Henry kyng our prince at Westminster kirke

The Erly's douhter of Province, the fairest mayb o life
Hir name is Helianore, of gentille norture

e

Beyond the se that word, was non suilh creature.

The

The ceremony of her coronation was performed with extraordinary pomp on the 22nd of January. Holinshed's account of it will no doubt gratify our readers:— "At the solemnitie of this feast and coronation of the quene, all the high peeres of the realm both spirituall and temporall were present, there to exercise their offices as to them apperteined. The citizens of London were there in great arraie, bearing afore hir in solemn wise, three hundred and three score cups of gold and silver, in token that they ought to wait upon hir cup. archbishop of Canturburie (according to his dutie), crowned hir, the bishop of London assisting him as his deacon. The earle of Chester bare the sword of St. Edward before the king, in token that he was earle of the palace, and had authoritie to correct the king, if he should see him to swarve from the limits of justice; his constable of Chester attended him, and remained where the presse was thicke, with his rod or warder. The earle of Pembroke, high marshall, bare the rod before the king, and made roome before him both in the church and in the hall, placing everie man, and ordering the service at the table. The wardens of the Cinque Ports bare a canopie over the king, supported with four speares. The earle of Leicester held the bason when they washed. The earle of Warren in the place of the earle of Arundell, bicause he was under age, attended on the king's cup. M. Michael Bellet was butler by

office. The earle of Hereford exercised the roome of high marshall in the king's house. The lord William a Church. Of life, i. e. alive. d That were beyond the sea, i. e. among all foreign nations.

b Maiden.

e No such.

of Beauchamp was the almoner. The cheefe justice of the forrests on the right of the king removed the dishes on the table, though at the first he was staied by some allegation made to the contrarie. The citizens of London served out wine to everie one in great plentie. The citizens of Winchester had oversight of the kitchen and larderie. And so everie person according to his dutie exercised his roome, and bicause no trouble should arise, manie things were suffered, which upon further advise taken therein were reformed. The chancellor and other ordinarie officers kept their place. The feast was plentifull, so that nothing wanted that could be wished. Moreover in Tothill fields roiall justes were holden by the space of eight daies together."

This account is fully confirmed by Matthew Paris, who adds, that "such was the multitude of peers and peeresses, such the crowd of ecclesiastics, such the assemblage of the lower orders, and such the concourse of minstrels, morrice-dancers, and buffoons, that the city of London could scarcely contain them." And of the coronation feast he says, that "it displayed all the world could produce for glory or delight."

This is the first coronation in which we read of tournaments being introduced, but the most valuable part of Holinshed's description is the reason he assigns for the sword of state being borne by a palatine peer, namely, to show that the palatine nobles had the right of restraining the sovereign when he violated his royal duties.

EDWARD I.

On the 15th, or, as other authorities say, the 19th of August, 1274, Edward I., and his queen Eleanor, were crowned at Westminster by the archbishop of Canterbury, aided by other prelates. We prefer the latter date, because it is that expressly stated by Langtoft, who was a cotemporary.

In the yere folowand that I rekened here
Edward com to land, als prince of grete powere
The next Sonenday after the assumpcioun

Of Mari moder & maya, Sir Edward had the coroun.
In the kyrke of Westmynstere, at the abbay solempnely
The bishop of Canterbere, Robert of Kilwardeby
Corouned Edward thoreb, biforn alle the clergy
And Dame Helianore corouned quene & lady
Was never at St. Denys feste holden more hy
Ne was of more pris, ne served so redy d
Was never prince that I writen of fonde

More had treief & teres than he had for his lond.

Holinshed adds some remarkable particulars of this coronation:

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"At this coronation were present, Alexander, king of Scots, and John, earle of Bretaine, with their wives that were sisters to King Edward. The king of Scots did homage unto King Edward for the realme of Scotland, in like manner as other the kings of Scotland before him had doone to other kings of England, ancestoures to this King Edward. At the solemnitie of this coronation there were let go at libertie (catch them that catch might) five hundred great horsses by the king of Scots, the earles of Cornewall, Glocester, Pembroke, Warren, and others, as they were allighted fro their backs."

EDWARD II.

Edward II. and his queen were crowned at Westminster on the 24th of February, being the feast of St. Matthias, and Quinquagesima Sunday. The archbishop of Canterbury, who had the right to perform the ceremony, lying under a papal suspension, Pope Clement proposed to send over a cardinal to officiate upon the occasion; but Edward rejected the proffer, and prevailed upon the pontiff to grant a commission to the archbishop of York, and the bishops of Durham

and London, to perform the office. These prelates refused to sanction such a precedent, and Edward again applied to the pope to remove Archbishop Winchelsey's suspension. Clement assented; but the archbishop, who was out of the kingdom, and confined to his bed by severe illness, delegated his office to the bishops of Winchester, Salisbury, and Chichester. Scarcely was this difficulty removed, when another arose, from the partiality of the weak king for his unworthy favourite, Piers Gaveston; the principal nobles refused to attend the ceremony unless this unpopular minion should be sent out of the kingdom. Edward promised to give them satisfaction on the subject in the next parliament, which he agreed to assemble at the ensuing Easter; but he gave proof of the little reliance that could be placed upon his word, in the council which he held to regulate the procession. Edward disposed of the sceptre, the cross, St. Edward's staff, the spurs, and the swords, with little regard to prudence or precedent; but nothing was more offensive to the nobles than his delivering the crown to be borne by Piers Gaveston, who was dressed finer than the king himself, and outshone everybody in the procession. Gaveston also was appointed to superintend all the arrangements; but he performed his duty so negligently, that, as Holinshed informs us, "There was such presse and throng at this coronation, that a knight, called Sir John Bakewell, was thrust, or crowded to death." The bishops, also, were incommoded, and forced to hurry through the service in a slovenly manner; and yet it was not concluded before three in the afternoon. Great abundance of viands and wines had been provided, but the dinner did not begin until night, and was then badly served; the usual forms of service were neglected, and the whole was a continued scene of confusion, singularly emblematic of the state of the nation, during this monarch's unhappy reign.

EDWARD III.

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On the deposition of Edward II., his son, Prince Edward, was brought to a general assembly of the nobles and clergy in the abbey church of Westminster, on the 20th of January, 1327, and Walter Raynold, taking for his text the old aphorism, “ Vox populi, vox Dei, (the voice of the people is the voice of God,) exhorted all present to choose the young prince for their sovereign. All assented; but the prince himself declared that he would not accept the crown until it had been voluntarily resigned by his father. The consent of the deposed monarch was easily obtained, and Edward, having been previously knighted by the Earl of Lancaster, assisted by the Count of Hainault, received the crown from the hands of the archbishop of Canterbury, on the following feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin. The only remarkable circumstance, connected with this coronation, was the detestable hypocrisy of the queen dowager, Isabella, who, though she had been the principal cause of the late king's deposition, affected to weep during the entire ceremony.

A remarkable coronation medal was struck on this occasion; on one side the young prince was represented crowned, laying his sceptre on a heap of hearts, with the motto, "POPULO DAT JURA VOLENTES," (He gives laws to a willing people,) and on the other was a hand held out to save a falling crown, with the motto, "NON RAPIT SED RECIPIT," (He seizes not, but receives.) Philippa, queen of Edward III., was crowned on Quinquagesima Sunday, February 18, 1330; but no particulars are recorded.

RICHARD II.

The coronation of this king was more magnificent than any of the preceding, and we have in Prynne a