Month: April 2023

“If any person denies our most gracious sovereigns, our king and queen of England, then he is a false hearted traitor and a liar, and I, as Champion, do challenge him to single combat”.

The tradition of the monarch’s ‘Champion’ throwing down the gauntlet during the coronation banquet in Westminster Hall was introduced at the crowning of William I’s queen, Matilda in 1068, and featured in coronations until that of George IV in 1821. The tradition ended when William III dispensed with the banquet in 1831.

The first Champion was Robert de Marmion who was granted the manor of Scrivelsbury in Lincolnshire. It is a hereditary title and passed in the 14^th century to the Dymoke family. And so it remains to this day although the current Captain, Francis John Fayne Marmion Dymoke, assuming he has been invited to the coronation, will simply carry a banner.

The role of Champion historically involved a degree of skill as the Champion and anyone accompanying him had to leave the hall in reverse on horseback between the banqueting tables. Lord Talbot, accompanying Dymoke at George III’s banquet in 1761, had trained his horse so thoroughly in walking backwards that it insisted on entering the Hall in reverse much to the hilarity of everyone in the Hall.

At the coronation banquet of James II in 1685 the Champion dismounted to kiss the king’s hand and tripped over in heavy armour and had to be helped up by those around him.

The banqueting feast for William III and Mary II was delayed so long that everything happened in the dark. The Champion was two hours late and on throwing down the gauntlet an old woman seemingly emerged from the gloom and replaced the gauntlet with a white glove containing a message challenging the Captain to a duel the following day in Hyde Park. A mysterious heavily built figure was seen lurking in the park the next day but the Champion did not appear.

So, throwing down the gauntlet in the form of a quiz question, whose coronation is this and who was the famous public figure?

The Dymoke of the time was a clergyman so he asked permission for his son to deputise. Not owning a horse, his son borrowed a piebald horse from a circus. He was accompanied into Westminster Hall by perhaps the most famous public figure of the time and their entrance on horseback was described as ‘certainly the finest sight of the day’.

Will you take on the challenge?

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

It is perhaps the most dramatic moment of the coronation, the opening crescendo of Handel’s famous anthem, Zadok the Priest, at the anointing stage of the ceremony. But why Zadok the priest?

Zadok the priest was ordered by King David to bring his son Solomon by mule to Gihon and there, along with Nathan the prophet, to anoint Solomon as King of Israel with the words ‘God Save the King’.

The first known anointing of a King of all England was that of Edgar in 973. The ceremony was designed by Archbishop Dunstan and established the strong link between church and state which still exists. The ritual included the biblical text:

‘Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon king.
And all the people rejoiced and said:
God save the King! Long live the King! God save the King!
May the King live for ever. Amen. Hallelujah.’

Edgar first swore an oath, the ‘promisso regis’ and then came the anointing and then the investiture with regalia including the ring, the sword, the crown, the sceptre, and the staff. The ceremony has essentially remained the same for over a thousand years.

The above Zadok the priest text was later put to music in the coronation of Charles I in 1626 and subsequent coronations.

Handel’s new version of ‘Zadok the Priest’ was first sung at the coronation of George II in 1727. George commissioned Handel to write the music despite Handel being a friend of his inveterate enemy, his father, King George I. This says a lot for the prestige Handel enjoyed at the time. He was given four weeks to compose four anthems. It is reported that owing to ‘general confusion’ the anthem was played at the wrong part of the service. It is unlikely a similar error will occur on May 6th.