THE CORONATION.
A.D. 1377
Nature and design of a coronation.--Arrangements made for Richard's
coronation.--Conduits of wine.--Golden snow.--The young
girls.--Procession.--Crowds of people in the streets.--Ceremonies
of the coronation.--Bewildering scene.--Oath administered to the
people.--Ceremony of anointing.--Richard clothed in his royal
robes.--The crown.--The globe.--The sceptre.--Richard makes his
offerings at the altar.--Richard is entirely exhausted with
fatigue.--Creation of earls.--Rude amusements.--Wine.--French
invasions.--Richard's uncles.--His bright prospects.
The coronation of a monarch is often postponed for a considerable time
after his accession to the throne. There is no practical inconvenience
in such a postponement, for the crowning, though usually a very august
and imposing ceremony, is of no particular force or effect in respect
to the powers or prerogatives of the king. He enters upon the full
enjoyment of all these prerogatives and powers at once on the death of
his predecessor, and can exercise them all without restraint, as the
public good may require. The coronation is merely a pageant, which, as
such, may be postponed for a longer or shorter period, as occasion may
require.
Richard was crowned, however, a very short time after his father's
death. It was thought best, undoubtedly, to take prompt measures for
sealing and securing his right to the succession, lest the Duke of
Lancaster or some other person might be secretly forming plans to
supplant him. King Edward, Richard's grandfather, died on the 22d of
June. The funeral occupied several days, and immediately afterward
arrangements began to be made for the coronation. The day was
appointed for the 16th of July. On the 15th the king was to proceed in
state from the palace in the environs of London where he had been
residing, through the city of London, to Westminster, where the
coronation was to take place; and as the people of London desired to
make a grand parade in honor of the passage of the king through the
city, the arrangements of the occasion comprised two celebrations on
two successive days--the procession through London on the 15th, and
the coronation at Westminster on the 16th.
On the morning of the 15th, an imposing train of the nobility, led by
all the great officers of state, assembled at the residence of the
king to receive him and to escort him through the city. Richard was
dressed in magnificent robes, and mounted upon a handsome charger. A
nobleman led his horse by the bridle. Another nobleman of high rank
went before him, bearing the sword of state, the emblem of the regal
power. Other nobles and prelates in great numbers, mounted many of
them on splendidly-caparisoned horses, and in full armor, joined in
the train. Bands of musicians, with trumpets and other martial
instruments in great numbers, filled the air with joyful sounds, and
in this manner the procession commenced its march.
In the mean time, the Londoners had made great preparations for the
reception of the _cortege_. Conduits were opened in various parts of
the city, to run with wine instead of water, in token of the general
joy. In the heart of the city an edifice in the form of a castle was
erected in honor of the occasion. This castle had four towers. In each
of the towers were four beautiful young girls, all about Richard's
age. They were dressed in white, and their duty was, as the king went
by, to throw out a quantity of little leaves of gold, which, falling
upon and all around the king, produced the effect of a shower of
golden flakes of snow.
The procession stopped before the castle. There were conduits flowing
with wine upon two sides of it. The young girls descended from the
towers, bringing golden cups in their hands. These cups they filled
with wine at the fountains, and offered them to the king and to the
nobles who accompanied him. On the top of the castle, between the four
towers, there stood a golden angel with a crown in his hand. By some
ingenious mechanism, this angel was made to extend his arm to the
king, as if in the act of offering him the crown. This was a symbol
representing the idea often inculcated in those days, that the right
of the king to reign was a divine right, as if the crown were placed
upon his head by an angel from heaven.
After pausing thus a short time at the castle, the procession moved
on. The streets were filled with vast crowds of people, who drowned
the music of the trumpets and drums by their continual acclamations.
In this way the royal procession passed on through London, and at
length arrived at the gate of the palace in Westminster. Here Richard
was assisted to dismount from his horse, and was conducted into the
palace between two long lines of knights and soldiers that were
stationed at the entrance and upon the staircase to honor his arrival.
He was glad that the ceremony was over, for he was beginning to be
very tired of riding on horseback so many hours, and of being so long
in the midst of scenes of so much noise, excitement, and confusion.
