Written by James Hawksley
With this being the Jubilee, it would make sense to write a blog about royal ceremonies, and incorporate our own leathery piece of royal ceremonial history.
So, you’re a new Monarch in times gone by, you sit in your chair during your coronation and look around the room, possibly thinking “How many of these people really want me to be sitting here?” Well, as a noble attending a coronation, you were allowed a chance to speak up against your Prince or Princess’s newly crowned position.
But when was the best time to speak up about this? What would be the consequence of speaking out? And more importantly, what does this have to do with leather? Let’s find out.
The King or Queen’s champion was part of the coronation ceremony, where a noble chosen through bloodline, rode into the ceremonial banquet, wearing a full suit of armour on horseback , carrying a glove. He would give anyone the opportunity to speak out against the new Prince or Princess’s right to the throne. The champion would then throw down the gauntlet and challenge said person to a ‘trial by combat’. But don’t worry, there was no blood and slaughter involved, it was purely ceremonial. How many dared to speak up we may never know, especially if there were any pacifists amongst them. How this wasn’t a treasonable offence to speak up against your new monarch’s reign so openly is a mystery. Maybe because the monarch wasn’t quite a King or Queen at the time of the challenge ?
In our collection of many gloves we have this gilded buff beauty. This is a ceremonial glove, used to challenge any opposition. Dated from around the first half of the 19th century for the coronation of George IVth. There is also a 17th century saddle in Saddlers’ Hall which was also used for this coronation.
So who was selected to be the Champion? Well it mainly fell to one family. The Dykmokes of Lincolnshire: as far back as the 14th century. But the ceremony was even older, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, who selected the 1st Baron Robert Marmion to be his Champion.
This title of Champion was handed over to the Dykemokes in 1377 , under King John’s reign. Marmion died without a male successor, but luckily, a male member of Dykrmoke family had married Margaret Ludlow, daughter of Sir Thomas Ludlow and Johanna Marmion, daughter of Sir Philip Marmion.
During these times, the Garter King of Arms read out the challenge, and the Champion threw down the gauntlet at the entrance to Westminster Hall, then again in the middle of the Hall, and lastly at the foot of the Throne, each time repeating the challenge. Each time the gauntlet was recovered by the Garter. The Champion was rewarded with a gilt-covered cup, the monarch having first drunk to the Champion from it. So with no challengers having come forward, the Champion had to reverse his horse out of the hall between the banqueting tables without doing any damage. Not something that can be done easily I’m certain.
The only time this changed was during Henry VIII’s coronation where he picked a friend from Gloucestershire, and let’s face it, Henry VIII wasn’t a man you’d go to about your grievances. History tells us, it probably wasn’t a wise plan.
So what became of the ceremony? It was last orchestrated during the coronation of George IVth in 1821. William IVth who succeeded him did not carry on the tradition, as the coronation banquets in which the champion was part of were cancelled. William felt it was too expensive and by the time Queen Victoria came to the throne, the tradition was well and truly knocked on the head.
The Dykemokes were not forgotten though. Until this day, they are still called the King or Queen’s Champion but act as a standard bearers to the crown during the coronation.
The ending of this tradition makes our gilded buff leather glove even more special as it was the last one to be used in the centuries old ceremony.
