Coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor
The
The
Preliminaries
Before being crowned emperor by the pope, a monarch first had to win the support of the majority of the seven prince-electors in the Imperial election, then to be crowned King of the Romans by an archbishop, for example that of Cologne, Mainz, or Trier. He then had to conduct an Italienzug (Romzug), leading his army from Germany to Rome and occasionally having to fight off enemies barring the way, making his coronation into a military expedition. Some elected or crowned Kings of the Romans never made it that far, and thus were never confirmed as Holy Roman Emperors by the Holy See. The papal coronation was necessary for the Imperial title until 1508, when the Venetians blocked the journey of Maximilian I, and he was instead proclaimed emperor elect by Pope Julius II at Trent.[1] This established the right of elected Germanic monarchs to use the imperial title.
Ceremonies
Locations
Successors of Charlemagne were crowned in Rome for several centuries, where they received the imperial crown in St. Peter's Basilica from the pope.
The
German royal coronation
The German coronation ceremony first required the
If the coronation was performed (as usual before 1562) at the
The archbishop of Cologne then said the prayers, "Bless, Lord, this king,..." and "Ineffable God,...."
The coronation of the queen followed and was conducted jointly by the archbishop-electors of Mainz and Trier. The Te Deum was then sung during which Charles V dubbed a number of knights with the imperial sword, although at subsequent coronations this took place after the Coronation proper. The Mass was then concluded, during which the king communed in one kind. Whenever the coronations were performed at Aachen, the new king was made a
From 1562 to 1792 the German coronation took place before the Altar of St. Bartholomew in the crossing of the Frankfurt Cathedral.
Roman imperial coronation
The Holy Roman imperial coronation in Rome evolved over the thousand years of the empire's existence from an originally very simple ritual (which by its very simplicity paralleled and most clearly demonstrated its origins in its Byzantine counterpart) to one of increasing complexity. The oldest manuscript of the Roman imperial coronation ritual is found in the 9th century Gemunden Codex and while it is uncertain for whom (if anyone) the ritual described in it was intended to be used in it we come the closest to seeing the very types of forms which would have been used for Charlemagne himself.[5] The ritual began with a short prayer for the emperor, "Hear our prayer, Lord, and those of your servant...". This was immediately followed by the prayer, "Look, Almighty God, with a serene gaze on this, your glorious servant,...", in which a golden crown was placed on the emperor's head during the words of the concluding phrase of this prayer, "Through whom honor and glory are yours through infinite ages of ages. Amen." A sword was then given to the emperor with the word, "Receive this sword by the hands of bishops, who, though unworthy, are consecrated to be in the place and authority of the holy Apostles, deliver it to you, with our blessing, to serve for the defense of the holy Church, divinely ordained, and remember of whom the Psalmist prophesied, saying, 'Gird the sword upon your thigh, O most Powerful One, that with it you may exercise equity.'", a form which would have a long history both in the imperial coronation ritual and in those of numerous European royal coronation rituals as well. The Laudes Imperiale (a series of formal acclamations that originated in Roman times—see below) were then chanted. The ceremony traditionally took place in Saint Peter's basilica.
Coronation of Frederick I Barbarossa
In its more developed form during the High Middle Ages, before the coronation proper the emperor[N 11] went in procession first to the Church of St. Mary in Turri,[N 12] where he took an oath to protect the Roman Church, "In the name of Christ, I, Frederick, the emperor, promise, pledge and guarantee in the sight of God and the blessed Apostle Peter that I will be the protector and defender of this holy Roman Church in all ways useful to her, however many, in so far as I am supported by divine assistance according to my knowledge and ability." The imperial party then proceeded to the Basilica of St. Peter. The emperor was met at the silver door of St. Peter's by the cardinal
Coronation of Henry VI and Constantia
In the coronation of Henry VI and Constantia[7] we see the Roman imperial ritual in substantially its final form; the imperial coronation ritual used for Henry VII in 1312[8] and that found in the Roman Pontifical of 1520[9] differ from it only in certain details. The emperor and empress go in procession to St. Mary in Turri, the choir singing, "Behold, I send an angel"[10] (1312--The emperor is received as a brother canon by the canons of the church and dressed in a surplice and an almuce.) The emperor takes the Oath to defend the Roman Church and swears fealty to the pope and his successors and kisses the pope's feet.[N 16] The pope gives the emperor the Kiss of Peace and the procession sets out for the Basilica of St. Peter, the choir singing, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel".[11]
At the Silver Door of the Basilica the cardinal bishop of Albano says the prayer, "God in whose hands are the hearts of kings." and then leads her to the Altar of St. Gregory to await the pope's procession.
