ECONOMIC GROWTH LEADS TO MORE ROBUST POWER TO CONTROL IT
Elders cede to chiefs and chiefs to kings. The veneration they inspire* comes from their tie with the Next World, through their ancestors' mediation.
*Bits of the clothing that Louis XVI wore on his execution are kept as are relics of saints, and revolutionary guards tip their pikes in his blood.
-- The Death of the King, "The Guillotine and the Imaginary of the Terror" by Daniel Arasse, 1987, p. 81
Take France and Dahomey.*
*A West African kingdom that develops in the 18th century through the Atlantic slave trade, and in the 19th from sales of palm oil as well.
* *
In France royal dynasties have no common beginning and the Christian faith ignores ancestors. So a particular coronation takes their place.
In the 9th century Charlemagne's dynasty replaces that of Clovis, the Frankish chief whose baptisme founds the French monarchy (more is said here). Coronations at Reims, the town where that baptisme took place, is formalized then.
The heart of that ritual is anointing the new king with an oil that, according to legend, a dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit) brought from Heaven to for Clovis's baptism. That oil replaces the common ancestor.
 |
| Fifteen-century manuscript, National Library / zoom |
The importance of the ancestors appears in ways that are direct:
- All the Bourbon kings are called "Louis" and all the heads of the junior branch are "Philip," after the ancestors Saint Louis and Philip of Valois.
- The Saint-Denis Basilica is a royal necropolis where since 750 all the monarchs (except three) are buried. "Royal entries" begin there until the start of the 17th century (shown at the bottom of this page and explained here).
In Dahomey...
Coronations culminate with the execution of captives, to serve the deceased kings. The new ruler ends the ceremony by brandishing a skull, that of his predecessor or of an enemy chief. The sources differ but both endings recall the dead.
 |
Crowning of king Bâhadou, Le Tour du Monde, 1863 / zoom |
By uniting the royal remains the kings' mausoleum serves the same function as Saint-Denis.
Le Tour du Monde, 1863 / zoom
* * |
The coronations mobilize the people by processions...
Cavalcade of Louis XV after the sanctification, Octobre 16, 1722 by Pierre-Denis Martin / zoom
In France populations come from the whole region to see watch the king and court pass by and the cavalcade that follows the coronation.
A Procession in Dahomey by John Clark Ridpath, 1912 / zoom
Musicians lead, notables follow and people carrying wealth surround them and continue behind them. The processions at coronations would resemble this one.
And by a show where the king is the star:
Entry of Louis XI to Paris by Francis Tattegrain, 1889-90 / zoom
Vidéo of 1930, musée Albert Kahn / zoom
"[...]various dances, all of them performed in decapitation style by the King. The vociferous rapture of the subjects knew no bounds as the King danced with his sword between his teeth. Presently the King began to hand down decanters of rum, a sign that he was weary . He had danced thirty-two dances."
--Mission to Gelele, King of Dahomey by Richard Burton, 1863, p. 221.
* *
Both kingdoms regularly renew the sacred tie. In France, the king touches people affected by scrofula after taking communion at Easter; in Dahomey, smaller numbers of captives are sent to the deceased kings.
* *
Destroying wealth is part of coronations.
- In France, the cost of the show and such commemorations as this tapestry eliminate riches that could be invested.
- In Dahomey, the ritual ends by decapitating slaves, the possession that is most expensive and desired.
Victims for Sacrifice, "The History of Dahomey, an Inland Kingdom of Africa" by Archibald Dalzel, 1793 / zoom
Captives are bound to posts, but "The confinement was not cruel: Each victim had an attendant standing behind him, to keep off the flies; all were fed four times a day, and were loosed at night [...]. They marked time to the music, and chattered together [...]. It is the King's object to keep them in the best of humors" so that they cheerfully enter their future service.
-- Sir Richard Burton A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahomey, 1864, p. 205. An account for the nearby kingdom of Ashanti mentions well-fed captives who seem equally unconcerned.
Then there is a fight for the gifts of the king.
Combat for the Heads of the Sacrifice,* "Le Tour du monde," 1863 / zoom
*Error: the heads were reserved for the king.
Burton mentions violent combat for the king's gifts and says that having wounded and dead emphasizes support for him.
"There were many killed and dead"
says a French chronicler of a tournament
to celebrate the birth of a royal hier (en 1518).
-- François I by Emmanuel Bourassin, 1997, p.75
* * *
Next,
No comments:
Post a Comment