inferior Officers of the Order immediately follow the Knight elect, and
proceed next before the Commissioners, and they were thus marshalled at
the Installation of the Earl of _Northampton_, _Anno_ 5 _Car._ I.
1. The Earls Servants.
2. Alms-Knights.
3. Prebends.
4. Heralds.
5. Elect-Knights.
6. Officers of the Order.
7. The Sovereign’s Commissioners.
Yet _Anno_ 16 _Eliz._ at the Installation of the Earls of _Pembrook_
and _Derby_, we find the Officers did precede the elect Knights, but it
was through inadvertency; at the Installation of the Earl of
_Northampton_, some Question and Debate arose, concerning the
precedency of these three Officers, in this proceeding, where it was at
length concluded, that from the Castle to the Chappel, they shou’d
proceed before the Commissioners; but in returning from the Chappel to
the Castle, they shou’d follow.
We presume the Question, (whatsoever it was) chanced not to be
propounded, till the proceeding was ready to pass on, and then started
on a sudden, because the Heralds (as the Annals note,) did not quickly
discypher the matter, that it proceeded more from surprize, than want
of Ability to resolve.
This determination which took Place, was barely grounded upon
Conjecture, and if seriously considered, will appear disconsonant to
Precedents and Practice, both before and since; where all returns are
marshalled answerable to their setting forth, unless the Condition of
any Person in the mean time suffer a Mutation.
It’s observable, that when Installation pass by Commissioners only,
these three inferior Officers wear their Robes, but bear not the
Ensigns of their Office in the Proceeding. And this seems to be deduced
from particular Injunctions, laid down in the Constitutions belonging
to the Officers of the Order, which appoint Garter and Black-Rod to
bear the Ensigns of their Offices at the Feast of St. _George_, when
the Sovereign or his Deputy shall be present; whence it may be
inferred, that if either chance to be absent, they are under no
obligation to bear them: For at the Installations of _Frederick_, King
of _Denmark_, and _John Casimire_, Count Palatine of the _Rhine_,
_Anno_ 25 _Eliz._ no Ensigns were born by the Officers; and so was it
practised the Year after, at the Installations of the Earl of _Rutland_
and Lord _Cobham_, as the Red-Book of Order plainly sets forth. But if
the Sovereign himself be present, or that he constitute a Lieutenant in
his stead, the Register then carries the Red-Book, and the Garter and
the Black-Rod bear each of them their Rods. It is remarkable, that in
every proceeding to Installation, by Lieutenant, or Commissioners, the
Garter carries the Sovereign’s Commission in his Hand before them to
the Chapter-House. At the Installation of the Earls of _Derby_ and
_Moreton_, the Officers of the Order proceeded before the Knights to
the Chapter-House, not only without the Ensigns of their Office, but
their Heads covered; and the reporter of this Installation gives this
for a reason; because there was then neither the Sovereign, nor his
Lieutenant, representing the King’s Person, present.
The Sovereign sometimes being willing to confer additional Honours to
some elect Knights, hath appointed their Installation at such time as
he personally solemnized the Feast of St. _George_, as he did at the
Installation and Election of _Philip_ King of _Castile_, _Anno_ 22
_Hen._ VII. which for its memorableness, and mixt proceeding on
Horse-back, we shall insert in this Place: He passed from the
Sovereign’s Lodging in the Castle, to the South-Door of St.
_George_’s-_Chappel_, and was thus ordered.
1. Knights according to their Degrees.
2. Lords after their Degrees.
3. Knights-Companions in their whole Habit, bearing Company with some
of the Knights of the Order of _Joyson d’Or_.
4. Prelate of the Order.
5. Archbishop of _Canterbury_.
6. The _Spanish_ Ambassador.
7. _Joyson d’Or_, King of Arms, in Coat of Arms.
8. Garter King of Arms, in his Coat of Arms.
9. The Sword.
10. _Philip_ King of _Castile_.
11. The Prince.
12. King _Henry_ VII. Sovereign of the Order.
_Anno_ 19 _Jac._ I. was another instance at the Feast of St. _George_,
when the Sovereign, with several Knights-Companions, proceeded also to
the Chapel, at the personal Installation of _Frederick_, Prince
Palatine of the _Rhine_; we might add several other Examples, but shall
only mention that of the personal appearance of King _Charles_ II. at
the grand Feast of St. _George_, held next after his happy Restoration,
whereat twelve elect Knights were installed. At this Solemnity of
Installation, the Sovereign proceeds in full Robes, having the Sword of
State born before him by a Nobleman not of the Order, his
Train-bearers, _&c._ following the Sovereign’s Lieutenant and his
Assistants, as also the Commissioners proceed in full Robes, which is
mention’d, _Anno_ 31 _Henry_ VIII. when the Earl of _Arundel_ and his
Assistants installed the Lord _Russel_ and two other elect Knights, but
the Sovereign’s Lieutenant only hath his Train carried up, which is
usually perform’d by some of his own Gentlemen.
