Coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor
In 1530 Charles V became the last Holy Roman emperor to be crowned by a pope, Clement VII, albeit in Bologna.
[N 1] Later rulers simply proclaimed themselves Imperator Electus Romanorum ("Elected Emperor of the Romans") after their coronation as German king.
He then had to conduct an Italienzug (Romzug), leading his army from Germany to Rome and occasionally having to fight off enemies barring the way, making his coronation into a military expedition.
The papal coronation was necessary for the Imperial title until 1508, when the Venetians blocked the journey of Maximilian I, and he was instead proclaimed emperor elect by Pope Julius II at Trent.
[3] From 1562 until the last German coronation in 1792, the emperors-elect were crowned kings of Germany in Frankfurt Cathedral, which had already in 1356 had become the established site for the imperial elections.
The new emperor-elect was led to the high altar of the cathedral and seated, then conducted to a gallery over the entrance to the choir, where he sat with the electors while his election was proclaimed.
[N 3] These three archbishop-electors met the emperor-elect at the entrance of the church, where the archbishop of Cologne said the prayer, "Almighty, everlasting God, your servant,..."[N 4] The choir sang the antiphon, "Behold, I send my Angel..." (Ecce mitto Angelum meum...) as the emperor-elect and the archbishops filed into the church.
After the sequence and the Litany of the Saints, the archbishop of Cologne put six questions to the emperor-elect, each time receiving the response "I will": 1.
The archbishop of Cologne then said the prayers, "Bless, Lord, this king,..." and "Ineffable God,...."[N 6] The archbishop then anointed the emperor-elect with the oil of the catechumens on his head, breast and shoulders, saying, "I anoint you king with the oil of sanctification in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
and then on the palms of both hands, saying, "Let these hands be anointed, as kings and prophets were anointed and as Samuel anointed David to be king may you be blessed and established king in this kingdom over this people, whom the Lord, your God, has given you to rule and govern, which he vouchsafes to grant, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns,...."[N 7] He was then vested in the imperial robes, including buskins, a long alb, a dalmatic, a stole crossed priest-wise over the breast, gloves, and mantle.
The emperor was met at the silver door of St. Peter's by the cardinal bishop of Albano, who said the prayer, "God in whose hands are the hearts of kings...".
[N 16] The pope gives the emperor the Kiss of Peace and the procession sets out for the Basilica of St. Peter, the choir singing, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel".
[11] At the Silver Door of the Basilica the cardinal bishop of Albano says the prayer, "God in whose hands are the hearts of kings.
At the Rota porfiretica[N 17] the pope puts several questions to the emperor about his faith and duty and then he retires to vest for the Mass.
"[14] The emperor goes to the Chapel of St. Gregory where he is vested in amice, alb and cincture and is then led to the pope who 'makes him a cleric.
[N 18] The cardinal bishop of Ostia in the meanwhile goes to the Silver Door where the empress is waiting and on meeting her says the prayer, "Almighty, eternal God, fount and source of goodness"[15] and then leads her to the Altar of St. Gregory to await the pope's procession.
"[17] The cardinal bishop of Ostia then says the prayer, "God who alone has immortality"[18] for the empress and then anoints her on the breast with the Oil of the Catechumens while he says, "The grace of the Holy Spirit through my humble ministry descend upon you copiously.
The pope girds the sword on the emperor with the words, "Receive this sword with the blessing of God..." and the prayer, "God whose providence..." and then crowns the emperor with the words, "Receive the Crown of royal excellence..." The pope gives the emperor the scepter with the words, "Receive the Scepter of royal power, the rod of royal rectitude, the staff of virtue,..." and the prayer, "Lord, fount of all honor..." The pope returns to the Altar of St. Peter and the Gloria in excelsis is sung and the pope says the collect, "God of all kings..." (In the 1312 and later coronations this is said after the collect for the feastday and after these collects the Laudes Imperiale are sung).
The pope sets a miter on the empress' head 'with the points to the right and to the left'[N 22] and crowns her with the words, "Solemnly blessed as empress by our unworthy ministry, receive the crown of imperial excellence...") The Laudes Imperiale are sung and then the Gospel is read by the emperor.
Instead of an enthronement ritual we find the chanting of the Laudes Regiae, which paralleled in both form and importance its Byzantine imperial counterpart.
[22] The Imperial Crown was originally made for Otto I (probably in the workshops of Reichenau abbey, the single arch of the crown from front to back originally separating the two halves of the now collapsed inner cap like the ribbon which similarly caused the 10th bishops' miters to bulge up on either side.
[N 28] Up to and including the coronation of Richenza of Northeim at Cologne in 1125, Holy Roman empresses and German queens were usually anointed and crowned separately from their husbands, unless joint ceremony was required by political circumstances.
