Coronations in the Americas were previously held by multiple countries on both continents, with the majority occurring in Latin America. They were held by endemic constitutional monarchies with their own resident monarch. There are no longer any endemic American monarchies.
Brazilian emperors, of which there were two (Pedro I and Pedro II), were crowned with the Imperial Crown of Brazil in a Catholic Coronation Mass. The constitution required the monarch to have reached their eighteenth birthday before the ceremony could take place. Brazil abolished its monarchy in 1889. Pedro I was crowned on 1 December 1822 and Pedro II was crowned on 18 July 1841. Both ceremonies were held in the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, that then served as the Court's Imperial Chapel.
The coronation of Pedro I was presided by the then Bishop of Rio de Janeiro and Major Chaplain of the Imperial Chapel. The coronation of Pedro II was presided by the then Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia and Primate of Brazil. Pedro II's coronation was a lavish event. In both ceremonies, the coronation rite prescribed in the Roman Pontifical of Pope Benedict XIV, then in force, was used.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of the founding fathers of Haiti, proclaimed himself Emperor of Haiti soon after its independence. He was crowned on 6 October 1804 in Le Cap, but was assassinated two years later. A Kingdom of Haiti was established in 1811 by Henri Christophe, another leader in the Haitian independence struggle. He was crowned in June 1811 in a lavish ritual presided over by Archbishop Corneil Breuil of Milot, but committed suicide in 1820. Faustin-Élie Soulouque later proclaimed himself to be Emperor Faustin I of Haiti; he was crowned in an extremely elaborate ceremony held in Port-au-Prince on 18 April 1852, but was forced to abdicate in 1859, bringing his nascent Haitian imperium to an end. [1]
Mexico has twice been a monarchy ruled by a Mexican emperor. Agustín I ruled from 1822 to 1823 after the Mexican empire's independence from Spain; he was crowned in a lavish ceremony on 21 July 1822 at the Catedral Metropolitana de Mexico in Mexico City, placing the diadem on his own head in the manner of Napoléon I. [2] Agustín I was overthrown in March 1823, and the Mexican monarchy abolished.
Mexico's second monarch was Maximilian I, a Habsburg archduke who was a descendant of the Spanish monarch Charles I and V, under which New Spain (Mexico) was formed. He was persuaded to take the newly revived Mexican throne in 1864 by Mexican monarchists and Napoléon III of France (whose troops, in conjunction with Mexican conservatives and nobility, had instituted it). His consort was Charlotte of Belgium, or Empress Carlota of Mexico. The second Imperial Crown of Mexico and a matching sceptre were manufactured for their coronation at the Catedral Metropolitana in Mexico City amid several celebrations. [3] [4] [5] [6] The Second Mexican Empire lasted for over three years. Maximilian was defeated by Republican forces led by Mexican President Benito Juárez and aided by the U.S. He was executed in 1867, along with two of his top Mexican generals, bringing the empire to an end.
James J. Strang, a would-be successor to Joseph Smith, Jr., in the leadership of the Latter-day Saint movement from 1844 to 1856, openly established an ecclesiastical monarchy on Beaver Island, Michigan, in 1850. On 8 July of that year, he staged an elaborate coronation ceremony complete with a throne, wooden sceptre, breastplate and a crown described by one observer as "a shiny metal ring with a cluster of glass stars in the front". [7] "King Strang" reigned over his followers until 16 June 1856, when he was assassinated by two disgruntled subjects. His people were driven from the island, and Strang's 'kingdom'—together with most of his royal regalia—vanished. [8]
For coronations in the pre-annexation Kingdom of Hawaii, see Coronations in Oceania.
Some observers compare the American presidential inauguration to a coronation, [9] with the American constitutional requirement for a presidential oath congruent to the oaths required of the world's monarchs. Some historians and comparative government experts indicate that the former stems directly from the latter. [10] The pomp and pageantry of the modern event is comparable in some ways to monarchical coronations. [11]
The word emperor can mean the male absolute ruler of an empire. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife, mother/grandmother, or a woman who rules in her own right and name. Emperors are generally recognized to be of the highest monarchic honor and rank, surpassing kings. In Europe, the title of Emperor has been used since the Middle Ages, considered in those times equal or almost equal in dignity to that of Pope due to the latter's position as visible head of the Church and spiritual leader of the Catholic part of Western Europe. The emperor of Japan is the only currently reigning monarch whose title is translated into English as "Emperor".
Crown jewels are the objects of metalwork and jewellery in the regalia of a current or former monarchy. They are often used for the coronation of a monarch and a few other ceremonial occasions. A monarch may often be shown wearing them in portraits, as they symbolize the power and continuity of the monarchy. Additions to them may be made, but since medieval times the existing items are typically passed down unchanged as they symbolize the continuity of the monarchy.
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of other items of regalia, marking the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power. Aside from the crowning, a coronation ceremony may comprise many other rituals such as the taking of special vows by the monarch, the investing and presentation of regalia to the monarch, and acts of homage by the new ruler's subjects and the performance of other ritual deeds of special significance to the particular nation. In certain Christian denominations, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism, coronation is a rite. As such, Western-style coronations have often included anointing the monarch with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called; the anointing ritual's religious significance follows examples found in the Bible. The monarch's consort may also be crowned, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event.
A self-proclaimed monarchy is established when a person claims a monarchy without any historical ties to a previous dynasty. In many cases, this would make them a pretender to the throne. The self-proclaimed monarch may be of an established state, such as Zog I of Albania, or of a micronation, such as Leonard Casley of Hutt River, Western Australia.