The Processional way (if beginning in the Presence-Chamber,) is from
thence in the upper Ward of the Castle, and through the other Wards in
at the Cloyster Door, and so to the Chapter-House; but if from the
Dean’s House, they go only through the Cloysters, into which there is
an immediate Passage from the Deanry: The proceeding having entred the
East Door of St. _George_’s Chapel, and past by the Chapter-House Door,
makes a stand in the North Isle; while first the Officers of the Order,
next the Knights-Commissioners, or else the Knights-Assistants, and the
Sovereign’s Lieutenant; or lastly the Knights-Companions, and the
Sovereign with the Sword born before him, pass into the Chapter-House,
but the Knight or Knights elect do not enter, but as they come in at
the Chapel-Door, they fall off on the left Hand into the East Isle
behind the high Altar, and there repose themselves, (on Chairs or
Stools, with Cushions purposely prepared,) until they are called into
the Chapter-House. This hath generally been the Custom, of which many
Examples might be produced, but in respect to great Personages they
have been sometimes (though rarely) admitted into the Chapter-House,
with the Sovereign or his Lieutenant, among whom _Philip_ of _Castile_
and _Leon_, _Anno_ 22 _Henry_ VII. and Prince _Henry_, _Anno_ 1 _Jac._
I. the latter was led in by the Sovereign’s Lieutenant, when four other
elect Knights installed with him sat till they receiv’d their Summons
to enter.
Sometime the Sovereign and Knights-Companions wav’d going to the
Chapter-House, and pass’d immediately into the Choir, as did King
_James_ _Anno_ 9. when _Charles_ Duke of _York_ and others were
installed; the like did King _Charles_ I. but then a Chapter was held
in the Privy-Chamber, before the proceeding set forward; and in the
former instance, when the proceeding came as far as the East End of the
Chapel, the Duke of _York_, _&c._ with _Norroy_ before them, went out
of the proceeding into the Chapter-House, and there reposed, while the
Sovereign proceeded on to the South Door of the Chapel, and thence into
the Choir.
_The Ceremonies perform’d in the Chapter-House._
§ 5. After the Lieutenant’s entrance into the Chapter-House, and
opening the Chapter; Garter, with three Reverences, presents first the
Commissioners of Lieutenancy to hold the Feast, next that of
Installation, to the Lieutenant, (or if the Installation pass’d by
Commissioners, then only the Commission of Installation to the Senior
Commissioner,) which being receiv’d, he delivers it to the Register of
the Order, who forthwith Reads it; for to him this Duty belongs, as is
recorded in the Black-Book of the Order, on occasion of Garter’s
reading the Commission for Installation of Sir _Thomas Brandon_, _Anno_
22 _Henry_ VII. the Register being then absent.
When the Register hath read the Commissions, he returns them to the
Lieutenant, (or Commissioners,) and he again to the Garter, as at the
Installation of the Earls of _Shrewsbury_ and _Cumberland_, _Anno_ 34
_Eliz._ If the Sovereign be present, the Chancellor acquaints him the
Knights elect are without, otherwise the Lieutenant, and Assistants,
(or Commissioners) consult touching the calling in, and receiving them,
and Garter is usually employed in this Service; who, with all due
respect, compliments and conducts him to the Chapter-House Door: But in
the instance of the Earls of _Shrewsbury_ and _Cumberland_ aforesaid,
Garter went to their Lodgings, and having delivered his Message, they
forthwith repaired to the Chapter-House, their Train attending them to
the Door: At the Installation of _Francis_ Duke of _Montmorency_, the
Earl of _Leicester_, then the Sovereign’s Lieutenant, as an evidence of
singular respect, sent from the Chapter two of the four Assistants
assigned him, who taking Garter, and the Officers of Arms before them,
led him thence between them to the Chapter-House.
