April 11, 1689: Coronation of William III and Mary II as Joint Sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland

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Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of London, coronation, Coronation Chair, James II-VII of England, Mary II of England, Mary of Modena, Stone of Destiny, Stone of Scone, William III of Orange, William Sancroft

During the Glorious Revolution of November 1688 James II-VII, king of England, Scotland and Ireland was deposed and replaced by his daughter Mary II and her husband, stadtholder William III of Orange, the de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. The Glorious Revolution
can be seen as both the last successful invasion of England and also an internal coup that toppled the reigning monarch.

William III, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, Stadtholder of the Netherlands with his Imperial State Crown

The Revolution ended a century of political dispute and strife between the Crown and Parliament by confirming the primacy of Parliament over the Crown, a principle established in the Bill of Rights 1689.

English coronations were traditionally held at Westminster Abbey, with the monarch seated on the Coronation Chair. Main elements of the 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. It drew on ceremonies used by the kings of the Franks and those used in the ordination of bishops.

William III and Mary II are the only co-monarchs in English/British history. They’re still the only two people to have been jointly crowned as sovereign rulers. For example, Felipe II of Spain, claimed to rule England and Ireland via the concept Jure uxoris (a Latin phrase meaning “by right of (his) wife”) which describes that a title of nobility is being used by a man because his wife holds the office or title suo jure (“in her own right”).

Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland with her Imperial State Crown

Despite all laws and statutes being issued jointly in Mary I and Felipe II’s name, Felipe II’s tenure on the throne ended with the death of Mary I in 1558 and he is regarded as a King Consort and not a sovereign in his own right.

Because of their joint rule their 1689 coronation posed a unique problem: the nation only had one set of coronation regalia. The original regalia had been destroyed when the monarchy had been abolished by order of Oliver Cromwell. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1661, a new set of regalia had been made for King Charles II by Sir Robert Viner.

The 1661 crown, called St. Edward’s Crown, would be used by the new King William III, but Queen Mary II — who actually had the better claim to the throne — would need a different set to use. William III of Orange was third in succession to the throne behind his wife Mary and her sister Anne. Anne allowed her place in the succession to be changed in favor of William to inherit the throne.

The consort’s regalia, which had been made in 1685 for Mary’s stepmother, Mary of Modena, was thought to be insufficient because Mary II wasn’t being crowned as a consort, she was a monarch in her own right, and she would need a set of regalia equal to that of her husband.

Coronation Crown of Mary II.

William III and Mary II were proclaimed joint sovereigns on February 1689. With the coronation set for April 11, 1689. The men charged with planning the coronation faced a major time crunch. Since William III and Mary II had gained the throne through revolution their supporters wanted them to be crowned as soon as possible to cement their legitimacy as monarchs.

It was an enormous task. An elaborate ceremony was planned which included a massive number of peers, and even a second wooden coronation chair for Mary had to be constructed and carved. Because of the time pressure, parts of Mary’s regalia ultimately were repurposed from Mary of Modena’s set.

During the portions of the coronation ceremony both William III and Mary II had to wear different crowns. William III was crowned with St. Edward’s Crown; Mary II was simultaneously crowned with Mary of Modena’s coronation crown.

William III also wore the Imperial State Crown made for Charles II in 1661, Mary II wore the state crown made in 1685 by Richard de Beauvoir for Mary of Modena.

That state crown is now on display at the Tower of London. While the state crown of 1685 remains today much as it was when it was made (albeit without the same gemstones), the coronation crown has been significantly altered over the centuries. It’s currently in the collection of the Museum of London, where it is displayed with imitation gemstones.

An interesting note, William Sancroft, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who typically presides over the coronation, refused to do so because he continued to support James II-VII. This fact is particularly ironic.

William Sancroft was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II-VII over his opposition to the king’s Declaration of Indulgence. Despite this fact he still supported James II-VII.

Coronation Regalia of William III. The Crown is the 1661 St. George’s Crown

Although Sancroft refused to officiate the coronation of William III and Mary II he was deprived of the office of Archbishop of Canterbury but not for that reason. He was eventually deprived of his office in 1690 for refusing to swear allegiance to William III and Mary II.

In officiating the ceremony Sanford was replaced by the Bishop of London, Henry Compton.

Being crowned by another bishop is something that happened several times in the Middle Ages, but there would often be a second coronation done with the Archbishop of Canterbury of for sake of continuity and because of fears over the illegitimacy of the ceremony.

King Edward’s Chair (or St. Edward’s Chair or the Coronation Chair) has been used for the coronation of English (and British later on) since Edward II, with the exceptions of Edward V and Edward VIII, both of whom were not crowned. Mary II was not crowned in the chair as well. A second chair was constructed before the coronation for Mary to sit in.

Underneath the Coronation Chair sits the Stone of Scone, also called the Stone of Destiny.

William III and Mary II

Various theories and legends exist about the stone’s history prior to its placement in Scone. One legend place the origins of the Stone in Biblical times and identify it as the Stone of Jacob, taken by Jacob from Bethel while on the way to Haran (Genesis 28:10–22). This very same Stone of Jacob was then supposedly taken to ancient Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah.

Historically, the artefact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland, having been brought there from Iona by Kenneth MacAlpin circa 841 AD. After its forced removal from Scone during Edward I’s invasion of Scotland in 1296, it was used in the coronation of the monarchs of England as well as the monarchs of Great Britain and latterly of the United Kingdom following the Treaty of Union.

Orb for William III

Orb created for Mary II

Another orb also had to be created for Mary II to match the orb used by William III.

As joint sovereigns Mary II mostly deferred to William III a renowned military leader and principal opponent of Louis XIV, when he was in England. She did, however, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler. Mary’s death from smallpox at the age of 32 in 1694 left William III as sole ruler until his death in 1702, when he was succeeded by Mary’s sister, Anne.

