美国国家公共电台 NPR--'British Coronations Project' examines 10 centuries of coronation history

'British Coronations Project' examines 10 centuries of coronation history

Transcript¹

Ahead of the crowning of Britain's King Charles, NPR's Leila Fadel talks with researcher George Gross of King's College London about a thousand years of coronation history.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The last and only time a coronation in Britain was televised was 70 years ago. Queen Elizabeth II appeared in black and white for anyone lucky enough to have a TV. Tomorrow, her son will be crowned King Charles III. To find out about coronation traditions, we called up George Gross of King's College, London. For what's called the British Coronation Project, he and his colleague David Crankshaw studied almost 10 centuries of coronation history.

GEORGE GROSS: We're often asked, why is this ceremony still a value to this day? And I pick out the coronation oath. And one of those promises is for their leader, the king or queen, to uphold law with justice and mercy. And this stands out to me because we have rulers throughout the world willing to break the rule of law. We have a war in Ukraine on European soil. So for our head of state in the U.K. to still swear to uphold something so significant and for a thousand years of history, I think is still, to me, the most moving element.

FADEL: You know, I've also heard it said several times in the past week that this is a religious ceremony, not just a state event. So in this case, no separation of church and state when it comes to the coronation.

GROSS: That's correct. We have still a state church in the U.K. This is really brought out with elements both of the oath and of anointing, particularly the anointing, that appear almost like a second baptism or a consecration² of a priest. That said, King Charles has made a very real effort to adapt the service for the times to reflect the arguably more secular³ age in which we live and the fact that there are many of his subjects of different faiths, not least those leaders of different parts of the U.K., from the prime minister to the first minister of Scotland.

FADEL: The prime minister being Hindu, the first minister of Scotland being Muslim.

GROSS: Exactly.

FADEL: Is the anointing of Charles with holy oil - will that be televised?

GROSS: So this will not be televised. At least, we don't think it will. They've developed a canopy⁴ that will sort of - or curtain that will be held around the monarch⁵ during this. So it's going to follow the 1953 tradition and this sort of idea that you should not let in daylight upon the magic. So this is the magic, the holy of holies. At the same time, we have a completely new anointing oil. It has come from Jerusalem.

FADEL: Oh.

GROSS: It's a sort of classic British invention of tradition sounding traditional, Jerusalem, but it's not. So that's entirely⁶ new. That reflects the way the monarch, King Charles III, is wanting to draw attention to other faiths.

FADEL: So I know I've asked you to examine the last thousand years. So now let's talk about the last 70 years. What does the attendance for this coronation say about what's changed over 70 years?

GROSS: Lots of the key elements of the service remain the same, and we try and use the analogy of a marriage. So at accession, when the king dies or queen dies and the new monarch becomes king or queen, we would see that as the engagement to the state. And the coronation is the marriage to the state. So there are key things, like any marriage in any tradition, that pretty much have remained quite similar throughout history. The main central points, like anointing, crowning the oath - they will remain the same, but the personnel will look different.

FADEL: And the ceremony is supposed to be much shorter.

GROSS: We've heard that the homage⁷, which originates in medieval, knightly⁹ - sort of knights¹⁰ in shining armor, a world where the monarch was the chief knight⁸ and likely to lead the army into battle - that was the world of the homage - that that's going to be massively reduced, almost certainly only done by the prince of Wales or a much smaller body. And then there's been a recent call to to sort of make the homage a public, almost iPhone event in which people around the country join in in paying allegiance to the king on their phones or on the internet in some way. So 1953, there was something special about the fact that many people bought a television for the first time. So you could have shown it for any number of hours. Here, it has to adapt to to 21st-century priorities.

FADEL: Especially if people were watching one-minute clips on TikTok.

GROSS: It's got to be digestible in that fashion. But it's still going to be long - the order of service - long.

FADEL: Yeah.

GROSS: And there is a lot of wonderful new commission music, so lots of those elements.

FADEL: And what about the physical trappings - jewels, crowns, thrones? What should we expect to see?

GROSS: If they hear reference to the anointing spoon, it's the oldest part of the regalia that will feature at the coronation. It survived the Commonwealth¹¹ under Oliver Cromwell's melting down of all of the regalia to sort of 13th-century origin - incredibly old. So that's used during the anointing service. Some of these crown jewels, like Saint Edward's Crown, remade in 1661 for Charles II's coronation. So almost all the regalia that will be seen was principally remade in 1661. And this sort of invention of tradition, Saint Edward's chair that has the Stone of Destiny or Stone of Scone¹² placed within it - very significant for people in Scotland, said to have biblical origins as the - Jacob's Pillow. But that's another special moment that will be on display.

FADEL: I think for some people they'll listen to this and think, oh, well, it's from medieval times, it shouldn't exist anymore. What do you say? I mean, I know that - as a historian, I hope that doesn't come off offensive.

GROSS: No, not at all.

FADEL: This is such a long-running tradition. Should it still exist today? And what does it mean for the U.K. that it does?

GROSS: Yeah. No, not at all. It's a very good question. And you can say the same of almost any tradition. Should there still be inaugurations¹³ of U.S. presidents? I mean, sticking something on somebody's head to make them seem important or significant is, you know, Egyptian origin. Tutankhamun had a crown. It's not particular to the U.K., but why do we still have it? Well, tradition takes a long time to make, and that tradition adds value to the symbolism of some of the things that are said. So I think it adds value to that oath, and particularly that central tenant¹⁴ of upholding law with justice and mercy. So I think that still has relevance¹⁵ in the 21st century.

FADEL: George Gross is a visiting research fellow at King's College London.

Thank you so much.

GROSS: Thank you very much.

(SOUNDBITE OF WILLIAM WALTON'S "CROWN IMPERIAL")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 consecration   

n.供献，奉献，献祭仪式

参考例句：

• "What we did had a consecration of its own. “我们的所作所为其本身是一种神圣的贡献。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
• If you do add Consecration or healing, your mana drop down lower. 如果你用了奉献或者治疗，你的蓝将会慢慢下降。 来自互联网

3 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

4 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

5 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

8 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

9 knightly   

adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地

参考例句：

• He composed heroic songs and began to write many a tale of enchantment and knightly adventure. 他谱写英雄短歌并着手编写不少记叙巫术和骑士历险的故事。
• If you wear knight costumes, you will certainly have a knightly manner. 身着骑士装，令您具有骑士风度。

10 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

11 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

12 scone   

n.圆饼，甜饼，司康饼

参考例句：

• She eats scone every morning.她每天早上都吃甜饼。
• Scone is said to be origined from Scotland.司康饼据说来源于苏格兰。

13 inaugurations   

n.就职( inauguration的名词复数 )；就职典礼；开始；开创

参考例句：

14 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。

15 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。