays aside his[150] royal ornaments, Crown, Sceptre, and Orb, with which he has entered the church in preparation for the anointing. First is sung in Latin Veni Sancte Spiritus, and ℣. Emitte Spiritum Sanctum Domine, ℟. Et renovabis faciem terrae, etc., followed by the collect of Pentecost, Deus qui corda fidelium. A hymn is then sung, during which the Bishop of Sjaelland goes up to the altar, opens the vessel containing the oil, and consecrates it with a secret prayer. The king during the singing and the prayers has reassumed his ornaments. The Bishop of Sjaelland now summons the king to be anointed, and the king goes up to the altar with his Crown on his head, the Sceptre in his right hand and the Orb in his left. Again the king lays aside the regalia and takes off his right-hand glove, while the Lord Chamberlain unfastens the clothing over his breast. Then as the king kneels before the altar the bishop, dipping the tips of two fingers in the oil, anoints him in the form of a cross on forehead, breast, and right wrist, using a suitable form. The king then resumes his ornaments. General Superintendent Callisen reads Ps. xxi. 2-8, and the Bishop of Sjaelland delivers another discourse, after which a hymn is sung. The Bishop of Sjaelland now summons the queen and anoints her on forehead and breast, using a suitable form; a hymn is sung, the bishop delivers a last discourse, and the Hymn of Praise is sung. The king once more lays aside the regalia, and the bishop intones The Lord be with you, ℟., And with thy spirit, and sings the special collect, and then[151] immediately gives the blessing. A hymn is sung and, the king resuming his ornaments, the royal procession leaves the church.

The degenerate nature of this rite is very evident. Like the Prussian order it has no investitures at all, only the central feature of the anointing remaining, and that is done apparently without any fixed forms. Indeed the rite is more or less a series of preachings.

The Swedish Rite

The post-reformation Swedish rite seems to have undergone very little variation. It was however discontinued at the accession of the present king of Sweden.

The coronation of Carl XI on August 23, 1675, took place as follows [143]. The king goes in procession to the Domkirche, and passing to his seat in the midst of the choir kneels and makes his private devotions. A hymn is then sung, after which a sermon is preached by Basilius Bishop of Skara. The sermon ended, the king goes up to the altar, and taking off the mantle in which he has come to the church is anointed by the Archbishop of Upsala on breast, shoulders, and hands, the archbishop using a special form during the anointing. The king is then invested in the Royal Mantle. The accustomed oath is then taken by him, after which, sitting[152] on a seat in front of the altar he is invested with the royal ornaments, which are brought down from the altar on which they have been deposited. First he is crowned, the king himself setting the Crown on his head. Next he is invested with the Sceptre, Apple, Key, and Sword, the archbishop using a special form at the delivery of each ornament. After the investitures the king returns the ornaments to the lords, to whose charge they belong, except the Crown and Sceptre, and returns to his seat in the choir. A herald proclaims Carl has been crowned King of Sweden and no other, a fanfare of trumpets is sounded, and the choir sings Vivat Rex Carolus. The Litany is then sung by the bishops and congregation, and after certain prayers and hymns the ceremony comes to an end. The various nobles and officials then swear allegiance and the royal procession takes its departure.

The most noticeable feature in this order is perhaps the occurrence of the Key among the regalia, an ornament peculiar to the Swedish rite, and evidently an ancient peculiarity. It is possible that in this account the taking of the oath is wrongly described as occurring after the anointing instead of before it, for in subsequent orders it occurs in its proper place, before the anointing. Also the king is stated to have crowned himself, whereas in a contemporary engraving of the coronation of King Carl Gustaf in 1654, the king is represented as being crowned by the archbishop and the Princeps Senatus, Count Drotzel, conjointly, and[153] this has been the practice down to the last celebration of a coronation ceremony in Sweden.

The coronation of a Swedish king in modern times may be illustrated by the order used when Carl XV and Queen Wilhelmina Frederika were crowned in 1860 [144].

The king and queen proceed to the church in separate processions. The king is met by the archbishop in his canonicals and the bishops in their copes, the archbishop greeting him with the words Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord, and the Bishop of Skara saying a prayer that the king may be endowed with grace to rule his people well. The archbishop and bishops then escort the king to his seat before the altar with the Royal Standard on his right hand and the banner of the Order of the Seraphim on his left. The Bishop of Strengnäs and the other bishops await the coming of the queen, and when she enters the Bishop of Strengnäs greets her with the words Blessed be she that cometh in the name of the Lord, and the Bishop of Hernosänd says a prayer almost identical with that said at the king’s entrance. She is conducted to her seat on the left side of the choir, and their Majesties kneel and make their private devotions, while the regalia are deposited on the altar.

The archbishop begins the service singing Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, with which the[154] Swedish ‘High Mass’ commences; the Bishop of Skara recites the Creed before the altar, and the hymn Come thou Holy Spirit, come, is sung, and the sermon is preached by the Bishop of Götheborg. The Litany is then said and after this, during the singing of an anthem, the king goes to his throne on a dais before the altar, with the Royal Standard borne on his right hand and the banner of the Seraphim on his left, followed by a procession of the regalia. There before the altar his mantle and princely coronet are taken off and deposited on the altar, and kneeling he is invested in the Royal Mantle by a state minister, and the Archbishop of Upsala reads the first chapter of St John. The Minister of Justice then dictates the oath to the king, which he takes, laying three fingers on the Bible. Immediately after the taking of the oath the archbishop anoints the king on forehead, breast, temples, and wrists, saying, The Almighty everlasting God pour out His Holy Spirit into your soul and mind, plans and undertakings, by whose gift may you so rule land and kingdom, as to redound to the honour and glory of God, maintain justice and equity, and be for the good of the land and people. The king then resumes his seat, and the archbishop and Minister of Justice crown him conjointly, the archbishop praying in a set form that his rule may be good and prosperous. The king is next invested with the Sceptre by the archbishop and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Apple is delivered to him by Count Hamilton, the archbishop using a set form in both cases. The Key is then delivered to[155] the king by Major-General af Nordin, the archbishop saying the following prayer: God the Almighty who of His divine providence hath raised you to this royal dignity, grant you grace to unlock treasures of wisdom and truth for your people, to lock out error, vices, and sloth from your kingdom, and to provide for the industrious prosperity and increase, relief and comfort for the suffering and afflicted. Finally a naked sword is put into the king’s hand, the archbishop saying a prayer that he may use his power well and justly. The archbishop then returns to the altar, and the king having his Crown on his head and holding the Sceptre in his right hand and the Apple in his left, a herald proclaims Now has Carl XV been crowned king over the lands of Sweden, Gotha, and the underlying provinces. He and no other. A hymn is sung and the archbishop says a prayer and gives the Benediction.

The queen is now led up to her throne before the altar. She is invested in the Royal Mantle, anointed on forehead and wrists, crowned, and invested with Sceptre and Apple, the forms used being those employed for the king and adapted to the queen. She is then proclaimed by a herald, and the choir sings, Prosperity to the Queen, and then part of a hymn, and the archbishop recites the last prayer as over the king. As in all other protestant rites there is no communion, only the first part of the ‘High Mass’ being used in this case. After the coronation of the queen homage is done, and during the singing of the hymn Now thank we all our God, the royal procession leaves the church.

The order used for the coronation of King Oscar II in 1872 is identical with the above. This was the last occasion on which a coronation rite was observed in Sweden.

Norway

There is no sign of any ancient rite belonging to the kingdom of Norway, and perhaps none ever existed, for Norway was united with the kingdom of Denmark from the fourteenth century until 1814, and since that date until quite recent times with the kingdom of Sweden. According to the law of 1814, however, a separate coronation of the king as King of Norway took place in the cathedral of Trondhjem where the king was solemnly anointed by the Lutheran Superintendent, and crowned by the Superintendent and the Prime Minister conjointly.

The following is the account of the ceremonial observed at the coronation of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud in 1906 [145]. It will be observed that the order used is very close to that used in Sweden, though the forms used are differently worded.

The royal procession goes in due order with the regalia to the Domkirke, at the entrance of which it is met by the Bishops of Trondhjem, Kristiania, and Bergen, and their attendant clergy, and the king and queen are greeted with the words The Lord preserve thy comings in and goings out both now and[157] for ever. When they have taken their places the service begins, the Bishop of Trondhjem intoning the first line of the Introit hymn, of which the first verse is sung by choir and people. The Bishop of Kristiania then reads the Creed, and the Bishop of Bergen begins Te Deum, of which the first six verses only are sung. The sermon is preached by the Bishop of Kristiania. After the sermon a verse of a hymn is sung by a priest and choir antiphonally, and this is followed by the first part of the anthem. The king now proceeds to his throne, which is erected on a dais before the altar, the Royal Standard being held on his right hand. He is divested of the mantle which he has been wearing, it being laid on the altar, and he is invested by the Lord Chief Justice and the Bishop of Trondhjem in the Royal Mantle which has been lying on the altar. The Bishop of Trondhjem then anoints him on forehead and wrist with a special form, the king kneeling during the anointing. The king rises and takes his seat on the throne and is crowned by a Minister of State and the bishop conjointly, the bishop using a special form of words. He is then invested with the Sceptre by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the bishop; with the Orb by a Councillor of State and the bishop; and with the Sword by another Councillor of State and the bishop, the bishop using a special form at each investiture. The second part of the anthem is sung and part of a hymn, and the Bishop of Trondhjem says a last prayer for the king and then gives the blessing.

The king now returns to his seat in the choir,[158] with his Crown on his head, the Sceptre in his right hand, and the Orb in his left. The third part of the anthem is sung, during which the queen passes to her throne before the altar. She is arrayed in the Royal Mantle, anointed on forehead and wrist, and duly invested with Crown, Sceptre, and Orb, the forms used in each case being adapted from those employed for the king. The fourth part of the anthem is sung and part of a hymn, and the Bishop of Trondhjem says the last prayer, which is slightly adapted from the corresponding prayer used in the case of the king; he gives the blessing, and the queen returns to her seat in the choir. The President of the Storthing then proclaims the Coronation Act to be duly consummated. Two verses of the hymn God bless our dear Fatherland are sung, and during the last part of the anthem the bishops and clergy leave the altar, and, the anthem being finished, the royal procession takes its departure from the church.