When there are two or more elect Knights, that wait in the East Isle,
expecting to be called in, Garter first conducts the Senior by Election
to the Chapter-House Door, and so the rest in their several Orders, as
in 14 _Jac._ I. by the Earl of _Rutland_, Sir _George Villars_, and the
Viscount _Lisle_; and so again 13 _Car._ II. As soon as Garter hath
conducted the elect Knight to the Chapter-House Door, two of the
Commissioners, (when the Installation is performed by Commissioners,)
or two of the Knights-Assistants, (when by the Sovereign’s Lieutenant,)
or two of the Senior Knights, (if the Sovereign himself be present,)
receive him without, who is immediately conducted from the
Chapter-House Door, up to the Sovereign, (his Lieutenant, or
Commissioners,) to whom he makes humble Reverence; when the Lieutenant,
(or Senior Commissioners,) in a short Speech, publishes the effect of
his Commission, and declares to him the Sovereign’s bounty and ready
kindness, in a full admittance into this Honourable Society, which the
elect Knight very humbly acknowledges and accepts. When _Philip_ King
of _Castile_ and _Leon_ was installed in Person, _Anno_ 22 _Henry_ VII.
the Sovereign being present rose from his Throne, and gave him
Information of the Statutes and Ceremonies of the Order, and how he was
bound by them; to all which he freely and readily assented.
These Ceremonies of receiving an elect Knight being over, he disrobes
himself of his upper Garment, then the Surcoat and Kirtle is taken from
the Table, with which he is invested; and during this Ceremony, the
following Words of Admonition, entred at the end of King _Hen._ VIII’s
Book of English Statutes, are read or spoken.
_Take this Robe of Purple, to the encrease of your Honour, and in
Token, or Sign, of the most Honourable Order you have receiv’d;
wherewith you being defended, may be bold not only strong to Fight, but
also to offer your self to shed your Blood for Christ’s Faith, the
Liberties of the Church, and the just and necessary defence of them
that are oppressed and needy._
After this, his Sword is close girt about him over his Surcoat, by the
Commissioners, (or the Assistants to the Lieutenant, or some of the
Knights-Companions,) and sometimes in the way of assistance, Garter
hath done this Service; and as soon as the Ceremony is over, the
Sovereign, or his Lieutenant, proceeds into the Choir, leaving the
elect Knights behind them: The Hood was heretofore put on in the
Chapter-House, (for so the Statutes of King _Henry_ VIII. do appoint,)
after the elect Knight hath been invested with his Surcoat, and before
he proceeded to his Installation; but of late, because it must be taken
off again in the Choir, and laid aside, that the Mantle may be put on,
it hath been esteemed a sort of diminution in the Investiture to take
off any part of the Habit before the whole Investiture be compleated;
so that in the beginning of the Reign of King _James_ I. it was judged
more convenient that the Hood should be carried on the Cushion by
Garter into the Choir, together with the Mantle and Collar, and not be
put on till after Investiture with the Mantle; and thus it was observed
at the Feasts of St. _George_, 13, 15, and 23 _Car._ II. And though
antiently it was laid over the left Shoulder, and so worn upon all
Occasions, yet _Anno_ 2 and 3 _Phil._ and _Mar._ the wearing it so
being taken notice of to obscure the Escutcheon of St. _George_,
embroidered on the same Shoulder of the Mantle, it was decreed in a
Chapter held the same Year, 22 of _April_, that for the future the
Knights-Companions should wear their Hoods on their right Shoulders, to
the end that the Escutcheon might be the better seen and appear.