The next day was the day appointed for the coronation itself. Richard
was dressed in his royal robes, and shortly before noon he was
conducted in great state from the palace to the church. He was
received by a procession of bishops and monks, and conducted by them
to the grand altar. The pavement before the altar was covered with
rich tapestry. Here Richard kneeled while prayers were said and the
Litany was sung by the priests. His barons and nobles, and the great
officers of state, kneeled around him. After the prayers were over, he
was conducted to an elevated seat, which was richly decorated with
carvings and gold.
A bishop then ascended to a pulpit built against one of the vast
Gothic columns of the church, and preached a sermon. The sermon was on
the subject of the duty of a king; explaining how a king ought to
conduct himself in the government of his people, and enjoining upon
the people, too, the duty of being faithful and obedient to their
king.
Richard paid little attention to this sermon, being already tired of
the scene. He was, moreover, bewildered by the multitude of people
crowded into the church, and all gazing intently and continually upon
him. There were bishops and priests in their sacerdotal robes of
crimson and gold, and knights and nobles brilliant with nodding plumes
and glittering armor of steel. When the sermon was finished, the oath
was administered to Richard. It was read by the archbishop, Richard
assenting to it when it was read. As soon as the oath had thus been
administered, the archbishop, turning in succession to each quarter of
the church, repeated the oath in a loud voice to the people, four
times in all, and called upon those whom he successively addressed to
ask whether they would submit to Richard as their king. The people on
each side, as he thus addressed them in turn, answered, with a loud
voice, that they would obey him. This ceremony being ended, the
archbishop turned again toward Richard, pronounced certain additional
prayers, and then gave him his benediction.
The ceremony of anointing came next. The archbishop advanced to
Richard and began to take off the robes in which he was attired. At
the same time, four earls held over and around him, as a sort of
screen, a coverture, as it was called, of cloth of gold. Richard
remained under this coverture while he was anointed. The archbishop
took off nearly all his clothes, and then anointed him with the holy
oil. He applied the oil to his head, his breast, his shoulders, and
the joints of his arms, repeating, as he did so, certain prayers. The
choir, in the mean time, chanted a portion of the Scriptures relating
to the anointing of King Solomon. When the oil had been applied, the
archbishop put upon the king a long robe, and directed him to kneel.
Richard accordingly kneeled again upon the tapestry which covered the
floor, the archbishop and the bishops kneeling around him. While in
this position the archbishop offered more prayers, and more hymns were
sung, and then he assisted Richard to rise from his kneeling posture,
and proceeded to dress and equip him with the various garments, and
arms, and emblems appropriate to the kingly power. In putting on each
separate article the archbishop made a speech in Latin, according to a
form provided for such occasions, beginning with, Receive this cloak,
receive this stole, receive this sword, and the like.[F]
[Footnote F: The stole was a long narrow scarf, fringed at the ends.
It was wound about the neck and crossed over the breast, and was worn
as a badge.]
In this manner and with these ceremonies Richard was invested with a
splendidly-embroidered coat and cloak, a stole, a sword, a pair of
spurs, a pair of bracelets, and, finally, with a garment over all
called the pallium. All these things, of course, had been made
expressly for the occasion, and were adapted to the size and shape of
a boy like Richard. The archbishop was assisted in putting these
things on by certain nobles of the court, who had been designated for
this purpose, and who considered themselves highly honored by the part
that was assigned them in the ceremony.
When the dressing had been completed, the archbishop took the crown,
and after having invoked a blessing upon it by his prayers and
benedictions, all in the Latin tongue, he placed it upon Richard's
head, repeating, at the same time, a Latin form, the meaning of which
was that he received the crown from God Almighty, and that to God
alone he was responsible for the exercise of his royal power.
Then came a certain grand officer of the court with a red globe, an
emblem of royalty which has long been used in England. This globe the
archbishop blessed, and then the officer put it into Richard's hands.
In the same manner the sceptre was brought, and, after being blessed
by means of the same ceremonies and prayers, was also put into
Richard's hands.
Richard was now completely invested with the badges and insignia of
his office. The archbishop then, raising his hands, pronounced upon
him his apostolic benediction, and the ceremony, so far, was ended.
