Dear Gary Dickson,
The Most Christian Kings of France certainly thought of their consecration
as a Christian rite. But it is true that the rite was performed only for one
person at a time, then not again until the next reign (though more than one
queen might be crowned during the reign), & that it was in the nature of a
spectacle for all others. Some other rites, particularly those associated
with relics, were spectator events, of course, as well as religious
ceremonies. But in making the comment, I had in mind the fact that St.-Denis
was evidently too small to hold an unexpectedly large crowd that forced its
way into this double coronation held at sunrise. In that respect, the press
of people seemed comparable to the other accounts of churches that were too
small to contain "the Christian crowd."
Aline Hornaday
At 12:18 PM 10/17/98 +0000, you wrote:
>Dear Aline Hornaday,
>
>I agree that the crowd you describe was a crowd of Christians, but was the
>event at which these Christians had gathered a (strictly) Christian event?
>Sometimes, admittedly, it is hard to draw the line: Christian rites and
>religo-political occasions.
>
>Gary Dickson
>University of Edinburgh
>
>
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