Nevertheless, there was a Question moved 12 _Jac._ I. whether the
usage of wearing the Hood should not be restored to the left
Shoulder, but it seems it was over-ruled; and 23 _Car._ II. some of
the Knights-Companions imagining it most proper to wear their Hoods
on their left Shoulders, ran into that error, but upon better
information the next Morning, altered them to the right. To Foreign
Princes, there is liberty given by King _Hen._ VIII’s Statutes to
receive, if they please, their Habit wholly within the Chapter-House,
before they enter their Stalls; by which it appears that this was the
Custom in times past; an instance whereof we have in _Philip_ King of
_Castile_, _Anno_ 22 _Henry_ VII. who was entirely invested in the
Chapter-House with the Garter, Surcoat, Mantle, Hood, and Collar; the
Sovereign himself putting his Hand to his Investiture with the
Mantle. Hence King _Philip_, Grandson to the aforesaid King of
_Castile_, was invested with the whole Habit of the Order before he
assumed the Stall; in _Philip_ and _Mary_’s proceeding to the Chapel,
he receiv’d his Investiture within the West Door, and there the
Register delivered the Mantle to the Earls of _Derby_ and _Pembrook_,
who kissing it, presented it to the Queen, who, assisted by the said
Earls, personally invested the King therewith: Next Garter gave the
Collar to the Earls of _Arundel_ and _Pembrook_, who likewise
presented it to the Queen, and she thereon put it about King
_Philip_’s Neck; and immediately the Knights-Companions, having robed
themselves within the Chapel Door, proceeded before the King and
Queen, who with joined Hands passed into the Choir, where the Queen
led him to the Sovereign’s Stall, which ascending, they both sat
therein. But as the aforesaid Statute leaves this to the pleasure of
the Stranger Prince, and was permitted only for gaining Time, so
none, who have receiv’d personal Installation at _Windsor_ since,
have been fully invested before they entered the Choir. For instance,
_Francis_, Duke _de Montmorency_, 14 _Eliz._ and _Frederick_, Prince
Palatine of the _Rhine_, 10 _Jac._ I. were both invested with their
Surcoats only in the Chapter-House, but they receiv’d their Mantles,
Hoods, and Collars, in their Stalls, after they had taken their Oaths.
_The proceeding into the Choir._
§ 6. The Knight elect, habited as before, proceeds from the
Chapter-House along the North Isle, and enters the West Door of the
Choir in solemn Order; but his Place in this proceeding is changed, for
here he is led between two Knights-Companions. This is noted in the
Black-Book to be the Order wherein _Albra Vasques d’Almadea_, Earl of
_Averence_, and two others, proceeded to their Installations, 24
_Henry_ VI. And notwithstanding the Statutes of Institution, and those
made by King _Henry_ V. are silent in the Order of this Proceeding; yet
for an elect Knight to be led to his Stall between two fellow Knights,
is no modern Ceremony; since we likewise find, that the Viscount
_Bourchier_, 30 _Henry_ VI. past to his Instalment between the Lord
_Hastings_ and Lord _Beauchamp_. But the Order of proceeding is
precisely set down in _Henry_ VIII’s Statutes, _viz._ _That the elect
Knight, attended by his Gentlemen and Servants, shall be led between
two other Knights-Companions, the Officers of the Order going before
them_. And this has been the constant Practice at all Installations
since; the Knight elect proceeding, either between two of the
Knights-Commissioners, when there hath been no Lieutenant, or between
two of the Knights Assistants, where a Lieutenant was constituted; or
lastly between the two Senior Knights-Companions, the Sovereign being
present: But when there hath been three Commissioners named, then the
two Senior Commissioners take the Knight elect between them, and the
Junior Knight-Commissioner proceeds before them; which was observed at
the Instalment of the Earls of _Essex_ and _Ormond_, and Sir
_Christopher Hatton_, 30 _Eliz._
In all cases where the Sovereign is present at an Installation, after
the custom of investing with the Collar in the Chapter-House was left
off, it is generally to be observed, that as soon as the Investiture
with the Surcoat is finished, the Sovereign passes from the
Chapter-House into the Choir, with the whole proceeding before him,
leaving the elect Knight behind; and when he and the Knights-Companions
have taken their Stalls, the two Senior Knights-Companions, by the
Sovereign’s verbal Directions, descend from their Stalls, and stand
under their Banners, whilst the Alms-Knights, but not the Prebends,
Officers of Arms, and the three inferior Officers of the Order, pass
out of the Choir, and proceed before them to the Chapter-House, from
whence they introduce the elect Knight into the Choir to his
Installation; but if there be more than one Knight installed, then the
two next Senior Knights descend, and so the next, till all the elect
Knights are Conducted in: And this course is likewise observed when a
Lieutenant is constituted, and hath been generally so practised since
the Investiture with the Collar was performed in the Choir; and
particularly at the Installations of the Duke of _Lenox_, the Earls of
_Pembrook_, _Marr_, and _Southampton_, 1 _Jac._ I. and of the Duke of
_Holstein_, and the Earl of _Northampton_, 3 _Jac._ I. In this
proceeding to Installation, the Register usually carries a Book of the
New Testament, for the elect Knight to take his Oath on, as likewise
the Oath it self, fairly written on Parchment: Garter bears his Mantle
till he arrives at his Stall; and King _Henry_ VIII’s Statutes place
this Service upon some of the Knights-Companions likewise; but it never
appears that it was ever performed by any of them. ’Tis probable, that
about the time when this Injunction passed, it was the Custom for
Garter to bear the Mantle on his Arm; for so it was at the Installation
of the Lord _Russel_, and others, 31 _Henry_ VIII. but it was not long
after, that the laying it on a Velvet Cushion began. The great Collar
of the Order was likewise laid upon the Cushion, at the Installation of
Sir _Henry Sidney_, 6 _Eliz._ the Earl of _Shrewsbury_, 34 _Eliz._ and
in this manner born before the Knights elect, 13 _Car._ II. before the
Duke of _Monmouth_, 15 _Car._ II. and before the Duke of _Albermarle_,
23 _Car._ II. with these the Hood, heretofore put on in the
Chapter-House, hath of late been laid on the Cushion, and also the Book
of Statutes, and so born by Garter before Prince _Henry_, 1 _Jac._ I.