CHAPTER XIII
THE PAPAL CORONATION

The rite of the coronation of a Pope seems to date from the time when the western Patriarchs began to make definite claims to a temporal sovereignty. The rite does not appear till the ninth century, but probably existed in some form for a century before this date. Already in the Liber Pontificalis[146] it is stated that Pope Constantine wore during his visit to Constantinople a head-dress peculiar to the Roman Pope. This is called the Camelaucus, and is evidently the original form of the Tiara. In the ‘Donation of Constantine’ of the pseudo-Isidorian decretals [147], in which the Papal temporal claims were first formulated, Constantine the Great is said to have granted to the Pope the sovereignty of the West and to have bestowed on him and his successors a special royal diadem, which is described as ‘phrigium candido nitore splendidum,’ evidently the camelaucus under a different name, a closed head-dress something of the shape of a Phrygian[160] cap, and probably related to the Crown of the eastern bishop. Although the ‘Donation’ does not mention any ceremony of coronation, perhaps one is implied by this claim that the Papal head-gear is a temporal crown.

In the ninth century the rite existed and is described in Mabillon’s Ordo Romanus IX [148]. The ceremony never became so elaborate as a royal coronation. The Pope elect, who must not be a bishop, enters St Peter’s during the Introit Elegit te Dominus. His consecration as a bishop then takes place. Three special prayers are said for him by three different bishops [149]. The archdeacon then invests him with the Pallium (i.e. the ecclesiastical vestment), and he is enthroned on a specially prepared throne. The new Pope celebrates Mass himself, and after the Gloria in excelsis the Laudes are sung. When Mass is over he is enthroned upon the apostolic throne. Then he proceeds to the steps at the west end of St Peter’s, and after the acclamation thrice repeated Domnus Leo Papa quem Sanctus Petrus elegit in sua sede multis annis sedere, he is crowned with the Regnum or Tiara, which is described as being white and shaped like a helmet. He then mounts a horse[161] and returns to his palace amid the acclamations of the people.

The rite seems to have changed very little in the process of time. Ordo XII [150], which is of the twelfth century, gives a little more information. On the Sunday after his election the Pope proceeds to St Peter’s, and there before the high altar is consecrated bishop by the Bishop of Ostia and other bishops. The consecration over, the Cardinal Deacon of St Laurence places the Pallium on the high altar, whence the Archdeacon takes it and invests the Pope in it saying: Accipe pallium, plenitudinem scilicet pontificalis officii, ad honorem omnipotentis Dei et gloriosissimae Virginis eius genitricis et beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli et sanctas Romanae ecclesiae. The Pope then celebrates Mass. After the Laudes, the Epistle and Gospel are read both in Latin and Greek. Mass being finished, the Pope returns to his palace with the Tiara on his head, but there is no indication of any ceremonial crowning having taken place.

Ordo XIV [151] of the fourteenth century is fuller. The Pope is now generally already a bishop at the time of his election. The newly-elected Pope proceeds to St Peter’s and begins Mass. After the Confiteor he takes his seat before a faldstool between his throne and the altar, and there prayers are said for him by the Cardinal Bishops of Albano, Porto and Ostia. First the Bishop of Albano says the prayer: Deus[162] qui adesse non dedignaris ubicumque devota mente invocaris, adesto quaesumus invocationibus nostris et huic famulo tuo N. quem ad culmen apostolicum commune iudicium tuae plebis elegit ubertatem supernae benedictionis infunde, ut sentiat se tuo munere ad hunc apicem pervenisse. Next the Bishop of Porto says the second prayer, Supplicationibus, Omnipotens Deus, effectum consuetae pietatis impende, et gratia Spiritus Sancti hunc famulum tuum N. perfunde; ut qui in capite ecclesiarum nostrae servitutis mysterio constituitur, tuae virtutis soliditate roboretur. The Bishop of Ostia says the third prayer, Deus qui Apostolum tuum Petrum inter caeteros coapostolos primatum tenere voluisti, eique universae Christianitatis molem superimposuisti; respice propitius quaesumus hunc famulum tuum N. quem de humili cathedra violenter sublimatum in thronum eiusdem apostolorum principis sublimamus: ut sicut profectibus tantae dignitatis augetur, ita virtutum meritis cumuletur; quatenus ecclesiasticae universitatis onus, te adiuvante, digne ferat, et a te qui es beatitudo tuorum meritam vicem recipiat.

The Pope now receives the reverence of the Cardinals and Prelates present, who kiss his foot and face. He then goes to the altar where the Cardinal Deacon of St Laurence invests him in the Pallium, with the form already given. He then goes up to the altar and censes it, and returns to his seat, where he receives again the reverence of the Cardinals and Prelates. He then begins Gloria in excelsis, and says Pax vobis and the Collect for the day and says secretly[163] for himself another prayer [152]. Then he returns to his seat and the Laudes are sung:

After the Laudes have been sung, Mass proceeds, the Epistle and Gospel being read in Greek as well as in Latin. At the conclusion of the Mass the Pope goes in procession to the staging erected on the steps at the west end of the Basilica of St Peter. There the ‘Prior diaconorum cardinalium’ removes his mitre, and sets the Tiara or Regnum, which is by this time adorned with three crowns, on his head, the people crying Kyrie eleison. The Pope then blesses the people and returns on horseback to the Lateran.

This represents the final stage of the rite, except for one picturesque feature added in the fifteenth or sixteenth century. As the Pope leaves the chapel of St Gregory for his consecration, the Ceremoniarius lights a piece of tow on the end of a reed which flares for a moment and then goes out, saying, Pater Sancte, sic transit gloria mundi[153].

It will be seen that the Papal rite is very simple. It is clear that the ceremonies, with the Laudes and other acclamations [154], owe much to the Imperial coronation rite of early times, but have undergone very little change or development since the ninth century.

CHAPTER XIV
THE INTER-RELATION OF THE DIFFERENT RITES

The coronation rite first appears in Constantinople, and was there a developed and religious form of the old ceremonies with which the accession of a new Emperor had always been observed. In the West a religious ceremony in connection with the accession of a king first appears in the seventh century in the Visigothic kingdom of Spain. Here we are told that the kings on their accession to the throne took an oath to govern justly, and were then solemnly anointed. But there is this noticeable point, that no mention is made of any crowning, and though the royal gear (regius cultus) is mentioned, there is no reference to an investiture of any kind.

Whence did this Spanish rite come? There is no definite evidence which will permit us to say for certain. It may be that the idea of a religious ceremony of inauguration was borrowed from Constantinople. The barbarian peoples, as they became the new nations, imitated so far as possible the institutions of the Empire, and so it is possible that the Visigoths[166] adopted their coronation rite in imitation of the imperial rite of Constantinople. But if this was so, it is no more than the idea of a religious rite of inauguration which they borrowed. We have seen that the central feature of the Eastern rite was the coronation, and there is no evidence of any unction before the latter part of the ninth century, while on the other hand the central feature of the Visigothic rite was the anointing, and there is no reference to any crowning in Visigothic times. It is true, again, that in the later Spanish rites of Aragon and Navarre there appear very special and peculiar features which we may be tempted to refer to a Byzantine origin, but as we have seen, these features will bear quite well another interpretation. Until we have definite evidence of any connection between the two, it is unsafe to derive the Spanish rite from the Eastern. The outstanding fact is that here in Spain we have, so far as the West is concerned, the beginnings of the coronation or consecration rite of kings, and that its central characteristic clearly consists of the anointing.

In the middle of the eighth century we find France also using an inaugurating rite. In 750 Pippin-le-bref was consecrated by St Boniface as king of the Franks, and at the end of the eighth century we find on two occasions, both of which were exceptional, Saxon kings being consecrated.

The question now arises, where did the French rite, and the rite used in England originate? We have no definite evidence and can only surmise.[167] The fact that Boniface the anointer of Pippin was an Englishman, together with the fact that it has generally been taken for granted that the so-called Pontifical of Egbert is really Egbert’s, and therefore belongs to the middle of the eighth century, has led to the tempting theory that the French rite was imported from England by St Boniface on the occasion of Pippin’s consecration as king of the Franks. But there is no evidence in support of this theory, and above all there is no evidence of the existence of an Anglo-Saxon rite of this period for St Boniface to import into France.

The consecration of Pippin is referred to, not as a coronation but as an unction. Of it we are told that ‘Pippin was elected as king according to the custom of the Franks, and was anointed by the hand of Boniface, archbishop of Mayence of holy memory, and was raised by the Franks to the kingdom in the city of Soissons [155].’ Here no formal act of coronation is mentioned. Pippin was elected ‘according to the custom of the Franks,’ and it is possible that this same ‘custom’ covers the unction, and refers the ceremony of inauguration back to pre-Carolingian times, but it is not probable, for everything points to the importation of an inauguration rite to give recognition to the new dynasty of Pippin. Possibly again in the expression ‘was raised to the kingdom’ we may see some reminiscence of an enthronization. But the central feature of the rite is clearly the anointing, and this is the only feature mentioned[168] in the account of the second consecration of Pippin by Pope Stephen, where we are told ‘Pope Stephen confirmed Pippin as king with holy unction, and together with him anointed his two sons, Charles and Carloman, to the royal dignity [156].’

And so we find the same feature, the unction, the central point of the rite both in Spain and France. It is natural to draw the conclusion that the French rite was brought from Spain and was of the same type as the Spanish, just as the other liturgical books of France and Spain are of the same type, commonly called the ‘Gallican.’ The rite, when it was introduced into England, most probably was brought over from France, for there was considerable intercourse between the Saxon and Frankish kingdoms, and some intermarriages between the Frankish and Saxon reigning families.

To a Frankish origin may also probably be assigned the early German rites, such for example as that by which Otto of Saxony was crowned in the tenth century.

In the year 800 Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope at Rome as Roman Emperor. For this purpose it was necessary to have a coronation rite, and hitherto no Roman Emperor had ever been crowned at Rome, though a Pope had travelled into France to consecrate a Frankish king.

But this was the case of a Roman Emperor. We are told little of the details of the rite by contemporary writers. None of the Western contemporary historians[169] mention any anointing, though they all speak of the crowning. On the other hand a contemporary Greek writer, Theophanes, does definitely speak of the unction, but it has been suggested that he is here confusing the coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor with the anointing of his son Charles as king of the Franks, which took place on the same occasion.

The central feature of the coronation rite was his crowning, and this is a feature that seems to have been lacking in the Western rites for the consecration of a king, while on the other hand it is in strict agreement with the Byzantine procedure. Charlemagne always pretended that the whole affair was unexpected by him, and that the Pope alone arranged the coronation and took him by surprise. But there can be little doubt that the whole business, except perhaps as to the details of the rite, was premeditated and arranged beforehand. Charlemagne was crowned as Roman Emperor, and therefore in theory was the colleague and the equal of the Emperor at Constantinople. Hence it would seem natural that the ceremony by which Charlemagne was crowned should follow in essential details the rite used on such an occasion at Constantinople. It may be added that there is no mention of any anointing in the earliest forms for the coronation of an Emperor at Rome. It would seem, then, that the rite by which Charlemagne was crowned, was, so far as the West was concerned, an entirely new rite, following in outline the rite used at Constantinople.

