champion, who saith that he lieth, and is a false traitor, being ready in person to combat with him; and in this quarrel will adventure his life against him, on what day soever he shall be appointed.” The champion then threw down the gauntlet. The challenge was again made in the centre of the hall, and a third time before the high table, at which the king was seated. The king then drank to the champion out of a silver-gilt cup, with a cover, which he handed to him as his fee. The banquet was last held, and the challenge made, at the coronation of George IV. in 1821. The champion’s claim was admitted in 1902, but as there was no banquet the duty of bearing the standard of England was assigned to him. There is no record of the challenge having been ever accepted.
The revival of the western empire under Charlemagne was marked by his coronation by the pope at Rome in the year 800. His successors, for several centuries, went to Rome, where they received the imperial crown in St Peter’s from the pope, the crown of Lombardy being conferred in the church of St Ambrose (Sant’ Ambrogio) at Milan, that of Burgundy at Arles, and the German crown, which came to be the most important of all, most commonly at Aix-la-Chapelle. It must suffice to speak of the coronations at Rome and Aix-la-Chapelle. From Martène we learn the early form of the ceremony at Rome. The emperor was met at the silver door of St Peter’s, where the first coronation prayer was recited over him by the bishop of Albano. He was then conducted within the church, where in medio rotae majoris, the bishop Of Porto said the second prayer. Thence the emperor went to the confessio of St Peter, where the litany was said, and there, or before the altar of St Maurice, the bishop of Ostia anointed him on the right arm and between the shoulders. Then he ascended to the high altar, where the pope delivered the naked sword to him. This he flourished, and then sheathed in its scabbard. The pope then delivered the sceptre to the emperor, and placed the crown on his head. The ceremony was concluded by the coronation mass said by the pope. The custom of the emperors going to Rome to be crowned was last observed by Frederick III. in 1440, and after that the German coronation was alone celebrated. The form followed was mainly thus: the electors first met at Frankfort, under the presidency of the elector-archbishop of Mainz, and, the election having been made, the emperor was led to the high altar of the cathedral and seated at it. He was then conducted to a gallery over the entrance to the choir, where, seating himself with the electors, proclamation was made of the election, and on a subsequent day the coronation took place. If the coronation was performed, as it most commonly was, at Aix-la-Chapelle, then the archbishop of Cologne, as diocesan, was the chief officiant, and the emperor was presented to him by the two other clerical electors, the archbishops of Mainz and Trier. The emperor was anointed on the head, the nape of the neck, the breast, the right arm between the wrist and the elbow, and on the palms of both hands. After this, he was vested in what were called the imperial and pontifical robes, which included the buskins, a long alb, the stole crossed priest-wise over the breast, and the mantle. The regalia were then delivered to him, and the crown was set on his head conjointly by the three archbishop-electors. Mass was then said, during which the emperor communicated in one kind. When the coronation was performed at Aix-la-Chapelle, the emperor was at once made, at its conclusion, a canon of the church.
The coronation form in France bore much resemblance, in its general features, to the English coronation, and was, it is believed originally based on the English form. The unction was given, first on the top of the head in the form of a cross, on the breast, between the shoulders, and at the bending and joints of both arms. Then, standing up, the king was vested in the dalmatic, tunic and royal robe, all of purple velvet sprinkled with fleurs-de-lys of gold, and representing, it was said, the three orders of subdeacon, deacon and priest. Then, kneeling again, he was anointed in the palms of the hands, after which the gloves, ring and sceptre were delivered. Then the peers were summoned by name to come near and assist, and the archbishop of Reims, taking the crown of Charlemagne from the altar, set it on the king’s head. After which the enthronement, and showing of the king to the people, took place. All the unctions were made with the chrism, mixed with a drop of oil from the Sainte Ampoule. After the enthronement, mass was said, and at its conclusion the king communicated in both kinds. The third day after the coronation, the king touched for the evil.
On the “11 Frimaire an 13” Napoleon and Josephine were jointly crowned at Paris, by the pope. Napoleon entered Notre-Dame wearing a crown, and before him were carried the imperial ornaments, to wit: ”la couronne de l’empereur, l’épée, la main de justice, le sceptre, le manteau de l’empereur, son anneau, son collier, le globe impérial, la couronne de l’impératrice, son manteau, son anneau.” Each of these was blessed, and delivered with a benediction to the emperor and empress, kneeling, side by side, to receive them, both having previously received the unction on the head and on each hand. Napoleon placed the crown on his head himself. Mass with special prayers followed.
In Spain the coronation ceremony never assumed the fullness, or magnificence, that might have been expected. It was usually performed at Toledo, or in the church of St Jerome at Madrid, the king being anointed by the archbishop of Toledo. The royal ornaments were the sword, sceptre, crown of gold and the apple of gold, which the king himself assumed after the unction. In recent years the unction and coronation have been disused.
In Sweden the king was anointed and crowned at Upsala by the archbishop. The ceremony is now performed in the Storkyrka, at Stockholm, where the archbishop of Upsala anoints the king on the breast, temples, forehead and palms of both hands. The crown is placed on the king’s head by the archbishop and the minister of justice jointly, whereupon the state marshal proclaims: “Now is crowned king of the Swedes, Goths and Wends, he and no other.” When there is a queen consort, she is then anointed, crowned and proclaimed, in the same manner.
In Norway, according to the law of 1814, the coronation is performed in the cathedral at Trondhjem, when the Lutheran superintendent, or bishop, anoints the king. The crown is placed on the king’s head jointly by the bishop and the prime minister.
In Russia the coronation is celebrated at Moscow, and is full of religious significance. The tsar is anointed by the metropolitan, but places the crown on his head himself. He receives the sacrament among the clergy, the priestly theory of his office being recognized. In some other European countries the coronation ceremony, as in Austria and Hungary, is also performed with much significant ritual. In other countries, as Prussia, it is retained in a modified form; but in the remaining states such as Denmark, Belgium, Italy, &c., it has been abandoned, or never introduced.
Authorities.—L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records; Roxburgh Club—Liber Regalis; Anon., A Complete Account of the Ceremonies observed in the Coronations of the Kings and Queens of England (London, 1727); F. Sandford, Description of the Coronation of James II. (1687); Menin, The Form, Order and Ceremonies of Coronations, trans. from the French (1727); Martène, De Antiquis Ecclesiae Ritibus, lib. ii. (T. M. F.)
CORONER, an ancient officer of the English common law, so called, according to Coke, because he was a keeper of the pleas of the crown (custos placitorum coronae). At what period the office of coroner was instituted is a matter of considerable doubt; some modern authorities (Stubbs, Select Charters, 260; Pollock and Maitland, Hist. Eng. Law, i. 519) date its origin from 1194, but C. Gross (Political Science Quarterly, vol. vii.) has shown that it must have existed before that date. The office was always elective, the appointment being made by the freeholders of the county assembled in county court. By the Statute of Westminster the First it was ordered that none but lawful and discreet knights should be chosen as coroners, and in one instance a person was actually removed from office for insufficiency of estate. Lands to the value of £20 per annum (the qualification for knighthood) were afterwards deemed sufficient to satisfy the requirements as to estate which ought to be insisted on in the case of a coroner. The complaint of Blackstone shows the transition of the office from its original dignified and honorary
