The Coronation of the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

was a ceremony in which the ruler of Western Europe's then-largest political entity received the

Imperial Regalia The Imperial Regalia, also called Imperial Insignia (in German ''Reichskleinodien'', ''Reichsinsignien'' or ''Reichsschatz''), are regalia of the Holy Roman Emperor. The most important parts are the Crown, the Imperial orb, the Imperial s ...

from the hands of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, symbolizing both the pope's right to crown

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

sovereigns and also the emperor's role as protector of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The

Holy Roman Empress The Holy Roman Empress or Empress of the Holy Roman Empire (''Kaiserin des Heiligen Römischen Reiches'') was the wife or widow of the Holy Roman Emperor. The elective dignity of Holy Roman emperor was restricted to males only, but some empresse ...

es were crowned as well. The

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

was established in the year 800 under

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

. Later emperors were crowned by the pope or other Catholic bishops.

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

became the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by a pope:

Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

in 1530. Thereafter, until the abolition of the empire in 1806, no further crownings by the Pope were held.See also Guy Stair Sainty
The Holy Roman Empire: Introduction
. From th
Almanach de la Cour
website. Retrieved on 14 September 2008. Later rulers simply proclaimed themselves ''Imperator Electus Romanorum'' or "Elected Emperor of the Romans" after their election by the princes and

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of o ...

as German king.

Preliminaries

Before being crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope, a monarch first had to win the support of the majority of the seven

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the princ ...

s in the

Imperial election The election of a Holy Roman Emperor was generally a two-stage process whereby, from at least the 13th century, the King of the Romans was elected by a small body of the greatest princes of the Empire, the prince-electors. This was then follow ...

, then to be crowned

King of the Romans King of the Romans ( la, Rex Romanorum; german: König der Römer) was the title used by the king of Germany following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward. The title originally referred to any German k ...

by an archbishop, for example that of Cologne, Aachen, or Trier. He then usually had to conduct an ''

Italienzug An ''Italienzug'' (also known as ''Romfahrt'' or ''Romzug'', Latin ''expeditio italica'') was the expedition undertaken by an elected king of the Romans to be crowned Holy Roman emperor in City of Rome. Prior to the reforms of Frederick Barbarossa ...

'' (or ''Romzug''), leading his army from Germany to Rome and occasionally having to fight off enemies barring the way, making his coronation into a military expedition. Some elected or crowned Kings of the Romans never made it that far, and thus were never confirmed as Holy Roman Emperors by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. The papal coronation was necessary for the Imperial title until 1508, when the Venetians blocked the journey of Maximilian I, and he was instead proclaimed emperor elect by

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or t ...

at Trent. This established the right of elected Germanic monarchs to use the imperial title.

Ceremonies

Locations

Successors of Charlemagne were crowned in Rome for several centuries, where they received the imperial crown in St. Peter's from the pope. The

Iron Crown of Lombardy The Iron Crown ( lmo, Corona Ferrea de Lombardia; it, Corona Ferrea; la, Corona Ferrea) is a relic and may be one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Early Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and jewels fi ...

(with the title ''King of Italy'' or ''King of the Lombards'') was conferred in the Church of St. Ambrose at

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

or at the cathedral of

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Mo ...

, that of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province ...

. The German crown—which came to be the most important of all—was usually given at

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th ...

. Muir (1911), p. 187. From 1562 until the last German coronation in 1792, the Emperors-elect were crowned Kings of Germany in Frankfurt Cathedral, which had already in 1356 had become the established site for the imperial elections.

German ritual

The German coronation ceremony first required the electors to meet at

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, under the presidency of the Elector-Archbishop of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, who formally summoned the electors and had the right of the last vote. The new emperor-elect was led to the high altar of the cathedral and seated, then conducted to a gallery over the entrance to the choir, where he sat with the electors while his election was proclaimed. The coronation itself took place on a subsequent day. If the coronation was performed (as usual before 1562) at the Palatine Chapel at Aachen (now

Aachen Cathedral Aachen Cathedral (german: Aachener Dom) is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen. One of the oldest cathedrals in Europe, it was constructed by order of Emperor Charlemagne, who was buri ...

), then the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palat ...

