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9 - Alfonso XI of Castile

From Self-Knighting to Self-Crowning

from Part III - Convention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2020

Jaume Aurell
Affiliation:
Universidad de Navarra, Spain
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Summary

The ninth chapter focuses on the practice of self-coronation among medieval Castilian kings and its religious, political and ideological implications. It takes Alfonso XI of Castile’s self-knighting self-coronation (1332) as a central event, establishing its conceptual genealogy, significance and relevance, deploying Visigothic, Asturian, Leonese and Castilian chronicles as the main sources. The case of Alfonso XI deserves particular attention, as it throws some light on the debate on the allegedly secular kingship of Castilian kings. This chapter explores Alfonso XI’s motivations for designing these rituals, whether there were any precedents for this particular gesture in Castile and to what extent he was aware of the different rates at which the anointing and coronation ceremonies were introduced into his own kingdoms. It is actually possible to establish a ritual genealogy from Visigothic, Asturian and Leonese kingdoms to the kingdom of Castile, and from Wamba’s anointing in 672 to Alfonso XI’s self-coronation in 1332, in order to reflect on the precedents for this gesture.

Type
Chapter
Information
Medieval Self-Coronations
The History and Symbolism of a Ritual
, pp. 221 - 241
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Alfonso XI of Castile
  • Jaume Aurell, Universidad de Navarra, Spain
  • Book: Medieval Self-Coronations
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108879279.011
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  • Alfonso XI of Castile
  • Jaume Aurell, Universidad de Navarra, Spain
  • Book: Medieval Self-Coronations
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108879279.011
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Alfonso XI of Castile
  • Jaume Aurell, Universidad de Navarra, Spain
  • Book: Medieval Self-Coronations
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108879279.011
Available formats
×