The pope proceeds to the confessio of St. Peter and beginning the Mass. After the Kyrie, while the emperor and empress lie prostrate before the confessio, the Archdeacon sings the Litany of the Saints. The emperor and empress then rise and go to the Altar of St. Maurice where the cardinal bishop of Ostia anoints the emperor with the Oil of the Catechumens on his right forearm and on the nape of his neck, while he says the prayers, "The Lord God Almighty, whose omnipotence is"[16] and "God the Son of God."[17] The cardinal bishop of Ostia then says the prayer, "God who alone has immortality"[18] for the empress and then anoints her on the breast with the Oil of the Catechumens while he says, "The grace of the Holy Spirit through my humble ministry descend upon you copiously."[19]
The pope then descends to the Altar of St. Maurice[N 19] (and 1312--kisses the emperor 'after the manner of a deacon'). The pope then give the emperor a ring with the words, "Receive this ring the visible witness of holy faith..." and then the short prayer, "God with whom is all power..." (a much shorter version of the prayer said at the anointing). The pope girds the sword on the emperor with the words, "Receive this sword with the blessing of God..." and the prayer, "God whose providence..." and then crowns the emperor with the words, "Receive the Crown of royal excellence..." The pope gives the emperor the scepter with the words, "Receive the Scepter of royal power, the rod of royal rectitude, the staff of virtue,..." and the prayer, "Lord, fount of all honor..."
The pope returns to the Altar of St. Peter and the
(In the 1312 and later coronations the investitures with the imperial regalia take place after the gradual. The pope sets a miter on the emperor's head with the points 'to the right and to the left' and crowns him with the words, "Receive the sign of glory..."[N 21] The sword is then given to the emperor and gird on him, after which he brandishes it thrice. The Orb is placed in the emperor's right hand and the Scepter in his left hand with the words, "Receive the Rod of virtue and truth..." and the emperor is crowned and then kisses the pope's feet. The pope sets a miter on the empress' head 'with the points to the right and to the left'[N 22] and crowns her with the words, "Solemnly blessed as empress by our unworthy ministry, receive the crown of imperial excellence...")
The Laudes Imperiale are sung and then the Gospel is read by the emperor. At the Offertory the emperor offers bread, candles and gold and the emperor offers the pope the wine and the empress the water for the chalice. (1312--The Emperor serves the pope 'as a subdeacon offering him the chalice and water cruet.) Both the emperor and the empress communicate and in 1312 after Communion the emperor kisses the pope's cheek and the empress kisses the pope's hand. (After 1312 at the end of the Mass the pope if he chooses may say the prayers, "Look, we ask you, Lord, with a serene countenance...", "Bless, Lord, we ask you, this prince...," or "God, Father of eternal glory...").
Upon leaving the basilica, the emperor swore in three places to maintain the rights and privileges of the Roman people.
The Roman imperial coronation ritual had certain unique elements which distinguished it from those of the royal coronation rituals developed in the European royal coronation rituals, e.g., the stational character of the ritual in which individual parts of the ritual took place in different parts of the papal basilica (usually that of St. Peter's in the Vatican)[N 23] and the imperial coronation is quite unique in not having a solemn enthronement of the monarch (or even any use of a throne at all) in its ritual. Instead of an enthronement ritual we find the chanting of the Laudes Regiae, which paralleled in both form and importance its Byzantine imperial counterpart. Indeed, only those European coronation rituals which were directly modeled on the Roman imperial ritual, i.e., the papal coronation[N 24] and the royal coronation ritual in the Roman Pontifical, also include such chanting of a Laudes.
