Yes, it's almost risible how stories can be planted to undermine belief. However, Edward ordered a beautiful object made to house a sacred relic. That beautiful object looks like a walking stick deliberately because of the imagery of guidance and support; yet it was always carried by pre-Reformation kings in their right hands and, since then, by a peer double-handed in front of the Sovereign. The three mid-sixteenth century coronations are the epitome of the battle raging at the time. Both Mary and Elizabeth had little faith in the clergy of their immediate predecessor, as the Church went back and forth. Edward was aged only nine at his coronation, which was largely controlled by the Duke of Somerset. By enlisting the services of noblemen, Somerset was intentionally fudging the roll of the Church; however, he was also unintentionally calling into question to a large degree the purpose of having a coronation at all! The Rite lays out the balance between Church and State. One side or the other upsets that equilibrium at its peril. Whatever may have become of Charles I, reading supports the view that he had the best-though-out of coronations (by that I mean the liturgy makes sense). He also supported the Episcopacy and, as his father before him, reasserted the purpose of the Ceremony. Many things survived the Commonwealth and reappeared at the Restoration, including parts of the Confessor's crown and, as you know, some of the most famous jewels. The original Staff was made to house the relic of the True Cross: we just don't know about its 1660 replacement. |
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