On 11/1/07, Marjorie Greene < [log in to unmask]> wrote:

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Brenda Cook wrote: Interesting because he is a layman and not a Religious even if he is a king.

I have no idea of the ritualistic aspects of the English monarch's coronation. I'm certain the ceremony has changed a bit through the years and it's been a while since the Brits put on such a magnificent spectacle. I'd bet it's done in Westminster Abbey with the Archbishop of Canterbury presiding, but I know I'll be corrected if I'm mistaken. All I know is that the French kings were "sacred" ( p.p. of the verb "to sacre", which verb is obsolete) by the archbishop of Reims (by no means all, but most) and were henceforth "l'oint du Seigneur," (anointed of the Lord). Renan (I believe) called "le sacre du roi" the 8th sacrament and indeed the anointings, laying on of hands, etc. came extremely close to an ordination. Add in "le toucher du roi" and you get ever more in the realm of the religious/sacramental.
So my questions are: how closely did the installation of the English kings mirror that of their French colleagues at the time of Brenda's king; and how "into Orders" was an anointed king deemed to be? Would Brenda's king have felt compelled to do extra penance precisely because of the religious/quasi-sacramental nature of his office?
MG
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