It is very uncertain at what time the custom of coronation, and _unction_, by the hands of the clergy, commenced. The usurpation which Pipin ventured and Pope Zachary lent himself to, which Charlemagne repeated and Pope Leo confirmed, may have acted as a valuable precedent, especially as the power of the King was sufficient to justify the claim of the Pope. Thirty years later (A.D. 787), the English bishops put forward the somewhat bold claim to be, with the _seniores_ populi, electors of the king: “Duodecimo sermone sanximus; Ut in ordinatione regum nullus permittat pravorum praevalere assensum; sed legitime reges a sacerdotibus et senioribus populi eligantur, et non de adulterio vel incoestu procreati; quia sicut nostris temporibus ad sacerdotium, secundum Canones, adulter pervenire non potest, sic nec Christus domini esse valet, et rex totius regni, et haeres patriae, qui ex legitimo non fuerit connubio generatus.” Conc. Calcuth. Legat. Spelm. p. 296. No doubt from their position in the Witena gemót, and the authority which they derived from their birth as well as station, they always played an important part in the elections of kings, but not quite so leading a part in the eighth century as they here attempt to claim. The Diplomatarium Norwegicum supplies an interesting illustration of the above-cited canon, in a dispensation issued by Pope Innocent IV. (A.D. 1246) to Haakon Haakonson, from the disqualification of illegitimate birth: “Cum itaque clare memorie Haquinus, Norwegie rex pater tuus, te, prout accepimus, solutus susceperit de soluta, nos tuam celsitudinem speciali benevolentia prosequentes, ut huiusmodi non obstante defectu ad regalis solii dignitatem et omnes actus legitimos admittaris, nec non quod heredes tui legitimi tibi in dominio et honore succedant, fratrum nostrorum communicato consilio, tecum auctoritate apostolica dispensamus.” No. 38, p. 30. This was not however considered a valid ground of objection among the Anglosaxons, if the personal qualities of the prince were such as to recommend him. From the words used by William of Malmesbury we might infer that as late as the time of Æðelstán, the functions of the bishops at the coronation were confined to anathematizing those who would not be obedient subjects, but that the nobles performed the actual coronation: he cites the following lines from an earlier author, and one apparently contemporaneous with Æðelstán himself:— “Tunc iuvenis nomen regni clamatur in omen, Ut fausto patrias titulo moderetur habenas: Conveniunt proceres et componunt diadema, Pontifices pariter dant infidis anathema.” De Gest. ii. § 133. That Harold crowned himself is an old story; but it is very certain that whatever he did, was done with the full consent of the Witena gemót. Footnote 50: