edwardslovelyelizabeth: On this day in history, 28th of June 1461, Edward Plantagenet, Earl of March
edwardslovelyelizabeth:On this day in history, 28th of June 1461, Edward Plantagenet, Earl of March was crowned King Edward IV of England in Westminster Abbey. On Friday 26th June, Edward rode from Lambeth to the Tower to begin the customary Vigil before a coronation. At the gates of the City, he was received by the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen, clad in scarlet robes, accompanied by 400 from the Court of Common Council and the most prominent of the citizens. The solemn and gorgeous procession wound it way slowly through the City streets whilst the people cheered the figure of Edward.Once in the Tower, Edward began the process of rewarding his followers. There had been no time in the aftermath of the battle of Towton to dub more than six men knights, William Hastings and John Howard, later to become the first Howard Duke of Norfolk, among them. Now Edward dubbed no less than 32 of his followers Knights of the Bath. These new knights, wearing the blue gowns of their Order, made a brave sight riding through the City at the head of the procession which brought Edward to his Coronation on Sunday 28th June 1461. The solemn and splendid ceremony was conducted in Westminster Abbey by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, who now placed the crown on the first of the three Monarchs whom, in the course of his long life, he was to crown. The Archbishop of York, William Booth assisted him. William had been Bishop of Lichfield and Queen Margaret’s Chancellor in days gone by, and was therefore close to the Lancastrians. Afterwards, there was the usual coronation banquet when Sir Thomas Dymoke, the hereditary King’s champion, rode into the hall in full armour, flung down his mail gauntlet, and challenged anyone who disputed Edward’s right to do battle with him.There was a hitch. Childermas, the day which remembered King Herod’s Slaughter of the Innocents had fallen on a Sunday in 1460. For a full year, it was customary to regard the day on which it fell as an unlucky day of ill omen. King Edward IV had to return to the Abbey on Monday 29th June to put matters right. Edward, with his intense belief in the present, probably laughed at the superstitious, and simply enjoyed the additional ceremony and the chance to show himself off to his subjects once again. On Tuesday 30th June, he was due to attend a pageant before St Pauls Cathedral where a descending angel blessed him. It was a happy and joyful occasion on a fine summer’s day.“Words fail me to relate how well the commoners love and adore him, as if he were their God. The entire kingdom keeps holiday for the event” wrote an italian observer who witnessed the coronation. The euphoria which greeted Edward is not difficult to understand. Over six-feet tall and exceptionally good looking, he had the physical presence of a king. At nineteen years of age he has already proved himself a brave and resourceful general. With his prodigious feats on the battlefield he combined an instinctive grasp of political showmanship. He loved to be seen in public, dressed always in latest fashions, and treated all of his subjects, high and low, with the same easy familiarity.(source: “Wars of the Roses” by Michael D.Miller and “The Wars of the Roses” by Antonia Fraser)Pictured: The coronation of King Edward IV of England. Jean de Wavrin, Chroniques d’Angleterre, late 15th century -- source link
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