THE GERMAN RITE
I
The earliest account of a German coronation rite is Widukind’s
description of the coronation of Otto of Saxony at Aachen in 936.
Widukind[115] relates that Otto was first elected king by the nobles,
who then swore allegiance to him and ‘more suo’ made him king. The royal
procession went to the church of Charlemagne, where it was met by the
metropolitan, who presented the new king to the people and demanded
whether they accepted Otto as their king, on which the people lifting
their right hands acclaimed him king with loyal cries. The Recognition
over, the procession went up to the altar, on which the regalia were
already deposited. The archbishop then invested Otto with Sword and belt,
using a form beginning _Accipe hunc gladium_, which, though shorter, is
very similar to the corresponding form of the second English and French
recensions. Then follows the investiture with Armills and Chlamys under
one form, which does not occur elsewhere; the Sceptre and Staff (baculus)
are then delivered also under one form, and that again is unique. The
king is then anointed with holy oil and crowned with a golden diadem by
the Archbishops Hildiberht and Wicfrid together, but the forms used are
not given, and the king is enthroned by the same bishops. _Te Deum_ is
then sung (divina laude dicta)[116] and Mass follows.
This rite is manifestly very far from being fixed, and is to be classed
with the earliest examples of the Frankish rite. It is independent of the
Roman rite, belonging to the Hispano-Frankish family. The Greek names of
two of the regal ornaments, the Diadema and the Chlamys, are instructive.
There is no reference to any coronation of the queen.
II
The German rite proper comes into prominence in the thirteenth century,
and is the rite by which the Roman Emperor elect was crowned at Aachen as
king of Germany. The Emperor was in theory crowned three times, first at
Aachen as German king, secondly at Milan as king of Italy, and thirdly at
Rome as Roman Emperor. In later times the German coronation often took
place at Frankfort, where he was elected. The officiating Prelates were
the three ecclesiastical Electors, the Archbishops of Cologne, Mayence,
and Trier. The German rite changed hardly at all, for there is scarcely
any difference between the order used at the coronation of Rudolf I in
1273, and that of Matthias II at Frankfort in 1612.
The order used in the case of Rudolf I[117] is as follows. The
consecrator, the Archbishop of Cologne, assisted by the Archbishops of
Mayence and Trier, receive the Emperor elect at the entrance of the
church, and the Archbishop of Cologne says the prayer, _Omn. semp.
Deus qui famulum tuum_; then is sung _Ecce mitto angelum_, and the two
prayers follow, _Deus qui scis genus humanum_, and _Omn. semp. Deus
caelestium terrestriumque_. These are the preliminary prayers of the
Roman rite which seem here to have become part of the rite proper. Mass
now is begun, and the Mass used on this occasion in the German rite is
the Mass of the Epiphany. In Rudolf’s order this collect was followed by
the collect of St Michael. After the Sequence Litany is sung, and the
Archbishop of Cologne puts a series of six questions to the king, to
which he answers _Volo_. The first three of these are found in Hittorp’s
order; the fourth asks whether he will maintain the laws of the Empire;
the fifth whether he will maintain justice. The sixth demands whether he
will shew due submission to the Pope. It runs thus: _Vis sanctissimo in
Christo Patri et Domino Romano Pontifici et sanctae Romanae ecclesiae
subiectionem debitam et fidem reverenter exhibere?_ This question bears
traces of the long struggle between the Empire and the Papacy, and is
an oath such as the kings of England and France never took. At the end
of the questions the king lays two fingers on the altar and swears.
At the Recognition the people answer _Fiat_ thrice. The Consecration
follows, after the prayers _Benedic Domine hunc regem_, as in the order
of Hittorp, and _Deus ineffabilis_. Here the German Order agrees with
the English Orders in using the word ‘ineffabilis’ in the place of
‘inenarrabilis’ which always occurs elsewhere. At the end of this prayer
the Archbishop anoints the king on head, breast and shoulders, with
the oil of catechumens, saying _Ungo te in regem de oleo sanctificato
in nomine_, etc. and then on the hands with the form _Unguantur manus
istae_. The anointing is followed by a number of prayers, _Prospice
Omn. deus serenis obtutibus_, _Spiritus Sancti gratia_, _Deus qui es
iustorum_, _Sursum corda_, _Preface_, and _Creator omnium_, and _Deus
Dei filius_. Of these _Spiritus Sancti gratia_ in the Roman rite follows
the anointing of the Queen; the others are an example of a conflation
of consecration prayers; perhaps they were not all actually used, for
it is difficult to imagine that so manifest a consecration form as a
prayer with a preface should be used after the consecration had already
taken place. The forms with which the king is invested with Sword, Ring,
Sceptre and Orb, and Crown, are all Roman. The Sword is delivered with
the form _Accipe gladium per manus episcoporum_, as in Hittorp’s Ordo
Romanus; the Ring with the form _Accipe regiae dignitatis anulum_, as
in Hittorp; the Sceptre and Orb together under the form _Accipe virgam
virtutis atque aequitatis_ which is used in Hittorp’s and other orders
for the delivery of the _Verge_; and the Crown with the form _Accipe
coronam regni_, as in Hittorp’s order. After the investitures the
king takes the oath again in the direct form of the later Roman rite,
_Profiteor et promitto coram Deo_, etc. in Latin and German—another
example of conflation. Then the responsory _Desiderium animae_ is sung
and the king is enthroned with the _Ita retine_[118]. Here in the
coronation rite of Charles V the Archbishop of Mayence delivered a long
address of congratulation in German.
The coronation of the queen, which was performed by the Archbishops of
Mayence and Trier conjointly, follows exactly that of Hittorp’s order.
After the Queen’s coronation _Te Deum_ was sung.
The rite in the later days[119] hardly varied at all from this. Thus the
orders according to which Maximilian I was crowned in 1486, Charles V at
Aachen in 1519, Matthias II[120] at Frankfort in 1612, differ only in the
slightest details from the order of Rudolf I.
The Crown and the imperial vestments with which the Emperor elect was
crowned in Germany were those of Charlemagne, which were most carefully
preserved. An eye-witness[121] of the coronation of Leopold II at the end
of the eighteenth century says that they were still in use, and that the
Emperor adapted his coiffure and beard to the style of Charlemagne, and
appeared like a man of the seventh (_sic_) century. During the singing
of _Te Deum_ Charles V created a number of knights with the sword of
Charlemagne, but in later days the creation of knights took place after
the service. In England the creation of knights of the Bath took place
the day before the coronation.