Norway
There is no sign of any ancient rite belonging to the kingdom of Norway, and perhaps none ever existed, for Norway was united with the kingdom of Denmark from the fourteenth century until 1814, and since that date until quite recent times with the kingdom of Sweden. According to the law of 1814, however, a separate coronation of the king as King of Norway took place in the cathedral of Trondhjem where the king was solemnly anointed by the Lutheran Superintendent, and crowned by the Superintendent and the Prime Minister conjointly.
The following is the account of the ceremonial observed at the coronation of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud in 1906[145]. It will be observed that the order used is very close to that used in Sweden, though the forms used are differently worded.
The royal procession goes in due order with the regalia to the Domkirke, at the entrance of which it is met by the Bishops of Trondhjem, Kristiania, and Bergen, and their attendant clergy, and the king and queen are greeted with the words The Lord preserve thy comings in and goings out both now and for ever. When they have taken their places the service begins, the Bishop of Trondhjem intoning the first line of the Introit hymn, of which the first verse is sung by choir and people. The Bishop of Kristiania then reads the Creed, and the Bishop of Bergen begins Te Deum, of which the first six verses only are sung. The sermon is preached by the Bishop of Kristiania. After the sermon a verse of a hymn is sung by a priest and choir antiphonally, and this is followed by the first part of the anthem. The king now proceeds to his throne, which is erected on a dais before the altar, the Royal Standard being held on his right hand. He is divested of the mantle which he has been wearing, it being laid on the altar, and he is invested by the Lord Chief Justice and the Bishop of Trondhjem in the Royal Mantle which has been lying on the altar. The Bishop of Trondhjem then anoints him on forehead and wrist with a special form, the king kneeling during the anointing. The king rises and takes his seat on the throne and is crowned by a Minister of State and the bishop conjointly, the bishop using a special form of words. He is then invested with the Sceptre by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the bishop; with the Orb by a Councillor of State and the bishop; and with the Sword by another Councillor of State and the bishop, the bishop using a special form at each investiture. The second part of the anthem is sung and part of a hymn, and the Bishop of Trondhjem says a last prayer for the king and then gives the blessing.
The king now returns to his seat in the choir, with his Crown on his head, the Sceptre in his right hand, and the Orb in his left. The third part of the anthem is sung, during which the queen passes to her throne before the altar. She is arrayed in the Royal Mantle, anointed on forehead and wrist, and duly invested with Crown, Sceptre, and Orb, the forms used in each case being adapted from those employed for the king. The fourth part of the anthem is sung and part of a hymn, and the Bishop of Trondhjem says the last prayer, which is slightly adapted from the corresponding prayer used in the case of the king; he gives the blessing, and the queen returns to her seat in the choir. The President of the Storthing then proclaims the Coronation Act to be duly consummated. Two verses of the hymn God bless our dear Fatherland are sung, and during the last part of the anthem the bishops and clergy leave the altar, and, the anthem being finished, the royal procession takes its departure from the church.
CHAPTER XIII
THE PAPAL CORONATION
The rite of the coronation of a Pope seems to date from the time when the western Patriarchs began to make definite claims to a temporal sovereignty. The rite does not appear till the ninth century, but probably existed in some form for a century before this date. Already in the Liber Pontificalis[146] it is stated that Pope Constantine wore during his visit to Constantinople a head-dress peculiar to the Roman Pope. This is called the Camelaucus, and is evidently the original form of the Tiara. In the ‘Donation of Constantine’ of the pseudo-Isidorian decretals[147], in which the Papal temporal claims were first formulated, Constantine the Great is said to have granted to the Pope the sovereignty of the West and to have bestowed on him and his successors a special royal diadem, which is described as ‘phrigium candido nitore splendidum,’ evidently the camelaucus under a different name, a closed head-dress something of the shape of a Phrygian cap, and probably related to the Crown of the eastern bishop. Although the ‘Donation’ does not mention any ceremony of coronation, perhaps one is implied by this claim that the Papal head-gear is a temporal crown.
