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Coronation of James I and Anne
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Coronation of James I and Anne
The coronation of James I and his wife Anne of Denmark as king and queen of England and Ireland was held on 25 July 1603 at Westminster Abbey. James had reigned as king of Scotland since 1567. Anne was anointed and consecrated with prayers alluding to Esther, the Wise Virgins, and other Biblical heroines. It was the first coronation to be conducted in English instead of Latin. Because of the 1603 London plague, a planned ceremonial Royal Entry to London was deferred until 15 March 1604.
After the death of Elizabeth I on 24 March 1603, James VI of Scotland became King of England, an event known as the Union of the Crowns. He had been crowned King of Scotland on 29 July 1567 at Stirling. His wife, Anne of Denmark, had been crowned in Edinburgh on 17 May 1590.
James rode to England visiting country houses along the way and knighting many of his new subjects. James met the statesman Robert Cecil at York on 19 April, and it was decided he would be crowned with Anne on 25 July. James arrived at Theobalds on 3 May 1603, and came to London on 7 May. Richard Martin, a lawyer, gave a speech on behalf of the Mayor and Aldermen, praising James as the "Bright star of the North".
James stayed for three days at the Charterhouse, then moved first to the Tower of London, and on 13 May to Greenwich Palace. On 23 May the court moved again, to Whitehall Palace. His wife, Anne of Denmark, followed in June, after suffering a miscarriage at Stirling Castle. In London, there were rumours that the royal couple's son Charles had died. Queen Anne travelled a similar route through England with her children Henry and with Elizabeth, who was left with her new guardians at Coombe Abbey. Charles remained at Dunfermline Palace. James met Anne at Easton Neston the house of George Fermor in Northamptonshire on 27 June, and they travelled to Windsor Castle, visiting courtiers' houses along the way.
Plans for the coronation were disrupted by an outbreak of plague. The number of guests and officials allowed within the Abbey was strictly limited. The subdued nature of this coronation was noted, and three years later a ceremony at Windsor Castle to invest the Earl of Salisbury and Viscount Bindon as Knights of the Garter was said to have been much more magnificent. More recently, historians have reassessed the importance of the event and the priorities of King James.
A commission was established to adjudicate any competing claims to hereditary or feudal rights to offices and services at the ceremony. The commissioners declared on 18 July that the traditional procession through the city would be severely curtailed. There would be no customary feast, and the James confirmed from Windsor on 6 June that the Royal Entry was deferred to the next year. The date of the ceremony was kept because it was auspicious as the feast day of Saint James, the king's name saint, and, according to the Venetian diplomat Scaramelli, political events including the main and bye plots made James anxious to take the coronation oaths and so "settle his affairs".
Edward Kelk and Francis Raworth followed the work of the Commission for the town of Sandwich and the Cinque Ports. Kelk wrote on 11 July that James would not process through the city. He thought men or Barons from the Cinque Ports would carry the king's canopy in the Abbey, and they heard that Anne of Denmark's coronation would be deferred till the winter. On 15 July, it was confirmed that both James and Anne would crowned and the Barons of the Cinque Ports would carry two canopies. Kelk looked into precedents for the robes required, and Raworth noted that scarlet cloth was £3-10s and red satin 15 shillings or more per yard. The 16 Barons were to wear crimson velvet shoes and broad black velvet hats.
The merchant and mercer Baptist Hicks was asked to supply crimson velvet, damask and satin, but was left with 1,400 yards of unused fabric. Sir George Carew bought 156 gilt halberds for the royal guard at the coronation and "tilt staves" and other equipment for jousting or "running at the ring" at a coronation tournament. A new imperial crown was made. The goldsmiths William Herrick and John Spilman provided a cloth-of-estate for the Abbey embroidered with pearls and imitation counterfeit gemstones. They made a jewelled circlet for Anne of Denmark, and refashioned the armill, ampulla, and sceptre for the ceremony. Some of the gems for the circlet were taken from the jewels of Elizabeth I. Herrick and Spilman also made a hat badge of precious stones in the shape of an initial "I" for James, using a diamond taken from an old jewel in Anne's inventory.
