I saw a book once that related this anecdote under the title "Henry IV's Extra-Virgin Oil."
So I was going to do a book meme borrowed from tree_and_leaf when I found something much more interesting, since one of the books closest to me is Carole Levin's The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power. In context, this is talking about sacralized monarchy, Maundy Thursday, and touching for the evil.
Edward II may have extended the monarch's participation in the ceremony because he felt that he needed all the prestige he could acquire, given his political problems. Edward had already attempted to have the pope sanction a second coronation for him on the grounds that he had discovered some special holy oil given to St. Thomas à Becket by the Virgin Mary that should be used to anoint him. The pope, however, suggested if Edward wanted to use it to anoint himself privately he could go ahead; a second coronation was certainly not necessary.
I imagine your attention will probably go right to the private self-anointing, which is a really, really dodgy (and thus quite amusing in a highly irreverent sort of way) locution, probably on purpose, but this is, perhaps surprisingly, not the thing to which I am calling your attention.
The part that actually has me going "WTF?" though is that this is a familiar anecdote, except that it's actually, as far as I know, about a different king: it's told about Richard II in some Lancastrian sources, which then mention that the said oil was used at Henry IV's coronation and this indicates that as far as God is concerned he is totally awesome.
So, um, what is going on here? Is it a doomed queer king thing? Is this a case of dodgy anecdotes about Edward II as craptacular king then getting mapped onto his great-grandson on account of his parallel political problems? Or did Levin and/or her sources just drop the ball?
Because I get entirely too bothered by this stuff at 3 AM.
Edward II may have extended the monarch's participation in the ceremony because he felt that he needed all the prestige he could acquire, given his political problems. Edward had already attempted to have the pope sanction a second coronation for him on the grounds that he had discovered some special holy oil given to St. Thomas à Becket by the Virgin Mary that should be used to anoint him. The pope, however, suggested if Edward wanted to use it to anoint himself privately he could go ahead; a second coronation was certainly not necessary.
I imagine your attention will probably go right to the private self-anointing, which is a really, really dodgy (and thus quite amusing in a highly irreverent sort of way) locution, probably on purpose, but this is, perhaps surprisingly, not the thing to which I am calling your attention.
The part that actually has me going "WTF?" though is that this is a familiar anecdote, except that it's actually, as far as I know, about a different king: it's told about Richard II in some Lancastrian sources, which then mention that the said oil was used at Henry IV's coronation and this indicates that as far as God is concerned he is totally awesome.
So, um, what is going on here? Is it a doomed queer king thing? Is this a case of dodgy anecdotes about Edward II as craptacular king then getting mapped onto his great-grandson on account of his parallel political problems? Or did Levin and/or her sources just drop the ball?
Because I get entirely too bothered by this stuff at 3 AM.