Coronation of Edward IV

 

28th of June Coronation of Edward IV 

On 26 June the mayor and aldermen in scarlet and 400 citizens dressed in green rode with King Edward as he entered London en route to the Tower.

Next afternoon, riding to Westminster, the king was preceded by the newly created Knights of the Bath, among them his brothers Richard and George.

Sunday morning, 29 June, Edward was crowned with all due solemnity with the confessor's crown by Archbishop Thomas Bourchier.

As he stood head and shoulders above everyone, the ceremony was clearly seen and his face under its mop of brown hair was all geniality.

Swans, peacocks, pheasants and other dainties were served at the banquet, and at the end of the feasting the mayor offered to the king's mouth' spiced wine in a covered gold cup, with a water-filled golden ewer to temper it. London citizens, as of ancient custom, helped the Chief Butler of England serve at table in the hall.

The following day, the king wore his crown in Westminster Abbey.

Later that day in the Bishop of London's palace he named his brother George as Duke of Clarence. Tuesday, again wearing his crown, King Edward went to St Paul's where an angel 'came down and censed' him and the crowds were as great as they had been the previous days. Lord Henry Bourchier, married to the king's aunt Elizabeth and brother of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was created Earl of Essex; the king's uncle Lord Fauconberg was made Earl of Kent, while John Neville, brother to Richard, Earl of Warwick, was made Lord Montagu.

Source ~ ‘The Plantagenet Socialite ‘ by Jan-Marie Knights