Thus then, in the West, in the ninth century, we[170] find two groups of rites, quite independent of each other, (1) The Spanish-Frankish rite, (2) The Roman Imperial rite. In later days these two groups speedily reacted on each other, and produced a definite type of Western rite.

The forms of the first group, French and English (no early Spanish forms are extant), probably do not represent their earliest state. There is not only an unction but a coronation, and also a formal delivery of kingly insignia, in the English rite, of Sceptre, Verge, and Crown; in the French rite, of Crown and Sceptre. It will be noticed that if the act of crowning was first observed in the West at the coronation of Charlemagne, it was very speedily introduced into the Western rite for the consecration of a king.

There is no Roman coronation rite for a king at this date, but there is a Milanese rite of the ninth century, and with some such rite probably Berengar Margrave of Friuli was crowned at Milan in 887. It is noticeable that this Milanese rite for the coronation of a king is more or less identical with the imperial rite of the same date. It is very simple, the king being crowned and invested with a sword. This Milanese rite may perhaps be taken as representing the Roman rite of the coronation of a king in its earliest form.

It is at the second stage of the rite where the interaction of the two groups of rites is most clear and evident. In the tenth century the second recensions of the English and French rite not only shew considerable developements and a much more[171] fixed and definite form, but they are almost identical, and the French order bears certain marks of English influence. Whence did this elaboration come? In the first place the English and French rites can be taken together from this time forward. Recension by recension they have been subjected to much the same influences and are very close to each other. This was only natural considering the closeness of the communications between England and France. Between the Saxon royal families and the Court of Rome there was considerable intercommunication, and on several occasions we hear of Saxon princes going to Rome. Of Alfred we are told that he was invested by the Pope at Rome with the insignia of a Roman consul, an investiture which the Saxons seem to have mistaken for a coronation rite; and we are also told that the insignia were preserved henceforth among the royal ornaments. Of the Roman rite at this time we have no forms, in fact nothing between the simple forms of the first imperial recension and of the Milanese order and the elaborate order of Hittorp of the tenth or eleventh centuries. Yet whereas in the former of these there were investitures of Sword and Crown only, in the latter the king is invested with Sword, Ring, Verge, and Crown, and the unction is elaborate, being made on head, breast, shoulders, bends of arms, and hands. It is clear that influences have been at work in the intervening period. We know that France had great influence on the Liturgical books of Rome in the ninth and tenth centuries, and it would seem that here is yet another instance of this[172] influence, and that the elaborations in the Roman rite were at some time adopted from France and at Rome reduced into order and fixity. Doubtless at Rome even the rite underwent some developement, but it is noticeable that after the time of the rite of Hittorp’s order the rite at Rome returned to something of its earlier simplicity and drops out many of the elaborations which we find in Hittorp’s order. Thus we may perhaps presuppose an intermediate order at Rome similar to Hittorp’s order.

In the case of Edgar of England, the English writers made much of his coronation in the year 973. It was an occasion which called for special pomp and circumstance, and much stress is laid on the magnificence of the whole ceremony. It is likely that this is the occasion for which the second recension was composed, and the natural source of this developement and revision would seem to be a Roman order similar in character to that of Hittorp. This rite of the second English recension was adopted almost word for word in France in the order of Ratold.

In England and France the third recension of each country is clearly influenced from Rome, to the extent even of replacing with Roman forms some of the forms of the old national rites. In the fourth recension in both lands there is a return to the older national forms by the simple means of conflating the second and third recensions, and this fourth recension marks the final form of the rite, except in so far as in England in its English form it has since been modified as circumstances have required.

The earliest German rite, that of Otto of Saxony in the tenth century, is unfixed in character, and approximates perhaps to the earliest Frankish rites. There are investitures with Sword and Belt, Armills and Chlamys under a unique form, Sceptre and Verge, again with a unique form, and then after the anointing, with the Crown. The use of the word Chlamys is very striking and bears witness to at least a knowledge of Eastern imperial vestments. By the thirteenth century the German rite had been subjected to considerable Roman influence, as would naturally be expected from the close connection existing between Germany and Italy. The unctions are on head, breast, and shoulders, and the investitures are with Sword, Ring, Sceptre and Orb, and Crown. The German rite changed very little after this date.

The Spanish rite, as we have seen, contains much that is very ancient and also has been subjected by the fourteenth century to Roman influence, none the less preserving much of its ancient peculiar characteristics. Unfortunately we have only few forms of this rite, and it was early discontinued altogether.

The Roman imperial rite in its first state is short and simple. There are investitures with Sceptre and Crown only. No mention is made of the unction, and this fact, inconclusive in itself, accords with the absence of any mention of unction in the contemporary Western accounts of Charlemagne’s coronation. The imperial rite served as a model for the order for crowning a king when need arose, as is evident from the fact that the early ninth-century Milanese order[174] for the crowning of a king is almost identical with it. In the process of its developement the order for crowning an Emperor was influenced to some extent by the order for the crowning of a king, which had been subjected early to considerable outside influences. Then in the twelfth century we find in the imperial rite investitures with Sword, Sceptre, and Crown; a little later with Ring, Crown, and Sceptre. The Ring is quite non-Roman and has been introduced from the rite for the crowning of a king, into which it has come from outside sources. The Ring however soon disappears once more from both Roman rites. In the fourteenth century the investitures are with Crown, Sceptre and Orb (without a form), and Sword. In the sixteenth century, after which date the order has varied very little, the investitures are with Sword, Sceptre and Orb (under one form), and Crown.

We have seen that in the ninth century the Milanese rite was very simple and almost identical with the Roman imperial rite. Here at Milan the Roman Emperor was nominally crowned as king of Italy, before his coronation at Rome as Emperor. In the eleventh century this rite has become very elaborate, containing the whole of the matter of ‘Egbert’s’ order, and also much that is Roman. There are investitures, of Crown, Sword, Verge, and Ring, an unusual order, which are made with Roman forms. In the fourteenth century we find the unctions restricted to the shoulders only, and the investitures are of Ring, Sword, Crown, Sceptre, and Verge. In the last Milanese recension, that of the fifteenth century,[175] the unction is made on the head, and the investitures are of Sword, Ring, Crown, and (under one form) Sceptre and Orb. Thus the Milanese rite was subjected to the same early influences as the Roman, but never regained so much of its earlier simplicity as did the Roman rite.

The coronation rite was introduced into other lands only at a time when the Roman rite had gained a position of special prestige, and therefore these rites seem to have been more or less Roman, and yet contained some national characteristics. Of these we have only the Hungarian rite extant. Of the Scandinavian countries, and of Scotland no rite of pre-reformation date survives, but the post-reformation rites, which are based to some extent on the older rites, perhaps contain some of the older features, for example, the retention in Sweden of a key of knowledge among the Regalia.

The general conclusions as to the inter-relation of the rites would seem to be as follows. There are in the West two original groups, both independent compositions:

(2) The Roman Imperial, which was called into existence on the occasion of the coronation of Charlemagne as Roman Emperor. From this latter is derived the Roman rite for the coronation of a king.

There seems to have been from an early date until the fourteenth century a continuous interaction[176] of these groups upon each other, and beyond that date outside influences ceased to be exerted, and whatever developement may have taken place in any particular rite was due to natural and internal developement.

At this day in the West the rite is retained in England and Austria, that used in Austria being the order of the Roman Pontifical.

The only other country, except Russia, in which a coronation rite survives is Norway.

CHAPTER XV
THE UNCTION, THE VESTMENTS AND THE REGALIA

(1) The Unction

The date at which an unction was introduced into the Eastern rite is a matter of uncertainty. There is no definite statement to be found that the Eastern Emperors were anointed before the time of the intruding Latin Emperor Baldwin I who was crowned in 1214, and the rite by which Baldwin was crowned was a Western rite. There is no mention of any anointing even in the rubrics of the twelfth century Euchologion. The first definite reference to the anointing of the Eastern Emperor is found in the account of the rite given by Codinus, in which we are told that he was anointed on the head in the form of a cross.

Mr Brightman thinks that there was no anointing in the Greek rite before the twelfth century, but it is difficult to believe that this was the case [157].

In the earliest accounts of the Eastern Coronations there is nothing at all said that can be in any[178] way construed as implying any anointing. In the year 602 Theodosius the son of the Emperor Maurice, fleeing for refuge to the Persian monarch Chosroes, ‘was received with great honour by the king, and he (Chosroes) commanded the Catholicos to bring him to the Church, and that the crown of the Empire should be set upon the altar, and then set upon his head, according to the custom of the Romans [158].’ Since the detail of the crown being deposited on the altar is given in this passage, it is most improbable that all reference to an anointing would have been passed over, had such anointing been at this date ‘the custom of the Romans.’

On the other hand St Gregory the Great, commenting on the anointing of Saul, speaks of the anointing of kings in his own day; ‘“Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head.” This, surely, is signified by this unction, which is even now actually seen (materialiter exhibetur) in holy Church; for he who is set at the head of affairs (qui in culmine ponitur) receives the sacraments of unction.... Let the head of the king, then, be anointed, because the mind is to be filled with spiritual grace. Let him have oil in his anointing, let him have abundant mercy, and let it be preferred by him before other virtues [159].’

Here the expression ‘materialiter exhibetur’ is hardly compatible with figurative language. But if St Gregory is thinking of unction in a coronation[179] rite, what is the rite which he has in his mind? Is he thinking of the rite as used in the Spanish Visigothic kingdom [160], in which in all probability unction already found a place? Or is he thinking of the imperial rite of Constantinople? It seems hardly likely that he should speak in such general terms with only the Spanish practice in his mind; but on the other hand there is not a vestige of any other evidence in favour of any Constantinopolitan use of unction. It is true that the ‘Prayer over the Chlamys’ would quite cover the use of an anointing, including as it does such an expression as χρίσαι καταξίωσον τῷ ἐλαίῳ ἀγαλλιάσεως, but it is equally true that these words might quite naturally bear a merely metaphorical significance.

It is not until the ninth century that we seem to get upon more solid ground, when Photius, in a letter written during his exile to the Emperor Basil the Macedonian (867-886), speaks of the χρίσμα καὶ χειροθεσίαν βασιλείας [161]. These words, taken in connection with a sentence at the end of the same letter in which he speaks of himself as ‘he at whose hands both he (Basil) and the Empress were anointed with the Chrism of the Empire (αὐτός τε καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς τὸ χρίσμα τῆς βασιλείας ἐχρίσθη),’ make it very difficult[180] to believe that Photius is here using simply figurative language [162]. It is much more natural to take his words literally and to conclude from them that in the ninth century unction was already included in the rite of Constantinople.

