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.
