<i>De Modo Qualiter Reges Aragonum Coronabuntur</i>. Visual, Material and Textual Evidence during the Middle Ages

• Main Author: Marta Serrano-Coll
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
• Series: Arts
• Subjects: coronation; crown of aragon; laicization; sacralization; rex et sacerdos; iconography
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/9/1/25

The aim of this study is to analyze the coronation ceremonies carried out in the Crown of Aragon throughout the Middle Ages. Although the pope granted most Western monarchies the right to hold these ceremonies in their own kingdoms in 1204, our study will address the mechanisms used to appoint kings both before and after the consolidation of these ceremonies, mechanisms which reflected the power struggles between the parties involved, that is, the prince and the Church. We will examine the elements that remained constant throughout this period but we will also pay particular attention to the alterations that were made and how these had important consequences that went beyond politics and entered religious terrain. Among the changes were the kings&#8217; efforts to participate in priestly orders, the promotion and consolidation of new liturgy with content intended to legitimize the kings, and the use of new iconographies with sacred references. As will be seen, these are only a small example of the mechanisms used by the sovereigns of the Crown of Aragon to re-emphasize their links with God, which had been weakened by the transformations to the anointing and coronation ceremonials and the resulting tensions with Rome, particularly during the times of Peter IV (1336&#8722;1387).