Titles of the British Monarch. Part II.

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Battle of Agincourt, Charles IV of France, Charles VI of France, coronation, Edward III of England, Henry VI of England, Hundred Years War, Joan of Arc, Philippe VI of France, Reims Cathedral, Salic Law, Siege of Orléans, Titles of the British Monarch, Treaty of Troyes

Claims to the French Throne

When King Charles IV of France died on February 1, 1328 without a surviving male heir, it ended the direct line of the Capetian Dynasty which had ruled France since the election and accession of King Hughes Capét on July 3, 987 by the prelate of Reims.

King Charles VI of France

Twelve years prior to the death of Charles IV, a rule against succession by women, arguably derived from the Salic Law, had been recognised – with some dissent – as controlling succession to the French throne. The application of this rule barred Charles’s one-year-old daughter Mary, by Jeanne d’Évreux, from succeeding as the monarch, but Jeanne was also pregnant at the time of Charles’s death.

Since she might have given birth to a son, a regency was set up under the heir presumptive Philippe of Valois, son of Charles of Valois and a member of the House of Valois, the next most senior branch of the Capetian dynasty.

After two months, Jeanne gave birth to another daughter, Blanche, and thus Philippe became king and in May and was consecrated and crowned Philippe VI. Edward III of England argued, however, that although the Salic law should forbid inheritance by a woman, it did not forbid inheritance through a female line – under this argument, Edward III, son of Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II and daughter of Philippe IV, should have inherited the throne.

At first, King Edward III seemed to accept Philippe VI’s succession. However, in 1337 Edward III declared himself the rightful heir to the French throne. This started what became known as the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). Following some initial setbacks, this first phase of the war went exceptionally well for England; victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny, in which England made territorial gains, and Edward renounced his claim to the French throne.

Revival of the claims to France

By 1378, under King Charles V the Wise and the leadership of Bertrand du Guesclin, the French had reconquered most of the lands ceded to King Edward III in the Treaty of Brétigny (signed in 1360), leaving the English with only a few cities on the continent.

Arms of Henry VI of England.

In the following decades, the weakening of royal authority, combined with the devastation caused by the Black Death of 1347–1351 (with the loss of nearly half of the French population and between 20% and 33% of the English population) and the major economic crisis that followed, led to a period of civil unrest in both countries. These crises were resolved in England earlier than in France.

Lancastrian Phase of the Hundred Years War

The newly crowned Henry V of England seized the opportunity presented by the mental illness of Charles VI of France and the French civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians to revive the conflict.

In 1415 the army of Charles VI was crushed by the English at the Battle of Agincourt, which led to Charles’ signing of the Treaty of Troyes, which entirely disinherited his son, the Dauphin and future Charles VII, in favour of his future son-in-law Henry V of England. Henry was thus made regent and heir to the throne of France, and Charles VI married him to his daughter Catherine de Valois.

Henry V and Catherine de Valois had a son, Henry, born on December 6, 1421 at Windsor Castle. The young Henry succeeded to the throne as King Henry VI of England at the age of nine months on September 1, 1422, the day after his father’s death; he remains the youngest person ever to succeed to the English throne. On October 21, 1422, in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420, he became titular King of France upon the death of his grandfather King Charles VI of France. His mother, the 20-year-old Catherine of Valois, was viewed with considerable suspicion by English nobles as Charles VI’s daughter. Therefore she was prevented from playing a full role in her son’s upbringing.

However Charles VI’s own son, the disinherited Dauphin, was regarded as the true heir by the French. At the same time, a civil war raged in France between the Armagnacs (supporters of the House of Valois) and the Burgundian party (supporters of the House of Valois-Burgundy allied to the English).

With his court removed to Bourges, south of the Loire River, Charles VII was disparagingly called the “King of Bourges”, because the area around this city was one of the few remaining regions left to him. However, his political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a spiritual leader in France.

Joan of Arc and other charismatic figures led French troops to lift The Siege of Orléans in 1429 which announced the beginning of the end for English hopes of conquest.

With the local English troops dispersed, the people of Reims switched allegiance and opened their gates, which enabled the coronation of Charles VII in 1429 at Reims Cathedral.

In reaction to the coronation of Charles VII on July 17, 1429, at Reims Cathedral, Henry was soon crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on November 6, 1429, aged 7. This was folowed by his own coronation as King of France at Notre-Dame de Paris on December 16, 1431, aged 10. He was the only English king to be crowned king in both England and France.

Despite the eventual capture of Joan of Arc by the Burgundians and her execution in 1431, a series of crushing French victories such as those at Patay in 1429, Formigny in 1450 and Castillon in 1453 concluded the Hundred Years War in favour of France and the Valois dynasty.

England permanently lost most of its continental possessions, with only the Pale of Calais remaining under its control on the continent, until it too was lost in the Siege of Calais in 1558.

Despite his brief reign in France, Henry VI of England is not recognized as a legitimate King of France.

The claim to the title of “King of France” was nonetheless not relinquished and was retained in pretense by the English/British monarchs until the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, by which time the French monarchy had been overthrown by the French Revolution.

October 6, 1903: Marriage of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark to Princess Alice of Battenberg

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Alice of Battenberg, Alice of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Andrew of the Hellenes, coronation, Duke of Edinburgh, Edward VII of the United Kingdom, George I of the Hellenes, Philip of Greece and Denmark, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Christian IX of Denmark, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, royal wedding

Princess Alice of Battenberg ( February 25, 1885 – December 5, 1969) was born in the Tapestry Room at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in the presence of her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria of the UnitedKingdom. She was the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and his wife, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Her mother was the eldest daughter of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria’s second daughter.

Her father, Prince Louis of Battenberg was the eldest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine through his morganatic marriage to Countess Julia Hauke, who was created Princess of Battenberg in 1858 by Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Her three younger siblings, Louise, George, and Louis, later became Queen of Sweden, Marquess of Milford Haven, and Earl Mountbatten of Burma, respectively.

