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36-633: The role played by the Sainte Ampoule in the sacre of the kings of France is specified in a document of ca 1260, recently republished and examined in detail. There was an early legend associated with St Remigius known as the Legend of the Baptism of the Moribund Pagan , according to which a dying pagan asked for baptism at the hands of St Remigius (Remi), but when it was found that there

72-614: A Prince of the Blood the King's distant cousin the Duke of Orleans participated. The ceremony attracted visitors from across Europe. Notable French figures in attendance included the Royalist writers Chateaubriand , Victor Hugo and Charles Nodier . King Charles returned to Compiègne on 1 June, where he rested for a few days, before entering Paris on 6 June. He arrived in the city through

108-522: A son Henri in September 1820. Henri was therefore heir to the throne after the childless Duke of Angoulême, apparently securing the succession for at least another generation. Louis XVIII died in September 1824 and Artois was proclaimed his successor as Charles X. In a speech from the throne on 22 December 1824, Charles made clear his intention to be crowned in the tradition of the Ancien régime . While

144-461: Is a golden, eagle-shaped Ampulla and spoon. The Ampulla was believed to have been first used in the coronation of Henry IV in 1399. According to legend, it was made to contain the oil presented by the Virgin Mary to St Thomas of Canterbury. Its accompanying golden spoon, which is certainly of the 13th century, is used to anoint the sovereign on several parts of the body. The current holy Ampulla

180-533: The Archbishop of Reims . In a new innovation, four Napoleonic Marshals of France presented the King with the symbols of royal authority and in his oath he swore to uphold the Charter of 1814 which had established a constitutional monarchy rather than an absolute one . Nonetheless the overall sense was one of nostalgia for the pre-Revolution era, and pride of place was given to the nobility and clergy . As

216-662: The Church of England and in the Episcopal Church on 1 October . List of churches dedicated to Saint Remigius: Coronation of Charles X The Coronation of Charles X took place in Reims on 29 May 1825 when Charles X was crowned as King of France , marking the last coronation of a French monarch . It took place at Reims Cathedral in Champagne , the traditional site of the coronation of French sovereigns. It

252-891: The Viking invasions and thence, in 1099 to the Abbey of Saint-Rémy . His tomb in Reims was deliberately desecrated on 7 October 1793 by a Commissioner of the Convention during the French Revolution due to the link between the tomb and royal patronage. His feast day in France and in the Traditional Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and USA is celebrated on 1 October. Remigius is honored also in

288-441: The 1804 Coronation of Napoleon had taken place at Notre-Dame de Paris , the new king selected the ancient site of Reims Cathedral . The tradition of French monarchs stretched back to Clovis I in the fifth century and coronations had taken place in Reims since the ninth century . In 1825 the event had four stages: The King's journey from Paris to Reims, the ceremonies in that city, his return journey to Paris and entry into

324-621: The Bald and while Hincmar was the Archbishop of Reims, two small vials were found, the contents of which gave off an aromatic scent the likes of which was like nothing known to those present. When St Remigius died the ancient art of perfumery was still known and practiced in the collapsing Roman Empire, but was unknown in the Carolingian empire four hundred years later. These vials may have originally simply been bottles of unguents used to cover

360-489: The Frankish nobles, which he presented to the cathedral at Reims. Though Remigius never attended any of the church councils, in 517 he held a synod at Reims, at which after a heated discussion he converted a bishop of Arian views. Although Remigius's influence over people and prelates was extraordinary, upon one occasion his condoning of the offences of one Claudius, a priest whom Remigius had consecrated, brought upon him

396-658: The Franks . The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event in the Christianization of the Franks . Because of Clovis's efforts, a large number of churches were established in the formerly pagan lands of the Frankish empire , establishing a distinctly Orthodox variety of Christianity for the first time in Germanic lands, most of whom had been converted to Arian Christianity . Remigius

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432-663: The King's poor physical health. He therefore reigned for ten years without any formal religious ceremony. The country was occupied by Allied forces until the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in November 1818 agreed a withdrawal. As the King's health declined, it was clear that Charles was likely to succeed him. While his eldest son the Duke of Angoulême had no children, his younger son the Duke of Berry , who had been assassinated, had been survived by his pregnant wife who gave birth to

468-602: The Villette Gate. The scene was depicted in a painting by Louis-François Lejeune . At the Covent Garden theatre in London a pageant The Coronation of King Charles X was organised by Charles Kemble , based on the research of James Planché , and proved to be popular with audiences. The Italian composer Gioachino Rossini created an opera The Journey to Reims focusing on several characters on their way to

