Interior of Westminster Abbey during the Ceremony of Coronation Water Procession from Westminster to the Tower . CORONATIONS. CHAPTER I. THE ORIGIN OF CORONATIONS. THE ceremony of the Coronation is not to be regarded simply as a splendid spectacle, and an imposing form; it is a solemn recognition of the mutual obligations between the sovereign and the subjects, made in the presence of that Almighty Being "by whom alone kings do reign." When God selected Saul to be the first king over his chosen people, we find that "Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance ?" (1 Sam. x. 1.) From that period, the unction, or anointing with oil, became an important part of the ceremonials used at the installation of kings in Judah and Israel. St. Augustine expressly assures us that this custom was peculiar to the Jews: "Nowhere else," he says, "were kings anointed, than in that kingdom where Christ was foretold, and whence he was to come." The ceremony of Saul's inauguration was a simple recognition: "Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.” (1 Sam. x. 24.) The ceremonies used at the coronation of David were also unction and recognition, and the forms were used when Solomon was made king, during the life-time of his father. But when Jehoash, being B saved from Athaliah's massacre, was anointed king by Jehoiada, we find that several additional forms were used, which deserve attention. "Jehoiada brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon his head, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king." The crown appears to have been taken as a royal ornament, because the circle was regarded as the symbol of completeness and perfection; for the same reason, investiture by the ring was used at a much earlier period: it was by this form that Pharaoh constituted Joseph his viceroy over Egypt. A circlet for the head was used at a very early period in Persia, and probably in Babylonia; but most of the other Asiatic nations adopted the tiara, or fillet, which was bound round the king's head, on his accession, with great solemnity. The Persian received the crown, or, perhaps, we should rather call it the royal circlet, from the hands of the Chief Mobed, or High Priest; but the kings who were vassals to the Persian monarch received this emblem of their royal dignity from the sovereign himself. In the annexed engraving we see one of those vassal princes receiving the regal circlet from the hands of the Persian monarch, who claimed for himself the title of king of kings. The queen also was crowned by the king, and not by a mobed: thus, we read in the Book of Esther, "The king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight, more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti." (Esther ii. 17.) We learn, also, from the next verse, that the ceremony of the coronation in Persia was celebrated by a public entertainment, and by various acts of grace and favour. "The king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king." (Esther ii. 18.) The Roman title of emperor originally signified nothing more than commander of an army, and was regarded as inferior to that of king. It will be remembered that Julius Cæsar refused to accept a crown; Mark Antony, in his oration over Cæsar's body, is represented as declaring― You all did see that on the Lupercal, I thrice presented him a kingly crown, In the Western empire, indeed, there seems to have been no established form for the installation of the sovereign; but in the Eastern or Byzantine empire the Roman customs were intermingled with those of the Oriental nations, and the emperors received from the prætorian guards a crown and sword, which seemed to be a tacit acknowledgement of the right claimed by the soldiers to dispose of the empire. Justin II. deprived the imperial guards of this privilege, under the pretence of giving a religious sanction to the ceremonies of the coronation; and from his time the crown, sceptre, and sword, were publicly given to the emperor by the patriarch of Constantinople, in the church of St. Sophia. The ceremony of anointing was first introduced by Andronicus the Younger, in the thirteenth century, long after it had been adopted in western Europe; he added this form in order that the soldiers should not revive their claim to perform the coronation, because that unction and chrism, that is, anointing with oil and ointment, could only be performed by a person of episcopal dignity. The empresses of Con stantinople, like the queens of Persia, however, could only receive the crown matrimonial from the hands of the emperor. The warlike tribes of Germany elected their kings, but they always chose one of royal blood for their sovereign. Indeed, the principles of hereditary and elective monarchy, which now appear so utterly irreconcileable, were so far from seeming inconsistent to our Saxon ancestors, that they insisted on both being united in the person of their monarch, and some traces of this apparent anomaly may be found in the present ceremonials of coronation. When the Germans had chosen a king, they prepared a pavis, or very large shield, on which they seated the new monarch; and elevating the pavis on the shoulders of the principal officers, carried their king in triumphal procession three times round the army*. On these occasions, the Germans used to manifest their spirit of rude independence by playing practical jokes on their sovereign, such as shaking the pavis, and attempting to unseat him. Such barbarous sport had nearly proved fatal to Gunwald, king of Burgundy: he was thrown from the shield, as he was borne round the army, a third time, and was so severely bruised that it was feared he would have expired upon the spot. This custom was introduced into England by the Saxons, and it is still preserved in the chairing of successful candidates after elections. Even the spirit of practical jesting was preserved down to the beginning of the present century: within the memory of persons still alive, it was considered rather hazardous to encounter the perils of a popular chairing at Yarmouth or at Norwich. This custom of elevating the sovereign on a shield, was introduced into the Roman empire a little before its fall; Gordian and Julian were thus proclaimed emperors by their soldiers, who had learned the practice during their campaigns in Germany and Gaul. This custom was also adopted in the Byzantine empire. Cantacuzenus informs us that the emperor was to *See vignette in title-page. |