Alice’s mother noticed that she was slow in learning to talk, and became concerned by her indistinct pronunciation. Eventually, she was diagnosed with congenital deafness after her grandmother, Princess Julia of Battenberg, identified the problem and took her to see an ear specialist.

With encouragement from her mother, Alice learned to both lip-read and speak in English and German. Educated privately, she studied French, and later, after her engagement, she learned Greek. Her early years were spent in the company of her royal relatives, and she was a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Duke of York (later King George V) and Mary of Teck in 1893. A few weeks before her 16th birthday, she attended the funeral of Queen Victoria in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and shortly afterward she was confirmed in the Anglican faith.

Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (January 21, 1882 – December 3, 1944) was a Prince of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of the Hellenes and Olga Constantinovna of Russia. He was a grandson of Christian IX of Denmark and father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the UnitedKingdom. He was a prince of both Denmark and Greece by virtue of his patrilineal descent.

Princess Alice met Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark while both were in London for King Edward VII’s coronation in 1902.

They fell in love, and the following year, on October 6, 1903, Andrew married Alice in a civil wedding at Darmstadt. The following day two religious wedding services were performed: one Lutheran in the Evangelical Castle Church, and another Greek Orthodox service in the Russian Chapel on the Mathildenhöhe.

The bride and groom were closely related to the ruling houses of the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Denmark, and Greece, and their wedding was one of the great gatherings of the descendants of Queen Victoria and Christian IX of Denmark held before World War I. Prince and Princess Andrew had five children, all of whom later had children of their own.

Children:

1. Margarita 1905 – 1981, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
2. Theodora 1906 – 1939, Margravine of Baden
3. Cecilie 1911 – 1937, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine
4. Sophie 1914 – 2001, Princess of Hesse-Cassel, Princess of Hanover
5. Philip, 1921 – 2021, Duke of Edinburgh

The Duchess of Kent: Part III. The Duchess vs the King

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coronation, Duchess of Kent, Fitzclarence, John Conroy, Queen Adelaide, Queen Victoria, Regency, Regent, The Kensington System, Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, William IV of the United Kingdom

Together in a hostile environment, John Conroy’s relationship with the Duchess was very close, with him serving as her comptroller and private secretary for the next nineteen years, as well as holding the unofficial roles of public relations officer, counsellor, confidant and political agent.

While it is not clear which of the two was more responsible for devising the Kensington System, it was created to govern young Victoria’s upbringing. The goal they both had was for the Duchess to be appointed regent upon Victoria’s ascension which they assumed would take place prior to her turning eighteen. Once established as recent the Duchess would have Conroy created Victoria’s private secretary and given a peerage. This would established Conroy as the true power behind the throne.

The Duchess and Conroy continued to be unpopular with the royal family and, in 1829, the Duke of Cumberland spread rumours that they were lovers in an attempt to discredit them. The Duke of Clarence referred to Conroy as “King John”, while the Duchess of Clarence wrote to the Duchess of Kent to advise that she was increasingly isolating herself from the royal family and that she must not grant Conroy too much power.

Victoria was raised under the “Kensington System” and the extremely protective Duchess of Kent kept her daughter largely isolated from other children. The system prevented the princess from meeting people whom her mother and Conroy deemed undesirable (including most of Britain’s Royal Family), and was designed to keep her weak and dependent upon them.

The Duchess avoided the court because she was scandalised by the presence of King William IV’s illegitimate children, and perhaps prompted the emergence of Victorian morality by insisting that her daughter avoid any appearance of sexual impropriety. Victoria shared a bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play-hours with her dolls and her King Charles Spaniel, Dash.

Due to Conroy’s continual influence, the relationship between the Duchess’s household and King William IV increasingly soured, with the Duchess regarding the King as an oversexed oaf. As far as she dared, the Duchess denied the King access to his niece. She prevented her daughter from attending William’s coronation out of a disagreement of precedence, a decision attributed by the Duke of Wellington to Conroy.

In 1831, the year of William’s coronation, Conroy and the Duchess embarked on a series of royal tours with Victoria to expose her to the people and solidify their status as potential joint regents. Their efforts were ultimately successful and, in November 1831, it was declared that the Duchess would be sole regent in the event of Victoria’s youthful accession to the crown.The Duchess further offended the King by taking rooms in Kensington Palace without the King’s permission. These were rooms that the King had reserved for himself.

Both before and during William’s reign, she snubbed his illegitimate children, the FitzClarences. Both the King and his wife Queen Adelaide were fond of their niece, Princess Victoria of Kent. Their attempts to forge a close relationship with the girl were frustrated by the conflict between the King and the Duchess of Kent.

The King, angered at what he took to be disrespect from the Duchess to his wife, took the opportunity at what proved to be his final birthday banquet in August 1836 to settle the score. Speaking to those assembled at the banquet, who included the Duchess and Princess Victoria, William expressed his hope that he would survive until Princess Victoria was 18 so that the Duchess of Kent would never be regent.

He said,”I trust to God that my life may be spared for nine months longer … I should then have the satisfaction of leaving the exercise of the Royal authority to the personal authority of that young lady, heiress presumptive to the Crown, and not in the hands of a person now near me, who is surrounded by evil advisers and is herself incompetent to act with propriety in the situation in which she would be placed.”

The breach between the Duchess and the King and Queen was never fully healed, but Victoria always viewed both of them with kindness.

Coronation Crown of George IV of the United Kingdom

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Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, coronation, Diamond Crown, Jefri Bolkiah, King George IV of the United Kingdom, Prince of Brunei, St. Edward's Crown, State Crown of George I, State Opening of Parliament

Although I have already featured my top 12 Crowns I still will feature other crowns and regalia from time to time.