504-458: The city and various events held in the capital. On 24 May 1825 the King left Paris and travelled to Compiègne where he remained for three days. He then travelled to Reims via Soissons . Extensive preparations had taken place in Reims, for which Charles had contributed a significant amount from the royal treasury, including the remodelling of the Palace of Tau where he stayed. A new gold coach

540-471: The constitutional curé, Jules-Armand Seraine and a municipal officer, Philippe Hourelle had nevertheless largely emptied the ampulla of its balm and they as well gave some part of it respectively to Bouré, curé of Berry-au-Bac and Lecomte, judge at the tribunal of Reims. Furthermore, Louis Champagne Prévoteau (a witness of the destruction by Rühl) ensured the preservation of two pieces of the glass vial with some remaining balm on them. All these fragments except

576-476: The coronation of Louis VII in 1131. The legend that was associated with it at that time, asserted that it had been discovered in the sarcophagus of Saint Remi and identified it with the baptism of Clovis I , the first Frankish king converted to Christianity ; it was kept thereafter in the Abbey of Saint-Remi , Reims and brought with formality to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Reims at each coronation, where

612-561: The coronation. It premiered in Paris on 19 June 1825. The same year as part of a duel commission by George IV the English artist Sir Thomas Lawrence painted both Charles and his eldest son the Duke of Angoulême, for which Lawrence was awarded the Legion of Honour . Despite the splendour of the coronation, political troubles continued throughout his reign. In 1830 Charles was overthrown in

648-519: The discovery of these two vials with their unique, unearthly fragrance, the Legend of the Baptism of the Moribund Pagan and the historical memory that St Remigius had baptized Clovis into a new legend identifying one of these vials as the actual vial of Chrism used at the baptism of Clovis to create the new Legend of the Holy Ampulla , (i.e., that the Chrism used by Remigius when he baptized Clovis

684-500: The emphasis was on the anointment rather than on the crowning. As C. Meredith Jones remarked, in reviewing Sir Francis Oppenheimer's monograph of the Holy Ampulla, "It gained a reputation for holiness and authenticity that brought fame, wealth and great honours to the see of Reims." An order of knights named after the ampoule, the Knights (later Barons) of the Holy Ampulla was created for the coronation of kings. The Bishop of Laon held

720-490: The first bishop in 499; Arras , where he installed St. Vedast; and Laon, which he gave to his niece's husband Gunband. In 530 he consecrated Medardus , Bishop of Noyon . Remigius' brother Principius was Bishop of Soissons and also corresponded with Sidonius Apollinaris , whose letters give a sense of the highly cultivated courtly literary Gallo-Roman style all three men shared. The chroniclers of " Gallia Christiana " record that numerous donations were made to Remigius by

756-513: The kingdom of Clovis is proved to be spurious; it is presumed to have been an attempt of Hincmar to base his pretensions for the elevation of Reims to the primacy, following the alleged precedent of Remigius." A Commentary on the Pauline Epistles (edited Villalpandus, 1699) is not his work, but that of Remigius of Auxerre . Remigius' relics were kept in the Cathedral of Reims , whence Hincmar had them translated to Épernay during

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792-476: The matter of Claudius, two written to Clovis, and a fourth to Bishop Falco of Tongres . The "Testament of Saint Remigius" is apocryphal. A brief and strictly legendary "Vita" was formerly ascribed to Venantius Fortunatus . Another, according to Jacobus de Voragine , was written by Ignatius, bishop of Reims. A letter congratulating Pope Hormisdas upon his election (523) is apocryphal, and "the letter in which Pope Hormisdas appears to have appointed him vicar of

828-526: The one kept by Hourelle which was lost were gathered on 25 May 1825 by the Archbishop of Reims. These were placed in a new reliquary made in time for the coronation of Charles X four days later which is now displayed at the Palace of Tau . Since 1906, the preserved contents of the Holy Ampulla are kept at the Archbishopric of Reims. Among the implements used in the coronation of the British monarch

864-496: The rebukes of his episcopal brethren, who deemed Claudius deserving of degradation. The reply of Remigius, still extant, is able and convincing. Few authentic works of Remigius remain: his "Declamations" were elaborately admired by Sidonius Apollinaris, in a finely turned letter to Remigius, but are now lost. Four letters survive in the collection known as the Epistulae Austrasicae : one containing his defence in

