154 THE ANCESTOR have been stripped of the royal state quite naked to the skin {di vestu de Vestat Royal^ tout nud jusques al a conroye). Then a cap was put on his head. He was next vested in the robes of the church as a deacon, and then they shod him with shoes of red velvet like those of a prelate, and afterwards they put on him spurs without points : Et la le Roy fut vestu des draps de I'Eglise, comme un Diacre : et luy chaussa on un veloux de vermeil, en guise de Prelat, et puis uns esporons, a une pointe sans molette.^ Nothing is said about the remaining ornaments save that the ' sword of justice,' which appears to have been Curtana, since it was that borne by the Prince of Wales, was delivered drawn to the king, who put it back in its sheath, and then he was crowned with the crown of St. Edward, ' laquelle couronne estoit archee en croix.' ^ The mention here of the king being vested ' as a deacon * is significant of the sacred character supposed to be conferred by coronation. The information that the crown wherewith Henry IV. was crowned was that known as St. Edward's, and that it was arched over instead of being open as heretofore, is interesting. Whether this crown actually was St. Edward's is doubtful. It is true that Sporley includes the best gold crown {coronam auream optimarn) among the regalia of St. Edward which were preserved as relics in the abbey church of Westminster, but it is more likely that ' the great crown,' though usually known as the Confessor's, from being kept with his regalia, was one which was remade from time to time as fashion varied. Since Henry IV. 's the royal crown has generally been arched. It is so shown in the sculpture of the coronation of Henry V. on the arch of his chantry chapel at Westminster, and on the great seals since the third one used by Edward IV. from 1471 to 1480. At the coronation of Henry IV. the principal sword called Curtana was borne by Henry prince of Wales,^ and besides the other two, and in addition to the fourth sword or sword of estate, there was carried a fifth by Henry earl of North- umberland as lord of the Isle of Man, described as ilium Gladium nudum quo cinctus erat praefatus Rex quando ipse, ante ^ Histoire et Chroniques Memorable de Messlre lehan Froissart (Paris, 1574), vol. iv. ch. cxiiii. p. 312. ^ T. Rymer, Foedera (ed. 1727), viii. 90.
