User:MizSchiz/Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I

The coronation of Elizabeth I took place on Sunday, January 15, 1559 (based on the Gregorian calendar) two months after her accession to the throne upon the death of Mary I. On the eve of her coronation, she processed from the Tower of London through the city toward Westminster. The coronation ceremony was of particular significance because the amendments made to the language and structure of the mass implied Elizabeth’s religious attitudes at the time of her ascension and established the tone for her new authority over the Church of England. Elizabeth’s coronation marked the ceremonial commencement of what would be her nearly 45-year reign as the British monarch.--MizSchiz (talk) 17:44, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

Context
At the time of Elizabeth’s accession in November 1558, lingering questions over her legitimacy left many opponents calling for her deposition. In particular, French supporters of Mary Stuart, wife to the current French King’s eldest son, Francis II, sought Elizabeth’s removal. In light of these controversies, the coronation procession and ceremonies would serve the symbolic purpose of securing Elizabeth’s claim to the throne and imbuing her accession with religious significance. .  Furthermore, many Protestants, weary from their days of persecution under the reign of Mary Tudor, embraced the coronation of Elizabeth I as an opportunity to herald the prospect of a Protestant revival. .  The pageants planned by the City of London for Elizabeth’s triumphal procession through the streets reflect this tone of expectation.

Preparations
Preparations for Elizabeths triumphal arrival in the City of London had been set in motion over five weeks in advance of her January 14 arrival. Forty-four persons were initially appointed to a planning committee, among these city fathers were a few tasked with preparing a series of pageants. Richard Grafton, printer, Protestant, and haberdasher, was prominent among them, and Richard Mulcaster, whose account of the pageants has survived, was given the task of composing the pageants into verse.

Given the symbolic significance of Elizabeth’s coronation ceremonies, no expense was spared. Streets were given fresh gravel and banners were hung. Cloth alone exceeded £4,000 and the entire event, not including the coronation banquet, totaled £16,741. However, Elizabeth’s own coronation mantle and dress actually came second-hand from Mary Tudor, but the bodice was refitted to highlight the narrow elegance of her figure compared with Mary Tudor’s compressed frame.

Procession
The two nights before Elizabeth’s entry into the City, she was housed, out of tradition, in the Tower of London. As she left the tower sometime after 2 p.m. on January 14, she was believed to have given a prayer of thanksgiving for her earlier emancipation from imprisonment therein. The horseback procession preceding the Queen included household officers, bishops and peers. Elizabeth followed, seated in a litter (or chariot) pulled by two “sturdy mules.”  Personal bodyguards walked at her side, and richly clothed ladies-in-waiting walked behind. Though the procession route covered less than four miles from the Tower of London to Westminster, the progress was slow; since the importance of the spectacle rested on her reception by the common people of London, she paused her litter at regular intervals to receive gifts and greet supporters. --MizSchiz (talk) 17:44, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

Pageants
The five pageants prepared for Elizabeth’s progress through the city were intended to represent a fresh political and religious beginning for the country. Though pageants were a mainstay in coronation processions, Elizabeth’s were unique in that the city fathers conceived of them as a unified whole—an attempt to “give utterance to what were deemed political verities.”  Under each of these five ceremonial arches the Queen’s heritage was celebrated. Many of the pageants boasted a decidedly Protestant emphasis, again, offering a point of contrast between Elizabeth and her predecessor. One of the most allegorically rich scenes depicted Elizabeth as a modern Deborah, a prophetess and one-time rescuer of the Israelites. More controversial pageant tableaux also directed her in the art of governing while more than gently nudging her to marry and bear a successor to the crown.

Coronation Ceremony
Elizabeth spent the night of January 14 in the Palace of Westminster, and the following day, she proceeded to Westminster Abbey for the formal crowning and coronation mass. After taking her coronation oath and being proclaimed the Queen four times before the gathered crowd, she withdrew into a shrouded pew to don her robe and mantle. She then re-emerged to the climactic blast of trumpets, and the ring of the monarch was placed on her right hand. The coronation mass, likely led by the junior Bishop Owen Oglethorpe of Carlisle, followed the order of service laid out in the Liber Regalis, a record of English coronations from 1307 to 1661, with two notable exceptions: the gospel and epistle were read in both Latin and English, and the Host was not raised. These amendments, believed to have angered the participating clergy, were symbolically significant, and they implied, rather radically, that Elizabeth’s position as both monarch and supreme authority over the Church of England, would not be taken lightly.