, as local metropolitan, was the chief officiant and was assisted by the two other clerical electors, the

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

and the

Archbishop of Trier The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.This account is of the German royal coronation ritual used for Rudolf I in 1273 and remained substantially the same until that of Matthias II at Frankfurt in 1612. The account is found in Woolley (1915), pp. 122–125. These three Archbishop-Electors met the Emperor-elect at the entrance of the church, where the Archbishop of Cologne said the prayer, "Almighty, everlasting God, your servant,..."The canons of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen would bring the silver-gilt reliquary bust of Charlemagne with them to the entrance for the Emperor-elect to venerate as he enter the Palatine Chapel. The choir sang the

antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominentl ...

, "Behold, I send my Angel..." (''Ecce mitto Angelum meum...'') as the Emperor-elect and the Archbishops filed into the church. The Archbishop of Cologne then said the prayers, "God, who knows the human race,..." and "Almighty and everlasting God of heaven and earth,...." The Mass then began with the propers of the Feast of the Epiphany and the

collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among othe ...

for the Feast of St. Michael. After the

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called ...

and the

Litany of the Saints The Litany of the Saints ( Latin: ''Litaniae Sanctorum'') is a formal prayer of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Old Catholic Church, Anglo-Catholic communities, and Western Rite Orthodox communities. It is a prayer to the Triune God, w ...

, the Archbishop of Cologne put six questions to the Emperor-elect, each time receiving the response "I will": 1. Will he defend the holy faith? 2. Will he defend the holy church? 3. Will he defend the kingdom? 4. Will he maintain the laws of the Empire? 5. Will he maintain justice? 6. Will he show due submission to the Pope?"Will you be duly subject and show reverent faith to the Father and Lord most holy in Christ, the Roman Pontiff and to the holy Roman church?" The Emperor-elect then laid two fingers on the altar and swore his oath. The Recognition then followed, with the Emperor-elect asking those assembled to accepted him as their king, three times receiving the response "Let it be done". The Archbishop of Cologne then said the prayers, "Bless, Lord, this king,..." and "Ineffable God,...."The German rite as also the English has the word 'ineffable', whereas the other European coronation rites has 'inexecutable.' The Archbishop then anointed the Emperor-elect with the oil of the catechumens on his head, breast and shoulders, saying, "I anoint you king with the oil of sanctification in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." and then on the palms of both hands, saying, "Let these hands be anointed, as kings and prophets were anointed and as Samuel anointed David to be king may you be blessed and established king in this kingdom over this people, whom the Lord, your God, has given you to rule and govern, which he vouchsafes to grant, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns,...."A number of other prayers of consecration then follow, which Woolley assumes were intended as alternative prayers, since the king had already been consecrated and anointed. He was then vested in the imperial robes, including

buskin A buskin is a knee- or calf-length boot made of leather or cloth, enclosed by material, and laced, from above the toes to the top of the boot, and open across the toes. A high-heeled version was worn by Athenian tragic actors (to make them loo ...

s, a long

alb The alb (from the Latin ''albus'', meaning ''white''), one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed and Congregational churches, is an ample white garment coming down to the an ...

, a

dalmatic The dalmatic is a long, wide-sleeved tunic, which serves as a liturgical vestment in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, United Methodist, and some other churches. When used, it is the proper vestment of a deacon at Mass, Holy Communion or ot ...

, a stole crossed priest-wise over the breast,

gloves A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves usually have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb. If there is an opening but no (or a short) covering sheath for each finger they are called fingerless gloves. Fingerless glo ...

, and

mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...

. The

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

was given with the words, "Receive this sword at the hands of us bishops...." The ring was given with the words, "Receive this ring of royal dignity...." The

sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The '' Was'' and other ...

and orb were given with the words, "Receive this rod of virtue and equity...." Finally the crown was set on his head conjointly by the three archbishop-electors with the words, "Receive this royal crown...." The oath was taken again, this time in the direct form in both Latin and German, "I promise and pledge in the sight of God...." The responsory is chanted, "My soul is longing,..," and the king is enthronedWhen the ceremony took place in Aachen, the throne used was Charlemagne's own marble throne directly opposite the high altar.Before the coronation proper Saint Stephen's Purse, reliquary containing earth soaked the blood of the first Christian martyr and which had once been in Charlemagne's tomb was placed within the throne. with the words, "Stand fast and hold firmly...." At the coronation of

the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz preached a homily at this point. The coronation of the queen consort followed and was conducted jointly by the Archbishop-Electors of Mainz and Trier. The

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Ch ...

was then sung during which Charles V dubbed a number of knights with the imperial sword, although at subsequent coronations this took place after the Coronation proper. The Mass was then concluded, during which the king communed in one kind. Whenever the coronations were performed at Aix-la-Chapelle, the new king was made a canon of the church at its conclusion. From 1562 to 1792 the German coronation took place before the Altar of St. Bartholomew in the crossing of the Frankfurt Cathedral.