The references of Eastern writers to the unction of Charlemagne have already been mentioned. But since they all lay stress on the manner of that anointing no conclusion can safely be drawn from their language that unction was unknown at that time in the Eastern rite.

There remains the consideration of the Abyssinian use. Abyssinia was cut off by the Arab conquest of Egypt in the seventh century from all communication with Constantinople, and there is no evidence of the use of unction in coronations at Constantinople at that time. It is on the whole, as has been suggested in a preceding chapter, more probable that the Abyssinian unction was an independent Abyssinian developement, more especially as at one time there were strong Jewish influences at work in that country, the effect of which remains to this day clearly stamped on the face of Abyssinian Christianity.

As regards the West, we know that Unction was used at the sacring of the Visigothic kings in the eighth century and that it was used at the coronation of Pippin by Archbishop Boniface in the middle of the eighth century. In fact from the time of the[181] original introduction of the coronation rite into the West, an unction seems to have been one of its features, and it is quite possible that it may have been an independent developement in the West. But is it so easy to think of the unction in the Eastern coronation rite as a feature borrowed from the West?

So we must leave it at this, that while an unction was used in Spain in the seventh century, and is found in all Western coronation rites, on the other hand with regard to the East we can only say that it appears probably in the ninth century in the case of Basil the Macedonian, whatever may be the probabilities or possibilities of any earlier use of it.

(2) The Vestments and Regalia

All the Western coronation vestments are ultimately derived from the Byzantine use. The imperial Byzantine vestments [163] seem to be elaborations of the older official Roman dress. They appear to have become more or less fixed by the ninth century, and comprised the following:

5. The Loros or Diadema, which was originally a folded toga picta, but became a long embroidered scarf folded about the neck and body with one end pendent in front and the other over the left arm.

6. The Chlamys, or imperial purple, by the thirteenth century a great cloak powdered with eagles and fastened on the right shoulder. In the time of Constantine Porphyrogenitus the Loros and Chlamys were not worn together, perhaps for the sake of convenience, but they were so worn together in the thirteenth century, though by the fourteenth century the Chlamys was again abandoned and the Sakkos sufficed for the imperial purple.

There can be no doubt that the Western regal and imperial vestments are derived from the Eastern robes, for there is a close similarity between the two, though in process of time some of the least convenient have been gradually abandoned.

3. The Colobium sindonis, a linen vestment of the shape of an alb, the Eastern χιτών. This vestment, which had sleeves up to the time of James II, is now sleeveless, and is also now divided at the side so that it can be put on the monarch, without being put over his head, and fastened on the shoulder.

4. The Tunicle or Dalmatic, which is the vestment worn by sub-deacon, deacon and bishop at mass. This again has in modern times been divided down the middle for convenience in putting on. This vestment is the Eastern Sakkos.

5. The Armill, or Armills. This is very like a stole, and is put round the neck and fastened at the elbows. It is the Eastern Loros [165]. There is however some confusion in the name of this ornament, for it is sometimes used in the plural, and perhaps in that case of the royal Bracelets, which have been long discarded.

6. The imperial Mantle or Pall is more like a cope than anything else. It is the Eastern Chlamys.

The German imperial vesture was much the same. The Emperor Charles V was arrayed at his coronation as follows [166]:

It may be mentioned that the Greek word Chlamys is actually used for the imperial mantle in the account of the coronation of Otto of Saxony in the tenth century.

The French vestments as used at the coronation of Charles V of France are described in the order used on the occasion [167].

1. A Tunica serica, which is apparently part of his ordinary habit and is the tunica talaris.

The Regalia in the East seem to have consisted of the Crown and the Shield and Spear. Symeon of Thessalonica (c. 1400) also speaks of a Rod of light wood, and also of the Akakia among the imperial[185] ornaments. The Akakia was a purple bag containing earth which was put into the hand of the Emperor as a reminder of corruptibility, of which the Western Orb is perhaps the descendant [169]. The Crown was shaped like a helmet and partially closed in at the top.

1. The Crown, called still among the Anglo-Saxons Stemma or Galeus, sufficiently shewing the provenance of this ornament. The Roman imperial Crown seems to have been much after the shape of the Eastern Stemma. The English Crown is a fairly narrow band surmounted by a cross.

3. The Verge or Staff. In France the Staff was a rod of ivory surmounted by an open hand and called the Main de justice.

4. The Orb, which is generally held to be another form of the Sceptre, but is more probably an elaborated form of the Greek Akakia. The Orb was given at first without any form, but in the English use a form has been introduced comparatively lately.

6. The Sword and Spurs, which perhaps originally belonged to the order for the making of a knight which was early incorporated into the coronation[186] rite. It may be noticed that in the conservative rite of Aragon the Shield and Spear, the arms of the Eastern emperors, still appear among the regal weapons as well as the sword.

The question arises as to how far the vestments mentioned in the above lists are to be regarded as ecclesiastical. Many have seen in them an ecclesiastical vesture stamping the monarch after his anointing as at least a quasi-ecclesiastical person. The vestments are undoubtedly very similar to the mass vestments, and this similarity was noticed and remarked upon even in the middle ages. Both in England and France the appearance of the king vested in the royal vestments has been compared to a bishop vested for mass, and to the ordinary beholder this comparison would most naturally occur. But as a matter of fact, if one vesture is to be regarded as descended from another, it is the episcopal which is descended from the imperial, and not vice versa. The true fact however seems to be that both are descended from a common ancestor. The ecclesiastical vestments represent a conservative retention on the part of the Church of a vesture which the clergy and laity once used in common. The Church has retained the old lay vestments, and has elaborated them in the process of time. The imperial vestments are derived from the official dress of the Roman republic, again elaborated. The official dress of the Roman republic was itself an elaboration of the ordinary dress of the Roman citizen. Of ecclesiastical vestments the chasuble and cope seem to have[187] been derived from the ordinary lay vesture, while on the other hand the dalmatic and pallium and perhaps the stole are derived from the official dress, and have always appeared in a gorgeous form among the vestments of the Eastern Emperor. The dalmatic, familiar in the West as the dress of the deacon, and originally granted as a privilege to the deacons of the Roman Church only, is in the East the distinctive vestment of the bishop. The pallium or loros, once the badge of the Roman Consul, and later of the Emperor, granted at first by imperial permission to the most eminent prelates of the Church, still appears as the royal Armill on the one hand, and as a distinguishing badge of a bishop in the East, while in the West it has long been granted by the Pope chiefly to metropolitans as a mark of honour and a symbol of jurisdiction.

Thus really the episcopal and the imperial vestments are cousins: and just as the rites, outwardly similar, of the consecration of a bishop and the consecration of a king, tended to be assimilated, so the vestures, in their very origin derived ultimately from the same source, shewed a natural tendency to influence each other: and it is doubtless this similarity of rite and vesture that is the chief reason for the theory that has been held by some, that the anointed monarch is a quasi-ecclesiastical personage, or to use technical language, a Mixta Persona.

CHAPTER XVI
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RITE

There remains to be considered the meaning of the rite of the consecration or coronation of a king. We have seen that an exalted idea of kingship was more or less universal before the times of Christianity. In pre-Christian times the king was regarded as far above ordinary men by virtue of his office, which embraced priestly functions, and was looked upon as being the vice-gerent of God. In the Roman Empire from the time of Julius and Augustus the Emperor was also Pontifex Maximus, the spiritual as well as the civil head of the Empire; his effigy was sacred; temples were erected to him or to his Genius; during his lifetime he received semi-divine honours, and on his death he was solemnly enrolled among the company of the gods. The autocrat of the world was the representative of God on earth. The Roman Empire itself was mysterious, sacred, and eternal. The Christians also accepted this theory and followed St Paul’s teaching that ‘the powers that be are ordained by God,’ equally with their non-Christian fellow-citizens regarding Caesar in some sense at least[189] as the representative of divine law and order in the natural world, and as being therefore the vice-gerent of God [170]. When the Emperors became Christian the Church naturally found herself able to accept this doctrine with enthusiasm and without restriction, and the Emperor was acknowledged as spiritual as well as civil ruler. Thus we find that the Council of Nicea had no hesitation in admitting the right of the Emperor to control the Church, and Constantine claiming to be a sort of Episcopus episcoporum appointed by God [171]. This conception of the Emperor has never been lost by the Eastern Church.

We have seen that there was a ceremonial in pre-Christian times on the accession of an Emperor. The Church very naturally transformed this inauguration ceremony into a Christian rite in much the same way as the civil marriage ceremony was made religious by the addition to it of the benediction of the Church. The accession of an Emperor was by the will of God. The Church gave him her solemn benediction at the outset of his career. It is the idea of a benediction rather than a consecration that the earliest Eastern rites, and even the earlier Western rites, seem to contemplate. At the same time the Church by her benediction proclaimed the new Emperor as the chosen of God, thereby affording a certain stability to his throne and in some degree offering some assurance of peace to Empire and Church. The idea of a consecration gradually evolved itself, and rapidly developed when[190] the use of an unction was introduced. We have seen that there is some uncertainty as to the date of this introduction. St Gregory the Great not only speaks of the anointing of rulers as a well-known fact, but certainly regards it as being in some sort sacramental, just as St Augustine had long before asserted that the Jewish unction conferred grace on its recipients [172]. Photius evidently regarded the Emperor as being in some way set apart and solemnly consecrated by the inauguration rite. But there still remained the practical idea of obtaining general recognition as Emperor by the performance of the ceremony, for the Emperors were crowned immediately on their accession. This idea is just as manifest in the West as in the East. There we see that Pippin in his anxiety to obtain a definite recognition and acceptance of his dynasty when the Merovingian fainéants were set aside, was anointed or consecrated on two different occasions, by St Boniface, and secondly by the Pope himself, who came across the Alps for the purpose. In the same way we find Richard I of England being crowned a second time on his return from his captivity, this second coronation being apparently regarded as necessary in view of the fact that his brother John had acted at least as king de facto. Henry II was crowned no less than three times. Henry III was crowned twice. All these cases of repeated coronations were intended to procure[191] the firm establishment of the king upon his throne rather than for any other reason. Or again a king might be held to have forfeited his throne by some grievous crime, as in the case of Lothair II of Lotharingia, but on amendment might be confirmed upon his throne by a reconsecration, as was Lothair by Archbishop Hincmar.