In the ninth century the rite existed and is described in Mabillon’s Ordo Romanus IX[148]. The ceremony never became so elaborate as a royal coronation. The Pope elect, who must not be a bishop, enters St Peter’s during the Introit Elegit te Dominus. His consecration as a bishop then takes place. Three special prayers are said for him by three different bishops[149]. The archdeacon then invests him with the Pallium (i.e. the ecclesiastical vestment), and he is enthroned on a specially prepared throne. The new Pope celebrates Mass himself, and after the Gloria in excelsis the Laudes are sung. When Mass is over he is enthroned upon the apostolic throne. Then he proceeds to the steps at the west end of St Peter’s, and after the acclamation thrice repeated Domnus Leo Papa quem Sanctus Petrus elegit in sua sede multis annis sedere, he is crowned with the Regnum or Tiara, which is described as being white and shaped like a helmet. He then mounts a horse and returns to his palace amid the acclamations of the people.
The rite seems to have changed very little in the process of time. Ordo XII[150], which is of the twelfth century, gives a little more information. On the Sunday after his election the Pope proceeds to St Peter’s, and there before the high altar is consecrated bishop by the Bishop of Ostia and other bishops. The consecration over, the Cardinal Deacon of St Laurence places the Pallium on the high altar, whence the Archdeacon takes it and invests the Pope in it saying: Accipe pallium, plenitudinem scilicet pontificalis officii, ad honorem omnipotentis Dei et gloriosissimae Virginis eius genitricis et beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli et sanctas Romanae ecclesiae. The Pope then celebrates Mass. After the Laudes, the Epistle and Gospel are read both in Latin and Greek. Mass being finished, the Pope returns to his palace with the Tiara on his head, but there is no indication of any ceremonial crowning having taken place.
Ordo XIV[151] of the fourteenth century is fuller. The Pope is now generally already a bishop at the time of his election. The newly-elected Pope proceeds to St Peter’s and begins Mass. After the Confiteor he takes his seat before a faldstool between his throne and the altar, and there prayers are said for him by the Cardinal Bishops of Albano, Porto and Ostia. First the Bishop of Albano says the prayer: Deus qui adesse non dedignaris ubicumque devota mente invocaris, adesto quaesumus invocationibus nostris et huic famulo tuo N. quem ad culmen apostolicum commune iudicium tuae plebis elegit ubertatem supernae benedictionis infunde, ut sentiat se tuo munere ad hunc apicem pervenisse. Next the Bishop of Porto says the second prayer, Supplicationibus, Omnipotens Deus, effectum consuetae pietatis impende, et gratia Spiritus Sancti hunc famulum tuum N. perfunde; ut qui in capite ecclesiarum nostrae servitutis mysterio constituitur, tuae virtutis soliditate roboretur. The Bishop of Ostia says the third prayer, Deus qui Apostolum tuum Petrum inter caeteros coapostolos primatum tenere voluisti, eique universae Christianitatis molem superimposuisti; respice propitius quaesumus hunc famulum tuum N. quem de humili cathedra violenter sublimatum in thronum eiusdem apostolorum principis sublimamus: ut sicut profectibus tantae dignitatis augetur, ita virtutum meritis cumuletur; quatenus ecclesiasticae universitatis onus, te adiuvante, digne ferat, et a te qui es beatitudo tuorum meritam vicem recipiat.
The Pope now receives the reverence of the Cardinals and Prelates present, who kiss his foot and face. He then goes to the altar where the Cardinal Deacon of St Laurence invests him in the Pallium, with the form already given. He then goes up to the altar and censes it, and returns to his seat, where he receives again the reverence of the Cardinals and Prelates. He then begins Gloria in excelsis, and says Pax vobis and the Collect for the day and says secretly for himself another prayer[152]. Then he returns to his seat and the Laudes are sung:
Exaudi Christe.
Domino nostro N. a Deo decreto summo Pontifici et universali Papae vita.
Salvator mundi. ℟. Tu illum adiuva (ter).
Sancta Maria. ℟. Tu illum adiuva (bis).
Sancte Michael. ℟. Tu illum adiuva, etc., etc.
After the Laudes have been sung, Mass proceeds, the Epistle and Gospel being read in Greek as well as in Latin. At the conclusion of the Mass the Pope goes in procession to the staging erected on the steps at the west end of the Basilica of St Peter. There the ‘Prior diaconorum cardinalium’ removes his mitre, and sets the Tiara or Regnum, which is by this time adorned with three crowns, on his head, the people crying Kyrie eleison. The Pope then blesses the people and returns on horseback to the Lateran.
This represents the final stage of the rite, except for one picturesque feature added in the fifteenth or sixteenth century. As the Pope leaves the chapel of St Gregory for his consecration, the Ceremoniarius lights a piece of tow on the end of a reed which flares for a moment and then goes out, saying, Pater Sancte, sic transit gloria mundi[153].
