At the coronation ceremonies of the kings of France, the officiating ecclesiastic said to the sovereign in handing him the Coronation Ring: “Receive this ring, a symbol of holy faith and of the stability of the Kingdom, a sign of power, by which thou shalt be able to defeat all enemies with triumphant power, to destroy all heresies, to unite all subjects and to maintain them constantly bound together by the Catholic faith.” This formula dates back at least as far as 986 A.D., and was probably in use at an even earlier date.[465] The close union of Church and State is strongly emphasized, as well as the necessity for uniformity of belief, this having been a source of strength for the State when voluntarily present, but a cause of manifold and dreadful misfortunes when the religious convictions of the subjects became discordant.
When a nun is consecrated the priest places a ring on her finger, reciting the following words from the Roman pontifical:
I espouse thee to Jesus Christ, Son of the Supreme Father, who will preserve thee from all ill. Accept, therefore, this ring of faith, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, that thou mayst be called a spouse of God, and be crowned for ever.
Before the rings are bestowed they are heaped up on the altar and are collectively blessed by the officiating priest. As the formula used defines the character and quality of the ring more closely than do the simple words of presentation, it is here given as follows, this formula already appearing in the pontifical of Pierre, Bishop of Senlis, 1350:[466]
Creator and preserver of the human race, grantor of spiritual grace and bestower of bodily health, O God, send forth thy blessing upon these rings that those who may wear them, shall possess celestial virtue, perfect faith and true fidelity, shall maintain, as spouses of Christ, their vow of virginity, and shall persevere in constant chastity. By Christ Our Lord.
A pretty usage was observed at the reception into the order of the Augustinian nuns of Saint Thomas, at Villeneueve. On taking the vow, a ring was placed on the nun’s finger by a poor little girl, who said at the same time: “Remember, dear sister, that you have become this day the spouse of Jesus Christ and the servant of the poor.” The sister, after having respectfully accepted the gift made her by one who represented the Lord, kisses the child who has reminded her of the poor to whose service she is consecrated.[467]
According to an old recital, a miraculous ring was once found by a pious nun in the convent garden. One day when she was engaged in tending a bed of flowers, there came over her the ardent wish to receive a divine sign in the shape of a ring, testifying to the reality of her espousal with Christ. The Lord answered the fervent aspiration of his handmaiden, for suddenly there appeared before her in the flower bed an actual ring, no deception of the senses, but a material body. This story is related by Johann Nider in his Latin work, “Formicarius,” published in Strassburg in 1517, and the writer asseverates that he saw the ring, which was of a white substance resembling pure silver.[468]
A Ring of Widowhood, sealing a widow’s vow to remain faithful to the memory of her dead husband, was not rarely bestowed, three or four centuries ago, to serve as a mark of the solemn vow. A noteworthy instance is that of Katherine Rippelingham, who, in her will dated February 8, 1473, describes herself as “advowes” (“vowed”), and expresses the wish to be interred in “Baynardes Castell of London.” In a codicil she leaves to her granddaughter, Alice St. John, “her gold ring with a diamante therein wherewith she was sacrid,” or consecrated. In another will, that of William Herbert, Lord Pembroke, the wife is enjoined to remember her promise that she will take the order of widowhood, so that, as the testator continues, “ye may be the better maistres of your owen, to perform my will, and to help my children, as I love and trust you.”[469]
In view of the bad results of a second marriage when a widow falls into the hands of some designing man, to the destruction of her children’s welfare, this usage, so long discontinued, of binding herself by a solemn vow, had something to recommend it in times far past, when more stress was laid upon the sanctions and prohibitions of religion than is generally the case in our day.
At a solemn ceremony of this kind, held at the Priory of Campsey, in 1382, during the reign of Richard II, Isabella, Countess of Suffolk, took the vow in the presence of the Earl of Warwick, Lords Willoughby and Scales, and other nobles. The old Norman French form of her pledge has been preserved and may be given here for its historic interest: “Jeo Isabella, jadys la femme William de Ufford, Count de Suffolk, vowe à Dieu, en presence de tres reverentz piers en Dieu, évesques de Ely et de Norwiz, qe jeo doi estre chaste d’ors en avant ma vie durante.” (I, Isabella, formerly the wife of William de Ufford, Count of Suffolk, vow to God in presence of the very reverend fathers in God, the bishops of Ely and of Norwich, that I shall remain chaste from now on during my entire life.)[470]