But in process of time in the two oldest monarchical states, England and France, a theory came to be held that the consecration of a king was a consecration proper, and was to be ranked with the Sacrament of Order as conferring character, and that after his consecration the king was no longer a layman but at least a Mixta Persona. This view, popular though it was in England and France, was never accepted by authority, and Lyndwood mentions it as being taught only ‘secundum quosdam’; while St Thomas lays down that only the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Order confer character, thus excluding the consecration of a king. On the other hand, in the rite of Navarre the unction is spoken of as ‘the Sacrament of unction.’

We find an excellent example of the popular belief in the effect of the consecration in the French and English rite of the Healing. In France the power of the king to heal by his touch was certainly generally attributed to the fact that he had been anointed. Though this theory was also largely held in England, there was also the counter and perhaps more general view held, that the power of healing was possessed in virtue of rightful succession from[192] the Confessor; on the other hand the kings of England blessed cramp rings by rubbing them in their anointed hands, with a prayer for their consecration.

Three facts may be regarded as contributing towards this common belief in England and France that the consecration of a king was a sort of ordination; the fact that he was anointed ‘as prophets, priests and kings were anointed,’ according to the language of the form in most of the orders; the fact that the regal vestments were very like those of a bishop; and the fact that there is considerable similarity between the rite of the consecration of a king and that of the consecration of a bishop. The king was anointed ‘as prophets, priests and kings were anointed.’ Unction was used in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Order, all of which conferred character. It was difficult to explain what was the meaning of the unction of a king. Grosseteste [173] held that it bestowed grace, the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit. So far as there was any official doctrine on the subject, it seems that it was that the unction of a king was a Sacramental, a means by which grace might be obtained. The Roman Church seems to have always discouraged the theory that it was in any way an ordination. The fact that in the East the Emperor took part in the procession as a Deputatus proves very little, and the fact that the Western Emperors sometimes read the Epistle at their coronation if anything goes against the theory of ordination,[193] for if the Emperor was to be regarded as in any way ‘in Orders,’ surely his Orders would have ranked above the sub-diaconate.

We have already seen that the royal and sacerdotal vestments are closely related in their origin, and many of them more or less identical both in form and name, and therefore it is not surprising that men should have thought that this must mean that the king was in some way a minister of the Church. For example, a French order describes the Tunic, Dalmatic, and Pallium (Royal Mantle) of a king as ‘celuy qui représente le soubsdiacre, celuy qui représente le diacre, et le manteau royal représentant la chasuble.’ Again an English king is described by a lay witness as being arrayed at the time of his coronation like a bishop vested for Mass.

There is certainly a general similarity between the rite of the consecration of a bishop, and the rite of the consecration of a king. It was undoubtedly this similarity that was the chief ground for the doctrine that an anointed king was a ‘mixta persona,’ a view that is still maintained by some. The closeness of the structure of the two rites is seen at a glance.

It will be seen that the similarity in the structure of the rites is striking, and the closeness in the forms of the two rites is equally noticeable.

Consecration of a bishop.	Consecration of a king.
Oath of canonical obedience.	Oath to maintain Church and justice.
Litany.	Litany.
Laying on of hands.
Veni Creator.	Veni Creator.
[194]Collect.	Collects.
Preface and Consecration prayer.	Preface and Consecration prayer.
Anointing.	Anointing.
Delivery of Crozier, Ring, Mitre, and Gospel-book.	Delivery of Sword, Pallium, Crown, Ring, Sceptre and Rod.
Mass.	Mass.

The bishop, after the consecration prayer, is anointed on the head with chrism. The king, after the consecration prayer, is anointed on head, breast, etc., with chrism according to the English and French rites, with oil according to the Roman use. The Roman form used at the anointing of a bishop is Ungatur et consecretur caput tuum caelesti benedictione, ordine pontificali, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti; a Roman form at the anointing of a king runs Ungo te in regem de oleo sanctificato in nomine, etc. The hands of a bishop are anointed with the form Ungantur manus istae de oleo sanctificato et chrismate sanctificationis sicut unxit Samuel David Regem et Prophetam, ita ungantur et consecrentur; in the case of a king the general form runs Ungantur manus istae de oleo sanctificato unde uncti fuerunt reges et prophetae et sicut unxit David in regem, etc. The Ring is delivered to a bishop with the words Accipe anulum discretionis et honoris fidei signum, etc.; to a king with the words Accipe regiae dignitatis anulum et per hunc in te catholicae fidei[195] cognosce signaculum, etc. The Pastoral staff is delivered to a bishop with the words Accipe baculum regiminis signum, ut imbecilles consolides, titubantes confirmes, pravos corrigas, rectos dirigas, etc.; compare with this the form with which the Verge or Rod is delivered to the king, Accipe virgam virtutis atque aequitatis, qua intelligas mulcere pios et terrere reprobos, etc. Finally the bishop is seated ‘in capite sedium episcoporum’ and the king is enthroned.

These instances are sufficient to shew unmistakably that one rite influenced the other. But the stage at which the similarity is so noticeable is a late stage in the history of both rites, and at an earlier date when both were more simple, much of the later parallelism is not to be found. In the process of the great liturgical developements of the middle ages there was naturally an assimilation in the case of the consecration of persons, and there seems to have been a good deal of experimenting in the case of the rite of the consecration of a king, many pontificals containing orders with various peculiarities, which certainly were never used. But on the other hand there is also to be noticed a careful differentiation between the two rites, and this especially in the Roman orders. The Roman rite was never elaborate and in process of time tended to a greater simplicity. Thus the investiture of a king with the Ring does not appear in it except for a very short time, and then from outside sources; in the same rite the unctions are only two in number, and there is a difference in the parts anointed in the case of a king,[196] he being anointed only between the shoulders and on the wrist. If, as is most likely, kings in the West were anointed on the head, this differentiation between the anointing of a bishop and a king seems deliberate on the part of the Roman Church. Moreover, while it is true that in England and France chrism was used for the unction of a king as for a bishop, in the Roman rite chrism was never so used in the case of a king, but only the ‘oleum catechumenorum.’

Officially then the Church denied the name of Sacrament to the royal consecration, allowing it the rank of a Sacramental only. In practice the repetition of the rite which so often occurred, and in the case of the Roman Emperor was normally performed three times, proves sufficiently that it was not an ordination conferring character.

Historically considered the rite proves itself to be in origin a special benediction elaborated and developed almost out of recognition as such. A careful examination of the construction of the rite shews that in it there are three well marked divisions.

Of the election the Recognition is the surviving trace. It may be noted that the idea of the election of the king is retained till quite late in the developement of the rite. Until the time of the fourth English[197] recension, these words still appeared, Quem in huius regni regem pariter eligimus. In the fourth English recension eligimus was changed to consecramus, but in the French rite this change was never made and the word eligimus was used without alteration.

The oath was at first quite simple, short, and direct. It developed into an interrogatory form, the king swearing in answer to questions put to him by the consecrating prelate. In England and France the oath covered the king’s duties to Church and State and People, but elsewhere it frequently included a promise of subjection to the See of Rome.

The benediction of the Church was subjected to the greatest developement. An unction was introduced, and the porrection of the royal ornaments, Sword, Crown, Ring, Sceptres, and Verge, which naturally lent themselves to spectacular effect, tended to become more and more elaborate. Thus in process of time each ornament was delivered with its own form and prayer. Added to this, the conflation of prayers, originally alternative, has increased this portion of the rite until it comprises the greater part of the whole ceremonial. It appealed to sentiment, and the Church was always ready to make use of sentiment.

If it is desired to make a comparison between this and any other rite of the Church, it is the marriage rite which is really the closest to it. So King Charles I felt, of whom we are told that ‘His Majesty on that day was cloathed in white contrary to the custom of his predecessors who were on that day clad[198] in purple. And this he did ... at his own choice only, to declare that Virgin Purity with which he came to be espoused unto his Kingdom [174].’ In marriage a covenant is made with vows between the two contracting parties. To the covenant so made the Church adds her benediction. In the giving of her benediction she makes use of emblems, a Crown and Ring, investing the contracting parties with insignia, as it were, which are highly significant of the covenant betwixt them made. Of these the nuptial Crown, still used throughout Eastern Christendom, has long been dispensed with in the West, the Ring alone remaining.

The rite of the coronation of a queen consort is not really in the same category with the consecration of a king. It is merely complimentary. As we have seen it had no place in the earliest English order, nor yet in the corresponding rite of Milan, and perhaps the same is true of the oldest Frankish forms. The second English recension gives a form for the coronation of the queen with the preliminary explanation that the office is performed out of consideration for her honourable position as consort of the king. This is borne out by the earlier forms at her unction, ‘Let the anointing with this oil increase thine honour.’

In the earlier Frankish orders there is a noticeable similarity to the nuptial rite, and the general idea underlying the benediction of the queen is that she[199] may be worthy of her high dignity and bear a numerous royal progeny. This last idea has in recent times, temporarily at least, disappeared. The comparative unimportance of the coronation of the queen consort is shewn by the fact that many were not crowned at all, among others being Henrietta Maria, Catherine of Braganza, and Mary of Modena. It is true that these three belonged to the Roman communion, but notwithstanding this same circumstance, it was necessary for the king regnant James II to submit to the rite.

In France the coronation of the queen, since the time of Marie de Médicis, was dispensed with altogether, until Josephine was crowned as Empress with the Emperor Napoleon.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Od. IV. 691.

[2] Il. II. 101.

ἔστη σκῆπτρον ἔχων τὸ μὲν Ἥφαιστος κάμε τεύχον.

Ἥφαιστος μὴν δῶκε Διὶ Κρονίωνι ἄνακτι,

Αὐτὰρ ἄρα Ζεὺς δῶκε διακτόρῳ Ἀργειφόντῃ;

Ἑρμείας δὲ ἄναξ δῶκεν Πέλοπι πληξίππῳ

Αὐτὰρ ὁ αὖτε Πέλοψ δῶκ’ Ἀτρέι ποιμένι λαῶν;

Ἀτρεὺς δὲ θνήσκων ἔλιπεν πολύαρνι Θυέστῃ,

Αὐτὰρ ὁ αὖτε Θυέστ’ Ἀγαμέμνονι λεῖπε φορῆναι.

Cf. l. 205, and Soph. Phil., 137-140.

τέχνα γὰρ

τέχνας ἑτέρας προὔχει

καὶ γνώμα, παρ’ ὅτῳ τὸ θεῖον

Διὸς σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσετια.

[3] Winckler, The Tel-el-Amarna letters, p. 99.

[4] Wellhausen’s emendation ‎‏האצעדה‏‎ ‘the bracelet’ for ‎‏העדה‏‎ ‘the testimony’ is very tempting. If ‘testimony’ stands, it probably refers to some document containing the laws and customs of the kingdom.