Roman ritual

The Holy Roman imperial coronation in Rome evolved over the thousand years of the empire's existence from an originally very simple ritual (which by its very simplicity paralleled and most clearly demonstrated its origins in its Byzantine counterpart) to one of increasing complexity. The oldest manuscript of the Roman imperial coronation ritual is found in the 9th century Gemunden Codex and while it is uncertain for whom (if anyone) the ritual described in it was intended to be used in it we come the closest to seeing the very types of forms which would have been used for Charlemagne himself. The ritual began with a short prayer for the Emperor, "Hear our prayer, Lord, and those of your servant...". This was immediately followed by the prayer, "Look, Almighty God, with a serene gaze on this, your glorious servant,...", in which a golden crown was placed on the Emperor's head during the words of the concluding phrase of this prayer, "Through whom honor and glory are yours through infinite ages of ages. Amen." A sword was then given to the Emperor with the word, "Receive this sword by the hands of bishops, who, though unworthy, are consecrated to be in the place and authority of the holy Apostles, deliver it to you, with our blessing, to serve for the defense of the holy Church, divinely ordained, and remember of whom the Psalmist prophesied, saying, 'Gird the sword upon your thigh, O most Powerful One, that with it you may exercise equity.'", a form which would have a long history both in the imperial coronation ritual and in those of numerous European royal coronation rituals as well. The ''Laudes Imperiale'' (a series of formal acclamations that originated in Roman times—see below) were then chanted. The ceremony traditionally took place in Saint Peter's basilica.

Coronation of Frederick I Barbarossa

In its more developed form during the High Middle Ages, before the coronation proper the EmperorThe Emperor is attended by German archbishops or bishops, as the British monarch is similarly attended by the Anglican Bishops of Durham and of Baths and Wells. went in procession first to the Church of St. Mary in Turri,A church which formed part of the complex of buildings around the east atrium of the Old St. Peter's. where he took an oath to protect the Roman Church, "In the name of Christ, I, Frederick, the Emperor, promise, pledge and guarantee in the sight of God and the blessed Apostle Peter that I will be the protector and defender of this holy Roman Church in all ways useful to her, however many, in so far as I am supported by divine assistance according to my knowledge and ability." The imperial party then proceeded to the

Basilica of St. Peter The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal ...

. The Emperor was met at the silver door of St. Peter's by the Cardinal

Bishop of Albano The Diocese of Albano ( la, Albanensis) is a suburbicarian see of the Roman Catholic Church in a diocese in Italy, comprising seven towns in the Province of Rome. Albano Laziale is situated some 15 kilometers from Rome, on the Appian Way. Und ...

, who said the prayer, "God in whose hands are the hearts of kings...". He then entered the church, where the Cardinal

Bishop of Porto The Portuguese Roman Catholic Diocese of Porto ( la, Dioecesis Portugallensis) (Oporto) is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Braga. Its see at Porto is in the Norte region, and the second largest city in Portugal. History The diocese was pro ...

said the prayer, "Inscrutable God, Author of the world...." The Emperor then went up into the choir and the

, then sang while the Emperor lay prostrate before the Altar of St. Peter. The Emperor then went to the Altar of

St. Maurice Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that martyred group. He is the ...

, the patron saint of the Empire, where the Cardinal

Bishop of Ostia The Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia is an ecclesiastical territory located within the Metropolitan City of Rome in Italy. It is one of the seven suburbicarian dioceses. The incumbent Bishop is cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Since ...

anointed him on his right forearm and on the nape of his neck with the Oil of the Catechumens as he said the prayer, "Lord God with whom is all power, ..." or "God the Son of God,..."The Ordo of Waitz which is contemporary with this one used for Frederick I has the prayer, "God, who is glory of the just and the mercy of sinner,..." with the anointing taking place at the words, "Kindle, Lord, we ask you, his heart with the love of your grace through this anointing with oil as you have anointed priests, kings and prophets,..." After this was said the prayer, "Lord God with whom is all power,.."The anointing with the Oil of the Catechumens by the senior cardinal before a side altar and between the shoulders and right arm may have been intended to stress the fact that a coronation was not a sacramental act, unlike the consecration of a bishop which included an anointing with

