The making of the Second English Coronation Ordo

Abstract

This article reassesses the Second English Coronation Ordo in the light of its relationship to Carolingian sources. The dependence of the Ordo on a distinctive West Frankish source, here termed the Leiden Ordo, has many implications, since the Leiden Ordo seems likely to have been composed for the anointing of Charles the Straightforward by Fulk of Rheims in January 893. This finding provides a probable context for the importing of West Frankish ordines in King Alfred's dealings with Rheims. It also strengthens the case for placing the Second Ordo in the mid- or late 890s, rather than early in Athelstan's reign. Anointing practices were directly implicated in the ‘crisis of authority’ affecting the Carolingian world in the late ninth century. The new understanding of the Second Ordo adds a further dimension to King Alfred's efforts to promote the ‘kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons’, and has wider implications for the development of royal ordines in western Europe.

Genealogy and royal women in Asser’s Life of King Alfred: politics, prestige, and maternal kinship in early medieval England

“…By drawing this contrast, he could be suggesting that royal widows should retire from public life and avoid involving themselves in politics, including any attempt to exert influence over issues such as succession. 42 These anxieties at Alfred's court around the status and influence of royal women could therefore explain why Asser chose to name Eadburh specifically in Ealhswith's genealogy. West Saxon charter evidence certainly appears to support the demotion in the position of royal women in the ninth century, which Asser himself describes as controversial.…”