[5] Agathias, Hist., IV. 25.

[6] In 1 Sam. xviii. 10, where the A.V. reads ‘there was a javelin in Saul’s hand,’ ‘a javelin’ should be ‘the spear,’ which seems to imply that the spear in question was a special weapon. The word used here ‎‏חנית‏‎ is the same as in 1 Sam. xxvi. 7, 22, is translated ‘spear.’

[7] Vopiscus, Tacitus, 3-9.

[8] Herodian, Hist., II. 3.

[9] Ammianus Marcellinus, XX. 4. 17, and XXI. 1. 4.

[10] Tacitus, Hist., IV. 15.

[11] De caerim., I. 91.

[12] Nicephorus, H. E., XV. 15, Theodorus Lector, H. E., II. 65, Theophanes, Chronographia, I. 170 (ed. Bonn, 1839).

[13] Constant. Porphyr., de caerimoniis, I. 92. These accounts of early inaugurations are probably taken by Constantine from contemporary accounts.

[14] Theophanes, Chron., I. p. 210.

[15] De caerim. I. 94, pp. 431 ff.

[16] J. Th. St., II. p. 375.

[17] Theoph., Chronograph., I. 695 f.

[18] De caerimoniis, I. 38.

[19] Goar, Euchologion (1647), pp. 924 ff. The text given is that of the Grotta Ferrata codex, showing the variations between it and the Barberini text.

[20] De caerimoniis, I. 39.

[21] Goar, Euchologion (1647), pp. 924 ff.

[22] J. Th. St., II. p. 383 and n. 2.

[23] De officiis Constantinopolitanis, c. xvii. (Bonn, 1839).

[24] The Thomaite triclinium was a part of the imperial palace adjoining St Sophia.

[25] It is to be noticed that some of the imperial insignia have changed their names. The διάδημα was once equivalent to the στέμμα; it is now synonymous with the ζώνη.

[26] Probably the badge of his office as Deputatus.

[27] See Maltzew ‘Die heilige Krönung’ in Bitt-Dank- und Weihe-Gottesdienste der orthodox-katholischen Kirche des Morgenlandes (Berlin 1897) pp. 1-60; E. Metallinos, Imperial and Royal Coronation (London 1902).

[28] Voyage historique d’Abissinie du R. P. Jerome Lobo, traduite du Portugais, continuée et augmentée de plusieurs dissertations, etc. par M. Le Grand (Paris MDCCXXVIII) p. 252 f.; The travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia, by F. Balthasar Tellez (London 1710), pp. 49 f., 184. The former of these writers has made use of the latter, and so the two authorities are not independent.

[29] I am using here the account given by Tellez of two different coronations.

[30] c. 4 (P. L. XCVI. 766).

[31] Reginonis Chron., s.a. 749. Pertz, M. G. Hist. Script., I. 556.

[32] Ibid. s. a. 753. Dom Cabrol, DACL, ‘Bretagne (grande-),’ col. 1238, thinks that it was from England that the custom of unction passed into France, and that it was imported there by Boniface, himself an Englishman. But this is a very precarious theory in view of the scanty evidence for English coronations during this period. See pp. 58-60.

[33] Regin. Chron., s.a. 752. (Pertz, l.c.)

[34] See p. 58 f.

[35] Gildas, de excidio Britanniae, c. XIX.

[36] Adamnan, Vit. S. Columbani, III. 5.

[37] Chron. Moiss., s.a. 801 (for 800), Pertz, M. G. H. Script., I. 305.

[38] Duchesne, Lib. Pontificalis, II. p. 7.

[39] ‘Plures sanctos invocantes,’ i.e. the Laudes spoken of in the Chron. of Moissac. “Les ‘Laudes’ sont une série d’acclamations dans lesquelles on invoque le Christ, les anges, et les saints pour la personne qui est l’objet de la cérémonie.” Duchesne, op. cit. II. 37, n. 33. The Laudes were not exclusively a feature of the coronation rite, but had a place in any public function of which any great personage was the centre. Laudes in very much the same form as usual here had been used on a previous occasion in honour of Charles as King of the Franks and Roman Patrician. See Dom Leclercq, DACL, ‘Charlemagne,’ col. 786. An example of the Laudes will be found on p. 43.

[40] Einhard, Vita Caroli, c. XXVIII.

[41] Poeta Saxo, de gestis Caroli.

Post laudes igitur dictas et summus eundem

Praesul adoravit, sicut mos debitus olim

Principibus fuit antiquis.

[42] Regin. Chron., s.a. 801, ‘Leo Papa coronam capiti imposuit; et a cuncto Romanorum populo ter acclamatum est,’ etc. (Pertz, l.c. 562.)

[43] Chronographia, I. p. 733.

[44] Compend. Chron., P. G. CXXVII. 389.

[45] De antiquis rit. ecclesiae, II. p. 207. (Ed. 1763.)

[46] See p. 38, n. 2.

[47] See below, p. 114.

[48] Melchior Hittorp, De divinis cath. eccles. officiis (Paris 1610), p. 153. Cp. the Ordo I of A. Diemand, Das Ceremoniell der Kaiserkrönungen von Otto I bis Friedrich II, pp. 124, 125. Almost identical with this is the Ordo ad benedicendum imperatorem quando coronam accipit, of O. R. XII., P. L. LXXVII. coll. 1101, 1102.

[49] Martène’s Ordo VI, op. cit. II. p. 211.

[50] Martène’s Ordo VII, ibid. p. 212; Pertz, M. G. Legg., II. 97. Diemand (op. cit. p. 30) thinks that the title of this order ‘Incipit Ordo qualiter rex Teutonicus’ etc. shews that this order is not official. But the ‘Exercitus Teutonicus’ is prayed for in the Laudes of the Gemunden Codex. See above.

[51] G. Waitz, Die Formeln der Deutschen Königs- und der Römischen Kaiser-Krönung (Göttingen, 1872), pp. 67, 68.

[52] Diemand (op. cit.) divides the whole period from Otto I (962)—Frederick II (1220) into three recensions only, in the first of which he classes all those orders in which the anointing takes place before the ‘Confessio’ of St Peter.

[53] Hopf, Chroniques, p. 73 f.

[54] Pertz, M. G. Legg. II. 187 ff.

[55] So Pertz, l.c., but Diemand (op. cit. p. 35) takes it to be the Order used in the coronation of Henry III by Pope Clement II. This is without doubt an official Order.

[56] In nomine domini nostri Jesu Christi. Ego N. rex, et futurus imperator Romanorom, promitto, spondeo, polliceor, atque per haec evangelia iuro coram Deo et beato Petro apostolo, tibi N. beati Petri apostoli vicario fidelitatem, tuisque successoribus canonice intrantibus; meque amodo protectorem ac defensorem fore huius sanctae Romanae ecclesiae, et vestrae personae, vestrorumque successorum in omnibus utilitatibus, in quantum divino fultus fuero adiutorio, secundum scire meum ac posse, sine fraude et malo ingenio. Sic me Deus adiuvet et haec sancta Dei evangelia.

[57] There is no mention of the place where the Emperor is anointed, but as he is invested before the altar of St Maurice it seems probable that here too he was anointed by the Bishop of Ostia as in the last recension. Diemand seems not to have noticed where the investitures took place, and assumes that the unction was made before the Confessio of St Peter.

[58] Pertz, M. G. Legg. pp. 528 ff.

[59] P. L. LXXVIII. coll. 1238 ff. Almost identical is Muratori’s Order. See Lit. Rom. Vetus, Vol. II. p. 455.

[60] Pontificale Romanum (1520). De coronatione Romani Imperatoris.

[61] Rex Teutonicorum occurs often in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Rex Germanicorum occurs once or twice in early times. Maximilian I first added the title Rex Germaniae. Bryce says that there is reason to think that in later times Erwählter began to acquire the meaning of ‘elective’ in the place of ‘elect.’ See Roman Empire, p. 531, note b. (Ed. 1910.)

[62] The first reference to the consecration of a Saxon king is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 785, when Ecgferth was associated as king by his father Offa.

[63] DACL, art. Bretagne (grande-), col. 1238.

[64] Dom Cabrol, loc. cit., giving the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as his authority, most unjustifiably states that Ecgferth was ‘couronné et oint.’ In the case of Ecgferth the A.-S. Chronicle account goes back to the compiler of the Winchester Annals drawn up under Alfred. What his sources were we do not know. In the case of Eardwulf of Northumbria we have the contemporary Northumbrian Annals embedded in Simeon of Durham and known through him and certain passages common to him and the A.-S. Chronicle, extending from the death of Bede to 802.

[65] Rich. de Cirencestria, Speculum Historiale (Rolls Series), II. p. 27. We have the evidence of a charter of Burgred and Aethelswyth to show that crowns were among the regalia of the Mercian kings in the ninth century, but this does not necessarily imply any religious ceremony of coronation. J. M. Kemble, Codex Diplom., II. 94.

[66] See Stubbs’ Introd. to William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum (Rolls Series), II. p. xlii, n. 4. ‘Filium vestrum Erfred quem hoc in tempore ad sanctorum apostolorum limina destinare curastis, benigne suscepimus et quasi spiritalem filium consulatus cingulo, honore, vestimentisque, ut mos est Romanis consulibus, decoravimus, eo quod in nostris se tradidit manibus.’

[67] Henderson, Pontificale of Egbert (Surtees Soc., Vol. XXVII.), pp. 100 ff. Another text of the same Order is printed from the Pontificale Lanalatense by L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records, Westminster, 1901, pp. 3 ff., who also gives the unimportant variations of the text of the Order as it appears in the Leoffric Missal.

[68] Reference is made in this rite to seven prayers used, and In diebus is therefore evidently regarded as an alternative. Sometimes it is very uncertain whether Alia means ‘or,’ or ‘also.’

[69] This detail follows the text of the Leoffric Missal. In the other two texts it is apparently stated that the people kiss the king, but the rubric is in all three texts confused and probably corrupt.

[70] ‘For the nation of the West-Saxons does not allow a queen to sit beside the king, nor to be called a queen, but only the king’s wife.’ Asser, De rebus gestis Aelfredi, s.a. 856 (Petrie, Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 471). The Annales Bertiniani, which s.a. 856 recount the coronation of Judith in France, definitely state that the coronation of a queen was not practised among the Saxons. See Pertz, M.G.H. Script. I. 450. For the position accorded to the consorts of Anglo-Saxon kings, see Liebermann, Gesetze der Angelsachsen, II. s.v. ‘Königin.’

