The Coronation of Henry III (1216 and 1220) Two Coronations
Charles II wasn’t the only king who scrambled to find a crown in time for his coronation. When Henry III succeeded his father, the villainous King John, at the age of nine, he was left without royal regalia. (John had lost the Crown Jewels when his baggage train overturned in a marsh in 1215, as he hurried to flee rebel barons and a French invasion after repudiating Magna Carta earlier that year.)
The First Barons’ War was still raging when John died suddenly in 1216. With rebel barons and a French army occupying London, Westminster Abbey was not available as a coronation venue. Henry’s supporters hastily organized a ceremony at Gloucester Cathedral where the boy king was crowned with one of his mother’s circlets just 10 days after his father’s death. Neither the young king nor his regents thought this coronation was sufficient to guarantee a monarch’s authority in tumultuous times, so after the First Barons’ War ended and the French were defeated, the teenaged Henry petitioned the Pope for permission to be crowned again. In 1220, Henry III received a traditional coronation at Westminster Abbey.
The Coronation of King William I (1066) Riot on Coronation Day
After William, Duke of Normandy defeated the last Anglo-Saxon English King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he was crowned King William I at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day. When the bishops performing the ceremony asked the English people if they accepted their new King, the crowds shouted their approval – in English. Unfortunately, William’s guards spoke only Norman French and thought they were hearing an assassination attempt. The guards began attacking the crowds and set fire to nearby buildings. Inside Westminster Abbey, the coronation guests panicked and stampeded out of the Abbey before the ceremony was over. The riot at the coronation left the new king so concerned about his personal security that he ordered the construction of the Tower of London as a royal residence, fortress and prison; a historic site which still stands today.
The Coronation of Edgar the Peaceable (973) 1000 Years of Monarchy
In 973, St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote the coronation service for the crowning of the Anglo-Saxon King of England, Edgar the Peaceable, and his consort, Aelfthryth, at Bath Abbey. The ceremony marked the zenith of Edgar’s reign rather than its beginning. By 973, Edgar had been king for 14 years, taking advantage of a lull in Viking attacks to acquire more ships and reform the monasteries.
In 1973, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and their children attended a service at Bath Abbey to mark the 1000th anniversary of Edgar the Peaceable’s coronation. When King Charles III is crowned, he will be following in the footsteps of a thousand years of kings and queens who pledged their lifelong commitment to their people in a coronation ceremony.
Sign up here to get Reader’s Digest’s favourite stories sent to your inbox!
Source: readersdigest.ca
