INTERVIEW: Ian Bradley

Ian Bradley introduces his new book, God Save The King: The Sacred Nature of the Monarchy, and discusses faith, kingship, and the coronation ceremony past and present …

 

Where does the idea of Sacred Kingship originate? Are their examples in the Bible?

The ideal and the practice of sacred kingship stretch back into the mists of time. The idea that kings have a spiritual aura and a sacred function is common to virtually all primitive societies.  James Frazer, the pioneer anthropologist, began his classic study of magic and religion, The Golden Bough, with a lengthy analysis of this subject, noting that kings were revered, in many cases not just as priests, that is as intercessors between man and god, but as themselves gods, able to bestow upon their subjects and worshippers those blessings which are commonly supposed to be beyond the reach of mortals, and are sought, if at all, only by prayer and sacrifice offered to superhuman and invisible beings.  Frazer saw the origin of sacred kingship lying in the importance of magic in primitive societies and the emergence of particular individuals who were seen to possess supernatural powers.

The king is the lineal successor of the old magician or medicine-man. When once a special class of sorcerers has been segregated from the community and entrusted by it with the discharge of duties on which the public safety and welfare are believed to depend, these men gradually rise to wealth and power, till their leaders blossom out into sacred kings.

The theme of monarchy looms large in the collection of books making up the Hebrew Bible which tells of God’s dealing with the chosen people of Israel and forms the Christian Old Testament. The word ‘king’ occurs 565 times and ‘kingdom’ 163 times. Six of the so-called historical books have the monarchy as their main subject matter, including the aptly named first and second books of Kings. The life of one particular king, David, occupies more space than that of any other figure, including the great patriarchs, Abraham and Moses.

More broadly, the Old Testament provides one of the main sources for our understanding of monarchy as having an essentially sacred character. There are those who regard British monarchs as standing in direct descent from King David and having a special covenant relationship with God as rulers of his chosen people. One does not have to be a British Israelite, however, to sense even in our secularised and de-ritualised age the continuing legacy of Old Testament ideas of kingship. It is there on the face of every coin in our pockets with their abbreviated reminder that the King reigns by the grace of God.

The theme of sacred kingship, so fully explored in the Old Testament, continues to figure prominently in the New Testament, although its central focus is on the kingdom of God, inaugurated and proclaimed by Jesus, with its dethroning of the rich and powerful and exaltation of the humble and meek. All four of the Gospel writers use royal titles and monarchical allusions in their descriptions of Jesus. He is identified as the anointed king,  promised in the Psalms, the Messiah or Christos in Greek, leading his followers to be known as Christians. From his birth in the house and family of David, and his baptism where he is identified by God as his beloved Son, to his trial and crucifixion for being ‘King of the Jews’,  the royal theme runs as a clear thread through his life and death.

Jesus re-defines sacred kingship, making it about service rather than power – in Graham Kendrick’s words ‘meekness’ as well as ‘majesty’. It is in the light of his servant  kingship, and seeking to follow his example, that Christian monarchy developed across Europe.

When and how did Christian Monarchy start to take form in Britain?

With the coming of Christianity into the British Isles from the fifth century, the sacred nature of monarchy was reinterpreted and reinforced by the incorporation of insights and practices from the Old and New Testaments. Kings were among the first converts to the new religion, being targeted by the early missionaries who realised that in tribal and hierarchical societies the way to reach people was through their rulers. For monarchs, whose subjects often followed them in mass conversions and baptisms, Christianity brought the promise of salvation and a kingdom in heaven as well as on earth, divine protection and the expectation that in war God would give them victory over heathen enemies. The church offered legitimation and rituals of inauguration and blessing as well as providing a new cadre of learned men who could write and record events, flatter their royal patrons and help them to frame laws and promote order and stability. In return, kings provided land, substantial endowments and protection to monasteries and churches.

These mutual benefits to crown and church are well illustrated in the life and deeds of the first English king to convert to Christianity. Aethelbert, who ruled Kent from 587 to 616, seems to have come to faith through a combination of the influence of his wife, Bertha, the daughter of a Frankish Christian king, and the preaching of Augustine, who arrived in Thanet with monks in 597, having been sent from Rome by Pope Gregory. According to one account, 10,000 of Aethelbert’s subjects followed him in converting and underwent a mass baptism.  Among his first actions as a Christian king were to issue the first set of laws in the English language and to grant land to Augustine on which to build an Abbey in Canterbury, the forerunner of Canterbury Cathedral. In return, the Pope showered the king with both temporal gifts and spiritual blessings.

Where can the origins of the first Coronation Service be found?

