At Easter in 1070, William was crowned for a second time at Winchester by three papal legates, to confirm the acceptance of his rule by the Catholic Church.

[2] The Normans held the view, based on the practice of the French Capetian dynasty, that a king's reign only started with his coronation, and therefore there was some urgency in arranging the ceremony.

[9] There is a fairly detailed description of the ceremony by Guy, bishop of Amiens in the finale of his epic poem, Carmen de Hastingae Proelio ("Song of the Battle of Hastings"), which was probably written in 1067.

[11] Once inside the church, William was conducted to a raised dais, described by Guy as a pulpitum, probably located at the crossing beneath the central tower.

[13] Inside, the liturgy continued with the king and all the bishops prostrating themselves before the high altar while the Kyrie was chanted,[14] followed by the anointing with oil of chrism.

Only the bishops and clergy along with the monks stayed, terrified, in front of the altar and only just managed to complete the consecration rite over the king who was trembling violently.

[16]The omission of this episode from Guy's Carmen may explain the abrupt ending of his text at the anointing, possibly indicating that it was edited at a later date.

[19] An orb and sceptre are shown on the Great Seal of Edward the Confessor,[20] but Guy states that new ones were made for William by the same Greek craftsman.

Matilda arrived in England, accompanied by a "rich company of ladies and maidens", in time to celebrate Easter with William at Winchester on 23 March 1068.

[24] During the years 1068 to 1070 William was much occupied in establishing his rule over England against the opposition of many of his Anglo-Saxon subjects, culminating in an abortive uprising in Yorkshire and the consequent Harrying of the North, and an attempted invasion by king Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark.

[28] There is no mention of any swearing of oaths by or to the king, and William's legitimacy continued to rest on his first coronation,[29] the ceremony's purpose being not to establish but to reaffirm his authority and his status as a favoured son of the Church.