Self-coronation
As a self-coronation one is crowned called a secular ruler usually when by the crowning to itself and not, for example, from a church is performed dignitaries.
The coronation by a bishop was not only, but especially, a problem for Protestant rulers in Europe in modern times. The ruler as Summus Episcopus , as the supreme bishop of his country, who recognized no spiritual authority over himself, could or would get away from him a "low-ranking bishop" should not be crowned because he received his office solely through God's grace . As a consequence, many Protestant rulers renounced a ritual act of coronation and contented themselves with a formal accession to the throne, combined with an acclamation or homage. The demonstrative self-coronation of two Prussian kings found no imitators and therefore remained the exception.
Cases of self-coronation in history
813: Louis the Pious
On September 11, 813, Ludwig the Pious was crowned (co-) emperor in Aachen . There is a report by Ludwig's biographer Thegan , according to which Ludwig put the crown on himself . Nowadays, however, it is more likely that the Reichsannalen report, according to which Charlemagne personally put the crown on his son's head.
1229: Frederick II (HRR)
The Roman-German Emperor Frederick II. Has during the Fifth Crusade on 18 March 1229 of the Holy Sepulcher , the crown of the Kingdom of Jerusalem put on the head to be recognized without but from local barons as ruler (see War of the Lombards ). It was not until 1245 that Pope declared Innocent IV. Friedrich deposed.
1328: Alfonso IV of Aragon
Most of the direct predecessors of King Alfonso IV were crowned by bishops as agents of the Pope according to the regulations of the pontifical . At the coronation in 1328, the activities of the present archbishops of Saragossa, Toledo and Tarragona as well as the bishops of Valencia, Lérida and Huesca were limited to the anointing of the new king and the blessing of the royal insignia. To make it clear that he did not get the crown as a vassal from a representative of the Holy See , Alfonso IV crowned himself. In the Kingdom of Aragon there were still no more coronations by representatives of the Church. Kings Peter IV in 1336, Martin I in 1399 and Ferdinand I in 1412 also crowned themselves.
1697: Charles XII. of Sweden
In 1697 Charles XII sat down . at the age of fifteen even the crown on my head. He declined after the death of his father, a regency , and was kept informed by the Swedish Parliament for an adult to explain.
1701: Friedrich I in Prussia
On January 18, 1701 , Frederick I put the Prussian crown on his head in Königsberg . However, his title was "King in Prussia", not "King of Prussia".
1804: Napoleon I.
The most famous case is the self-coronation of Napoléon Bonaparte as Emperor of the French . "Elected" as Emperor of the French in a referendum , he received the crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII during the ceremony on December 2, 1804 and placed it on his head himself. The Pope gave his blessing.
1861: Wilhelm I of Prussia
On October 18, 1861, the magnificent coronation assembly took place in Königsberg . There Wilhelm I put the Prussian crown on his head.
1967: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
In Iran , Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowned himself Shah of Iran on October 26, 1967, on his 48th birthday . He then crowned his wife Farah Pahlavi as the first empress of Iran.
1977: Jean-Bedel Bokassa from Central Africa
In the Central African Republic , a former French colony , President Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself "Empereur" on December 4, 1977 - in a deliberate allusion to Napoleon I ; thus this coronation was also a provocation for France. However, the " Empire " only lasted two years until Bokassa's fall on September 21, 1979.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Antonio Durán Gudiol: El rito de la coronación del rey de Aragón. In: Argensola: Revista de Ciencias Sociales del Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses, ISSN 0518-4088 , Nº 103, 1989. pp. 27 ff. , Accessed on January 17, 2015 (Spanish).