The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-06-08
BROWNING OF WILLIAM
THE CONOUEROR TN 1866
Sir Herbert Maxwell Reviews the Coronations Celebrated in England
Prior to the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ruler Was the FRS;
King to Be Amounted in Westminster Abby.
BY SIR HERBERT MAXWELL. NJ. P.

BY SIR HERBERT MAXWELL. NJ. P.
WRITTEN 0 H SUNDAY REPtBLIC.
Ever since Edward the Confessor Q042-
1865 founded the Abbey Of St. Peter on the
Thorney. or Thorny Island, and constitut-
ed 1t the Minister or Monastery Of the
! West, Westminster has been recognized
as the place proper for the coronation of
the Kings CT England. In an earlier age,
before the Saxon principaiities had been
welded into the Kingdom of England. 9TH
er spots were hallOwed by the perform
J ances of this ancient and solemn rite. Ar
thur, the s~emi-legendary King of the West
ern Britons. is said TO have been crowned
: ct StOnehepEe: seven of the Saxon Kings.
from Edward the Elder to Ethelred. re-
ccived their crowns at the Kings Stone,
which still may he seen at Kinsston-on-
Thames: but most of that dynasty were in
augurated in the sanctuary of the House
OF CedrIc-Winchester Cathedral. 1t is gen.
orally forgotten hOw long Winchester con-
tested with London the dignity of being
the metropolis. The convenience OF a wa
terway and port chiefly turned the scale
against the ancient Roman station of Ven
ia Belgarum: and even this want Edward
l attempted TO remedy by cutting what
is now known 10 trout fishers Of the 1tchen
as the Old Barge Water, connecting Ntn-
, chester with Southampton Water. HatGi-
canute. the Dane. was crowned in the Cd
Saxon Cathedral OF oxford, but Duke VIII
liam Of Normandy was invested with the
title of King of England on Christmas
Day. 1866, within the freshly reared walls
of Westminster Abbey, and from that time
EDWARDS 1t has been the exception for the
ceremony to be performed anywhere else.
Nearly n Tragedy.
TIL ConQuercr's coronation well nigh end
ed in a tragedy. The abbey church was
crowded with the Saxon citizens Of London.
The officials were ali men Of foreign
speech, Nortnans; the ancient eremon of
presenting the King for election was per-
formed in ono language BY Aldred, Saxon
Archbishop of York tin the absence of Sti-
gand, Archbishop of Canterbury. who had
fed TO S~cotland). and by the Norman God-
frey, Bishop CT Coutantes. Thereupon rose
such a babel of acclaim from the congTe-
CATION that the Norman troops without I'M
Outstanding that this was all in accord
with national custom, cried: '"Treason!' set
fire to the abbey gates, and began riding
down the people as they rushed in terror
to the open air. What remained Of the GER
emory was hurried through, but not in
such hot haste as to prevent the cool
headed Aldred exacting from William a
solemn oath to protect his Saxon subjects.
But Aldred. bold and providsnt as he was,
could not prevail against the Norman Lam
franc, who succeeded the disgraced Stigand
in the see of Canterbury, and who crowned
William Rufus in 1887. The advantage
thereby gained for the Southern Primacy
SoS 1890 ~ Alld ANu-
fus was slain on August 2, LEO; speed was
all important IL his younger brother, Hen
~. was to obtain the crown, for was not
the unfortunate Robert, eldest son OF the
conqueror. still a captive in the dungeons
of Cardiff? And popular favor might veer
quickly in favor of the legitimate heir. So
Henry hurried UP from Winchester.
Bishop Performed Ceremony.
Anselm OF Canterbury was abroad.
Thomas of York rode post hate from Ripon
to claim the privilege he disputed with the
other Primate, but arrived in London only
to find that the Bishop Of London had per-
formed the ceremony for Henry on the 9Th
Of A~ugust-barely three days after King
Williams demise. This, our first Henry,
having persisted ignobly after a surfeit of
lampreys In December, LBS, lay yet I'M
buried, when his nephew, Stephen, seized
the crown which belonged by right to
Henry's daughter, Maud. Mistress of the |
English" and nineteen years later was
witnessed the amicable cooperation of the |
Archbishops Of Canterbury and York in the |
coronation of Henry II. This monarch, the
better to secure the uniisputed succession \
Of his son, Prince Henry, caused him to |
be W during his own life. This was
in ITo. during the Kings mortal quarrel
with Thomas A Beckett, Archbishop of Can
terbury, and here was Roger of York's op-
p%ortunity. Assisted by four Bishops. he
performed the conservation. cor rather"
according to the contemporary chronicles
of Margan "the execration wherein fol-
lowed such terrible events" Beckett retail
lated by ~pronouncing anathema upon his
brother prelates, and. though he lived not
to see the result, pious persons recognized
it in Prince Henrys death without issue,
and the hateful strife between his brothers,
Richard Coeur-de-Lion and John.
Striking Coronation Episodes.
There are some graphic touches in the
record Of this Richards coronation. The
Hon-hearted one meekly stripped to his
shirt and drawers before receiving the an
ointing. b appearance u the abbey Of q !