Chrism Chrism, also called myrrh, ''myron'', holy anointing oil, and consecrated oil, is a consecrated oil used in the Anglican, Assyrian, Catholic, Nordic Lutheran, Old Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Latter Day Saint churches in th ...

before the high altar on the top of the head.The text of this formula can be found in

Coronation of the Hungarian monarch The coronation of the Hungarian monarch was a ceremony in which the king or queen of the Kingdom of Hungary was formally crowned and invested with regalia. It corresponded to the coronation ceremonies in other European monarchies. While in countr ...

. Following this, the Emperor proceeded to the Altar of St. Peter, where the Pope handed him a

with the words, "Receive the imperial sword for vindication over evil..." and then kissed him. The Pope then girded the Emperor with the sword saying, "Receive the sword upon your thigh..." and kissed him again. The Emperor brandished the sword and returned it to its sheath. The Pope next handed the

to the emperor with the words, "Receive the royal sceptre, the rod of virtue..." and lastly crowned him with the words, "Receive the sign of glory..." and kissed the Emperor a third time. The Germans present then chanted the ''Laudes Imperiale'' in German and Mass was celebrated.

Coronation of Henry VI and Constantia

In the coronation of Henry VI and Constantia we see the Roman imperial ritual in substantially its final form; the imperial coronation ritual used for Henry VII in 1312 and that found in the Roman Pontifical of 1520 differ from it only in certain details. The Emperor and Empress go in procession to St. Mary in Turri, the choir singing, "Behold, I send an angel" (1312--The Emperor is received as a brother canon by the canons of the church and dressed in a

surplice A surplice (; Late Latin ''superpelliceum'', from ''super'', "over" and ''pellicia'', "fur garment") is a liturgical vestment of Western Christianity. The surplice is in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton fabric, reaching to th ...

and an

almuce An almuce was a hood-like shoulder cape worn as a choir vestment in the Middle Ages, especially in England. Initially, it was worn by the general population."A New Look for Women." Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. Gale. 2005. Retrieved August ...

.) The Emperor takes the Oath to defend the Roman Church and swears fealty to the Pope and his successors and kisses the Pope's feet.In 1312 and in later coronations the Emperor no longer swears fealty to the Pope. The Pope gives the Emperor the Kiss of Peace and the procession sets out for the Basilica of St. Peter, the choir singing, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel". At the Silver Door of the Basilica the Cardinal Bishop of Albano says the prayer, "God in whose hands are the hearts of kings." As the Pope enters the Basilica the

responsory A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian liturgies. Definition The most general definition of a responsory is any psalm, canticle, or other sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group ...

"Peter, do you love me?" is sung. At the ''Rota porfiretica''A large circular stab of porphyry set into the floor of both the Old Basilica and the present one upon which many emperors, beginning with Charlemagne, are said to have been crowned. the Pope puts several questions to the Emperor about his faith and duty and then he retires to vest for the Mass. The Cardinal Bishop of Porto says the prayer, "Unerring God, Author of the World." The Emperor goes to the Chapel of St. Gregory where he is vested in

amice The amice is a liturgical vestment used mainly in the Roman Catholic church, Western Orthodox church, Lutheran church, some Anglican, Armenian and Polish National Catholic churches. Description The amice consists of a white cloth connected to ...

and

cincture The cincture is a rope-like or ribbon-like article sometimes worn with certain Christian liturgical vestments, encircling the body around or above the waist. There are two types of cinctures: one is a rope-like narrow girdle or rope-like belt ...

and is then led to the Pope who 'makes him a

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. The Emperor is then vested in tunicle,

, pluviale,

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

buskins A buskin is a knee- or calf-length boot made of leather or cloth, enclosed by material, and laced, from above the toes to the top of the boot, and open across the toes. A high-heeled version was worn by Athenian tragic actors (to make them loo ...

and

sandals Sandals are an open type of footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can som ...

.The Emperor had the unique privilege as a layman given him by the Pope of wearing

pontifical vestments Pontifical vestments, also referred to as episcopal vestments or pontificals, are the liturgical vestments worn by bishops (and by concession some other prelates) in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran ...

