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  The British Library, London. (Two 1215 exemplifications are housed here.)

  Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, England.

  Lincoln Castle, Lincoln, England. (On loan from Lincoln Cathedral.)

  In other locations around the world are several exemplifications of King Henry Ill’s three revisions of 1216, 1217, and 1225, as well as his reissues or confirmations (modeled on his last revision) of 1237, 1253, and 1265 (at locations such as the Bodleian Library, Oxford; The British Library, London; and Durham Cathedral, Durham, England); and four known exemplifications of King Edward I’s 1297 Magna Carta (Guildhall, London; National Library of Australia, Canberra; Public Record Office, London; and the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., on loan from the Perot Foundation).

  THE STONE OF SCONE

  DATE: 1249 (by historical record; earlier by tradition).

  WHAT IT IS: The coronation throne of English monarchs, seized from the Scots in 1296.

  WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE: The stone is a rectangular block of sandstone with a rough, grainy gray color. It weighs 458 pounds and measures 26¾ inches long, 16¾ inches wide, and 10¾ inches high. Two rusty iron rings are attached on top of it at the sides.

  From biblical figures to ancient kings, from medieval monarchs to modern royalty, the story of the Stone of Scone is wrapped in legend and fact; it is an artifact with a long and distinguished history that symbolizes the heritage of Scotland and England and the glory of their sovereigns. Long and continuous documentation of the royal inauguration throne makes it a remarkable object of history, but its mythical background as the pillow on which a holy biblical figure rested his head and had a divine revelation inspired medieval kings, warriors, and citizens to venerate it as nothing less than a channel to God.

  By legend, the rough block of sandstone on which Jacob rested his head at Bethel was the Stone of Scone, also known as the Coronation Stone or Stone of Destiny.

  The oldest legend associated with the famous stone concerns the patriarch Jacob, who at Bethel dreamed of a ladder reaching from earth to heaven on which angels ascended and descended. When Jacob awoke the next morning, he took the stone on which he had rested his head and set it up as a pillar, pouring oil on top of it and vowing that if the Lord kept his promise to provide Jacob with bread to eat and raiment to wear so that he could return to his father’s house in peace, then “this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house.”

  Legends continue to account for the stone’s pre-documented history. Called Jacob’s Pillow, the stone was said to have been taken by his sons into the land of Egypt, from which it was later transported to Ireland. The earliest known account of this latter trip was related around 1301 by Baldred Bissett, a commissioner dispatched to the Pope to support the cause for Scottish independence, who wrote, “Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt [wife to King Gathelus, the son of the first king of the ancient Grecian district of Attica], with an armed band and large fleet sailed for Scotland, taking with her the royal seat [the Stone]. She conquered the Picts and took their kingdom and from her the Scots are named.”

  This legend may have been fabricated by Bissett, who wanted to establish a long line of descent for the Scots in a hearing of entitlement for the stone argued by Englishmen and Scots before the Pope. In 1527 the Scottish historian Hector Boece claimed the stone was carried from Spain to Ireland by Simon Brech, who in 700 C.E. invaded the island. On a hill known as Tara, Brech set up the stone as a throne on which kings were to be crowned. These differing accounts about the stone are still in the realm of myth, which characterizes the stone’s history until the sixth century C.E.

  It is about this time that the real history of the Stone of Scone (pronounced “skoon”) begins. From the sixth to the thirteenth century, stories about the stone are intertwined with actual historical figures—kings and other persons of known record.

  By the sixth century, there was a tradition of Irish kings being crowned on Lia Fail, the “fatal stone,” a reference to the lore that if the person seated was a rightful claimant the stone would cry out, but if he were an imposter it would not utter a sound. Murkertagh, a descendant of Niall, a fifth-century Irish king and allegedly the country’s first Christian ruler, bequeathed the stone to the sovereign of the Gaelic kingdom of Dalriada, which spread from Ireland to what later became known as Scotland. The stone at this time was believed to be the rock on which Jacob had dreamed of the ladder extending to heaven. It was this king of Dalriada who was said to have deposited Lia Fail (or the Stone of Destiny, as it was also known) in Dunstaffnage castle in Argyllshire.

