Medieval Self-Coronations

Jaume Aurell is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Navarra, Spain. His previous publications include Authoring the Past (2012), Theoretical Perspectives on Historians' Autobiographies (2015) and, as editor, Rethinking Historical Genres in the Twenty-First Century (2017).

• Introduction; 1. Self-coronation as ritual; I. Heritage; 2. Consecration without mediation in antiquity; 3. The hand of God; 4. Symbolic self-coronations in Byzantium; 5. The sacralisation of Carolingian accessions; 6. Anglo-Saxon and Ottonian christocentrism; II. Infamy; 7. Roger II of Sicily: Imagining self-coronation; 8. Frederick II of Germany: desacralising rituals; III. Convention; 9. Alfonso XI of Castile: From self-knighting to self-crowning; 10. Peter IV of Aragon's self-coronation: A conventionalization program; 11. Charles III of Navarra: juridical implications of self-coronations; 12. Early modern dramatization: the road to Napoleon; Conclusion.

'A deeply researched and penetrating scholarly work addressing an important aspect of medieval political ritual: the array of coronation rites that marked a ruler's ascension to the throne throughout the medieval West, with a particular focus on self-crowning. Broad in its range and conclusions, the manuscript engages the reader with its lively narrative, arguments, and conclusions.' Gabrielle M. Spiegel, Johns Hopkins University