When King George IV of the United Kingdom was coronated on July 19, 1821 he did not use St. Edward’s Crown for the ceremony, nor did he use the State Crown of George I as had his immediate predecessors; instead he had a new and and extravagantly expensive crown built.

Design

At 40 cm (16 in) tall and decorated with 12,314 diamonds, it was said to make him look like a “gorgeous bird of the east”. The innovative gold and silver frame, created by Philip Liebart of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, had been designed to be almost invisible underneath the diamonds.

A plan to remove the traditional fleurs-de-lis and introduce the rose, thistle and shamrock, the floral emblems of England, Scotland and Ireland, was abandoned following objections by the College of Heralds. As a general rule, the maintenance caps in British crowns are made of crimson or purple velvet, but this crown differed in having a dark blue cap.

Fate

Because of the postponement of George IV’s coronation due to the trial of his wife, Queen Caroline, the final bill for the hiring of the stones came to £24,425. After his coronation, the king was reluctant to part with his new crown, and lobbied the government to buy it outright so he could use it for the annual State Opening of Parliament, but it was too expensive. The crown was dismantled in 1823 and has not been worn by any other monarch since then.

Emptied of its jewels and discarded by the royal family, the crown was loaned to the Museum of London by the Amherst family from 1933 until 1985. It was purchased by Asprey in 1987 and later acquired by Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei, who presented it to the United Kingdom. It had been valued at £376,000 in 1995 for the purposes of an application to export the crown to the United States.

The application was withdrawn during a review by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art. It is part of the Royal Collection and has been on public display in the Martin Tower at the Tower of London since 1996. Diamonds worth £2 million on loan from De Beers are displayed next to the crown to give visitors an idea of how it looked originally.

Although the frame of the crown is the only part that exists, a bronze cast of the crown was made.

A gilt bronze cast of the crown of George IV. The crown is surmounted by a monde and cross pattée above four half arches springing from four crosses, cast with oak leaves and acorns, interspersed with fleurs de lis and a circlet of foliage; with a purple velvet and ermine cap. The crown has a circular gilt-wood base with a glass dome and blue velvet cover Within the monde of the model is a parchment note giving details of its creation.

It was cast from George IV’s Imperial State Crown or Diamond Crown, supplied by Rundell’s for the coronation of 1821. The crown contained an extraordinary 12,314 diamonds. Although the frame of the original survives among the Crown Jewels, the stones were hired only for the coronation ceremony and were later removed from it. This model therefore gives the full impression of how it would have appeared.

George IV did purchase a bronze life-sized model of his crown for £38, on which the inscription reads: “Cast of the Rich Imperial Diamond Crown with which His Most Sacred Majesty King George IV was crowned on 19 July 1821”.

My Favorite Crown #2. St. Edward’s Crown

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coronation, Crown Jewels, Edward the Confessor, English Civil War, King Charles II of England, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Oliver Cromwell, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Regalia, St. Edward's Crown

St Edward’s Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, it has been traditionally used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century.

The original crown was a holy relic kept at Westminster Abbey, Edward’s burial place, until the regalia was either sold or melted down when Parliament abolished the monarchy in 1649, during the English Civil War.

The present version of St Edward’s Crown was made for Charles II in 1661. It is solid gold, 30 centimetres (12 in) tall, weighs 2.23 kilograms (4.9 lb), and is decorated with 444 precious and semi-precious stones. The crown is similar in weight and overall appearance to the original, but its arches are Baroque.

A stylised image of this crown is used on coats of arms, badges, logos and various other insignia in the Commonwealth realms to symbolise the royal authority of Queen Elizabeth II.

When not in use, St Edward’s Crown is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

Description

St Edward’s Crown is 22-carat gold, with a circumference of 66 cm (26 in), measures 30 cm (12 in) tall, and weighs 2.23 kg (4.9 lb). It has four fleurs-de-lis and four crosses pattée, supporting two dipped arches topped by a monde and cross pattée, the arches and monde signifying an imperial crown. Its purple velvet cap is trimmed with ermine. It is set with 444 precious and semi-precious stones, including 345 rose-cut aquamarines, 37 white topazes, 27 tourmalines, 12 rubies, 7 amethysts, 6 sapphires, 2 jargoons, 1 garnet, 1 spinel and 1 carbuncle.

Usage

Although it is regarded as the official coronation crown, after 1689, it was not used to crown a monarch for over 200 years. In 1911, the tradition was revived by George V, and all subsequent monarchs (except Edward VIII who was not crowned at all) have been crowned using St Edward’s Crown.

Only six monarchs have been crowned with St Edward’s Crown since the Restoration: Charles II (1661), James II (1685), William III (1689), George V (1911), George VI (1937) and Elizabeth II (1953). Mary II and Anne were crowned with small diamond crowns of their own; George I, George II, George III and William IV with the State Crown of George I; George IV with a large new diamond crown made specially for the occasion; and Queen Victoria and Edward VII chose not to use St. Edward’s Crown because of its weight and instead used the lighter 1838 version of the Imperial State Crown. When not used to crown the monarch, St Edward’s Crown was placed on the altar during the coronation; however, it did not feature at all at the coronation of Queen Victoria.

In heraldry

St Edward’s Crown is widely used as a heraldic emblem of the United Kingdom, being incorporated into a multitude of emblems and insignia. As the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with responsible government, the crown can also symbolise “the sovereignty (or authority) of the monarch.” It can be found on, amongst others, the Royal Cypher; the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom; the Royal Badges of England; and the badges of the police forces of England and Wales, Her Majesty’s Coastguard, the British Army, the Royal Marines, the Royal Air Force and HM Revenue and Customs. It also forms the logo of Royal Mail, the United Kingdom’s postal service. (In Scotland, the Crown of Scotland may appear in place of St Edward’s Crown).
History

Edward the Confessor wore his crown at Easter, Whitsun, and Christmas. In 1161, he was made a saint, and objects connected with his reign became holy relics. The monks at his burial place of Westminster Abbey claimed that Edward had asked them to look after his regalia in perpetuity for the coronations of all future English kings.

