Great Britain -- Kings and rulers -- Biography; Richard I, King of England, 1157-1199
[Footnote C: The ampulla used now for anointing the English sovereigns
is in the form of an eagle. It is made of the purest chased gold, and
weighs about ten ounces. It is deposited in the Tower of London.]
The anointing having been performed, the king received various
articles of royal dress and decoration from the hands of the great
nobles around him, who officiated as servitors on the occasion, and
with their assistance put them on. When thus robed and adorned, he
advanced up the steps of the altar. As he went up, the archbishop
adjured him in the name of the living God not to assume the crown
unless he was fully resolved to keep the oaths that he had sworn.
Richard again solemnly called God to witness that he would faithfully
keep them, and then advancing to the altar, he took the crown and put
it into the hands of the archbishop, who then placed it upon his head,
and thus the coronation ceremony was completed.
The people who had presents for the king now approached and offered
them to him. Among them came the Jews. Their presents were very rich
and valuable, and the king received them very gladly, although in
announcing the arrangements for the ceremony he had declared that no
Jew and no woman was to be allowed to be present. Notwithstanding this
prohibition, the Jewish deputation had come in and offered their
presents among the rest. There was, however, a great murmuring among
the crowd in respect to them, and a great desire to drive them out.
This crowd consisted chiefly, of course, of barons, earls, knights,
and other great dignitaries of the realm, for very few of the lower
ranks would be admitted to see the ceremony; and these people, in
addition to the usual religious prejudice against the Jews, had many
of them been exasperated against the bankers and money-lenders on
account of difficulties that they had had with them in relation to
money that they had borrowed, and to the high interest which they had
been compelled to pay. Some wise observer of the working of human
passions has said that men always hate more or less those to whom they
owe money. This is a reason why there should ordinarily be very few
pecuniary transactions between friends.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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