The Signal Loyalty and Devotion of Gods Saints, Part 2 · Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII.
I Now proceed in the laſt place to the Solemn publick Prayers, Anno 565.Acclamations, Supplications, Thanksgivings, Collects, uſually made at the Solemn Coronations of Chriſtian Emperors, Kings and Queens, and the Homage and Oaths of Allegiance and Fidelity then commonly ſworn to them by their Prelates and Nobles, eſpecially in England.
I ſhall begin withaCorippus, lib. 2. La Cerda Annotat. in Tertull. Apologet. Mr. Seldens Titles of Honor, p. 168. Cedren. Hiſtor. col. 16. Zonaras, Annal. Tom 3 p. …. Corippus, who poetically relating the manner of the Coronation of the Emperor Juſtin, and his Empreſſe Sophia, Anno 565, (he living in that Age) brings in the Patriarch of Conſtantinople, thus praying for him, and the People ſupplicating and praying for their happineſs, long life, and proſperous Reign, with united reiterated Shouts and Acclamations.
Poſtquàm cuncta videt ritu praefecta priorum
Pontificum ſummus, plaenaque aetate venuſtus
Adſtantem benedixit eum, Coelique potentem
Exo…ans Dominum, ſacro diademate juſſit
Auguſtum ſancire caput, ſummoque coronam,
Imponens apici, &c. After which the People
Juſtinum, Sophiamque pares duo lumina mundi
Eſſe ferunt. Regnate pares in ſaecula, dicunt;
Felices Annos Dominis felicibus orant;
Inſonuit vox illa diu; tandemque quievit.
Cautacbuthenus, Anno 1330.Hiſtor. l. 1. c 41. recording at large the Ceremonies uſed at the Coronation of the Emperors of Conſtantinople, * See Mr. Seldens Titles of Honor, part 1. ch 8. p. 190, …91, 192.and particularly of the inauguration of Andronicus the younger, Anno 1330. informs us, That the Patriarch of Constantinople aſcending upon a Scaffold: Patriarcha precationes ad Imperatorum unctionem compoſitas, alias ſubmiſſa, alias clara voce, omnibus andientibus ordine recitat, ac Deum, ei qui ungendus eſt propitiat, &c. Patriarcha verò ad ſoleam conſistens, pro Imperatore, Imperatrice, et eorum populis Preces pronunciat. After which Diaconus ſublata voce inquit, Memor ſit Dominus Deus potentiae Imperii veſtri, in Regno ſuo ubique, nunc et ſemper, et in ſecula ſeculorum, addens, Amen. Deinceps et reliqui Diaconi ac Sacerdotes adeuntes, idem comprecantur. After his Conſecration he aſcends into the Catechumeum, where he may be ſeen of all, where there is a Hymn Sung to his Prayſe, et ſanctis Acclamationibus ab omnibus excipitur.
As touching the Ceremonies uſed at the Coronations of the Roman Emperors, and the ſeveral Prayers, Collects, Oaths made at them, you may conſult at leiſure, Hieromymus Balbus de Coronatione ad Carol. 5. c. 6, & 31. Gunther. lib. 1. Onuphrins de Comitiis Imperatoriis, c. 10, 11. Bartholomeus Chaſſaneus, Catalog. Glor. Mundi pars 5. conſid. 27. Krantzius Saxoniae Hiſt. l. 4. c. 37. Sigonius de Regno Ital. l. 1, 3, 4, 7. Aventinus Annal. Boyorum, l. 6. Antonius Sabinus, Georgius Flammin. Grimſtones Imperial Hiſtory and others in the lives of the Emperors Charles the 5th. Maximilian 1, & 2. Matthias & Ferdinand. The form of the Emperors coronation in Italian, printed 1558 and above all others Melchior Goldaſtus Politica Imperialia: Part.Anno 800. 3. Diſcurſ. 3.
The oldbBibliotheca Patrum. Tom. 8. p. 467, 468. Ordo Romanus Antiqu. de divinis Catholicae Eccleſiae Officiis et Miniſteriis, compiled about 800. years after Chriſt, as Iodocus Coccius, and others apprehend, preſcribes this form of Conſecration, Prayers, and Collects at the Emperors Coronation, which I ſhall recite, becauſe omitted by Mr. Selden; it begins thus,