Although the claim is likely to have been an exercise in self-promotion on the abbey’s part, and some of the regalia probably had been taken from Edward’s grave when he was reinterred there, it became accepted as fact, thereby establishing the first known set of hereditary coronation regalia in Europe. A crown referred to as St Edward’s Crown is first recorded as having been used for the coronation of Henry III in 1220, and it appears to be the same crown worn by Edward.

Holy relic

An early description of the crown is “King Alfred’s Crown of gold wire-work set with slight stones and two little bells”, weighing 79.5 ounces (2.25 kg) and valued at £248 in total. It was sometimes called King Alfred’s Crown because of an inscription on the lid of its box, which, translated from Latin, read: “This is the chief crown of the two, with which were crowned Kings Alfred, Edward and others”. However, there is no evidence to support the belief that it dated from Alfred’s time, and in the coronation order it always has been referred to as St Edward’s Crown.

St Edward’s Crown rarely left Westminster Abbey, but when Richard II was forced to abdicate in 1399, he had the crown brought to the Tower of London, where he symbolically handed it to Henry IV, saying “I present and give to you this crown with which I was crowned king of England and all the rights dependent on it”.

It was used in 1533 to crown the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, which was unprecedented for a queen consort. In the Tudor period, three crowns were placed on the heads of monarchs at a coronation: St Edward’s Crown, the state crown, and a “rich crown” made specially for the king or queen. After the English Reformation, the new Church of England denounced the veneration of medieval relics and, starting with the coronation of Edward VI in 1547, the significance of St Edward’s Crown as a holy relic was played down in the ceremony.

During the English Civil War, Parliament sold the medieval St Edward’s Crown, regarded by Oliver Cromwell as symbolic of the “detestable rule of kings”.

Restoration

St. Edward’s Crown as it looked at the coronation of James II of England in 1685.

The monarchy was restored in 1660 and in preparation for the coronation of Charles II, who had been living in exile abroad, a new St Edward’s Crown was supplied by the Royal Goldsmith, Sir Robert Vyner. It was fashioned to closely resemble the medieval crown, with a heavy gold base and clusters of semi-precious stones, but the arches are decidedly Baroque.

In the late 20th century, it was assumed to incorporate gold from the original St Edward’s Crown, as they are almost identical in weight, and no invoice was produced for the materials in 1661. A crown was also displayed at the lying in state of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England from 1653 until 1658. On the weight of this evidence, writer and historian Martin Holmes, in a 1959 paper for Archaeologia, concluded that in the time of the Interregnum St Edward’s Crown was saved from the melting pot and that its gold was used to make a new crown at the Restoration.

His theory became accepted wisdom, and many books, including official guidebooks for the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, repeated his claim as fact. In 2008, new research found that a coronation crown and sceptre were made in 1660 in anticipation of an early coronation, which had to be delayed several times. His other regalia were commissioned in 1661 after Parliament increased the budget as a token of their appreciation for the king. The crown at Cromwell’s lying in state was probably made of gilded base metal such as tin or copper, as was usual in 17th-century England; for example, a crown displayed at the funeral of James VI and I had cost only £5 and was decorated with fake jewels.

In 1671, Thomas Blood briefly stole the crown from the Tower of London, flattening it with a mallet in an attempt to conceal it. A new monde was created for the coronation of James II, and for William III the base was changed from a circle to an oval. After the coronation of William III in 1689, monarchs chose to be crowned with a lighter, bespoke coronation crown (e.g., the Coronation Crown of George IV) or their state crown, while St Edward’s Crown usually rested on the high altar.

20th century to present day

Edward VII intended to revive the tradition of being crowned with St. Edward’s Crown in 1902, but on coronation day he was still recovering from an operation for appendicitis, and instead he wore the lighter Imperial State Crown.

Jewels were hired for use in the crown and removed after the coronation until 1911, when it was permanently set with 444 precious and semi-precious stones. Imitation pearls on the arches and base were replaced with gold beads which at the time were platinum-plated. Its band was also made smaller to fit George V, the first monarch to be crowned with St Edward’s Crown in over 200 years, reducing the crown’s overall weight from 82 troy ounces (2.6 kg) to 71 troy ounces (2.2 kg).

It was used to crown his successor George VI in 1937, and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, who adopted a stylised image of the crown for use on coats of arms, badges, logos and various other insignia in the Commonwealth realms to symbolise her royal authority. In these contexts, it replaced the Tudor Crown, which had been instated by Edward VII in 1901. Use of the crown’s image in this way is by permission of the monarch.

On 4 June 2013, St Edward’s Crown was displayed on the high altar in Westminster Abbey at a service to mark the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth II’s coronation, which was the first time it had left the Jewel House at the Tower of London since 1953.

April 12, 1577: Birth of King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway.

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Absolute Monarchy, Anne Catherine of Brandenburg, Christian IV of Denmark, coronation, Crown of Christian IV of Denmark, Elector of Hanover, Hereditary Monarchy, James VI-I of Scotland and England, King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig, King of Denmark, King of Norway, Prince Christian of Denmark, Regalia, Thirty Years War

Christian IV (April 12, 1577 – February 28, 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 to 1648. His 59-year reign is the longest of Danish monarchs, and of Scandinavian monarchies.

Christian was born at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark on April 12, 1577 as the third child and eldest son of King Frederik II of Denmark–Norway and Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He was descended, through his mother’s side, from king Hans of Denmark, and was thus the first descendant of King Hans to assume the crown since the deposition of King Christian II.

Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig

At the time, Denmark was still an elective monarchy, so in spite of being the eldest son Christian was not automatically heir to the throne. However, in 1580, at the age of 3, his father had him elected Prince-Elect and successor to the throne.

