Christmas Coronations

The 25th of December was an auspicious date for more than one medieval monarch. Among them are two whose coronations marked significant turning points in history: one in 800, the other in 1066.

According to his biographer and friend, Einhard, Charlemagne was taken by surprise when Pope Leo III popped the crown on his head during mass and proclaimed him Emperor. In fact, he was reportedly so angry that he told Einhard he'd never have shown up at church that day if he'd known what Leo had planned, even though the Christmas mass was a particularly holy event.

And Leo had planned it; the crowd broke into shouts of "Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned by God." The fact that it was the pope who conferred the title would establish a precedent of papal power for centuries to come -- a point probably not lost on the King of the Franks and Lombards.

William I, however, had executed a nearly flawless invasion and won a highly significant battle in his Conquest of England, and his coronation was no surprise; rather, it was the objective of his campaign.

After his victory at the fierce Battle of Hastings, at which the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II, was killed, William blazed a trail of devastation to London. The citizenry of the capitol decided that discretion was the better part of valor and surrendered. William marched into the city in triumph, and was crowned shortly thereafter at Westminster Abbey.

William's accession was not merely a dynastic change; the entire nobility of England would be radically altered by the installation of Norman (French) nobles in positions of power over the largely Anglo-Saxon population.