The custom of Holy Roman Emperors going to Rome to be crowned was last observed by Frederick III; in 1452, his great-grandson, Charles V, was crowned by the Pope in Bologna in 1530. After that, only the German coronation ritual was performed.[3]
Coronations of the Latin Emperors of Constantinople
R. M. Woolley states that the accounts of the coronations of the Latin emperors of Constantinople are very scant and provide no record of the actual texts used in these ceremonies, but from what is recorded it may be assumed that these imperial coronations were modeled on the forms used for the coronations of the Holy Roman Emperors, rather than those traditionally used for the coronations of the Byzantine emperors.[20][N 25]
Crowns
It is unclear as to which crown was used for either the German royal coronation or the Roman imperial coronation. Lord Twining suggests that when the German royal coronation still took place at Aachen, the
The Imperial Crown was originally made for
Laudes Imperiale
Cantors: | Response: |
---|---|
Hear, O Christ | Life to our Lord, decreed by God, Supreme Pontiff and Universal Father |
Hear, O Christ | Hear, O Christ |
Savior of the World | You that are (our)[N 29] Help |
Hear, O Christ | Life to our Lord, that Augustus crowned by God, the great and pacifying emperor |
Saint Mary | You that are (our) Help |
Saint Mary | You that are (our) Help |
Saint Mary | You that are (our) Help |
Hear, O Christ | And life to the most excellent sons of the King |
Saint Peter | You that are (our) Help |
Saint Peter | You that are (our) Help |
Saint Peter | You that are (our) Help |
Hear, O Christ | Life and victory to the army of the Franks, Romans and Germans[N 30] |
Saint Theodore | You that are (our) Help |
Saint Theodore | You that are (our) Help |
Saint Theodore | You that are (our) Help |
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands, | Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands. |
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands, | Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands. |
King of kings, Christ conquers, Christ reigns | King of kings, Christ conquers, Christ reigns.[N 31] |
Further acclamations: |
---|
Our King, Christ conquers, Christ reigns. Our Hope, Christ conquers. Our Glory, Christ conquers. Our Mercy, Christ conquers, Our Help, Christ conquers. Our Strength, Christ conquers. Our Victory, Christ conquers. Our Liberation and Redemption, Christ conquers. Our Victory, Christ conquers. Our Armor, Christ conquers. Our Impregnable Wall, Christ conquers. Our Defense and Exaltation, Christ conquers. Our Light, Way and Life, Christ conquers. To him alone be command, glory and power through immortal ages. Amen. To him alone be vigor, strength and victory through all ages of ages. Amen. To him alone be honor, praise and jubilation through infinite ages of ages. Amen.[24] |
Empresses and queens
Up to and including the coronation of Richenza of Northeim at Cologne in 1125, Holy Roman empresses and German queens were usually anointed and crowned separately from their husbands, unless joint ceremony was required by political circumstances. From then on, joint coronation ceremonies were more common.[25]
List of Roman imperial coronations
Frankish kings crowned Emperors of the Romans
Emperor | Coronation date | Officiant | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Charles I (Charlemagne) | 25 December 800 | Pope Leo III | Rome, Italy |
Louis I | 5 October 816 | Pope Stephen IV | Reims, France |
Lothair I | 5 April 823 | Pope Paschal I | Rome, Italy |
Louis II
|
15 June 844 | Pope Sergius II | Rome, Italy |
Charles II | 29 December 875 | Pope John VIII | Rome, Italy |
Charles III | 12 February 881 | Rome, Italy | |
Guy III of Spoleto | 21 February 891 | Pope Stephen V | Rome, Italy |
Lambert II of Spoleto
|
30 April 892 | Pope Formosus | Ravenna, Italy |
Arnulf of Carinthia | 22 February 896 | Rome, Italy | |
Louis III | 15 or 22 February 901 | Pope Benedict IV | Rome, Italy |
Berengar | December 915 | Pope John X | Rome, Italy |
Holy Roman Emperors
Emperor | Coronation date | Officiant | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Otto I
|
2 February 962 | Pope John XII | Rome, Italy |
Otto II | 25 December 967 | Pope John XIII | Rome, Italy |