Faustin-Élie Soulouque was a Haitian politician and military commander who served as President of Haiti from 1847 to 1849 and Emperor of Haiti from 1849 to 1859.
The Most Serene House of Braganza, also known as the Brigantine dynasty, is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas.
The Emperor of Mexico was the head of state and ruler of Mexico on two non-consecutive occasions in the 19th century.
An enthronement is a ceremony of inauguration, involving a person—usually a monarch or religious leader—being formally seated for the first time upon their throne. Enthronements may also feature as part of a larger coronation rite.
The Bavarian Crown Jewels are a set of crown jewels created for the Kingdom of Bavaria, which existed from 1806 to 1918. In 1806, as part of his wholescale re-ordering of the map of Europe, Emperor Napoléon I of the French upgraded the independent German duchy of Bavaria to full kingdom status. The former Duke of Bavaria, now King of Bavaria, Maximilian I, commemorated the fact by commissioning a set of crown jewels for use by Bavarian monarchs. However, there was no coronation ceremony, and the king never wore the crown in public. Rather, it was placed on a cushion when displayed on occasions such as the king's ascension or his funeral.
The Imperial Crown of Austria is a crown formerly in use by the monarchs of the Habsburg monarchy. The crown was originally made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen as the personal crown of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, and therefore is also known as the Crown of Emperor Rudolf II. The crown was used as a private crown of the Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Hungary and Bohemia from the House of Habsburg. In 1804 it became the official crown of the newly constituted Austrian Empire. After 1867 it remained the imperial crown of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918.
The Imperial Crown of Brazil, also known as the Crown of Dom Pedro II or as the Diamantine Crown, is the Crown manufactured for the second Brazilian Emperor, Pedro II.
The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was a pluricontinental monarchy formed by the elevation of the Portuguese colony named State of Brazil to the status of a kingdom and by the simultaneous union of that Kingdom of Brazil with the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of the Algarves, constituting a single state consisting of three kingdoms.
The Imperial Crown of Mexico was the crown created for the Sovereign of Mexico on two separate occasions in the 19th century. The first was created upon the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from the kingdom of Spain in 1821, for the First Mexican Empire. The second crown was created upon the decree of the Assembly of Notables in 1863 for the Second Mexican Empire.
The House of Iturbide is a former Imperial House of Mexico. It was founded by the Sovereign Mexican Constituent Congress on 22 June 1822 when the newly independent Mexican congress confirmed Agustín I's title of Constitutional Emperor of Mexico. He was baptized with the names of Saints Cosmas and Damian at the cathedral there. The last name Iturbide was originally from the Basque Country, Spain. Emperor Agustín abdicated and lived in exile with the prohibition on returning to Mexico. Despite that ban, he returned, was captured, and executed. Grandchildren of Emperor Agustín were adopted by Maximilian I of Mexico (1864-67), who had no biological children, and granted some status in the empheral Second Mexican Empire.
There are 12 monarchies in the Americas, being either sovereign states or self-governing territories that have a monarch as head of state. Each is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the monarch inherits his or her office according to law, usually keeping it until death or abdication, and is bound by laws and customs in the exercise of their powers. Nine of these monarchies are independent states; they equally share, as monarch of each, the person of Charles III, who resides primarily in the United Kingdom, making them part of a global personal union known as the Commonwealth realms. The others are dependencies of three European monarchies. As such, none of the monarchies in the Americas have a permanently residing monarch, though the Commonwealth realms each have a resident governor-general to represent King Charles III and perform most of his constitutional duties in his name and a high commissioner represents the Queen of Denmark and the Danish government in Greenland. Additionally, each of Canada’s 10 provinces functions as a subnational constituent monarchy, with the constitutional powers vested in the King exercised at the provincial level by a lieutenant governor.
The Second Empire of Haiti, officially known as the Empire of Haiti, was a state which existed from 1849 to 1859. It was established by the then-President, former Lieutenant General and Supreme Commander of the Presidential Guards under President Riché, Faustin Soulouque, who, inspired by Napoleon, declared himself Emperor Faustin I on 26 August 1849 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Port-au-Prince.
Coronations were previously held in the monarchies of Europe. The United Kingdom is the only monarchy in Europe that still practises coronation. Other European monarchies have either replaced coronations with simpler ceremonies to mark an accession or have never practised coronations. Most monarchies today only require a simple oath to be taken in the presence of the country's legislature.
The Coronation of the Emperor of Brazil was the religious act of consecration during which the monarchs of the Empire of Brazil were solemnly blessed, anointed, crowned, invested with the other items of the imperial regalia and enthroned, according to the usages of the Catholic Church, the Empire's official, established Church. The coronation of the Brazilian monarch confirmed the accession of a new emperor to the throne, and corresponded to similar rites that took place in other Christian monarchies. The two Brazilian emperors, Pedro I and Pedro II underwent the ceremony of coronation, on 1 December 1822 and 18 July 1841, respectively. Those remain the two sole acts of coronation that took place in the South American continent.
The crown of Pedro I is the first imperial crown of Brazil and was made for emperor Pedro I of Brazil. It was made in 1822 for his coronation and was the symbol and emblem of Brazilian imperial power until it was replaced in 1841 by the crown of his son and successor Pedro II. It is one of the jewels of the Brazilian Empire and is now on display at the Imperial Museum in Petrópolis.