[71] Haec tria populo Christiano et mihi subdito in Christi promitto nomine. In primis ut ecclesia Dei et omnia populus Christianus veram pacem nostro arbitrio in omni tempore servet. Aliud ut rapacitates et omnes iniquitates omnibus gradibus interdicam. Tertium ut omnibus iudiciis aequitatem et misericordiam praecipiam, ut mihi et vobis indulgeat suam misericordiam clemens et misericors deus. Qui vivit.

[72] In the text of this recension given in Dr Wickham Legg’s Three Coronation Orders (H. B. S. 1900), p. 59, the form with which the verge is delivered is followed by a prayer, Ineffabilem misericordiam tuam; and then the pallium is given with the form, Accipe nunc vestem summi honoris, and a prayer, Omn. Deus cuncti honoris iustus dispositor. None of these forms appear elsewhere.

[73] In this prayer occur the words, quae per manus nostrae impositionem hodie regina instituitur. These words have been regarded by some as evidence, lingering on only in the forms for the crowning of a queen, that originally there was a laying on of hands at the consecration of a king. The ‘ordinatio’ of King Aidan by St Columba is adduced as further evidence, and the expression of Photius χειροθεσία βασιλείας might also be adduced. Both, if they have any other than a general meaning, doubtless refer to the laying on of hands always anciently observed in blessing. But in this particular passage the words evidently refer simply to the setting of the crown on the queen’s head.

[74] See L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records, pp. 30 ff.

[75] L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records, pp. 81 ff. For other forms of this fourth recension cp. J. Wickham Legg, Missale Westmonasteriense (H. B. S.), II. coll. 673 ff., and Maskell, Monumenta Ritualia, III. pp. 1-81.

[76] In this recension the words ‘quem in huius regni regem pariter eligimus’ in this prayer are altered to ‘quem ... consecramus.’ The change was never made in the same prayer in the French rite.

[77] J. Wickham Legg, The Order of the Coronation of King James I (Russell Press, London, 1902).

[78] The miraculous chrism first appears in the fourteenth century. It was given by the Virgin to St Thomas Becket. Probably the miraculous chrism of England owes its existence to the desire of the English not to be outdone by the French who possessed a chrism supplied by an angel for the coronation of Clovis.

[79] Chr. Wordsworth, Coronation of King Charles I, 1626, pp. xix, xx.

[80] Faciendo signum crucis is struck out, but the queen is anointed ‘in the manner of a cross.’

[81] The MS. copy of the order which the king himself used is now in the library of St John’s College, Cambridge. Prynne (Canterburie’s Doome, p. 70) accuses Abp Laud of having inserted divers prayers into the order from the Roman Pontifical, an assertion due to either his ignorance or his malice, for the examples which he gives are all in the old English rite. Heylin (Cyprianus Anglicus, ed. 1668, p. 142) states that there was used at the coronation of Charles I a prayer ‘which had been intermitted since Henry VI and was that that followeth: “Let him obtain favour for the people like Aaron in the tabernacle, Elisha in the waters, Zacharias in the temple; give him Peter’s key of discipline and Paul’s doctrine,” which clause had been omitted in times of Popery, as intimating more ecclesiastical jurisdiction to be given to our kings than the Popes allowed of.’ But this prayer does not occur in any of the extant copies of Charles’ rite, nor does it occur in any English order whatsoever, but it does occur in the Roman rite. Heylin seems to have confused this prayer with some other actually in the order.

[82] See Chr. Wordsworth, Coronation of King Charles I, 1626 (H. B. S. 1892), pp. lx ff., 18 ff.

[83] L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records, pp. 240, 241.

[84] Sir Harris Nicolas, Chronology of History (London, 1833), pp. 272 f.

[85] Chr. Wordsworth, op. cit., p. 36, n. 5.

[86] L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records, pp. 287 ff.

[87] L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records, pp. 317 ff.; J. Wickham Legg, Three Coronation Orders, pp. 3 ff.

[88] P. L. CXXXVIII. coll. 737-742.

[89] P. L. CXXXVIII. coll. 783 ff.

[90] Martène’s Ordo III; II. p. 216.

[91] P. L. CXXXVIII. coll. 639-642.

[92] Ibid., coll. 727-731.

[93] P. L. LXXVIII. coll. 255 ff.

[94] II. pp. 622-634.

[95] The word ‘tria’ is omitted because with the addition there are now four promises.

[96] It will be remembered that Louis, then the Dauphin, was offered the English Crown and then driven out of England on John’s death. He always afterwards claimed to be King of England.

[97] De ant. rit. II. 219 ff.

[98] Godefroy, Le cérém. François, I. 13 (1649). Professor Hans Schreuer thinks that this order was never actually used. See Über altfranzösische Krönungsordnungen (Weimar, 1909), pp. 2 ff.

[99] The conflation of three distinct forms of unction is self-evident. They can hardly have all been used, but here as elsewhere the meaning of Alia is not clear.

[100] De ant. rit., II. pp. 227-229.

[101] The Coronation Book of Charles V of France, by E. S. Dewick, M.A., F.S.A. (H.B.S.)

[102] The English kings however only communicated in one kind previous to the Reformation.

[103] Procès-verbal de la Cérémonie du sacre et du couronnement de LL. MM. L’Empereur Napoléon et l’Impératrice Joséphine. Paris, An XIII, 1805. F. Masson, Le sacre et le couronnement de Napoléon, Paris, 1908.

[104] M. Hittorp, De divinis ecclesiae officiis, etc., in Biblioth. Vet. Patrum, x (Paris, 1610), pp. 147-152.

[105] See below p. 114.

[106] G. Waitz, Die Formeln der deutschen Königs- und der römischen Kaiser-Krönung (Göttingen, 1872), pp. 87 ff. The order is from a Munich MS. of 1409.

[107] The rubric of the Pontifical of 1520 says ‘etiam dicunt omnes pontifices ... dicunt etiam alias benedictiones.’

[108] A rubric in the Rite contained in O.R. XIV takes into consideration national sentiment by allowing also the anointing of hands, breasts, shoulders, and bends of arm.

[109] Waitz only gives the beginning and end of this prayer, but it is evidently this prayer that he indicates.

[110] M. Magistretti, Pontificale in usum ecclesiae Mediolanensis necnon Ordines Ambrosiani (Milan, 1897), pp. 62-64.

[111] Whether there was any anointing or not in this rite depends on whether Charlemagne was anointed or not. If he was, then an unction, though not mentioned, certainly had a place in the Gemunden Order, and in this. See pp. 30 ff.

[112] M. Magistretti, op. cit., pp. 112 ff.

[113] Pertz, M. G. Legg., II. pp. 503 ff.

[114] Magistretti, op. cit., pp. 121 ff.

[115] Res gestae Saxonicae in Pertz, M.G.H. Script. III. 437-438.

[116] Possibly this means the ‘Laudes.’

[117] Pertz, M.G.H., Legg. II. pp. 384 ff.

[118] The Ita is almost certainly a scribal error for Sta. But error or not this form is found also in the orders by which Maximilian I and Charles V were crowned, though subsequently Sta et retine is restored in German Rites.

[119] See Panvinius and Beuther, Inauguratio, coronatio, etc., pp. 8 ff., 81 ff., 180 ff. The ‘Order’ of the coronation of Maximilian II (1562), pp. 102 ff., is simply an account of the rite written down from memory.

[120] The form however of enthronisation at the Coronation of Matthias II begins Sta et retine.

[121] Comte de Bray, Mémoires (Paris, 1911), pp. 97-117

[122] II pp. 234 ff. Ritus benedicendi et coronandi reges Hungariae qui obtinuit dum Albertus V Dux Austriae in regem Hungariae coronaretur.

[123] Op. cit., pp. 154 ff.

[124] Lib. de Hist. Gall., P.L. XCVI. coll. 765-766.

[125] Liber Ordinum. Ed. M. Férotin (Paris, 1904). App. III. pp. 499 ff.

[126] de Blancas, Coronaçiones, pp. 117 ff. (Çaragoça, 1641.)

[127] de Blancas states that Dom Pedro swore fidelity to the Pope (p. 5), but this does not appear in the oath in the coronation order of Dom Pedro.

[128] Cf. Constantine Porphyr. de caer. I. 91 (coronation of Leo the Great), ‘He was adored by all and held the spear and shield.’

[129] José Maria Yanguas y Miranda, Cronica de los Reyes de Navarra (Pamplona, 1843), pp. 192-199; Martène, II. pp. 236 ff.

[130] Geronymo Çurita, Los cinco libros primeros de la segunda parte de los anales de la corona de Aragon. (Çaragoça, MDCX.) Tomo tercero, Libr. XIII. c. li. pp. 185, 186.

[131] J. Cooper, Four Scottish Coronations. (Aberdeen, 1902.)

[132] John Marquess of Bute, Scottish Coronations, pp. 140 ff.

[133] Actus Coronationis seren. Dn. Frederici Com. Pal. Rheni ... et Dom. Elisabethae ... in regem et reginam Bohemiae. (Prague, 1619.) Acta Bohemica ([Prague], 1620), pp. 139 ff. The two documents do not always agree in detail.

[134] The Actus Coronationis does not mention Veni Creator, but the Acta Bohemica definitely state that the hymn was sung.

[135] The Ring is not mentioned in the Acta Bohemica.

[136] This benediction is not mentioned in A.B.

[137] In the Actus Coronationis the benediction is spoken of as following Te Deum, but it is evidently out of place. The A.B. (which omit all reference to the Queen) state that the Te Deum was sung at the close of the ceremony.

[138] An account of the anointing of the First King of Prussia in 1701. J. Wickham Legg, F.R.C.P., F.S.A. Archaeol. Jour. LVI. pp. 123 ff.

[139] Regis Friderici Coronatio descripta carmine ab Hieronymo Hosio, in Schiardius Redivivus sive Rerum Germanarum scriptores varii, T. III. pp. 65 ff.

[140] The metre requires that the hymn should be paraphrased and it is not clear which of the two is meant. Though Veni Creator is used in most orders, the other is found in the later Danish and Swedish orders.

[141]

Turba Deum interea solemni musica cantu

Laudat....

Probably this means that Te Deum is sung.

[142] Allernaadigst approberet Ceremoniel ved Deres Majestæter Kong Christian den Ottendes og Dronning Caroline Amalias forestaaende, höie Kronings-og Salvings-Act paa Frederiksborg Slot, etc. A. Seidelin, Copenhagen [1840].

[143] Kurtze Beschreibung wie Ihr. Königl. Majest. zu Schweden Carolus XI zu Upsahl ist gekrönet worden. Aus dem Schwedischen verdeutschet, 1676. Unfortunately none of the forms are given in this account.