Otto III | 21 May 996 | Pope Gregory V | Rome, Italy |
Henry II | 14 February 1014 | Pope Benedict VIII | Rome, Italy |
Conrad II | 26 March 1027 | Pope John XIX | Rome, Italy |
Henry III | 25 December 1046 | Pope Clement II | Rome, Italy |
Henry IV | 31 March 1084 | Antipope Clement III | Rome, Italy |
Henry V | 13 April 1111 | Pope Paschal II | Rome, Italy |
Lothair III | 4 June 1133 | Pope Innocent II | Rome, Italy |
Frederick I
|
18 June 1155 | Pope Adrian IV | Rome, Italy |
Henry VI | 14 April 1191 | Pope Celestine III | Rome, Italy |
Otto IV | 4 October 1209 | Pope Innocent III | Rome, Italy |
Frederick II | 22 November 1220 | Pope Honorius III | Rome, Italy |
Great Interregnum | |||
Henry VII | 29 June 1312 | Ghibellines cardinals | Rome, Italy |
Louis IV | 17 January 1328 | Senator Sciarra Colonna | Rome, Italy |
Charles IV | 5 April 1355 | Pope Innocent VI's cardinal | Rome, Italy |
Sigismund | 31 May 1433 | Pope Eugenius IV
|
Rome, Italy |
Frederick III | 19 March 1452 | Pope Nicholas V | Rome, Italy |
Charles V | 24 February 1530 | Pope Clement VII | Bologna, Italy |
See also
- Vienna Coronation Gospels
- Coronation of the Hungarian monarch
- Coronation of the British monarch
- Coronation of the French monarch
Notes
- ^ See also Guy Stair Sainty, The Holy Roman Empire: Introduction Archived June 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. From the Almanach de la Cour website. Retrieved on 14 September 2008.
- ^ The Encyclopædia Britannica notes that there is no clear record of a coronation with the Iron Crown before that of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII in 1312.[2]
- ^ This account is of the German royal coronation ritual used for Rudolf I in 1273 and remained substantially the same until that of Matthias II at Frankfurt in 1612. The account is found in Woolley (1915), pp. 122–125.
- ^ The canons of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen would bring the silver-gilt reliquary bust of Charlemagne with them to the entrance for the emperor-elect to venerate as he enter the Palatine Chapel.
- ^ "Will you be duly subject and show reverent faith to the Father and Lord most holy in Christ, the Roman pontiff and to the holy Roman church?"
- ^ The German rite as also the English has the word 'ineffable', whereas the other European coronation rites has 'inexecutable.'
- ^ A number of other prayers of consecration then follow, which Woolley assumes were intended as alternative prayers, since the king had already been consecrated and anointed.
- ^ These vestments may be seen at Media related to Coronations of Holy Roman Emperors at Wikimedia Commons. Woolley notes that not only was the king clothed in these robes and invested with the regalia identified as those of Charlemagne, but accounts of the coronation of Leopold II state that the king's coiffure and beard were cut to look like that of "a man of the seventh (sic) century."[4]
- ^ When the ceremony took place in Aachen, the throne used was Charlemagne's own marble throne directly opposite the high altar.
- ^ Before the coronation proper Saint Stephen's Purse, reliquary containing earth soaked the blood of the first Christian martyr and which had once been in Charlemagne's tomb was placed within the throne.
- ^ The emperor is attended by German archbishops or bishops, as the British monarch is similarly attended by the Anglican bishops of Durham and of Baths and Wells.
- ^ A church which formed part of the complex of buildings around the east atrium of the Old St. Peter's.
- ^ The Ordo of Waitz which is contemporary with this one used for Frederick I has the prayer, "God, who is glory of the just and the mercy of sinner,..." with the anointing taking place at the words, "Kindle, Lord, we ask you, his heart with the love of your grace through this anointing with oil as you have anointed priests, kings and prophets,..." After this was said the prayer, "Lord God with whom is all power,.."
- ^ The anointing with the Oil of the Catechumens by the senior cardinal before a side altar and between the shoulders and right arm may have been intended to stress the fact that a coronation was not a sacramental act, unlike the consecration of a bishop which included an anointing with Chrism before the high altar on the top of the head.
