The rite by which Napoleon[103] was crowned stands by itself. The arrangement was that he should be crowned according to the rite of the Roman Pontifical, but at the last moment changes were introduced from the French rite itself.
Napoleon came into church already clad in the imperial robes, the Pope having already heard Terce. According to the Roman order the metropolitan should, after certain questions, address the monarch on his duties, and then the oath should be taken. But in place of this Veni Creator was here sung, as in the French rite, and after the versicle Emitte Spiritum and its Response, and the Whitsunday collect Deus qui corda fidelium, Napoleon took the oath. This was much modified, for the Emperor refused to confirm the Church in property which it did not possess, and indeed refused to recite the oath itself, simply saying Profiteor when it was read. Then followed, as in the Pontifical, Omn. semp. Deus creator omnium with the necessary alterations, such as imperatorem for regem, and the addition of et consortem eius whenever the Emperor was named. During the Litany the Emperor and Empress remained seated, and only knelt at the special petitions. According to the Pontifical the anointings should be on neck and right hand, but Napoleon ordained that it should be on the head and hands, and he was so anointed with Chrism with the prayers from the Pontifical, Deus Dei filius and Omn. semp. Deus qui Hazael super Syriam, the anthem Unxerunt Salomonem being sung the while. Josephine was anointed in the same places immediately after the Emperor with the prayer Deus pater aeternae gloriae. At the Mass, at the Emperor’s request, a collect of the Blessed Virgin as patron of the Church was used instead of the proper collect. After the epistle the benediction and delivery of the ornaments took place. As the Pontifical has no forms of benediction of ornaments, the forms for the blessing of Sword, Rings, and Gloves were taken from the Cérémoniel françois, and from the same source were derived forms for the delivery of Main de justice (Verge) and Sceptre, while forms for the benediction of the Orb and the delivery of the Mantles were composed for the occasion. The form for the delivery of Ring and Mantle were used in the plural for Emperor and Empress at once. At the time of the crowning the Emperor ascended to the altar and taking from off it the imperial Crown crowned himself, and then crowned Josephine, the Pope saying Accipe coronam regni and Coronet vos Deus corona gloriae. At the enthronisation the French form of the Sta et retine was used instead of the Roman, as affirming the independence of the sovereign. Te Deum was then sung, followed by the anthem Firmetur manus and the prayers Victrices Moysis and Deus inenarrabilis, and Mass proceeds. Neither Emperor nor Empress communicated. After Mass, while the Pope was unvesting in the Chapelle du Trésor, Napoleon took the constitutional oath at which the Pope had refused to be present, and was proclaimed ‘Le très glorieux et très auguste Empereur Napoléon Empereur des français, sacré et intronisé.’ The Emperor and Empress then proceeded to the Archevêché whither they were followed by the Pope, during whose procession the anthem Tu es Petrus was sung.
CHAPTER VII
THE ROMAN RITE OF THE CORONATION OF A KING
I
The Roman rite of the coronation of kings is based on the imperial rite, but at the same time owes much to the various national rites which had been in existence some time before the genesis of the Roman. The earliest known Roman rite of the coronation of a king is that contained in the Ordo Romanus of Hittorp[104], and is probably of the tenth or eleventh century.
It begins with the preliminary prayer Omn. semp. Deus qui famulum and the responsory Ecce mitto angelum and the prayer Deus qui scis humanum genus as the king enters the church. This is all purely Roman. The order begins with the prayer Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque, which is first found here, after which is said the Litany, another Roman feature. The oath is put to the king in interrogatory form, Vis sanctam fidem, etc., Vis sanctis ecclesiis, etc., Vis regnum, etc., and the king answers Volo. The people are then asked whether they will accept the king, and they answer Fiat, fiat.
The consecration of the king is preceded by a benediction, Benedic Domine hunc regem, and two alternative forms of consecration are given.
(1) Omn. aeterne Deus creator omnium, which is found in the rite by which Louis II was crowned in 877, and after this is said by another bishop Deus inenarrabilis, after which the king is anointed on head, breast, shoulders, and bends of arms with the form Ungo te in regem de oleo sanctificato in nomine, etc., and finally on the hands, Unguantur manus. Then is said Prospice Omnipotens, which appears in the earliest form of the imperial rite and in the Milanese rite of the ninth century[105].