Queen Mary I—Coronation | Manuscript account of claims to hereditary rights to offices and duties

Queen Mary I—Coronation.

Manuscript account of “Claims at the Coronation of Queen Mary”

recording 23 claims made to the Court of Claims established for the coronation of Mary I, which took place on 1 October 1553, recording hereditary rights claimed by aristocrats, officeholders and others at the Coronation, with marginal notes recording the findings of the court, in a later scribal hand, 3 pages, folio, probably mid-seventeenth century, docketed on final blank

“Thomas Duke of Norfolke & Earle Marshall of England claimeth to be next unto the Queene & always nearest her at the day of her Coronation that the same day the Duke as Ea: Marshall ought to have the Crown in his hand & the same day to bear the s[ai]d Crown & sustain it by the flower that is before & that for the same service doing he ought to have his own use the s[ai]d day of the Coronation the Queens horse & palfrey w[i]th all the bearing that is on the s[ai]d horse & Palfrey & he claimeth to be Usher the same day to have the tablecloth of the high mease & the Cloth of State that is behind the Queen”

A FASCINATING RECORD OF THE WEB OF RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS THAT UNDERPIN THE ANCIENT CEREMONY OF THE CORONATION. Beginning with the Duke of Norfolk as hereditary Earl Marshal, this document records the roles claimed by a wide range of persons as part of the coronation ceremony, and their concomitant reward. These various offices include Sir Edward Dymoke, who as Queen’s Champion claims the right to enter the Hall armoured and on horseback, to throw down his gauntlet in challenge to anyone who would dispute Mary’s right to the crown, and to be rewarded with a gold cup of wine; Lord Grey of Witton, who claims to be the Master of the Hawks; the Lord Mayor of London, who asserts his right to serve wine to the sovereign; and Nicholas Leigh, who “claimeth to make a mess of Pottage called Deyer Cant [Dillegrout] at the Coronation” and to reclaim the cost of the earthen cooking pot. The most recent Court of Claims was convened prior to the coronation of King Charles III in May 2023, and several of the hereditary offices recorded in 1553 remain in place 470 years later: the current Duke of Norfolk is Earl Marshal and the Dymoke family retain the office of King’s champion, for example. Dillegrout (a pottage or stew), however, has not been cooked for a coronation since 1821. 

Provenance:

Provenance:

Sir John Fenn (1739-1794), antiquary and editor of the Paston Letters; sale of his collection, 1866, lot 243; Sir Thomas Phillipps, MS 29759; sale of his collection, new series, Part 7, Sotheby's, London, 14 June 1971, lot 1500