At the death of his father on April 4, 1588, Christian was 11 years old. He succeeded to the throne, but as he was still under-age a regency council was set up to serve as the trustees of the royal power while Christian was still growing up. It was led by chancellor Niels Kaas and consisted of the Rigsraadet council members Peder Munk (1534–1623), Jørgen Ottesen Rosenkrantz (1523–1596) and Christopher Walkendorf. His mother Queen Dowager Sofie, 30 years old, had wished to play a role in the government, but was denied by the Council. At the death of Niels Kaas in 1594, Jørgen Rosenkrantz took over leadership of the regency council.

In 1595, the Council of the Realm decided that Christian would soon be old enough to assume personal control of the reins of government. On August 17, 1596, at the age of 19, Christian signed his haandfæstning (lit. “Handbinding” viz. curtailment of the monarch’s power, a Danish parallel to the Magna Carta), which was an identical copy of his father’s from 1559.

Twelve days later, on August 29, 1596, Christian IV was crowned at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen by the Bishop of Zealand, Peder Jensen Vinstrup (1549–1614). He was crowned with a new Danish Crown Regalia which had been made for him by Dirich Fyring (1580–1603), assisted by the Nuremberg goldsmith Corvinius Saur.

Crown of Christian IV

Marriage

On November 30, 1597, he married Anne Catherine of Brandenburg, a daughter of Joachim Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, and his first wife Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. Christian met her on his journey in Germany in 1595 and he decided to marry her. In 1596, Anne Catherine and her parents were present at his coronation, and the next year, the marriage was arranged.

The wedding took place in the castle of Haderslevhus in South Jutland the year after the coronation of Christian IV. She was crowned queen in 1598. She was given Beate Huitfeldt as the head of her ladies-in-waiting. She had six children, among them Christian, the Prince-Elect, who died a year before his father, and Frederik III who introduced absolute monarchy in Denmark. Her son, Ulrik, was murdered in 1633. Their two daughters, Sophia and Elisabeth, and the elder son, Frederik, died at a very young age.

Anne Catherine of Brandenburg

Anne Catherine was the only queen of Christian IV, but not much is known about her. She does not seem to have had much political influence. She often accompanied the King on his travels. In her time, she was praised for her modesty and deep religious feelings. There is no mention as to whether the marriage was happy or not, but her spouse took mistresses at the end of their marriage, notably with Kirsten Madsdatter.

King Christian IV is remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious, and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects. Christian IV obtained for his kingdom a level of stability and wealth that was virtually unmatched elsewhere in Europe. He engaged Denmark in numerous wars, most notably the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48), which devastated much of Germany, undermined the Danish economy, and cost Denmark some of its conquered territories.

Christian IV spent more time in Norway than any other Oldenberg monarch and no Oldenburg king made such a lasting impression on the Norwegian people. He visited the country a number of times and founded four cities. He rebuilt and renamed the Norwegian capital Oslo as Christiania after himself, a name used until 1925.

Christian was reckoned a typical renaissance king, and excelled in hiring in musicians and artists from all over Europe. Many English musicians were employed by him at several times, among them William Brade, John Bull and John Dowland. Dowland accompanied the king on his tours, and as he was employed in 1603, rumour has it he was in Norway as well. Christian was an agile dancer, and his court was reckoned the second most “musical” court in Europe, only ranking behind that of Elizabeth I of England. Christian maintained good contact with his sister Anne, who was married to James VI of Scotland. His other sister, Elizabeth, was married to Heinrich Julius; the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and artists and musicians travelled freely between the courts.

Christian IV at the Battle of Colberger Heide.

Christian IV spoke Danish, German, Latin, French and Italian. Naturally cheerful and hospitable, he delighted in lively society; but he was also passionate, irritable and sensual. He had courage, a vivid sense of duty, an indefatigable love of work, and all the inquisitive zeal and inventive energy of a born reformer. His own pleasure, whether it took the form of love or ambition, was always his first consideration. His capacity for drink was proverbial: when he visited England in 1606, even the notoriously hard-drinking English Court were astonished by his alcohol consumption.

The last years of Christian’s life were embittered by sordid differences with his sons-in-law, especially with Corfitz Ulfeldt.

His personal obsession with witchcraft led to the public execution of some of his subjects during the Burning Times. He was responsible for several witch burnings, most notably the conviction and execution of Maren Spliid, who was victim of a witch hunt at Ribe and was burned at the Gallows Hill near Ribe on 9 November 1641.

On February 21, 1648, at his earnest request, he was carried in a litter from Frederiksborg to his beloved Copenhagen, where he died a week later. He was buried in Roskilde Cathedral. The chapel of Christian IV had been completed 6 years before the King died.

March 25, 1306: Coronation of Robert the Bruce as King of Scots.

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Battle of Bannockburn, coronation, Earl of Carrick, Edward I of England, Elizabeth de Burgh, Isabella of Mar, King Edward II of England, Pope John XXII, Robert I of Scotland, Robert the Bruce, Stone of Destiny, Stone of Scone, William Wallace

Robert I (July 11, 1274 – June 7, 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce was King of Scotland from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert was one of the most famous warriors of his generation, and eventually led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England. He fought successfully during his reign to regain Scotland’s place as an independent country and is today revered in Scotland as a national hero.

Several members of the Bruce family were called Robert, the future king was one of ten children, and the eldest son, of Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale, and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, and claimed the Scottish throne as a fourth great-grandson of David I of Scotland. His mother was by all accounts a formidable woman who, legend would have it, kept Robert Bruce’s father captive until he agreed to marry her. From his mother, he inherited the Earldom of Carrick, and through his father, a royal lineage that would give him a claim to the Scottish throne. The Bruces also held substantial estates in Aberdeenshire, County Antrim, County Durham, Essex, Middlesex and Yorkshire.

