Constructed in 1[zasłonięte]297 13 for King Edward I, the
Coronation Chair ranks amongst the most remarkable and
precious treasures to have survived from the Middle
Ages. It incorporated in its seat a block of sandstone,
which the king seized at Scone, following his victory
over the Scots in 1296. For centuries, Scottish kings
had been inaugurated on this symbolic Stone of Scone ,
to which a copious mythology had also become attached.
Edward I presented the Chair, as a holy relic, to the
Shrine of St Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey,
and most English monarchs since the fourteenth century
have been crowned in it, the last being HM Queen
Elizabeth II, in 1953. The Chair and the Stone have had
eventful histories: in addition to physical alterations,
they suffered abuse in the eighteenth century,
suffragettes attached a bomb to them in 1914, they were
hidden underground during the Second World War, and both
were damaged by the gang that sacrilegiously broke into
Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone in 1950. It was
recovered and restored to the Chair, but since 1996 the
Stone has been exhibited on loan in Edinburgh Castle.
Now somewhat battered through age, the Chair was once
highly ornate, being embellished with gilding, painting
and coloured glass. Yet, despite its profound historical
significance, until now it has never been the subject of
detailed archaeological recording. Moreover, the
remaining fragile decoration was in need of urgent
conservation, which was carried out in 2010 12,
accompanied by the first holistic study of the Chair and
Stone. In 2013 the Chair was redisplayed to celebrate
the Diamond Jubilee of the Coronation of HM The Queen.
The latest investigations have revealed and documented
the complex history of the Chair: it has been modified
on several occasions, and the Stone has been reshaped
and much altered since it left Scone. This volume
assembles, for the first time, the complementary
evidence derived from history, archaeology and
conservation, and presents a factual account of the
Coronation Chair and the Stone of Scone, not as separate
artefacts, but as the entity that they have been for
seven centuries. Their combined significance to the
British Monarchy and State and to the history and
archaeology of the English and Scottish nations is
greater than the sum of their parts. Also published here
for the first time is the second Coronation Chair, made
for Queen Mary II in 1689. Finally, accounts are given
of the various full-size replica chairs in Britain and
Canada, along with a selection of the many models in
metal and ceramic which have been made during the last
two centuries.
|
|