Coronation of Elizabeth I
The coronation of Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗Canterbury's see was vacant and the Archbishop of York refused. That left the Bishop of Carlisle to place the crown on Elizabeth's head.
15 January 1559, Westminster Abbey
Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 15 January 1559 by Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle.
The procession moved from Westminster Hall to the Abbey over cloth laid along the route, accompanied by bishops, the Chapel Royal, heralds, peers, trumpeters and royal officers bearing regalia. Spectators cut away pieces of the cloth as she passed.
The separate public procession had taken place the day before, on 14 January.
Latin and English in the same service
Inside the Abbey, Elizabeth was presented and acclaimed as queen at four locations, took the coronation oath, changed into ceremonial clothing, and was anointed.
Oglethorpe crowned her and invested her with a ring and sceptre. The peers and bishops then knelt and performed homage.
The service combined traditional Latin with English: an eyewitness states that the Epistle and Gospel were each read first in Latin and then in English.
The crown did not begin the reign
Elizabeth had succeeded automatically on Mary I's death on 17 November 1558. The coronation supplied sacred and public confirmation rather than accession itself.
Nor was the Elizabethan Religious Settlement enacted that day. Its Supremacy and Uniformity legislation received royal assent in May 1559.
After the service Elizabeth returned to Westminster Hall carrying the sceptre and orb, and attended the coronation feast.
Sources
Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited
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What the sources leave uncertain
- England still used the Julian calendar and began the civil year on 25 March, so contemporary documents may label January as 1558. The standardized modern date is 15 January 1559.
- Scholars continue to dispute who celebrated the Mass, whether the consecrated elements were elevated, and precisely when or why Elizabeth withdrew to the chapel behind the high altar.
- The broad order of recognition, oath, anointing, crowning, homage, Mass, and feast is well attested despite those liturgical uncertainties.