The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally invested with regalia and crowned at Westminster Abbey. It corresponds to the coronations that formerly took place in other European monarchies, all of which have abandoned coronations in favour of inauguration or enthronement ceremonies. The coronation usually takes place several months after the death of the previous monarch, as it is considered a joyous occasion.
About Coronation of the British monarch in brief
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally invested with regalia and crowned at Westminster Abbey. It corresponds to the coronations that formerly took place in other European monarchies, all of which have abandoned coronations in favour of inauguration or enthronement ceremonies. The coronation usually takes place several months after the death of the previous monarch, as it is considered a joyous occasion that would be inappropriate while mourning continues. The essential elements of the coronation have remained largely unchanged for the past thousand years. The sovereign is first presented to, and acclaimed by, the people. He or she then swears an oath to uphold the law and the Church. Following that, the monarch is anointed with holy oil, invested withRegalia, and crowned, before receiving the homage of his or her subjects. Wives of kings are then anointed and crowned as queen consort. The service ends with a closing procession, and since the 20th century it has been traditional for the royal family to appear later on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, before attending a banquet there. The original coronation rituals were a fusion of ceremonies used by the kings of Dl. Columba in 574, and by the Picts from whom the Stone of Destiny came. A crown does not seem to have been used until the inauguration of Alexander II in 1214. The ceremony included the laying on of hands by a senior cleric and the recitation of the king’s genealogy.
It was later incorporated into the English Coronation and its first certain use at an English coronation was that of Henry IV in 1329. After the English forces of Edward I took control of Scone Abbey, the Stone was captured by the English of John Balliol in 1296 and taken to Westminster Abbey, where it was later taken to be used for coronations. The first coronation service and the earliest form of oath can be traced to the ceremony devised by Saint Dunstan for Edgar’s coronation in 973 AD at Bath Abbey. Two versions of coronation services, known as ordines or recensions, survive from before the Norman Conquest. It is not known if the first recension was ever used in England and it was the second recension which was used by Edgar in973 and by subsequent Anglo-Saxon and early Norman kings. It borrowed heavily from the consecration of the Holy Roman Emperor from the Pontificale Romano-Germanicum, a book of German liturgy compiled in Mainz in 961, thus bringing the English tradition into line with continental practice. In 1559, Elizabeth I underwent the last English coronations under the auspices of the Catholic Church; however, Elizabeth’s insistence on changes to reflect her Protestant beliefs resulted in several bishops refusing to officiate at the service. The last coronation under Catholic auspices was held in 1547, during which Archbishop Thomas Cranmer preached a sermon against idolatry and the tyranny of the bishops of Rome.
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