Two coronations and two emperors – King Charles IV of Hungary

It was exactly 100 years ago that the last king of Hungary, Blessed Charles IV and his Queen, Zita of Bourbon-Parma were crowned in the Matthias Church at the top of the Castle Hill in Buda. This was the last coronation ceremony in the history of Hungary, even though the monarchy was only abolished 30 years later, in 1946 (there was a short intermezzo in 1918–20, but better not speak about those times).

Unlike many European countries and other states around the world, crowning a king was not a mere ceremony or symbolic festival in Hungary. Regardless of the succession line, a Hungarian monarch is only legitimate if and when he is crowned according to the traditional rituals of the country, originating back in the Middle Ages. The three main aspects of the coronation were that the king should be crowned (i) with the Holy Crown of St. Stephen I and (ii) by the archbishop of Esztergom (iii) in the city of Székesfehérvár. Even though the last criterion was not observed from the 16^th century (the last king crowned in Székesfehérvár was Ferdinand I in 1527, since then, the ceremony took place in Pozsony, while the last two coronations were held in Buda), the first two conditions were so important that Charles I had to be crowned three times because on the first two occasions either the crown, the location or the archbishop was wrong. Franz Jospeh I, the predecessor of Charles IV, de facto became the king of Hungary in 1848, however, there are historians who only regard him as king starting from 1867, when he was finally crowned.

This is why it was so important for Charles IV to be crowned, especially in those turbulent times during the First World War when the whole world was burning. And despite the short time they had to prepare for the it (there was approximately a month between the death of Franz Joseph I and the coronation of Charles IV) and the ongoing war, the coronation was still a splendid and magnificent ceremony. Being in love with díszmagyar, I’d like to offer a glimpse into the ceremonial pomp by presenting members of the royal family, as well as of the nobility in their court dresses.

Countess Irma Andrássy

Countess Klára Andrássy

Archduchess Auguszta

Countess Esterházy

Archduchess Gabriella

[unknown lady]

Countess Balassa (?)

Countess Batthyány

Archduchess Izabella

Archduchess Mária Aliz

Countess Csáky

Countess Draskovics

Countess Pálffy

  

Countess Semsey a)

Archduchess Erzsébet Henrietta

Countess Semsey b)

Countess Szapáry

Countess Széchenyi-Vanderbilt

Countess Wimpffen

Countess Zichy a)

Countess Zichy b)

And lastly – a beautiful illustration of the new King and Queen of Hungary, with scenes from the ceremony and the portrait of the little Crown Prince:

Thank you for reading!

Credit goes mostly to Kulturpool and to this wonderful article: http://ru-royalty.livejournal.com/1226689.html.

Alla