Christopher Wordsworth • 1892
In preparation for the coronation of Charles I (his queen, the Catholic Henrietta Maria, by her choice, took no part) it proved necessary to revise the existing Anglican English-language rite. The previous Protestant sovereigns Edward VI and Elizabeth I had been crowned according to a Latin rite and the English-language rite used for the coronation of Charles's father, James I, had been hastily put together. The new English rite was devised by a commission of Anglican bishops. The Bradshaw edition of it also contains a number of related documents, including details on Charles I's coronation as King of Scotland at Holyrood on 18 June 1633 and James II's coronation with his consort at Westminster on 23 April 1685.
The principal MSS employed for Charles I's Westminster coronation are the king's own copy at Cambridge, St John's College, MS L.15, and others such as Bishop William Laud's own copy, ibidem L.12. Charles I's coronation at Holyrood is represented by Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Advocates MS 32.2.26.
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