Imperial Coronation of Charles IV ****************************************************************************************** * ****************************************************************************************** By Jan Malý and Drahomír Suchánek “Anno Domini 1355, on the Epiphany of the Lord [January 6], Lord Charles, King of Rome and crowned in the city of Milan, at St. Ambrose’s Monastery, by the Archbishop of Milan, with usually used by Italian kings.” These were the words of Beneš Krabice of Weitmile, one of of the Luxembourgian era, describing the ceremonial acceptance of the ancient Lombard iron the Roman and Bohemian king, Charles IV. It happened exactly 44 years after the coronation grandfather, Emperor Henry VII. Yet the coronation with the Italian crown was only a prelu important ceremony. Four months later, in early April 1355, Charles IV, his wife Anna of S many other members of the royal party stood upon the gates of the Eternal City, where Char the highest secular title of the Western Christian world – the Roman Emperor. Charles was to become the sixteenth Emperor since 962, when the East-Frankish king Otto I the imperial diadem in St. Peter’s Basilica. In this, he followed up on the tradition that to 800. At that year, Pope Leo III placed the imperial crown upon the head of the Frankish known to the history as Charlemagne or Charles the Great, and thus restored the Western Em reign of Frankish Carolingians. And though this dynasty declined in later years, the idea Empire didn’t die out with the last Carolingian; since the late 10th century, the highest ultimate goal of most Roman-German kings. From 962 till the 13th century, there was only o didn’t become Emperor – Stauf Conrad III in the first half of the 12th century. Later, the Emperors was interrupted for several reasons, to be restored by Charles’s grandfather Henr Charles IV, King of Rome and Bohemia since 1346, decided to travel across the Alps in the 1354. The “Roman Ride” officially started on the day of the Czech patron St. Wenceslas, Se Sulzbach. He even didn’t wait for the Pope’s consent; it reached him later during the ride the Italian territory. The political situation seemed to be favorable for Charles, as his Milanese Archbishop Giovanni Visconti, had died some time before. As described in the begi text, Charles was crowned the Italian king in the Dome in Milan on January 6, 1355. Though promise to the Pope only to stay within the city limits on the day of the coronation, he t tour to the most important Roman monuments, especially the most sacred relics associated w of Jesus Christ. He also visited the Basilica of St. John Lateran and other important Roma Having finished the tour, he welcomed the delegation of the Roman Senate in the Vatican pa the papal hospitality. Early in the morning on April 5, 1355, he returned within the city accompanied by the city officials and many other people, to the front of St. Peter’s Basil coronation ceremony should have taken place. The streets towards the cathedral were crowde people of Rome, eager to take a look at the future Emperor. Young Roman aristocrats used t and required to be knighted by the Emperor, and Charles, wishing to avoid complications an spoil the ceremonial atmosphere, didn’t turn them down. As tradition had it, the imperial coronation was the responsibility of the popes, who thus their position within the Christian society, and also their relations with the imperial ru 14th century, the situation changed in some ways. Since 1309, the Pope’s was in Avignon in under the supervision of the French kings (the “Avignon Captivity”). Also the coronation o to be carried out in the absence of the head of the western church. Innocent VI refused to person, yet he commissioned three cardinals to perform the coronation. Of those three, onl responsibility at last – the Cardinal of Ostia, Bishop Pierre Bertrand de Colombier. Howev absence didn’t have any significant influence on the ceremony. The imperial party entered Angelic Castle, and then moved to the venue of the coronation, i.e. St. Peter’s Basilica. Charles dismounted to hug and kiss Cardinal Bertrand. Then he made a wow to protect and su church, and confirmed the material rights of the Papal State. That’s where the coronation begin. The coronation consisted of several parts; the most important of them included the royal u sacred oil, and creed of the genuine Christian faith. Then the holy mass began, during whi culminated – the imperial diadem was placed upon the king’s head, and he received the orb, sword. Each insignia had its meaning, and placed rights and responsibilities into the hand as the head of the Christian society. Let’s take a brief look at the crown, symbolizing th secular title. It was the early medieval jewel from the 10th century, of the octagonal sha with gemstones and Old Testament figures. The crown had been most probably first used at t coronation of Otto I in 962. Since that time, it was renovated several times; today, it’s imperial treasure in Vienna. During the coronation, a mitre was placed first on future emp the crown. After that, the coronation of Charles’s wife Anna of Schweidnitz followed, thou pompous. When the main ceremony was over, the new Emperor and Empress led the way to Lateran for a procession, with some 15,000 people according to the witnesses, presented a new ruler to t world. Charles’s servants kept throwing gold coins into the crowd, hundreds of young man s However, when the feast and ceremonies were over, Charles’s big day came to an abrupt end his promise to the Pope, he left the city and sought accommodation beyond the city walls. coronation in Rome was the peak of Charles’s political career; however, it wasn’t his last this kind. Ten years later, in spring 1365, Charles was crowned once again, this time the And he also attended one more coronation in the Eternal City – in 1368, when his fourth wi Pomerania was crowned (unlike Charles, by the Pope Urban V in person). Rome was the coronation venue for Roman Emperors until the early 16th century. The last ru imperial crown from the Pope’s hands on the Italian soil was Charles V of Habsburg in 1530 not in Rome. Even though the tradition of Roman Rides declined in the modern times, the Ho preserved up to 1806. Bibliography: BOBKOVÁ, Lenka – BARTLOVÁ, Milena. Velké dějiny zemí koruny české IVa. Praha: Paseka, 2003 KAVKA, František. 5.4. 1355. Korunovace Karla IV. císařem Svaté říše římské. Praha: Havran ŠMAHEL, František – BOBKOVÁ, Lenka. Lucemburkové. Česká koruna uprostřed Evropy. Praha: NL