Coronation Rites

by Reginald Maxwell Woolley

Denmark

There is no evidence as to the coronation rite in the Scandinavian kingdoms before the reformation, but as these nations only obtained the privilege of a coronation ceremony comparatively late and at a time when the Roman rite had become predominant, it is fairly certain that the rite, when introduced, was Roman, with perhaps a few national peculiarities.

In Denmark a coronation ritual continued to be used until the year 1840, since which date it has been entirely given up. Until then each Danish monarch was crowned on his accession.

We have an account of an early post-reformation rite in the case of Frederick II in 1559. The description is unfortunately written in verse by the Poet Laureate, Hieronymus Hosius[139], and of course no forms are given. The description given by Hosius is as follows. The king goes in procession to church, accompanied by the nobles by whom the regalia are carried. The church is decorated with red hangings for the occasion, and a throne set up in front of the altar. The king enters the church and proceeds to his throne, and the regalia are deposited on the altar. The king having made his private devotions, the officiating minister delivers an admonition to him, and then is sung Veni Creator or Veni Sancte Spiritus[140]. After the hymn, the king and nobles standing before the minister who remains seated, the Lord Chancellor presents the king as lawful inheritor of the throne, and demands that he be crowned, and the minister replies that in response to their demand he will proceed with the coronation. He then once more addresses an admonition to the king on his kingly duties, and the king then takes the oath, in which he swears to preserve the peace of the Church, to defend the realm, and to maintain justice. An anthem is then sung praying for the king’s prosperity. The minister then anoints Frederick between the shoulders and on both wrists, using a form which expresses the signification of the unction. After the anointing during the singing of Te Deum[141] (?) the king is arrayed in his regal vestments. The minister delivers the Sword, with an admonitory form which contains something of the ideas of the old form of the Church, and girds it on the king. He then addresses the people, warning them of the king’s power and authority to punish, and the king draws the Sword and brandishes it towards the four corners of the compass. The king is then crowned, the minister and as many of the nobles as conveniently may setting the Crown on the king’s head together, and the minister delivers the Sceptre into the king’s right hand, charging him to rule well, and the Orb and Cross into his left, with a long address, in which he explains the meaning of the ornament. The singing is then resumed, and the king delivers the regalia to the nobles appointed, and returns to his throne. Homage is done, and the king, according to custom, creates eight knights.

It will be noticed that this order is based on the Roman rite. The presentation of the king by the Chancellor has taken the place of the presentation by bishops; the king is anointed as in the Roman rite; the brandishing of the Sword is Roman, and there is no Ring.

There is no mention of the Communion, nor is there any reference to the queen.

The later history of the rite is somewhat obscure, and by the nineteenth century it had been subjected to considerable alterations and omissions. As used (for the last time) at the accession of Christian VIII in 1840[142] it is very similar to the Prussian rite of 1702.

The king and the queen come to the church in separate processions. Three bishops meet the king at the entrance of the church and conduct him to his throne during the singing of the Introit, and then three bishops meet the queen’s procession and conduct her to her throne. The Introit over the Bishop of Sjaelland delivers a first address, and after it the Bishop Olgaard reads a lesson, which is expounded by the Bishop of Sjaelland. A copy of the Statutes and the anointing vessels are then deposited on the altar, and the Bishop of Sjaelland delivers another address with special reference to the Constitution. The three bishops then kneeling before the altar, the Bishop of Sjaelland begins the Lord’s Prayer. The king in the meanwhile lays aside his royal ornaments, Crown, Sceptre, and Orb, with which he has entered the church in preparation for the anointing. First is sung in Latin Veni Sancte Spiritus, and ℣. Emitte Spiritum Sanctum Domine, ℟. Et renovabis faciem terrae, etc., followed by the collect of Pentecost, Deus qui corda fidelium. A hymn is then sung, during which the Bishop of Sjaelland goes up to the altar, opens the vessel containing the oil, and consecrates it with a secret prayer. The king during the singing and the prayers has reassumed his ornaments. The Bishop of Sjaelland now summons the king to be anointed, and the king goes up to the altar with his Crown on his head, the Sceptre in his right hand and the Orb in his left. Again the king lays aside the regalia and takes off his right-hand glove, while the Lord Chamberlain unfastens the clothing over his breast. Then as the king kneels before the altar the bishop, dipping the tips of two fingers in the oil, anoints him in the form of a cross on forehead, breast, and right wrist, using a suitable form. The king then resumes his ornaments. General Superintendent Callisen reads Ps. xxi. 2-8, and the Bishop of Sjaelland delivers another discourse, after which a hymn is sung. The Bishop of Sjaelland now summons the queen and anoints her on forehead and breast, using a suitable form; a hymn is sung, the bishop delivers a last discourse, and the Hymn of Praise is sung. The king once more lays aside the regalia, and the bishop intones The Lord be with you, ℟., And with thy spirit, and sings the special collect, and then immediately gives the blessing. A hymn is sung and, the king resuming his ornaments, the royal procession leaves the church.

The degenerate nature of this rite is very evident. Like the Prussian order it has no investitures at all, only the central feature of the anointing remaining, and that is done apparently without any fixed forms. Indeed the rite is more or less a series of preachings.