The first English coronation of which both a clear record and a full order survive was that of Edgar in Bath Abbey in 973, fourteen years after his accession to the throne. The long delay may be explained by the desire of the church to wait until he was 31, the age at which priesting took place. His coronation, which was held on Whit Sunday, the traditional day for ordinations to the priesthood, laid considerable emphasis on the theme of consecration and the sacerdotal aspects of kingship. Clad in priestly robes, he was anointed and crowned by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, entrusted with the protection and supervision of the church and graced with the titles rex dei gratia and vicarus dei. His wife, Aelfthryth, was anointed and crowned as queen at the same ceremony. This practice, of a double crowning and anointing, was followed in the coronations of all subsequent married kings and queens.

The order drawn up by Dunstan, which seems to have borrowed from Carolingian and Frankish rites as well as indigenous Celtic and Anglo-Saxon practices, contained many of the key elements found in all subsequent English coronations. Edgar was led by hand into Bath Abbey by two bishops and prostrated himself in front of the altar while the Archbishop intoned the Te Deum. He was required to swear three oaths. similar to those which Charles III will take on May 6th. Dunstan’s Ordo also included anointing with oil while the anthem ‘Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet’ was sung, enthronement, crowning and investiture of the monarch with a ring, sword, sceptre and staff or baculus. The queen was similarly anointed and crowned and Mass was celebrated. At the close of the service all those present hailed the king with the words, ‘Vivat rex’, and the nobles bound themselves to their new ruler by a kiss. Dunstan’s Ordo clearly established clerical control over royal inauguration rites in England, and specifically the key role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in presiding over the ceremony.

What is Operation Golden Orb? Why the code name?

It is the code name which has long been given to the planning of Charles III’s coronation which is the responsibility of a group made up of officials from Lambeth Palace, Buckingham Palace and the Government together with representatives of the armed forces and the police. Like those responsible for planning other complex royal events, like the funeral of the late Queen (Operation London Bridge), the group has been meeting for many years and uses a code name, partly to preserve the atmosphere of secrecy and suspense. The Golden Orb is one of the most important items in the coronation regalia with which the monarch is invested, symbolising as it does Christ’s sovereignty over all things.

Are there any symbolic gestures in today’s Coronation Service we should be looking out for on May 6th and what are their significance?

We cannot yet be sure of exactly which symbolic gestures traditionally found in the coronation service will be retained on May 6th. We have been told that it will be considerably shorter than the 1953 coronation service which lasted over three hours. It will certainly include anointing with holy oil, symbolising the setting apart and consecration of the monarch in a way similar to a priest’s ordination or bishop’s consecration. This theme is likely to be further underlined by the robes with which the king will be clad during the service.

The monarch will also be invested with various items of regalia, each of which has deep significance- the orb, as described above, the golden rod and sceptre signifying peace and mercy and the sword of state symbolising justice. There may also be symbols of medieval valour and chivalry such as spurs, bracelets and a glove.

Once crowned, what will be King Charles’ religious role and responsibility?

The third oath that he will take at the start of his coronation commits the new king  to uphold ‘the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel, maintain the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline and government thereof, as by law established’.  This effectively spells out the monarch’s role, assumed since the Reformation, as protector of Protestantism and also his particular responsibility for preserving the doctrine, worship and government of  the Church of England of which he is Supreme Governor of.

It is as the protector of Protestantism that the monarch’s title of Defender of the Faith, signified on all coins by the initials FD or the abbreviation Fid Def, has traditionally been interpreted. It is supremely ironic that it was originally bestowed on Henry VIII by a grateful Pope for the king’s defence of Catholicism before his divorce and break from Rome.

How do you see the relationship between Church and Monarchy playing out in future?

 

King Charles has clearly signalled his desire to be seen as a Defender of Faith more generally, embracing and protecting the followers and adherents of all the major religions. Elizabeth II increasingly espoused this role during her long reign and encouraged the Church of England to do likewise. In a speech in Lambeth Palace in 2012 she said, ‘The concept of our established Church is occasionally misunderstood and, I believe, commonly under-appreciated. Its role is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of other religions. Instead, the Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country.’

 

So, although the oath that King Charles will take at his coronation still privileges Protestantism and the Church of England, it is clear that, like his mother, he sees his role very much as being to defend and protect all faiths and there is a widespread expectation that this will be a marked feature of his reign.

 

Ian Bradley is Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History at St Andrews University and the author of over 40 books, including two previous ones on the spiritual dimension of the monarchy.

 

God Save The King: The Sacred Nature of the Monarchy is available now in paperback and as an eBook from dltbooks.com and all good bookstores.