page_title: Coronation of the French monarch
section_title: Imperial ceremony
hierarchical_section_title: Coronation of the French monarch / Imperial ceremony
caption_attribution_description: Joséphine kneels before Napoléon during his coronation at Notre Dame. Behind him sits pope Pius VII.
context_page_description: The accession of the King of France to the royal throne was legitimized by a ceremony performed with the Crown of Charlemagne at Notre-Dame de Reims. In late medieval and early modern times, the new king did not need to be anointed in order to be recognized as French monarch but ascended upon the previous monarch's death with the proclamation "Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!"
  The most important part of the French ceremony was not the coronation itself, but the Sacre – the anointing or unction of the king. The Carolingian king Pepin the Short was anointed in Soissons to legitimize the accession of the new dynasty. A second anointing of Pepin by Pope Stephen II took place at the Basilica of St Denis in 754, the first to be performed by a Pope. The unction served as a reminder of the baptism of king Clovis I in Reims by archbishop Saint Remi in 496/499, where the ceremony was finally transferred in 816 and completed with the use of the Holy Ampulla found in 869 in the grave of the Saint. Since this Roman glass vial containing the balm due to be mixed with chrism, was allegedly brought by the dove of the Holy Spirit, the French monarchs claimed to receive their power by divine right.
context_section_description: During the First French Empire, Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Josephine were crowned in December 1804 in an extremely elaborate ritual presided over by Pope Pius VII and conducted at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The pope and prelates entered Notre Dame in procession, followed by Napoleon and Joséphine with the Imperial Regalia preceding them. The regalia were placed on the altar and blessed by the pope, who then seated himself upon a throne to the left of the altar. Following this Napoleon was anointed by the pontiff three times on the head and hands, with the new emperor reportedly yawning several times during this act and the remainder of the ceremony. The high point of the ceremony came when Napoleon advanced to the altar, took the crown and placed it upon his own head. Replacing this with a laurel wreath of gold made in the ancient Roman style, he then crowned his wife, who knelt before him. Six months later, Napoleon was crowned King of Italy at Milan with the Iron Crown of Lombardy.
  Emperor Napoleon III chose not to have a coronation ceremony. Nevertheless, a small consort's crown was fabricated for his wife, Empress Eugenie, which remains in the possession of the French government.
caption: Coronation of Emperor Napoleon I of France at Notre-Dame de Paris. Napoleon crowned himself as "Emperor of the French" during this ceremony, then crowned his consort Josephine as Empress.
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