Who's Who: Christmas Coronations Quiz

Answer: Charlemagne

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, had already been crowned King of the Franks in 768 and King of the Lombards in 774, but in 800 he was crowned Emperor of the Carolingian Empire. He longed to reunite the western Roman Empire which had ended in 476 AD. By using conversion and force where necessary he reunited many of the former Roman lands, with the exception of Spain and southern Italy. Charlemagne was also responsible for the Carolingian Renaissance, a brief emphasis on education and learning during the Middle Ages.

Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Carolingian Empire - some sources say Emperor of Rome - at St. Peter's Basilica. His efforts to reunite western Europe earned Charlemagne the title "Father of Europe".

Answer: Edmund the Martyr

Because the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" was completed after Edmund's death, very little is actually known about him. The Viking attacks on East Anglia destroyed any contemporary account of his rule, so the question of whether he died in battle or was martyred will forever go unanswered. Stories suggest that Edmund was crowned at Burna, the royal capital, on December 25, 855.

The legend of his death, however, also still exists. It was written that the Vikings of the Great Heathen Army, probably led by Ivar the Boneless, beat him, show arrows at him - "like the bristles of a hedgehog", and then beheaded him. Less than one hundred years later, when his body was examined it was found that the wounds had healed and the head was reattached.

Answer: Otto II

The son of Otto I, or Otto the Great, Otto II was named co-emperor with his father in 967 when he was twelve years old. He became emperor when he was just eighteen, and continued his father's work of expanding the empire. Said to be a brave, well-trained, Christian knight, Otto II was given the Iron Crown of Lombardy and crowned King of Italy in 980 while visiting Ravenna at Christmastime.

His nickname the Red is attributed to either his ruddy complexion or the fact that he was said to have invited people to dinner in 981 and ordered them all murdered!

Answer: Sweyn Forkbeard

Sweyn Forkbeard overthrew his father, Harold Bluetooth, in order to take the throne of Norway and Denmark. Harold had been one of the first Viking kings to become a Christian, and Sweyn was baptized with the name Otto at birth. Sweyn Forkbeard participated in many raids in England to avenge the massacre of the Danish people living there in 1002 and was said to have collected much of the Danegeld that had been levied to protect the English from the Viking raiders.

While Sweyn was not involved in a formal coronation, he was declared King of England on December 25, as the people of London were afraid of retaliation if they held out against him any longer. He died shortly thereafter on February 3,
1014; his son, known as Cnut the Great, became King of England in 1016.

Answer: Henry III

Henry III continued his father's policy of "virtes et probitas", courage and honesty, and toured the areas he ruled during his short tenure as Holy Roman Emperor. Although his son, Henry IV, would become involved in a very heated argument with Pope Gregory, Henry III was known for ending the power struggle between three papal candidates when he came to Rome in 1046. He overthrew all three, and installed his own choice, Pope Clement II, in office.

In return, Pope Clement crowned Henry III Holy Roman Emperor and his wife, Agnes, as Empress, in 1046, at a coronation in St. Peter's Basilica. Henry died three years later at the age of 39.

Answer: William I

William of Normandy led an invasion of England in 1066, defeating King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, after his claim to the English throne had been denied. He is known for establishing a system of feudalism in England and ordering the Domesday Book, a survey of all the land and everything on it, to determine what dues might be owed to him.

The story is that while William was being crowned in Westminster Abbey, the people outside the building began shouting his praise. His guardsmen, however, thought a riot was breaking out - there was an issue here that the people didn't understand each others' language - and began to set fires nearby in an attempt to stop a rebellion. Many people fled the Abbey, and apparently William encouraged the Bishop to work faster; he became king in spite of the fact that he was visibly shaken and trembling.

Answer: Jerusalem

Baldwin of Boulogne was the youngest son, which meant a career of service to God to most young noblemen of his time. He, however, became a knight instead, and with his famous brother, Godfrey of Bouillon, participated in the First Crusade. Baldwin inherited the rulership from Godfrey, who had refused to be crowned King of Jerusalem; Godfrey died after holding the office only two years. At the time of his brother's death, Baldwin was known as the Count of Edessa. Taking gold and silver from his subjects in Edessa, Baldwin made his way to Jerusalem after hearing of his brother's death, and convinced the people there to crown him King.

Baldwin I was crowned on December 25, 1100 at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Answer: Roger II

Roger II was the King of Sicily (1130) and Africa (1148). He is known for building churches and participating in the Second Crusade. During his reign, Sicily became the leading naval power of the time. Roger found that supporting the pope was advantageous; in addition he had a court of advisors from many different places to help him deal with a very mixed population.

Roger supported one of the new papal candidates, Antipope Anacletus II, when the old pope died; Anacletus, in turn, crowned him King of Sicily in Palermo on December 25, 1130.

The Royal Mantle of Roger II, worn as the coronation cloak of future Holy Roman Emperors, was probably not made for Roger to wear the day of his coronation, however, he probably did wear the beautiful red silk ornament when he needed to have a show of power.

Answer: Eric V

A klipping was a medieval coin that had been clipped to show its devaluation. To understand how the people felt about Eric, it should be noted that he and his mother, as co-rulers, made the Archbishop so angry that he placed Denmark under the interdict. That did not bode well for Eric's reign, and he must have continued with his offensiveness because the nobles forced him to sign a document similar to the Magna Carta in England. (The problem was that the language of the document didn't apply to Eric's successors.)

Eric's coronation took place in Viborg Cathedral on Christmas Day in 1259 when he was ten years old. It is believed that he was killed on 1286, stabbed 56 times, in fact, by a group of nobles who had infiltrated Eric's court dressed as friars.

Answer: John II

Although King John reigned for 48 years, he was not especially competent or well-liked. His favorite pastimes including hunting, composing poetry, and participating in tourneys.

John's coronation took place on December 25, 1406, when he was not quite two years old. As a child, his regents had passed the Valladolid Laws that restricted Jews from holding government offices; on taking over the throne by himself in 1418, he relaxed these restrictions. His famous daughter, Isabella I, was born to his second marriage.