It will be seen that the Papal rite is very simple. It is clear that the ceremonies, with the Laudes and other acclamations[154], owe much to the Imperial coronation rite of early times, but have undergone very little change or development since the ninth century.
CHAPTER XIV
THE INTER-RELATION OF THE DIFFERENT RITES
The coronation rite first appears in Constantinople, and was there a developed and religious form of the old ceremonies with which the accession of a new Emperor had always been observed. In the West a religious ceremony in connection with the accession of a king first appears in the seventh century in the Visigothic kingdom of Spain. Here we are told that the kings on their accession to the throne took an oath to govern justly, and were then solemnly anointed. But there is this noticeable point, that no mention is made of any crowning, and though the royal gear (regius cultus) is mentioned, there is no reference to an investiture of any kind.
Whence did this Spanish rite come? There is no definite evidence which will permit us to say for certain. It may be that the idea of a religious ceremony of inauguration was borrowed from Constantinople. The barbarian peoples, as they became the new nations, imitated so far as possible the institutions of the Empire, and so it is possible that the Visigoths adopted their coronation rite in imitation of the imperial rite of Constantinople. But if this was so, it is no more than the idea of a religious rite of inauguration which they borrowed. We have seen that the central feature of the Eastern rite was the coronation, and there is no evidence of any unction before the latter part of the ninth century, while on the other hand the central feature of the Visigothic rite was the anointing, and there is no reference to any crowning in Visigothic times. It is true, again, that in the later Spanish rites of Aragon and Navarre there appear very special and peculiar features which we may be tempted to refer to a Byzantine origin, but as we have seen, these features will bear quite well another interpretation. Until we have definite evidence of any connection between the two, it is unsafe to derive the Spanish rite from the Eastern. The outstanding fact is that here in Spain we have, so far as the West is concerned, the beginnings of the coronation or consecration rite of kings, and that its central characteristic clearly consists of the anointing.
In the middle of the eighth century we find France also using an inaugurating rite. In 750 Pippin-le-bref was consecrated by St Boniface as king of the Franks, and at the end of the eighth century we find on two occasions, both of which were exceptional, Saxon kings being consecrated.
The question now arises, where did the French rite, and the rite used in England originate? We have no definite evidence and can only surmise. The fact that Boniface the anointer of Pippin was an Englishman, together with the fact that it has generally been taken for granted that the so-called Pontifical of Egbert is really Egbert’s, and therefore belongs to the middle of the eighth century, has led to the tempting theory that the French rite was imported from England by St Boniface on the occasion of Pippin’s consecration as king of the Franks. But there is no evidence in support of this theory, and above all there is no evidence of the existence of an Anglo-Saxon rite of this period for St Boniface to import into France.
The consecration of Pippin is referred to, not as a coronation but as an unction. Of it we are told that ‘Pippin was elected as king according to the custom of the Franks, and was anointed by the hand of Boniface, archbishop of Mayence of holy memory, and was raised by the Franks to the kingdom in the city of Soissons[155].’ Here no formal act of coronation is mentioned. Pippin was elected ‘according to the custom of the Franks,’ and it is possible that this same ‘custom’ covers the unction, and refers the ceremony of inauguration back to pre-Carolingian times, but it is not probable, for everything points to the importation of an inauguration rite to give recognition to the new dynasty of Pippin. Possibly again in the expression ‘was raised to the kingdom’ we may see some reminiscence of an enthronization. But the central feature of the rite is clearly the anointing, and this is the only feature mentioned in the account of the second consecration of Pippin by Pope Stephen, where we are told ‘Pope Stephen confirmed Pippin as king with holy unction, and together with him anointed his two sons, Charles and Carloman, to the royal dignity[156].’
And so we find the same feature, the unction, the central point of the rite both in Spain and France. It is natural to draw the conclusion that the French rite was brought from Spain and was of the same type as the Spanish, just as the other liturgical books of France and Spain are of the same type, commonly called the ‘Gallican.’ The rite, when it was introduced into England, most probably was brought over from France, for there was considerable intercourse between the Saxon and Frankish kingdoms, and some intermarriages between the Frankish and Saxon reigning families.
To a Frankish origin may also probably be assigned the early German rites, such for example as that by which Otto of Saxony was crowned in the tenth century.
In the year 800 Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope at Rome as Roman Emperor. For this purpose it was necessary to have a coronation rite, and hitherto no Roman Emperor had ever been crowned at Rome, though a Pope had travelled into France to consecrate a Frankish king.