, ''i.e.'', the vestments proper to a bishop. Nevertheless, one should also recall that the dress and insignia of both emperors and bishops have a common origin in the dress and insignia of the Roman senators. The Cardinal Bishop of Ostia in the meanwhile goes to the Silver Door where the Empress is waiting and on meeting her says the prayer, "Almighty, eternal God, fount and source of goodness" and then leads her to the Altar of St. Gregory to await the Pope's procession. The Pope proceeds to the confessio of St. Peter and beginning the Mass. After the

Kyrie Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...

, while the Emperor and Empress lie prostrate before the confessio, the Archdeacon sings the Litany of the Saints. The Emperor and Empress then rise and go to the Altar of St. Maurice where the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia anoints the Emperor with the Oil of the Catechumens on his right forearm and on the nape of his neck, while he says the prayers, "The Lord God Almighty, whose omnipotence is" and "God the Son of God." The Cardinal Bishop of Ostia then says the prayer, "God who alone has immortality" for the Empress and then anoints her on the breast with the Oil of the Catechumens while he says, "The grace of the Holy Spirit through my humble ministry descend upon you copiously." The Pope then descends to the Altar of St. Mauricewhere the crowns have already been deposited (and 1312--kisses the Emperor 'after the manner of a deacon'). The Pope then give the Emperor a ring with the words, "Receive this ring the visible witness of holy faith..." and then the short prayer, "God with whom is all power..." (a much shorter version of the prayer said at the anointing). The Pope girds the sword on the Emperor with the words, "Receive this sword with the blessing of God..." and the prayer, "God whose providence..." and then crowns the Emperor with the words, "Receive the Crown of royal excellence..." The Pope gives the Emperor the Scepter with the words, "Receive the Scepter of royal power, the rod of royal rectitude, the staff of virtue,..." and the prayer, "Lord, fount of all honor..." The Pope returns to the Altar of St. Peter and the Gloria in excelsis is sung and the Pope says the

, "God of all kings..." (In the 1312 and later coronations this is said after the collect for the feastday and after these collects the ''Laudes Imperiale'' are sung). The EpistleIdeally read by the King of France, he is present, or by the King of Naples. and the gradual is sung. (In the 1312 and later coronations the investitures with the imperial regalia take place after the gradual. The Pope sets a miter on the Emperor's head with the points 'to the right and to the left' and crowns him with the words, "Receive the sign of glory..."Cf. the portrait of Frederick III wearing such an imperial crown over a miter. The Sword is then given to the Emperor and gird on him, after which he brandishes it thrice. The Orb is placed in the Emperor's right hand and the Scepter in his left hand with the words, "Receive the Rod of virtue and truth..." and the Emperor is crowned and then kisses the Pope's feet. The Pope sets a miter on the Empress' head 'with the points to the right and to the left'The only other women who had the right to wear a miter were the 'mitered

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

es', the superiors of certain very ancient monastic communities, although Gregory Dix in his book, ''The Shape of the Liturgy'' notes that these abbesses were originally ''ex officio'' deaconesses and that these miters were originally the caps worn by deaconesses as an insignia of their deaconal status. and crowns her with the words, "Solemnly blessed as empress by our unworthy ministry, receive the crown of imperial excellence...") The ''Laudes Imperiale'' are sung and then the Gospel is read by the Emperor. At the Offertory the Emperor offers bread, candles and gold and the Emperor offers the Pope the wine and the Empress the water for the chalice. (1312--The Emperor serves the Pope 'as a

subdeacon Subdeacon (or sub-deacon) is a minor order or ministry for men in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed between the acolyte (or reader) and the deacon in the order of precedence. Subdeacons i ...

offering him the chalice and water cruet.) Both the Emperor and the Empress communicate and in 1312 after Communion the Emperor kisses the Pope's cheek and the Empress kisses the Pope's hand. (After 1312 at the end of the Mass the Pope if he chooses may say the prayers, "Look, we ask you, Lord, with a serene countenance...", "Bless, Lord, we ask you, this prince...," or "God, Father of eternal glory..."). On leaving the Basilica the Emperor swore in three places to maintain the rights and privileges of the Roman people. The Roman imperial coronation ritual had certain unique elements which distinguished it from those of the royal coronation rituals developed in the European royal coronation rituals, e.g., the stational character of the ritual in which individual parts of the ritual took place in different parts of the papal basilica (usually that of St. Peter's in the Vatican)Note that the prayer said by the cardinal bishops at the entrances of the Emperor and Empress into the church was later imitated in the French, German, Swedish and Norwegian coronation rituals. and the imperial coronation is quite unique in not having a solemn enthronement of the monarch (or even any use of a throne at all) in its ritual. Instead of an enthronement ritual we find the chanting of the ''Laudes Regiae'', which paralleled in both form and importance its Byzantine imperial counterpart. Indeed, only those European coronation rituals which were directly modelled on the Roman imperial ritual, i.e., the papal coronationThe Papal ''Laudes'' were last chanted during the entrance procession of the Inauguration Mass of Pope Benedict XVI on April 24, 2005. and the royal coronation ritual in the Roman Pontifical, also include such chanting of a ''Laudes''. The custom of the emperors going to Rome to be crowned was last observed by Frederick III in 1452, his grandson, Charles V was crowned by the Pope in Bologna in 1530; after that only the German coronation ritual was celebrated.

