https://www.france-pittoresque.com/spip.php?article2967


13 February 1575: Crowning of Henry III
in Reims Cathedral
(Source: Europe 1)
Published / Updated on Thursday, 13 February 2025, by Redaction


 
 

Estimated reading time: 1 min

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..."In the cathedral of Reims, we witness this day the coronation of the new king of France, Henry III. He is a regular of thrones, since two years earlier, at the age of 21, he had already settled on the one in Poland, which was vacant. At the time the King of France was his brother, Charles IX....



    "...On 13 February 1575, he entered the Cathedral of Reims to be sacred. He will receive the anointing of the Holy Chrême before girding the crown. The ceremony had a very majestic character, with an almost mystical dimension. Henry, who is a temperamental boy, changes seven times in the day of the coronation, and at the very moment of the ceremony, he is fasting according to tradition. The cardinal of Guise puts the crown on his head, but it slips; he catches up as he can, in extremis. Finally, here he is king, for the second time.

He ruled until 2 August 1589, until his assassination by a Dominican monk named Jacques Clement. On that day, the king, in his 'chaise percee', will be surprised by the Dominican. "Ah. You killed me. was Henry's exclamation before falling into agony. He will die the next day. Henry III being the last of the Valois branch, he ceded his throne to the first Bourbon, Henry IV. Here, it can be said that a new page of history begins..."*

*Slightly edited. Google translated.