[144] Ordning vid Deras Majestäter Konung Carl den Femtondes och Drottning Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandra Anna Lovisas Kröning och Konungens Hyllning vid Riksdagen i Stockholm, 1860.

[145] Ceremoniel ved deres Majestæter Kong Haakon den Syvende’s og Dronning Maud’s Kroning i Trondhjem’s Domkirke Aar 1906. Steen’ske Bogtrykkeri, Kr. A., 1906.

[146] I. p. 390.

[147] P.L. cxxx. 250.

[148] P.L. LXXVIII. 1006, 1007.

[149] The description is not clear, but the above probably represents its meaning. The text is ‘et tenent evangelium super caput vel cervicem ipsius. Et accedit unus episcopus et dat orationem super eum et recedit, et alter similiter. Accedit tertius et consecrat illum.’ The word ‘consecrat’ is curious, but these are evidently the three special prayers said for the Pope, of which the text is given in the later descriptions.

[150] P.L. LXXVIII. pp. 1098, 1099.

[151] P.L. LXXVIII. pp. 1127 ff.

[152] The Caerimoniale Romanum adds that this prayer is from the Order of the Consecration of a Bishop.

[153] Sacrarum caerimoniarum sive rituum ecclesiasticorum S. Rom. Ecclesiae Libri tres (Venetiis, MDLXXXII). Various details are given more fully here than in the older accounts. For the Rite as used at the present day see Grissell, Sede Vacante, Parker, 1903.

[154] It is quite possible that the Laudes at the Papal Coronation may originally have been the development of the ceremonial reception of a new Bishop, such as obtained in France in early times—see Martène, II. p. 29. If so, the forms have been assimilated to the Imperial ‘Laudes.’

[155] Reginonis Chronicon, s.a. 750. (Pertz, M. G. H. Script. I. 556.)

[156] Reginonis Chronicon, s.a. 752. (Pertz, l.c.)

[157] J.Th.S. II. pp. 383 ff.

[158] Chronicon Anonymum in Guidi, Chronica Minora, p. 21.

[159] In I Reg. Expos. iv. 5 (P. L. LXXIX. 278).

[160] St Gregory’s expression ‘qui in culmine ponitur’ is somewhat unusual, and it may be noted that a similar expression is found in Can. 1 of the 12th Council of Toledo (681) ‘etenim sub qua pace vel ordine serenissimus Ervigius princeps regni conscenderit culmen regnandique per sacrosanctam unctionem susceperit potestatem,’ etc.

[161] Photius, Epp. I. 16.

[162] Brightman considers that the language of Photius is metaphorical only and gives later instances of the figurative use of such words as χρίσμα and χρίειν. Loc. cit., pp. 384, 385.

[163] Brightman, Byzantine Imp. Coronation, in J. Th. St. II. pp. 391 f. and The Coronation Order and the Regal Vestments, in The Pilot, VI. p. 136.

[164] See the various English orders, most of which are given in L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records.

[165] See below, p. 187.

[166] Bock, Die Kleinodien des heil. römischen Reiches deutsch. Nation. In the plate of the Emperor Charles V the Dalmatic has been omitted. Also it is to be doubted whether the Emperor wore the Armill crosswise like a stole as there represented.

[167] Dewick, The Coronation Book of Charles V of France.

[168] de Blancas, Coronaçiones.

[169] It is usually held that the Orb is another form of the Sceptre. In rites in which it is referred to it is generally given without any accompanying form. It is variously named the Orb, Pome, Apfel or Reichsapfel.

[170] Tertull., Apol. XXXII.; Ad Scap. II.

[171] Eusebius, Vit. Constant., IV. xxiv.

[172] Cf. the statement of Aphraates (c. 350) who holds that the unction of Saul and David imparted the Holy Spirit. (Demonstr. VI. 16.)

[173] Roberti Grosseteste episcopi quondam Lincolniensis Epistolae, (Rolls Series, 1861), p. 350.

[174] Heylin, Cyprianus Anglicus, p. 145. 1668.

I. GENERAL INDEX

II. INDEX OF FORMS

(Pap) means a Papal Form; the other letters refer to the Protestant rites: (B) Bohemian, (D) Danish, (N) Norwegian, (P) Prussian, (S) Scottish, (Sw) Swedish. The number of the page in brackets in the case of a Latin form gives the reference to the English version; and the Latin in brackets after an English form is the original of the form.

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“An interesting, concise and learned study of the history of the development of the form of worship among the early Christians, it has a general value of an excellent introduction to the study of liturgiology and a special interest for Anglicans who advocate the revision of the liturgy of the Church of England.”—Scotsman

The Ancient Church Orders. By Arthur John Maclean, D.D., Hon. D.D. (Glasgow), Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness. Small crown 8vo. 4s net.

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The Use of Sarum. The original Texts edited from the MSS. with an introduction and Index by Walter Howard Frere, D.D. Demy 8vo.

The Sufficiency and Defects of the English Communion Office. By A. G. Walpole Sayer, B.D. Crown 8vo. 3s net.

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I.	The Coronation of Henry I of England	Frontispiece
	(Reproduced from B.M. Royal MS. 15. E. iv. Photograph by Donald Macbeth.)
II.	The Emperor Nicephorus Botoniates in his imperial robes	to face p. 25
	(MS. Coislin 79 fol. 2, bibl. nationale Paris. Reproduced from Omont, H., Fac-similés des miniatures des plus anciens MSS grecs de la bibliothèque nationale. Photograph by Donald Macbeth.)
III.	The Emperor Charles V in his Coronation robes	to face p. 55
	(Reproduced from F. Bock, Kleinodien des heiligen römischen Reiches deutscher Nation. Photograph by Donald Macbeth.)
IV.	The Anointing of St Louis of France	to face p. 99
	(Reproduced from H. Yates Thompson, Book of Hours of Joan II, Queen of Navarre.)

		PAGE
Bibliography		xi
CHAP.
I.	Early conceptions of Kingship, and religious rites in connection with a King’s accession	1
II.	Ceremonies in connection with the Inauguration of a Roman Emperor in pre-Christian times. The Origin of the Christian Coronation Rite in the fifth century. The Byzantine Rite of the tenth century and its developements. The Coronation of a Russian Czar. The Abyssinian Rite	7
III.	The Origin of the Rite in the West. A twofold source. The seventh-century Rite of the Consecration of a King in Spain, and the Imperial Rite of the Holy Roman Empire	32
IV.	The Western Imperial Rite of the Coronation of an Emperor at Rome. The accounts of the Coronation of Charlemagne. The earliest forms and their later developements	37
[ix]V.	The Coronation of a King. The Anglo-Saxon Consecration. The Rite of the so-called Pontifical of Egbert, and the developement of the English Rite	56
VI.	The French Rite and its developements. The Coronation of Napoleon	91
VII.	The Roman Rite of the Coronation of a King and its developements	109
VIII.	The Rite of Milan and its developements	114
IX.	The German Rite	120
X.	The Hungarian Rite	126
XI.	The early accounts of the Rite of the Consecration of a King in Visigothic Spain. The Rites of Aragon and Navarre	128
XII.	Other countries. Protestant Rites. Scotland. Bohemia. The Prussian Rite of 1701. Denmark. Sweden. Norway	137
XIII.	The Papal Coronation	159
XIV.	The Inter-relation of the different Rites	165
XV.	The Unction, the Vestments, and the Regalia	177
XVI.	The Significance of the Rite	188
General Index		200
Index of Forms		203

CORONATION RITES

NOTE BY THE EDITORS

PREFACE

CONTENTS

PLATES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. DOCUMENTS

I. Eastern Rites.

1. Constantinople.

2. Russia.

3. Abyssinia.

II. Western Rites.

1. The Imperial Rite.

2. The Coronation of a King.

(a) England.

(b) France.

(c) Rome.

(d) Milan.

(e) Germany.

(f) Hungary.

(g) Spain.

(h) Papal.

(i) Other Countries.

B. SPECIAL TREATISES

I. The Vestments.

II. Various.

CHAPTER I EARLY CONCEPTIONS OF KINGSHIP AND RELIGIOUS RITES IN CONNECTION WITH A KING’S ACCESSION

CHAPTER II THE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CORONATION RITE

The Abyssinian Rite

CHAPTER III THE ORIGIN OF THE WESTERN RITE

Note

CHAPTER IV THE WESTERN RITE OF THE CORONATION OF AN EMPEROR AT ROME

I

II

III

Note

IV

V

VI

CHAPTER V THE CORONATION OF A KING. THE ENGLISH RITE

The English Rite

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

CHAPTER VI THE FRENCH RITE

I

II

III

Note

IV

V Napoleon

CHAPTER VII THE ROMAN RITE OF THE CORONATION OF A KING

I

II

CHAPTER VIII THE RITE OF MILAN

I

II

III

IV

CHAPTER IX THE GERMAN RITE

I

II

CHAPTER X THE HUNGARIAN RITE

CHAPTER XI THE SPANISH RITE

CHAPTER XII PROTESTANT RITES.

Scotland

The Coronation of the Winter King

The Prussian Rite of 1701

Denmark

The Swedish Rite

Norway

CHAPTER XIII THE PAPAL CORONATION

CHAPTER XIV THE INTER-RELATION OF THE DIFFERENT RITES

CHAPTER XV THE UNCTION, THE VESTMENTS AND THE REGALIA

(1) The Unction

(2) The Vestments and Regalia

CHAPTER XVI THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RITE

CHAPTER I
EARLY CONCEPTIONS OF KINGSHIP AND RELIGIOUS RITES IN CONNECTION WITH A KING’S ACCESSION

CHAPTER II
THE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CORONATION RITE

CHAPTER III
THE ORIGIN OF THE WESTERN RITE

CHAPTER IV
THE WESTERN RITE OF THE CORONATION OF AN EMPEROR AT ROME

CHAPTER V
THE CORONATION OF A KING.
THE ENGLISH RITE

CHAPTER VI
THE FRENCH RITE

V
Napoleon

CHAPTER VII
THE ROMAN RITE OF THE CORONATION OF A KING

CHAPTER VIII
THE RITE OF MILAN

CHAPTER IX
THE GERMAN RITE

CHAPTER X
THE HUNGARIAN RITE

CHAPTER XI
THE SPANISH RITE

CHAPTER XII
PROTESTANT RITES.

CHAPTER XIII
THE PAPAL CORONATION

CHAPTER XIV
THE INTER-RELATION OF THE DIFFERENT RITES

CHAPTER XV
THE UNCTION, THE VESTMENTS AND THE REGALIA

CHAPTER XVI
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RITE