Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Wednesday, 3 May 2023

The Coronation Stone at Kingston on Thames


Saturday will witness the fortieth coronation of a monarch in Westminster Abbey, beginning with King Harold II, and reflecting the importance of the cult of King Edward the Confessor even before his canonisation in 1161. However had English history developed differently the coronation might well have become localised not at Westminster but at Kingston on Thames. Three tenth century kings were crowned there and possibly four more. The liturgically very significant coronation - possibly second coronation - of King Eadgar at Bath in 973 may be also exceptional in not having taken place at Kingston. 

The Wikipedia article about the stone which apparently served as a throne on these occasions can be seen at Coronation Stone, Kingston upon Thames

The Daily Express recently had an article about  the Kingston coronations which has the reflections of Prof. Sarah Foot, the biographer of King Athelstan, about their significance. It can be seen at King Charles’s Coronation rituals date back before Norman Conquest


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