Robert’s grandfather, Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during the “Great Cause”. As Earl of Carrick, Robert the Bruce supported his family’s claim to the Scottish throne and took part in William Wallace’s revolt against Edward I of England. Appointed in 1298 as a Guardian of Scotland alongside his chief rival for the throne, John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, and William Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews, Robert later resigned in 1300 due to his quarrels with Comyn and the apparently imminent restoration of John Balliol to the Scottish throne. After submitting to Edward I in 1302 and returning to “the king’s peace”, Robert inherited his family’s claim to the Scottish throne upon his father’s death.

It is not known exactly when Robert married his first wife, Isabella of Mar, the daughter of Domhnall I, Earl of Mar and his wife Helen. It is theorized to have taken place in the early 1290s. Isabella died in 1296 before her husband was crowned King of Scotland. Six years after Isabella’s death, Robert married his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh (died 1327). Robert and Isabella’s daughter, Marjorie, married Walter Stewart, Steward of Scotland, and their son eventually reigned as Robert II, King of Scotland (died 1390).

In February 1306, Bruce, having wounded Comyn, rushed from the church where they had met and encountered his attendants outside. He told them what had happened and said, “I must be off, for I doubt I have slain the Red Comyn.” “Doubt?”, Roger de Kirkpatrick of Closeburn answered. “I mak sikker,” (“I’ll make sure,” or “I make sure”). Kirkpatrick then rushed into the church and killed Comyn. For this, Bruce was then excommunicated by the Pope (although he received absolution from Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow).

Bruce moved quickly to seize the throne, and was crowned king of Scots on March 25, 1306. Edward I’s forces defeated Robert in battle, forcing him to flee into hiding before re-emerging in 1307 to defeat an English army at Loudoun Hill and wage a highly successful guerrilla war against the English. Bruce defeated his other Scots enemies, destroying their strongholds and devastating their lands, and in 1309 held his first parliament.

A series of military victories between 1310 and 1314 won him control of much of Scotland, and at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert defeated a much larger English army under Edward II of England, confirming the re-establishment of an independent Scottish kingdom. The battle marked a significant turning point, with Robert’s armies now free to launch devastating raids throughout northern England, while also extending his war against the English to Ireland by sending an army to invade there and by appealing to the Irish to rise against Edward II’s rule.

Despite Bannockburn and the capture of the final English stronghold at Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to renounce his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish nobility submitted the Declaration of Arbroath to Pope John XXII, declaring Robert as their rightful monarch and asserting Scotland’s status as an independent kingdom. In 1324, the Pope recognised Robert I as king of an independent Scotland, and in 1326, the Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil. In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son, Edward III, and peace was concluded between Scotland and England with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328, by which Edward III renounced all claims to sovereignty over Scotland.

Robert died in June 1329. His body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, while his heart was interred in Melrose Abbey and his internal organs embalmed and placed in St Serf’s Chapel, Dumbarton, site of the medieval Cardross Parish church.

February 14, 1014: Heinrich II is crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII

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coronation, Duke Boleslaw I of Poland, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, Holy Roman Empire, King of Germany, Pope Benedict VIII, St. Cunigunde of Luxembourg, St. Peter's Basilica

Heinrich II (May 6, 973 – July 13, 1024), also known as Saint Heinrich II the Exuberant, was Holy Roman Emperor (“Romanorum Imperator“) from 1014. He died in 1024 and was without an heir the last ruler in the imperial Ottonian line. As Duke of Bavaria, appointed in 995, Heinrich II became King of Germany (“Rex Romanorum“) following the sudden death of his second cousin, Emperor Otto III in 1002, was made King of Italy (“Rex Italiae“) in 1004.

Heinrich II was born in May 973, the son of Duke Heinrich II, Duke of Bavaria, and Gisela of Burgundy. Through his father, he was the grandson of Heinrich I Duke of Bavaria, and the great-grandson of King Heinrich I (The Fowler) of Germany. By his mother, he was the grandson of King Conrad I of Burgundy, and the great-grandson of King Rudolf II of Burgundy.

Royal Standard of the Holy Roman Empire

In 999 Heinrich II married St. Cunigunde of Luxembourg. This marriage granted him an extensive network of contacts in Germany’s western territories. St. Cunigunde was one of eleven children born to Count Siegfried I of Luxembourg (922 – August 15, 998) and a woman called Hedwig. Numerous genealogists have tried to find out which Hedwig it is, there are different views.

One of the most famous theses regarding her identity is from Joseph Depoin, who claims that Hedwig is the daughter of Duke Gilbert of Lorraine and his wife Gerberga of Saxony, the daughter of Heinrich I of Saxony. If this is correct, then Cunigunde married her distant cousin. Because Heinrich II was strongly against consanguineous marriage, it is assumed that this can not be. It can also often be read, that she is the daughter of Berthold of Schweinfurt from the House of Babenberg and Eilika of Walbeck, daughter of Count Lothar. Cunigundes paternal grandmother, also called Cunigunde, was a Carolingian. So Cunigunde of Luxembourg was a seventh-generation descendant of Charlemagne.

Heinrich II crowned as Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014.

in 1012, Benedict VIII was elected to succeed him. Upon assuming the chair of St. Peter, however, Benedict VIII was forced to flee Rome by Gregory VI, an antipope, whom John Crescentius installed as the new head of the Catholic Church. Fleeing across the Alps to Germany, Benedict VIII appealed to Heinrich II for protection. Heinrich II agreed to restore Benedict VIII to his papal throne in return for his coronation as Emperor.

