III
The French rite in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was subjected, as was the English rite of the same period, to considerable Roman influence. Of this recension Martène’s Ordo VI[97], and the order of Louis VIII[98] (1223) may be taken as examples.
The Anointing of St Louis of France
In this recension appear first the preliminary prayers as in the Roman order of Hittorp; the prayer Deus qui scis humanum genus on his entrance into church, and on his entrance into the choir Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque moderator. Between Prime and Terce (the king enters the church after Prime) the Abbot of St Rémi goes in procession to fetch the holy chrism.
The order begins with the petition of the bishops, A vobis perdonari, after which the recognition takes place and Te Deum is sung. The king then takes the oath in the old form, Haec tria populo christiano. Then follows a section directly taken from the Roman rite, and largely a repetition of what has already taken place; the Litany, the king lying prostrate the while, an oath in answer to interrogations, and another recognition in the Roman form, Si tali principi, followed by a series of benedictions all of which occur in the Roman rite.
For the consecration three choices are given as to the forms to be used[99]:
(1) Deus inenarrabilis, during which the king is anointed, the anthem Unxerunt Salomonem being sung at the time of anointing.
(2) Alia Oratio. Deus Dei Filius. Then the anointing of the hands with the form Unguantur manus istae. Then the prayer from the Roman rite Prospice Omnipotens.
(3) Alia. Deus qui es iustorum gloria, and, introduced by Sursum corda and Preface, Deus creator ac gubernator.
The unction of the hands here first occurs and is found henceforward in the French rite. It is first found in the English rite at this same time in the third recension, but in the English rite it always precedes, while in the French it comes after, the unction proper.
The investitures of Sword, Ring, Sceptre, Verge, and Crown follow the order of Hittorp’s rite, and the old forms used at the delivery of Sword, Ring, and Crown give place to the forms of the Roman order. The Sceptre is given at the same time as the Verge and has no special form of its own, here again showing the Roman influence. The investitures are followed by three benedictions derived from the Roman rite, and then follows the enthronisation, Sta et retine. In Martène VI the king takes another oath, Roman in form, at this point and Te Deum is sung, again shewing that there was already a tendency to transfer the latter to this, the Roman position, from its original place at the beginning of the rite.
The consecration of the queen is different from that of the last recension. It begins with the prayer Adesto Domine supplicationibus nostris and follows exactly the ordo of Hittorp, with the exception that the form used at the crowning exhibits slight verbal variations.