The bishops and nobles then came up to congratulate and salute Richard
on having thus received his crown, after which they conducted him to
his seat again.
Richard now began to be very tired and to wish to go home, but there
was a great deal more yet to come before he could be set at liberty.
There was an anthem to be sung by the choir, and more prayers to be
said, after which there came what was called the offertory. This was a
ceremony in which a person was led to the altar, to lay down upon it
whatever offering he chose to make for the service of the Church. The
king rose from his seat and was led forward to the altar, having, of
course, been previously told what he was to do. He had in his hand a
sum of money which had been provided for the occasion. He laid down
this money first upon the altar, and then his sword. It was the custom
in these coronations for the king thus to offer his sword, in token of
the subordination of his royal power to the law and will of God, and
then the sword was afterward to be redeemed with money by the
sword-bearer, the officer whose duty it was, on leaving the church, to
bear the sword in procession before the king.
Accordingly, after Richard had returned from the altar, the earl whose
office it was to bear the sword went to the altar and redeemed it with
a sum of money, and carried it back to the place where Richard was
sitting.
Then came the service of the mass, which occupied a long time, so that
Richard became very tired indeed before it was ended. After the mass
came the communion, which it was necessary for Richard to partake. The
communion was, of course, accompanied with more prayers and more
chantings, until the poor boy thought that the ceremonies would never
be ended. When at last, however, all was over, and the procession was
ready to form again to leave the church, Richard was so worn out and
exhausted with the fatigue that he had endured that he could not ride
home; so they brought a sort of litter and placed him upon it, and
four of the knights bore him home on their shoulders. His uncle the
Duke of Lancaster and the Earl Percy went before him, and a long train
of bishops, nobles, and grand officers of state followed behind. In
this way he was brought back to the palace. As soon as the party
reached the palace, they carried Richard directly up to a chamber,
took off all his grand paraphernalia, and put him to bed.
He rested a little while, and then they brought him something to eat.
His troubles were, however, not yet over, for there was to be a great
banquet that afternoon and evening in the hall of the palace, and it
was necessary that he should be there. Accordingly, after a short
time, he was arrayed again in his royal robes and insignia, and
conducted down to the hall. Here he had a ceremony to perform of
creating certain persons earls. Of course it was his counselors that
decided who the persons were that were to be thus raised to the
peerage, and they told him also exactly what he was to do and say in
the programme of the ceremony. He sat upon his throne, surrounded by
his nobles and officers of state, and did what they told him to do.
When this ceremony had been performed, the whole company sat down to
the tables which had been prepared for a banquet.
They continued their feasting and carousing to a late hour, and then
amused themselves with various boisterous games common in those days.
In the court-yard of the palace a pillar was set up, with pipes at the
sides of it, from which there were flowing continually streams of wine
of different kinds, and every body who pleased was permitted to come
and drink. A part of the amusement consisted in the pushings and
strugglings of the people to get to the faucets, and the spilling of
the wine all over their faces and clothes. The top of the pillar was
adorned with a large gilt image of an eagle.
The next day there were more processions and more celebrations, but
Richard himself was, fortunately for him, excused from taking any part
in them. In the mean time, the people who managed the government in
Richard's name heard the news that the French had learned, in some
way, the tidings of King Edward's death, and had landed in the
southern part of England, and were burning and destroying all before
them. So they made all haste to raise an army to go and repel the
invaders.
It was finally concluded, also, to appoint Richard's two uncles,
namely, John, Duke of Lancaster, and Edmund, Earl of Cambridge, as his
guardians until he should become of age. Some persons thought it was
not safe to trust Richard to the Duke of Lancaster at all, but others
thought it would be better to conciliate him by treating him with
respect, than to make him an open enemy by passing over him entirely.
Richard was considered, at this time, a very amiable and good boy, and
it was generally believed by the people of England that, with a right
and proper training, he would grow up to be a virtuous and honest man,
and they anticipated for him a long and happy reign. And yet, in a
little more than ten years after he became of age, he was disgraced
and dethroned on account of his vices and crimes.