900-532: The right to carry the Holy Ampoule during the coronation ceremony. Only three of the kings who ruled between Louis the Pious and Charles X were not anointed with holy oil at Reims Cathedral. The ampoule was destroyed in 1793 by French revolutionaries , when the Convention sent Philippe Rühl to smash the ampoule publicly on the pedestal of the statue of Louis XV with a hammer. The day before its destruction

936-516: The scent of decay of St Remigius's corpse during his funeral, but the memory of the two vials miraculously filled in the story of the Baptism of the Moribund Pagan and the unusual, seemingly otherworldly scents issuing from these two vials found buried with St Remigius combined to suggest to those present that these two vials were the miraculously filled vials of the legend. It was not uncommon for chalices, patens and other sacred vessels to be buried with high ranking clergymen. Hincmar adroitly combined

972-701: The vial containing the Oil of the Catechumens and that the French coronation ordinals prescribe the Oil of the Catechumens, rather than Chrism, for the anointing of queens, it was subsequently used for anointing the queens of France and it is possible that a vial currently identified by some of the Bourbon Legitimists as the Holy Ampulla is actually this second vial. The ampoule, a vial of Roman glass about 1½ inches tall, came to light at Reims in time for

1008-596: Was restored by Allied Forces in 1814 and again after the Waterloo campaign in 1815. In the restored monarchy he was the heir of his childless elder brother Louis XVIII . Artois emerged as the leader of the Ultra-royalists a conservative political grouping which rejected most of the changes of the French Revolution. Louis XVIII never had a coronation. Plans to hold one kept falling through due to various circumstances, and ultimately were postponed indefinitely by

1044-461: Was born, traditionally, at Cerny-en-Laonnois , near Laon , Picardy , into the highest levels of Gallo-Roman society. He is said to have been son of Emilius, count of Laon (who is not otherwise attested) and of Saint Celine , daughter of the Bishop of Soissons , which Clovis had conquered in 487. He studied at Reims and soon became so noted for his learning and sanctity, and his high status, that he

1080-564: Was created in 1661 by goldsmith Robert Vyner for the coronation of King Charles II . The Coronation Spoon also used for the anointing ceremony is the only English royal regalia that survived the English Civil War. Saint Remigius Remigius ( French : Remy or Rémi ; c.  437 – 13 January 533) was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks ". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I , King of

1116-496: Was designed by Charles Percier . Large crowds gathered in the city of Reims for the event. The Holy Ampulla that had been used for more than six hundred years had been destroyed by French Revolutionaries in 1793. A new ampulla was designed by Louis Lafitte for the ceremony. A special mass had been commissioned by the King from the Italian composer Luigi Cherubini . The ceremony was performed by Jean-Baptiste de Latil ,

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1152-536: Was elected Bishop of Reims at age 21, though still a layman. The story of the return of the sacred vessels (most notably the Vase of Soissons ), which had been stolen from the church of Soissons, testifies to the friendly relations existing between him and Clovis, King of the Franks, whom he converted to Christianity with the assistance of Vedast (Vedastus, Vaast, Waast) and Clotilde , the Burgundian princess who

1188-414: Was miraculously supplied by heaven itself) which Hincmar then used to strengthen his claim that his own archepiscopal see of Reims-—as the possessor of this heaven-sent Chrism—-should therefore be recognized as the divinely chosen site for all subsequent anointings of French kings. The fate of the second vial is uncertain. It has been suggested that since in the original form of the legend this would have been

1224-400: Was no Oil of the Catechumens or sacred Chrism available for the proper administration of the baptismal ceremony, St Remigius ordered two empty vials be placed on an altar and as he prayed before them these two vials miraculously filled respectively with the necessary Oil of the Catechumens and Chrism. Apparently when the sepulcher containing the body of St. Remi was opened in the reign of Charles

1260-725: Was the only coronation to take place following the 1815 defeat of Napoleon and the Bourbon Restoration before the direct line were deposed in 1830 . As the Count of Artois Charles has spent many years in exile following the execution of his brother Louis XVI in 1793 during the French Revolution . During the later years of the Napoleonic Wars he settled in Britain, returning to France when his brother

1296-728: Was wife to Clovis. Even before he embraced Christianity, Clovis had showered benefits upon Remigius and the Christians of Reims, and after his victory over the Alamanni in the battle of Tolbiac at around 497 AD, he requested Remigius to baptize him at Reims (December 25, 496) in the presence of a large company of Franks and Alamanni; according to Gregory of Tours , 3,000 Franks were baptized with Clovis. King Clovis granted Remigius stretches of territory, in which Remigius established and endowed many churches. He erected bishoprics at Tournai ; Cambrai ; Thérouanne , where he personally ordained

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