A Study On The Coronation Of Elizabeth Ⅰ

In Tudor Dynasty, England had gone through some great changes in political, economic and religious aspects. Tudor Times was a significant transition period from medieval feudal state to modern national state. Elizabeth I got her throne during this complex historical background and her coronation ceremony was held in 1559. The coronation ceremony included two main parts, the royal entry to London city and the coronation of the monarchy in Westminster Abbey on the next day. The coronation rites of the Queen inherited traditional ceremonies, and made some subtle changes according to some requirements of the times. Although the ceremony usually demonstrates its external form, the profound inner essence of the ceremony may not be ignored. Based on the narration of the process of the coronation ceremony, this dissertation tries to analyze and interpret the profound meaning hidden behind the ceremony.The coronation ceremony of Elizabeth I showed all the magnificent scenes and had a variety of meanings. When the royal entry began, the Queen departed from the Tower of London and the procession ended at the Westminster Palace. London had prepared several places for stage performance, on one hand, the purpose of these performances was to show their love and respect to the Queen, on the other hand, with some political advice and didactic words to the Queen, they hoped the new Queen would create a golden age and bring peace and stability to their country. Through the passionate interaction with people, the new Queen established an emotional bound to her subjects. The Queen knew that her power derived from the support of her subjects, and the affinity of the Queen enhanced a strong sense of national identity of her subjects. This secular procession reflected a feature of early modern national state.The procession order and the participants of the procession was a reflection of Tudor state structure and social hierarchy. Aristocracy was still the main social hierarchy, the squires and the emerging capitalist class was in the upper rank because of their growing economic strength. The function of the parliament was reinforced and the Queen was well aware of the necessity of cooperating with the parliament. All the magnificent scenes showed the supreme power of the Queen, and ceremony became the symbol of royal power.The coronation and anointing ceremony of the Queen was held at Westminster Abbey and it was a sacred ritual while the procession ceremony was a secular one. With the consideration of the complex international situation and domestic situation, the Queens attitude to religion was quite ambiguous during this ritual. This indicated that the Queen did not take obvious protestant policy when she got accession to the throne, she financially decided to make the protestant policy after several months. The Queen payed attention to the secular class and showed her indifference to sacred class, and the power of the pope was not an obstacle to the Queen. But some changes of details reflected that kingship was constrained by the law and the House, represented the constitutional tendency to a certain extent.Based on the culture traditions, the coronation ceremony made some subtle changes according to era requirements and retained until today. With some significant political symbolism and cultural connotation, the coronation ceremony became the symbol of English politics and culture, and reflected the persistence and continuity of English history. Thus a study on the coronation ceremony can provide another valuable approach to the interpretation of the English history and culture.