But this was the case of a Roman Emperor. We are told little of the details of the rite by contemporary writers. None of the Western contemporary historians mention any anointing, though they all speak of the crowning. On the other hand a contemporary Greek writer, Theophanes, does definitely speak of the unction, but it has been suggested that he is here confusing the coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor with the anointing of his son Charles as king of the Franks, which took place on the same occasion.
The central feature of the coronation rite was his crowning, and this is a feature that seems to have been lacking in the Western rites for the consecration of a king, while on the other hand it is in strict agreement with the Byzantine procedure. Charlemagne always pretended that the whole affair was unexpected by him, and that the Pope alone arranged the coronation and took him by surprise. But there can be little doubt that the whole business, except perhaps as to the details of the rite, was premeditated and arranged beforehand. Charlemagne was crowned as Roman Emperor, and therefore in theory was the colleague and the equal of the Emperor at Constantinople. Hence it would seem natural that the ceremony by which Charlemagne was crowned should follow in essential details the rite used on such an occasion at Constantinople. It may be added that there is no mention of any anointing in the earliest forms for the coronation of an Emperor at Rome. It would seem, then, that the rite by which Charlemagne was crowned, was, so far as the West was concerned, an entirely new rite, following in outline the rite used at Constantinople.
Thus then, in the West, in the ninth century, we find two groups of rites, quite independent of each other, (1) The Spanish-Frankish rite, (2) The Roman Imperial rite. In later days these two groups speedily reacted on each other, and produced a definite type of Western rite.
The forms of the first group, French and English (no early Spanish forms are extant), probably do not represent their earliest state. There is not only an unction but a coronation, and also a formal delivery of kingly insignia, in the English rite, of Sceptre, Verge, and Crown; in the French rite, of Crown and Sceptre. It will be noticed that if the act of crowning was first observed in the West at the coronation of Charlemagne, it was very speedily introduced into the Western rite for the consecration of a king.
There is no Roman coronation rite for a king at this date, but there is a Milanese rite of the ninth century, and with some such rite probably Berengar Margrave of Friuli was crowned at Milan in 887. It is noticeable that this Milanese rite for the coronation of a king is more or less identical with the imperial rite of the same date. It is very simple, the king being crowned and invested with a sword. This Milanese rite may perhaps be taken as representing the Roman rite of the coronation of a king in its earliest form.
It is at the second stage of the rite where the interaction of the two groups of rites is most clear and evident. In the tenth century the second recensions of the English and French rite not only shew considerable developements and a much more fixed and definite form, but they are almost identical, and the French order bears certain marks of English influence. Whence did this elaboration come? In the first place the English and French rites can be taken together from this time forward. Recension by recension they have been subjected to much the same influences and are very close to each other. This was only natural considering the closeness of the communications between England and France. Between the Saxon royal families and the Court of Rome there was considerable intercommunication, and on several occasions we hear of Saxon princes going to Rome. Of Alfred we are told that he was invested by the Pope at Rome with the insignia of a Roman consul, an investiture which the Saxons seem to have mistaken for a coronation rite; and we are also told that the insignia were preserved henceforth among the royal ornaments. Of the Roman rite at this time we have no forms, in fact nothing between the simple forms of the first imperial recension and of the Milanese order and the elaborate order of Hittorp of the tenth or eleventh centuries. Yet whereas in the former of these there were investitures of Sword and Crown only, in the latter the king is invested with Sword, Ring, Verge, and Crown, and the unction is elaborate, being made on head, breast, shoulders, bends of arms, and hands. It is clear that influences have been at work in the intervening period. We know that France had great influence on the Liturgical books of Rome in the ninth and tenth centuries, and it would seem that here is yet another instance of this influence, and that the elaborations in the Roman rite were at some time adopted from France and at Rome reduced into order and fixity. Doubtless at Rome even the rite underwent some developement, but it is noticeable that after the time of the rite of Hittorp’s order the rite at Rome returned to something of its earlier simplicity and drops out many of the elaborations which we find in Hittorp’s order. Thus we may perhaps presuppose an intermediate order at Rome similar to Hittorp’s order.
In the case of Edgar of England, the English writers made much of his coronation in the year 973. It was an occasion which called for special pomp and circumstance, and much stress is laid on the magnificence of the whole ceremony. It is likely that this is the occasion for which the second recension was composed, and the natural source of this developement and revision would seem to be a Roman order similar in character to that of Hittorp. This rite of the second English recension was adopted almost word for word in France in the order of Ratold.