Coronations of the Latin Emperors of Constantinople

R. M. Woolley states that the accounts of the coronations of the

Latin emperors of Constantinople Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

are very scant and provide no record of the actual texts used in these ceremonies, but from what is recorded it may be assumed that these imperial coronations were modelled on the forms used for the coronations of the Holy Roman Emperors, rather than those traditionally used for the coronations of the Byzantine emperors.For the texts of the two principal prayers used for the coronation of an Eastern Orthodox emperor (i.e., the Prayer for the robing in the imperial

chlamys The chlamys ( Ancient Greek: χλαμύς : chlamýs, genitive: χλαμύδος : chlamydos) was a type of an ancient Greek cloak.Coronation of the Russian Monarch.

Crowns

It is unclear as to which crown was used for either the German royal coronation or the Roman imperial coronation. Lord Twining suggests that when the German royal coronation still took place at Aachen, the

silver-gilt Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling) which has been gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually ...

crown on the reliquary bust of Charlemagne was used, since the Imperial Crown or ''Reichskrone'' is made of gold. This is reinforced by medieval sources that refer to the Iron Crown of Italy, the silver crown of Germany and the gold crown of the Roman Empire. Twining indicates that it is also unclear as to what crown was used for the imperial coronation in Rome, and indicates that the Imperial Crown might have been worn by the emperor-elect for his formal entry into the city of Rome, with another gold crown, perhaps provided by the pope, being used in the actual imperial coronation ritual itself. One of these latter crowns, specifically that used for the imperial coronation of Frederick II, may be the Byzantine style closed crown found in the tomb of his mother, Constance of Sicily, in the Cathedral of Palermo. Apparently, once Frankfurt had become the normal site for the German royal coronation, the Imperial Crown was always used and thus eventually became identified as the Crown of Charlemagne. The Imperial Crown was originally made for

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...

(probably in the workshops of

Reichenau abbey Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives). It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, with patronage that included Charl ...

, the single arch of the crown from front to back originally separating the two halves of the now collapsed inner cap like the ribbon which similarly caused the 10th bishops' miters to bulge up on either side. Thus the Imperial Crown is the first example of the miter crown worn as a unique privilege of the Holy Roman Emperors and Empresses. Later personal crowns of the Emperors were worn over miters with points like that of contemporary bishops' miters,Cf. The portrait of Frederick III. the miter eventually becoming a part of the crown itself,Cf. The only extant example is the Austrian Imperial Crown made for Rudolf II. although in the Baroque period the two halves of the miter took the form of two hemispheres.The only extant example of such a crown is the

Russian Imperial Crown The Imperial Crown of Russia (russian: Императорская Корона России), also known as the Great Imperial Crown (russian: Великая Императорская Корона), was used by the monarchs of Russia from 1762 ...

made for Catherine the Great. Peter the Great adopted the contemporary miter crowns worn by the Habsburg emperors as the model for the actual and heraldic crowns of the Russian Empire.

Laudes Imperiale

Empresses and queens

Up to and including the coronation of Richenza of Northeim at

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

in 1125, Holy Roman Empresses and German queens were usually anointed and crowned separately from their husbands, unless joint ceremony was required by political circumstances. From then on, joint coronation ceremonies were more common. Jäschke (2002), p. 79.

List of Roman imperial coronations

Frankish Kings crowned Emperors of the Romans

Holy Roman Emperors

Latin Emperor of Constantinople (1217)

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * {{Coronation Monarchy of the Holy Roman Empire

800 establishments 1530 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire Imperial election (Holy Roman Empire)