- ^ The text of this formula can be found in Coronation of the Hungarian monarch.
- ^ In 1312 and in later coronations the emperor no longer swears fealty to the pope.
- ^ A large circular stab of porphyry set into the floor of both the Old Basilica and the present one upon which many emperors, beginning with Charlemagne, are said to have been crowned.
- ^ The emperor had the unique privilege as a layman given him by the pope of wearing pontifical vestments, i.e., the vestments proper to a bishop. Nevertheless, one should also recall that the dress and insignia of both emperors and bishops have a common origin in the dress and insignia of the Roman senators.
- ^ where the crowns have already been deposited
- ^ Ideally read by the King of France, he is present, or by the King of Naples.
- ^ Cf. the portrait of Frederick III wearing such an imperial crown over a miter.
- ^ The only other women who had the right to wear a miter were the 'mitered abbesses', the superiors of certain very ancient monastic communities, although Gregory Dix in his book, The Shape of the Liturgy notes that these abbesses were originally ex officio deaconesses and that these miters were originally the caps worn by deaconesses as an insignia of their deaconal status.
- ^ Note that the prayer said by the cardinal bishops at the entrances of the emperor and empress into the church was later imitated in the French, German, Swedish and Norwegian coronation rituals.
- ^ The Papal Laudes were last chanted during the entrance procession of the Inauguration Mass of Pope Benedict XVI on April 24, 2005.
- ^ Cf. Coronation of the Byzantine emperor.
- ^ Cf. The portrait of Frederick III.
- ^ Cf. The only extant example is the Austrian Imperial Crown made for Rudolf II.
- Russian Imperial Crownmade for Catherine the Great. Peter the Great adopted the contemporary miter crowns worn by the Habsburg emperors as the model for the actual and heraldic crowns of the Russian Empire.
- ^ The actual Latin has no possessive pronoun, but the English translation would make no sense without it.
- ^ The actual text has "Teutons".
- ^ An English translation of the Latin text in Woolley (1915), pp. 42-43.
References
- ISBN 9789004435032. Archivedfrom the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
- ^ "Iron Crown of Lombardy at Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved 2009-06-23.
- ^ a b c Muir (1911), p. 187.
- ^ Woolley (1915), p. 125.
- ^ Woolley (1915), p. 42.
- ^ Woolley (1915), pp. 44–47.
- ^ Cf. Woolley (1915), pp. 49–51.
- ^ Woolley (1915), pp. 52–53.
- ^ Woolley (1915), pp. 54–57.
- ^ Ecce mitto angelum (Exodus 23.20).
- ^ Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel (Luke 1:68).
- ^ Deus in cujus manu sunt corda regum (Cf. Prov. 21:1).
- ^ Petre, amas me? (John 21:1).
- ^ Deus inenarrabilis auctor mundi
- ^ Omnipotens aeterne Deus, fons et origo bonitatis.
- ^ Dominus Deus omnipotens, cujus est omnis potestas.
- ^ Deus Dei Filius.
- ^ Deus qui solus habes immortalitatem.
- ^ Spiritus Sancti gratia humiliatis nostrae officio copiosa descendat.
- ^ Woolley (1915), pp. 7–9.
- ^ Fletcher, Adrian. "The Palermo Duomo". Paradoxplace. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
- ^ Twining (1960)
- ^ 'Crown' Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ Woolley (1915), pp. 43–44.
- ^ Jäschke (2002), p. 79.
Sources
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2011) |
- Jäschke, Kurt-Ulrich (2002). "From famous empresses to unspectacular queens: the Romano-German Empire to Margaret of Brabant, Countess of Luxembourg and Queen of the Romans (d. 1311)". In Anne J. Duggan (ed.). Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe: Proceedings of a Conference Held at King's College London, April 1995. Boydell Press. pp. 75–108. ISBN 978-0-85115-881-5.
- Twining, Lord Edward Francis (1960). A History of the Crown Jewels of Europe. London, England: B.T. Batsford Ltd.
- Woolley, Reginald Maxwell (1915). Coronation Rites. Cambridge University Press.
- Muir, Thomas (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 185–187. . In