and _Frederick_, Elector Palatine, 10 _Jac._ I. and before the Knights
Installation, 13 _Car._ II. and since.
And here it is to be observed, that when Garter bears the Ornaments and
Ensigns on the Cushion before an elect Knight, or a Proctor, he is
always placed between the Register and Black-Rod in the proceeding:
Lastly, in this proceeding the Knight elect goeth Bare-headed, holding
his Cap in his Hand; and so did the Duke of _Albermarle_, 23 _Car._ II.
for it hath been thought incongruous to the Order of Investiture, as is
before observed of the Hood, to put on any part of the Habit, or other
Ornaments, that must be taken off again, before the Investiture is
compleated; and the proper Place for putting on the Cap is not till all
the other is finished.
_The Ceremonies of Installation._
§ 7. When the proceeding hath entered the Choir, the Alms-Knights, and
Officers of Arms, make their Obeysances toward the High Altar, and the
Sovereign’s Royal Stall, in the manner hereafter described; then they
proceed to the Steps before the Altar, and divide themselves; next the
Officers of the Order make the same Reverence; and lastly, the two
Commissioners, or Knights Assistants, or Knights-Companions, and
Knights-elect, all three together. After this the Officers of the Order
turn aside toward the Stall designed for the elect Knight, and
approaching near it, stand below in the Choir, whilst the
Commissioners, or Assistants, or Knights-Companions, pass into the
lower Row of Stalls, sometimes called the middle Row, directly under
the designed Stall, leading the elect Knight with them, who in this
Place takes his Oath, called in the Annals, the sacred Oath of the
Order of the Garter; during which time he ought to stand between the
two Knights-Companions who brought him thither, as at the Installation
of Prince _Henry_, 1 _Jac._ I. and when the Earl of _Shrewsbury_ was
installed, 34 _Eliz._ ’tis observed, that the Senior Commissioner first
entered the lower row of Stalls; but 31 _Henry_ VIII. at the
Installation of the Lord _Russel_, and others, the Junior Assistant
went up first. The Knight elect being thus placed, the Register of the
Order standing before them, but below in the Choir, reads the Oath; for
it is part of his Duty to administer the same: And in this solemn
Ceremony, the New Testament, whereon the Oath is taken, generally
opened in some Place of the Gospels, is indifferently held by one of
the three inferior Officers of the Order, or sometimes the Register
hath held it, as at the Installation of the Earl of _Derby_, 16 _Eliz._
the Earl of _Rutland_, and Lord _Cobham_, 26 _Eliz._ At other times the
Garter hath held it, as 5 _Eliz._ when the Earl of _Northumberland_
took his Oath; and 10 _Car._ I. at the Installation of the Earl of
_Moreton_: But when the Earl of _Shrewsbury_ was Sworn, 34 _Eliz._ the
Usher of the Black Rod performed this Office.
Whilst the Oath is administring, the elect Knight holds his right Hand
on the Holy Evangelists; and when the Register hath pronounced the
Words, he immediately Responses, _I will, so help me God_, and then
takes off his Hand reverently, kissing the Book; and by this Ceremony
seals his Obligation to the Statutes of this most Noble Order. The
Ceremony used when _Philip_, King of _Castile_ and _Leon_, took the
Oath, which was done in the Chapter-House at _Windsor_, 22 _Henry_ VII.
he laid his Hand on the Canon, under which was placed the Book of
Statutes of the Order by the Prelate, to whom it was delivered by the
Register, and having repeated the Words of the Oath, and reverently
kissed all those things by which he Swore, he took a Pen from the
Prelate’s Hand, and Signed the Oath he had taken, and deliver’d it to
the Sovereign then present.