Near the end of 1013, Heinrich II gathered his army at Augsburg to march into Italy. Earlier in 1013, Heinrich II signed a peace treaty with Duke Bolesław I of Poland at Merseburg. The peace with Poland gave Heinrich II opportunity to address affairs in Italy. On the march across the Alps, Henry was accompanied by his wife, Queen Cunigunde and a number of clerics. Upon reaching Pavia other bishops and abbots joined him. Heinrich II’s forces trapped the King of Italy Arduin in his capital of Ivrea, where he remained until 1015.

Heinrich II arrived in Rome in early 1014, restoring Benedict VIII as Pope. On February 14, 1014, the Pope crowned Heinrich II as Holy Roman Emperor (“Romanorum Imperator“) in St. Peter’s Basilica. Then, under the presidency of the Emperor and Pope, the two held a synod in Rome, appointed five bishops, issued decrees against simony and promoting chastity within the clergy, and ordered the restitution of Church property. Shortly afterwards, the Emperor moved north again where he established the Diocese of Bobbio. Celebrating Easter in Pavia, Italy, Heinrich II then returned to Germany in mid-May 1014. He left the rule of Rome to the Pope and thereafter rarely intervened in the politics of Italy or the Papal States.

Christmas Coronations

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1066, 800, Archbishop of Canterbury, Charlemagne, Charles the Great, Christmas Day, coronation, King of the English, King of the Franks, Pope Leo III, William I of England, William the Conqueror

Merry Christmas from the European Royal History Blog!!

Today I will briefly mention two coronations that took place on Christmas Day.

Charlemagne. King of the Franks crowned Emperor 800.
William I The Conquer, King of the English, Duke of Normandy 1066

Charlemagne

In 799, Pope Leo III did not have a good relationship with the citizens of Rome and suffered sever abuse when the Romans tried to put out his eyes and tear out his tongue. Leo III, naturally fearing for his life, escaped and fled to the court of King Charlemagne at Paderborn. Charlemagne, under the advisement of scholar Alcuin, sojourned to Rome and in November of 800 and on the first of December held a council on 1 December. On December 23rd Pope Leo III swore an oath of innocence. And two days later during a Mass, on Christmas Day (25 December), Charlemagne knelt at the altar to pray, the Pope crowned him Imperator Romanorum (“Emperor of the Romans”) in Saint Peter’s Basilica. By doing this doing, the Pope effectively nullified the legitimacy of Empress Irene of Constantinople.

It was seen by scholars of the day that when Odoacer forced the abdication of Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476CE this did not effectively abolish the Western Roman Empire as a separate power Europe. Theoretically the powers of the Western Roman Emperor were said to have been reunited with or grafted into the Eastern Roman Empire. Therefore from that time contemporary scholars believed that there was a singular undivided Roman Empire. Pope Leo III and King Charlemagne, as well as their predecessors, also held to this political ideal of there being a singular Roman Empire that was one and indivisible.

However, the imperial coronation of Charlemagne was not believed to have caused a severance of the Roman Empire back into East and West factions. In the eyes Leo III and Charlemagne, along with contemporary political theorists, they were not revolting against a reigning sovereign, Empress Irene, but legitimately filling up the void of legitimate successors caused by the deposition Emperor Constatine VI in 797 and Charlemagne was held to be the legitimate successor, not of the Emperor Romulus Augustulus, but that of Emperor Constantine VI.

Despite the good intentions of Charlemagne’s coronation as Emperor, it intended to represent the continuation of the unbroken line of Emperors from Augustus to Constantine VI. The reality was that his imperial coronation had the effect of setting up two separate, and often opposing, Empires along with two separate claims to imperial authority.

One of the issues that has been debated by scholars is whether of not Charlemagne saw this prestigious gift bestowed on him on that Christmas Day? According to the twenty-eight chapter of Einhard’s Vita Karoli Magni which says that Charlemagne was ignorant of the Pope’s intent and did not want any such coronation:

“He (Charlemagne) at first had such an aversion to being granted the imperial title that he declared that he would not have set foot in the Church the day that theses imperial titles were conferred, although it was a great feast-day, if he could have foreseen the design of the Pope.”

A number of modern scholars, however, logically suggest that Charlemagne was indeed aware of the coronation. It has been said he certainly cannot have missed the bejewelled crown waiting on the altar when he came to pray; something even contemporary sources support.

Charlemagne is counted as Charles I, Holy Roman Emperor, but many scholars believe the state that evolved into the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation began with the coronation of Otto I, Duke of Saxony in 962. Otto I was crowned Emperor by Pope John XII at Olds St. Peter’s Basilica. The Pope also anointed Otto’s wife Adelaide of Italy, who had accompanied Otto on his Italian campaign, as empress. With Otto’s coronation as emperor, the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy were unified into a common realm, later called the Holy Roman Empire.

William I

Exactly when did William I The Conqueror become King of the English? Although he certainly became the De Facto King of the English when he defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in October of 1066, it was not until his coronation on Christmas Day of that year did will accede to the throne.

William may have hoped the English would surrender to his rule immediately after his his victory over Harold II but that just was not the case. A swiftly convened meeting of the Wittan, comprising the English clergy and magnates, elected Edgar the Ætheling King of the English. Edgar the Ætheling was of the House of Wessex and a nephew of King Edward the Confessor. The support for Edgar by the Wittan was very lukewarm.

Undeterred, William continued his conquest of England. He and his armies secured Dover, parts of Kent, and Canterbury, and also captured Winchester, where the royal treasury was located. These captures solidified his holdings in that region and also his line of retreat to Normandy, if that was needed. It was unnecessary.

William then marched northward to Southwark and into London in late November. Next he led his forces around the south and west of London, burning buildings of those in resistance along the way. He crossed the Thames at Wallingford in early December where Archbishop Stigand submitted to William. He moved on to Berkhamsted soon afterwards where Edgar the Ætheling, Morcar, Edwin, and Archbishop Ealdred also submitted. This solidified his power in London where William began the construction of the Tower of London And with his troops garrisoned in London William was crowned King of the English at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.