In England and France the third recension of each country is clearly influenced from Rome, to the extent even of replacing with Roman forms some of the forms of the old national rites. In the fourth recension in both lands there is a return to the older national forms by the simple means of conflating the second and third recensions, and this fourth recension marks the final form of the rite, except in so far as in England in its English form it has since been modified as circumstances have required.
The earliest German rite, that of Otto of Saxony in the tenth century, is unfixed in character, and approximates perhaps to the earliest Frankish rites. There are investitures with Sword and Belt, Armills and Chlamys under a unique form, Sceptre and Verge, again with a unique form, and then after the anointing, with the Crown. The use of the word Chlamys is very striking and bears witness to at least a knowledge of Eastern imperial vestments. By the thirteenth century the German rite had been subjected to considerable Roman influence, as would naturally be expected from the close connection existing between Germany and Italy. The unctions are on head, breast, and shoulders, and the investitures are with Sword, Ring, Sceptre and Orb, and Crown. The German rite changed very little after this date.
The Spanish rite, as we have seen, contains much that is very ancient and also has been subjected by the fourteenth century to Roman influence, none the less preserving much of its ancient peculiar characteristics. Unfortunately we have only few forms of this rite, and it was early discontinued altogether.
The Roman imperial rite in its first state is short and simple. There are investitures with Sceptre and Crown only. No mention is made of the unction, and this fact, inconclusive in itself, accords with the absence of any mention of unction in the contemporary Western accounts of Charlemagne’s coronation. The imperial rite served as a model for the order for crowning a king when need arose, as is evident from the fact that the early ninth-century Milanese order for the crowning of a king is almost identical with it. In the process of its developement the order for crowning an Emperor was influenced to some extent by the order for the crowning of a king, which had been subjected early to considerable outside influences. Then in the twelfth century we find in the imperial rite investitures with Sword, Sceptre, and Crown; a little later with Ring, Crown, and Sceptre. The Ring is quite non-Roman and has been introduced from the rite for the crowning of a king, into which it has come from outside sources. The Ring however soon disappears once more from both Roman rites. In the fourteenth century the investitures are with Crown, Sceptre and Orb (without a form), and Sword. In the sixteenth century, after which date the order has varied very little, the investitures are with Sword, Sceptre and Orb (under one form), and Crown.
We have seen that in the ninth century the Milanese rite was very simple and almost identical with the Roman imperial rite. Here at Milan the Roman Emperor was nominally crowned as king of Italy, before his coronation at Rome as Emperor. In the eleventh century this rite has become very elaborate, containing the whole of the matter of ‘Egbert’s’ order, and also much that is Roman. There are investitures, of Crown, Sword, Verge, and Ring, an unusual order, which are made with Roman forms. In the fourteenth century we find the unctions restricted to the shoulders only, and the investitures are of Ring, Sword, Crown, Sceptre, and Verge. In the last Milanese recension, that of the fifteenth century, the unction is made on the head, and the investitures are of Sword, Ring, Crown, and (under one form) Sceptre and Orb. Thus the Milanese rite was subjected to the same early influences as the Roman, but never regained so much of its earlier simplicity as did the Roman rite.
The coronation rite was introduced into other lands only at a time when the Roman rite had gained a position of special prestige, and therefore these rites seem to have been more or less Roman, and yet contained some national characteristics. Of these we have only the Hungarian rite extant. Of the Scandinavian countries, and of Scotland no rite of pre-reformation date survives, but the post-reformation rites, which are based to some extent on the older rites, perhaps contain some of the older features, for example, the retention in Sweden of a key of knowledge among the Regalia.
The general conclusions as to the inter-relation of the rites would seem to be as follows. There are in the West two original groups, both independent compositions:
(1) The Spanish-French-English, derived from Spain.
(2) The Roman Imperial, which was called into existence on the occasion of the coronation of Charlemagne as Roman Emperor. From this latter is derived the Roman rite for the coronation of a king.
There seems to have been from an early date until the fourteenth century a continuous interaction of these groups upon each other, and beyond that date outside influences ceased to be exerted, and whatever developement may have taken place in any particular rite was due to natural and internal developement.
At this day in the West the rite is retained in England and Austria, that used in Austria being the order of the Roman Pontifical.
The only other country, except Russia, in which a coronation rite survives is Norway.