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Coronation of James I and Anne
The coronation of James I and his wife Anne of Denmark as king and queen of England and Ireland was held on 25 July 1603 at Westminster Abbey. James had reigned as king of Scotland since 1567. Anne was anointed and consecrated with prayers alluding to Esther, the Wise Virgins, and other Biblical heroines. It was the first coronation to be conducted in English instead of Latin. Because of the 1603 London plague, a planned ceremonial Royal Entry to London was deferred until 15 March 1604.
After the death of Elizabeth I on 24 March 1603, James VI of Scotland became King of England, an event known as the Union of the Crowns. He had been crowned King of Scotland on 29 July 1567 at Stirling. His wife, Anne of Denmark, had been crowned in Edinburgh on 17 May 1590.
James rode to England visiting country houses along the way and knighting many of his new subjects. James met the statesman Robert Cecil at York on 19 April, and it was decided he would be crowned with Anne on 25 July. James arrived at Theobalds on 3 May 1603, and came to London on 7 May. Richard Martin, a lawyer, gave a speech on behalf of the Mayor and Aldermen, praising James as the "Bright star of the North".
James stayed for three days at the Charterhouse, then moved first to the Tower of London, and on 13 May to Greenwich Palace. On 23 May the court moved again, to Whitehall Palace. His wife, Anne of Denmark, followed in June, after suffering a miscarriage at Stirling Castle. In London, there were rumours that the royal couple's son Charles had died. Queen Anne travelled a similar route through England with her children Henry and with Elizabeth, who was left with her new guardians at Coombe Abbey. Charles remained at Dunfermline Palace. James met Anne at Easton Neston the house of George Fermor in Northamptonshire on 27 June, and they travelled to Windsor Castle, visiting courtiers' houses along the way.
Plans for the coronation were disrupted by an outbreak of plague. The number of guests and officials allowed within the Abbey was strictly limited. The subdued nature of this coronation was noted, and three years later a ceremony at Windsor Castle to invest the Earl of Salisbury and Viscount Bindon as Knights of the Garter was said to have been much more magnificent. More recently, historians have reassessed the importance of the event and the priorities of King James.
A commission was established to adjudicate any competing claims to hereditary or feudal rights to offices and services at the ceremony. The commissioners declared on 18 July that the traditional procession through the city would be severely curtailed. There would be no customary feast, and the James confirmed from Windsor on 6 June that the Royal Entry was deferred to the next year. The date of the ceremony was kept because it was auspicious as the feast day of Saint James, the king's name saint, and, according to the Venetian diplomat Scaramelli, political events including the main and bye plots made James anxious to take the coronation oaths and so "settle his affairs".
Edward Kelk and Francis Raworth followed the work of the Commission for the town of Sandwich and the Cinque Ports. Kelk wrote on 11 July that James would not process through the city. He thought men or Barons from the Cinque Ports would carry the king's canopy in the Abbey, and they heard that Anne of Denmark's coronation would be deferred till the winter. On 15 July, it was confirmed that both James and Anne would crowned and the Barons of the Cinque Ports would carry two canopies. Kelk looked into precedents for the robes required, and Raworth noted that scarlet cloth was £3-10s and red satin 15 shillings or more per yard. The 16 Barons were to wear crimson velvet shoes and broad black velvet hats.
The merchant and mercer Baptist Hicks was asked to supply crimson velvet, damask and satin, but was left with 1,400 yards of unused fabric. Sir George Carew bought 156 gilt halberds for the royal guard at the coronation and "tilt staves" and other equipment for jousting or "running at the ring" at a coronation tournament. A new imperial crown was made. The goldsmiths William Herrick and John Spilman provided a cloth-of-estate for the Abbey embroidered with pearls and imitation counterfeit gemstones. They made a jewelled circlet for Anne of Denmark, and refashioned the armill, ampulla, and sceptre for the ceremony. Some of the gems for the circlet were taken from the jewels of Elizabeth I. Herrick and Spilman also made a hat badge of precious stones in the shape of an initial "I" for James, using a diamond taken from an old jewel in Anne's inventory.