The last coronation of a king of Hungary, that of the Emperor Francis Joseph in 1867, was according to the rite of the present Pontificale Romanum.
CHAPTER XI
THE SPANISH RITE
It was in Spain that the coronation rite first appeared in the West. The actual date at which the rite was first used in Spain is not known, but in the seventh century it was evidently well established. Thus in the Canons of the sixth Council of Toledo (638) reference is made to the oath which the king takes on his accession, in which he swears to persecute the Jews, and in the Canons of the eighth Council this oath is again referred to. Julian, Bishop of Toledo[124], has left us a short description of the coronation of King Wamba in 672, at which ceremony he was himself present. He tells us that the king, standing in his royal robes (regio iam cultu conspicuus) before the altar of the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Toledo, ‘according to custom made his oath to the people, and then on bended knees the oil of benediction is poured on his head by the hands of the holy bishop Quiricius and an abundance of benediction is manifested.’ Here we have the oath, the anointing, and the curious expression ‘benedictionis copia,’ which probably means a series of benedictions. There are no early Spanish forms extant, though there are slight traces of the rite and evidence that there was a proper Mass for the occasion in the old Spanish service books[125].
From the time of the Arab conquest until the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain was little more than a geographical term. Three small Christian states, Aragon, Castile, and Navarre, maintained their independence against the flourishing Arab kingdom of Granada. The realm of Aragon was in itself a confederation of different states, and therefore in strict theory the king should, to obtain due recognition, be crowned in each state. But, probably owing to the inconvenience of an oft-repeated coronation, the rite seems to have been discarded altogether in Aragon by the fifteenth century. Nevertheless the order used at the coronation of Dom Pedro IV of Aragon in 1336 is still preserved. Castile was even more than Aragon a confederation of different states, and the king of Castile was king also of Léon, Galice, Toledo, Jaen, Murcia, etc. Here again, doubtless from considerations of convenience, the rite seems to have passed out of existence early, being replaced by a series of proclamations, and the taking of the oath by the new king before the Cortes.
The third Christian state in Spain was the kingdom of Navarre. In this state, up to the fifteenth century, a coronation rite was used which possessed even more clearly marked characteristics than the rite of Aragon.
After the union of the Spanish states into the one Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella, the rite seems to have passed out of existence altogether, the custom of Castile serving for the whole of Spain.
The order of the coronation of Dom Pedro IV of Aragon[126] in 1336, while shewing Roman influence, on the other hand exhibits, with the rite of Navarre, more clearly marked national characteristics than any other Western rite.
The order of the coronation of Dom Pedro is as follows. The day before the ceremony the king entered the church in which he was to be crowned on the morrow, and kneeling down said a prayer for himself in Spanish. The Sword, Shield, and Helmet were then set on the altar, where they remained through the night watched by nobles, the king reposing in the Sacristy. Next morning he hears Mass privately, and at the time appointed he is summoned by the archbishop and other bishops, and is arrayed in his royal vesture; an ample linen camisa, like a Roman rochet; an amice of linen; a long camisa of white linen; a girdle; a stole over the left shoulder hanging before and behind; a maniple on his left wrist; a tunicle; and a dalmatic. The king thus arrayed goes in procession to the altar, and the Litany is said, followed by a prayer for the king and the collect Actiones nostras. At this point comes a section peculiar to the Spanish rite, the Benedictio super omnia arma regis; first a general benediction, then the Benedictio super scutum, the Benedictio super lanceam, and the Benedictio super ensem. After these benedictions, if he is not already a knight, the king is invested with the Sword, the archbishop saying Accipe ensem desuper altare, as in the Roman rite, and the king says a prayer for himself in Spanish. The Mass for the day is then begun, and after the Epistle the king takes the oath in the direct form, Nos N. profitemur et promittimus coram Deo[127]. The more important bishops now lead the king to the archbishop and ask that he may be crowned, as in the Roman rite, except that the petition is made in Spanish. The archbishop then says Deus in cuius manu corda sunt regum, and there follow three prayers under the heading Alia oratio which are probably to be regarded as alternative to the foregoing, Omn. semp. Deus qui famulum tuum N., Deus qui scis omne humanum, and Omn. semp. Deus caelestium terrestriumque. The archbishop then puts the questions to the king Vis fidem sanctam, etc., and asks the people whether they will accept him as king, as in Hittorp’s order. The archbishop blesses the king with the prayer Benedic Domine hunc regem, and proceeds to the consecration; after Sursum corda, Preface, and the prayer Creator omnium Imperator angelorum he anoints him in the threefold Name on the breast and each of his shoulders, and then says Prospice Omn. Domine hunc gloriosum regem nostrum serenis obtutibus. At this point under the heading Alia oratio are given a number of prayers Domine Deus Omn. cuius est omnis potestas, in a longer version than usual, Omn. semp. Deus qui Azahel super Syriam, Spiritus Sancti gratia, Deus qui es iustorum gloria, and Deus Dei filius.