A coronation is a ceremony marking the investment of a monarch with regal power
through, amongst other symbolic acts, the placement of a crown upon his or her head.
Where the monarch is anointed, the ritual may have religious
significance. Coronation remains the norm for the formal installation of the monarch of the Commonwealth Realms.
Formerly, in many kingdoms and empires, the coronation was a
highly solemn ceremony in which anointing with holy oil, followed by ratification as the proper
occupant of the throne, were important parts. This is still the case in the United Kingdom, one of the few nations that continues formal coronations to this day, and was true for
the historical monarchies of France, and many other former kingdoms and empires.
The term 'Coronation' is sometimes used in a semi-ironic sense to refer to uncontested party leadership elections, with all
potential party leaders choosing back a single candidate or stay silent rather than stand in an election they are likely to
lose[1].
This typically happens where there has been a protracted behind-the-scenes attempt to remove the outgoing leader, leading to a
significant amount of time to discover who has the most party support before the election proper.
In Antiquity
The Shahs of the Achaemenid Persian Empire were crowned with the diadem by a high priest of the Zoroastrian religion.
The Roman Emperors, traditionally acclaimed either by the senate or by a legion speaking
for the armies as a whole, were confirmed by the other body, without a coronation. The Eastern diadem was introduced by
Diocletian. In theory, the Imperial crown should be imposed by a representative of those who conferred the sovereign authority
that it symbolized; and, in the 4th century, the Prefect Sallustius
Secundus crowned Valentinian I (in whose election he had taken the prominent part).
But the Emperor seems to have felt some hesitation in receiving the diadem from the hands of a subject, and the selection for the
office was likely to cause jealousy. Yet, a formality was necessary. In the 5th century the difficulty was overcome in an
ingenious and tactful way. The duty of coronation was assigned to the Patriarch of Constantinople, possibly at the coronation of Marcian (AD 450), but certainly at the coronation of his successor Leo
(457).[1]
Since the feudal age
Coronation of King
Alexander III of Scotland on
Moot
Hill,
Scone. He is being greeted by the
ollamh rígh, the royal poet, who is
addressing him with the proclamation "Benach De Re Albanne" (=
Beannachd Dé Rígh Alban, "God Bless the King of Scotland");
the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy back to the first ever Scotsman. It was the tradition in Gaelic-speaking
societies that the king's legitimacy be established by recitation of the royal pedigree.
A coronation following the Byzantine formula was instigated with the coronation of King Clovis of the Franks at Rheims (497), in which a dove was made to descend with an ampoule of oil, with which
the king was anointed. All succeeding kings of France were anointed — with the same oil, miraculously resupplied[citation needed] — and crowned at Rheims.
Coronations are often centuries-old ceremonies with a great many formal and solemn
traditions. Usually the climax of the coronation ceremony is the monarch's recital of an
oath, followed by a religious leader placing a crown on the monarch's head. Some monarchs have crowned themselves: this was the custom of the
Shahs in Iran, the Tsars of Russia
and self-proclaimed monarchs like the Bonaparte Emperors of the French.
The crown is not the only item bestowed on a sovereign at his or her coronation. Usually there is an orb and sceptre and — depending on the country — other items from the
crown jewels, all highly charged with historic, religious, and territorial symbolism.
The ceremony usually takes place in the premier cathedral or most holy basilica of a country, often in the present or former monarchical and/or ecclesiastical capital. In the United
Kingdom, the coronation ceremony takes place in Westminster Abbey, with the monarch seated on the ancient St.
Edward's Chair, or Coronation chair, (which then again includes the Scottish Stone of
Scone). The French monarchs were crowned at Notre-Dame de Reims.
A coronation ceremony is generally religious in character, because from the earliest times it was believed that monarchs were
chosen by God, in accordance with the Divine Right of Kings; hence, the crown was
bestowed by God himself. Many sovereigns are still proclaimed Monarch "by the Grace of God". Historically this fact was used as a
defence of absolute monarchy.
Additionally, in Japan the Emperor was believed to be a descendant of Amaterasu the sun goddess. Hence, the concept of monarch, coronation, and God are often inexorably linked.
A monarch succeeding by right (e.g. hereditarily) does not have to undergo the ceremony of coronation to ascend the throne and
execute the duties of the office. King Edward VIII of the United
Kingdom, for example, did not reign long enough for a coronation ceremony to occur before he abdicated, yet he was unquestionably the King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India during his brief reign. This is because in Great Britain, the law stipulates
that the moment one monarch dies, the new monarch assumes the throne, so that there is no time at which the throne is vacant. The
British Monarch is usually proclaimed in an outdoor ceremony at St. James's Palace
within hours of the death of his predecessor. In France, the new monarch ascended the throne when the coffin of the previous
monarch descended into the vault at Saint Denis Basilica, and the Duke of Uzes proclaimed 'Le
Roi est mort, vive le Roi' (French: 'The [old] king is dead; long live the [new]
King!')
From 1305 to 1963 the Popes were crowned with the Papal
Tiara in a coronation ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Following the decision of the last crowned Pope, Paul VI, to lay the
Papal tiara on the high altar of the basilica as a symbol of humility, the next three popes
declined to wear it, and thus had a ceremony of papal inauguration rather than
coronation, as the placing of a crown or coronet of some description upon the head is a requisite of a coronation ceremony. While
John Paul I, John Paul II (who also
completely abandoned the use of the sedia gestatoria, a portable throne) and
Benedict XVI opted for an inauguration instead of an old-fashioned coronation, a
future pope can, in theory, opt for the coronation ceremony.
Many European monarchies have dispensed with the ceremony of coronation altogether. In Norway, the coronation was abolished in
1908 and the king was thereafter only required by law to go through the taking of the oath in the
Storting, but when Olav V was to be crowned in
1958 he still wanted the church's blessing for his reign and the benediction was introduced. This
ceremony is much simpler than the previous coronation, but continues the element of blessing and the Crown of Norway is displayed on the high altar rather than placed on the king's head.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja of
Norway received the benediction in 1991 and although the ceremony is not required it is
expected to be used by future monarchs as well.
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands had
an oath-taking and induction ceremony rather than a coronation; and in Sweden, no king has been
crowned since Oscar II in 1873. In Spain, although the crown is present and evident
at the ceremony it is never actually placed on the monarch's head. Today's coronations of constitutional monarchs are more akin to political inaugurations. Belgium actually never had a crown (except as a 'virtual' heraldic emblem), the formal
installation is a solemn oath on the constitution in parliament, symbolic of the restricted rule of the king under the then
cutting-edge constitution of 1831.
King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway.
They were photographed wearing their coronation crowns and robes in 1906.
Among the last grand coronation ceremonies the world saw were those of Shah Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi of Iran in 1967 and that of the Central African Republic's
president Bokassa in 1977. Bokassa crowned himself Emperor in an imitation of
Napoleon I's pomp. Furthermore, grand ceremonial is still customary in some South East Asian monarchies, notably for the King of
Thailand, the Sultan of Brunei and King of Malaysia, where every five years one of the continental state monarchs (Sultans and one Radja) is crowned
Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Paramount Ruler), i.e. elective head of state of the
federation. Also, upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, the
Prince of Wales, will almost certainly have an extremely grand coronation, in keeping
with British Imperial tradition, and because he may at the same time receive the title of Head of the Commonwealth (subject to
agreement of the member states of the Commonwealth).
References
See also
External links
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