Commentary on the Splendor of the Arch-Offices in the Coronations of Charles VII, Maria Amalia, and Francis

hereditary. He approached the Caesar on the throne while armored and, with bended knee, begged for the confirmation of the heirloom, which is usually considered an honor in the discipline of heraldry. Having been struck twice on the shoulder by the Caesar with a sword, he was adorned with the heirloom, which the Caesar hung around his neck with a red ribbon. When the Emperor had distributed the equestrian honors to all the candidates, he gave the sword to the Saxon legate, Schoenberg, who in turn gave it to Pappenheim. The Emperor descended from the throne to the oratory, and the Archbishops of Mainz and Cologne, as the first legates of the absent Electors, each took their respective seats. At that time, the dean, the senior canon, and the syndic of the church of Aachen appeared before his Imperial Majesty, Charles VII, praying that, in accordance with the custom of former Caesars, he would allow himself to be co-opted into the number of the canons of Aachen and would confirm the privileges of the church by oath. The Caesar consented and took the oath, which was written on parchment and bordered in gilded silver, offered by those deputies, in these words:

We, Charles, by the favor of divine clemency, King of the Romans and canon of our church of the Blessed Mary of Aachen, promise and swear upon these holy Gospels of God fidelity to the same church, and that we shall defend and cause to be defended the same church, its rights, goods, and persons from injuries and acts of violence, and we confirm all its privileges and customs.

Nor did the deputies forget those things which the church was accustomed to receive from the imperial coronation. According to ancient custom, they are owed the cloth with the cushions upon which the King entered the church and first poured out his prayers to God. The cloth laid over the bench upon which he was accustomed to pray before the coronation. The robe or cloak, as well as the garment in which the King is crowned. Two golden carpets, one for the seat before the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the other, with which the royal throne is adorned in the high monastery. Furthermore, fifty-six golden florins are paid for the rights of the church in the manner of prelates, as well as three tuns of the best wine, two of which were accustomed to go to the church of the divine Virgin, and the third to the college of the divine Adalbert of Aachen. The Emperor did not fail to meet these desires and ancient rights of the people of Aachen, but responded to them and provided letters of guarantee, the letters of reversal