Coronation oath
idea · 2 works · 3 mentions · 6 anchored passages
coronation oath · oath of the King of England · the coronation oath · the king's oath · the oath · words of the coronation oath
in the texts
Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John
The traditional oath sworn by English kings, repeated in substance by John at Winchester in 1213 as part of his reconciliation with the Church.
John swore on the Gospels to cherish and defend Holy Church, to restore the good laws of Edward, and to render to all men their rights, repeating practically the words of the coronation oath.
The utmost the Church could extract from Richard and John, as the price of their consecration, was the renewal of the three vague promises contained in the oath, now taken as a pure formality.
Not later than the days of Edgar, it became the practice for the officiating archbishop to exact an oath of good government from the new sovereign before his final coronation.
An Essay on the Trial by Jury
The ceremonial oath sworn by English kings at coronation to preserve the ancient laws and customs, argued to bind kings but not juries.
That the legislation of the king was of no authority over a jury, is further proved by the oath taken by the kings at their coronation.
In 1688, the coronation oath was changed by act of Parliament, and the king was made to swear:
since, as has already been sufficiently shown, it was one part of this very common law itself,—that is, of the ancient “laws, customs, and liberties,” mentioned in the oath,—that juries should judge of all questions that came before them, according to their own consciences, independently of the legislation of the king.