Coronation: From the 8th to the 21st Century - Roy Strong

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they disapproved but not to openly attack it. But this did not erode in any way its popular appeal.

      Whoever compiled the Fourth Recension (one scholar suggests Walter of Wenlock, Abbot of Westminster) must have been acutely aware of all these irreconcilabilities. Only when the monarch was enthroned aloft on a raised stage, kissed by the officiating clergy and rendered fealty to by the supporting magnates was he seen as having sovereignty over both. The peers stretched forth their hands to touch the crown, offering it both loyalty and support. In that dramatic moment both lay and ecclesiastical representatives came together in what was a rebuttal of Pope Boniface VIII’s bull, Unam Sanctam (1302), which relegated the secular power of princes to a lower order subject to the universal pontiff.

      In what way does the Fourth Recension differ from its predecessors? In the first place, items which had been part of the First and Second Recensions but which had been dropped in the Third reappear. Fifteen texts in all have been added, hugely increasing its length. The longest addition was the special order of the Mass, for which were provided the introit, two collects, the epistle, gradual, tract, gospel, gospel offertory verse, two special orations, two secrets, a preface, a special benediction and two post-communion prayers. This is the first time, also, when an ordo has substantial rubrics with precise directions. These can vary quite considerably from one manuscript to another. Indeed, an indication as to just how complicated the ceremony had become is reflected in a description of the action at the Coronation of Edward III in 1327, the Corounement du Nouel Rei, which only includes the incipits for the prayers. This account enabled an onlooker to follow the action at which they were present.18

      There are a considerable number of manuscript copies of this ordo and, as in the case of its predecessors, they vary. Some, in addition, provide notation for the chants, enabling us for the first time to recreate the music. The manuscripts fall into three groups. One pre-dates 1308, of which one, written in a large clear script, may have been used at the Coronation of Edward II, possibly carried by the king’s monk. A second group, it has been suggested, pre-dates Edward Ill’s Coronation and yet a third, and by far the largest group, has a text which may precede or follow the Coronation of Richard II in 1377.

      Two of the key manuscripts are fortunately virtually identical and both are in the muniment room of Westminster Abbey. One is the Lytlington or Westminster Missal, compiled by Abbot Lytlington (1362–86), which can be dated to 1383–4, and the other is the Liber Regalis, which recent art historical research dates to the 1390s. As the Liber Regalis was to be the text which those putting together the Coronation of James I in 1603 turned to, I give a synopsis of the action as it appears in that manuscript.19

      1 A stage is to be erected at the crossing in Westminster Abbey with a flight of steps from the west side for the king to ascend and a further flight on the eastern side for him to descend and approach the high altar.

      2 On the stage a ‘lofty throne’ is to be sited so that the king may ‘be clearly seen by all the people’.

      3 If the Archbishop of Canterbury be incapacitated he shall choose one of his suffragans to perform the ceremony.

      4 On the day before his coronation the king is to ride bare-headed to the Palace of Westminster ‘to be seen by the people’.

      5 The Coronation is to be on a Sunday or a holy day.

      6 The king is to spend the night before in prayer and contemplation, seeking the virtues needful for a ruler.

      7 The Abbot of Westminster is to instruct the king about the Coronation. If he for some reason is unavailable, the prior and convent shall choose another.

      8 On the day of the Coronation the prelates and nobles of the realm should assemble at the palace ‘to consider about the consecration and election of the new king, and also about confirming and surely establishing the laws and customs of the realm’.

      9 The king is bathed ‘as is the custom’ and attired in ‘spotless apparel’, not wearing shoes but socks only. The effect must be that his body ‘glistens by the actual washing and the beauty of the vestments’. In the great hall he is lifted ‘with all gentleness and reverence’ on to a throne covered with cloth of gold.

      10 From the Abbey a clerical procession consisting of members of the episcopacy and of the convent shall make its way to the great hall. They return in procession with the king to the Abbey chanting and singing anthems.

      11 The royal almoner supervises a path laid with ray (striped) cloth from the palace to the Abbey. After the event the cloth within the Abbey is the perquisite of the sacrist and that outside is distributed by the almoner to the poor.

      12 The stage and steps within the Abbey are to be covered with carpets by the royal ushers and cloth of gold is to be hung around the top of the stage.

      13 Royal chamberlains must see that the throne is adorned ‘with silken and most precious coverings’.

      14 There then follow details of the procession. The king is to be preceded by the prelates and monks and himself led by the hand by the bishops of Durham and Bath ‘in accordance with ancient custom’. Immediately before the king the chancellor, if he be a bishop, with the chalice of St Edward. Before him also the treasurer, again if he be a bishop or abbot, bearing the paten. Both are to be in pontificalibus. After the chalice and paten follow dukes or earls, ‘especially who by kinship are nearly related to the king’, who bear the sceptre with the cross and the golden rod with the dove. All of these items of regalia should be delivered from the Abbey to the palace by the abbot. After the regalia come three earls bearing swords, Curtana carried by the Earl of Chester and the two others by the earls of Huntingdon and Warwick. Then follows a noble appointed by the king carrying the spurs. The king and the queen (if there be one) are each under canopies of purple silk carried on four silver lances topped with silver-gilt bells. Each canopy is carried by sixteen Barons of the Cinque Ports, four to a lance supporting it in rota. The fabric afterwards is a perquisite of the barons, the lances and bells of the Abbey, as, in addition, are all the carpets, silken cloths and cushions placed in the church. This was ‘in accordance with ancient custom’.

      15 When the king is seated on the stage the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is to consecrate him, addresses the assembled people at each of the four sides, ‘inquiring their will and consent’. As he does this the king stands and turns to face each side in turn. The people give their assent shouting ‘So be it’ and ‘Long live the king’ and ‘uttering with great joy’ his name.

      16 The choir sings the anthem Firmetur manus tua.

      17 The archbishop who is to celebrate Mass revests himself at the altar ‘on account of the crowd that is come together, lest he should be hindered by it’.

      18 The bishops of Durham and Bath shall support the king on either side and together with the other bishops shall lead him down the steps to the high altar. The abbot is always to be in attendance acting as a prompt to the king ‘so that everything may be done right’.

      19 The king makes an offering of a pound of gold and then prostrates himself upon the carpets and cushions which have been laid by the ushers. The archbishop says a prayer over him.

      20 One of the bishops makes a short sermon to the people while the archbishop sits in a chair before the altar, the king sitting opposite him.

      21 Then the archbishop administers the Coronation oath followed by an admonition on behalf of the bishops, to which the king also responds. He then confirms all that he has agreed to by swearing at the altar.

      22 The king prostrates himself again before the altar while the archbishop kneels and intones the Veni creator Spiritus. A prayer follows and then two bishops or singers intone the litany. While this is sung the archbishop and all the other bishops prostrate themselves alongside the king and privately recite the seven penitential psalms.

      23 More prayers and responses follow, after which the king sits again in his chair and then goes to the altar and divests himself of his robes, except his tunic and shirt ‘which are open at the breast, and between the shoulders,

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