  This period precedes the formation of the nation of Scotland, which then comprised a number of different tribal kingdoms. For many years there were squabbles between the kingdoms, as well as invasions by foreigners. Unity finally came for two kingdoms, however, when in 843 Kenneth MacAlpin, the king of the Scots, conquered the Picts and became king of the united nation of Scotland. Three years later, in 846, MacAlpin conveyed the Stone of Destiny to a church on the Mote Hill of Scone, the old Pict capital, and it was from this location that it received another name, the Stone of Scone. Although no trace of any words remain on the stone, according to tradition Kenneth I engraved on it a Latin inscription, which translated into English reads:

  If fates go right, where’er this stone is found

  The Scots shall monarchs of that realm crowned.

  Exactly when the stone was first used as an inauguration throne* is not known, but it is believed to have served this function for several centuries prior to its earliest authenticated use as an inauguration stone in 1249. The account of this occasion requires some historical context.

  In the mid-thirteenth century, Scotland was entering its medieval golden age. After more than 150 years of attempts to Anglicize the country’s crown and church—a process commenced by Margaret, the widow of Malcolm III, and continued by her sons, Edgar, Alexander, and David, who were determined to transform Celtic Scotland into a feudal state modeled after the English system—the Celtic rebellions had finally come to an end, and English had replaced Gaelic as the national language. While attempting to seize the Hebrides from Norway, King Alexander II died of fever, leaving the Scottish realm to his son, who would lead the country into an era of stability, tranquility, and prosperity.

  Following the death of his father exactly one week earlier, Alexander III was inaugurated the king of Scotland on July 13, 1249. The inauguration took place at the monastery on the Mote Hill of Scone. In the church courtyard a cadre of the nation’s most powerful noblemen escorted the new king, a mere seven-year-old boy, in a procession to the inauguration site, where a cross was set in the ground. As the Bishop of St. Andrews consecrated the boy, the men witnessing the ceremony placed gifts before their new king as he sat on a large stone covered with precious fabrics. Descriptions of Alexander’s inauguration were rendered by chroniclers a century later, including by John de Fordun, who in about 1355 wrote that no king who had not been consecrated on the stone would be recognized: “This Stone is reverently preserved in that monastery [Scone] for the King of Scotland, nor were any of the Kings wont to reign anywhere in Scotland unless they had on receiving the name of King first sat upon the royal Stone at Scone.” King Alexander III, almost certainly like other Scottish kings before him, was inaugurated by sitting on the Stone of Destiny, but he was not crowned like the kings of other nations.

  Scotland prospered under Alexander’s reign. But one night, while he was riding to join his wife, the forty-four-year-old king’s horse threw him, and he died from the fall. His children having previously died, his only living descendant was his granddaughter, Margaret. An arrangement was made for Margaret to marry the king of England’s son before being crowned, but she died before the marriage, leaving the successor to the crown in dispute.

  Thirteen claimants vied for the throne of Scotland, most seriously among them Robert Bruce, John de Balliol, and John Hastings. Unsure which claimant�
��s lineage most properly entitled him to the crown, Scotland’s overseers asked King Edward I of England to settle the dispute. Edward agreed, but not before securing recognition from each of the royal competitors that he was Scotland’s superior lord.

  A judicial proceeding was held in which the royal candidates made their appeals, and Edward awarded possession of the Scottish kingdom to John de Balliol, who was made king at Scone in November 1291, where he sat on the Stone of Destiny and immediately paid homage to Edward. But during the events that followed, Balliol fell out of favor with Edward, who wanted control over all the countries of the British Isles. First, shortly after taking his oath, Balliol refused to appear in a Scottish suit before Westminster judges and was held in willful contempt of court, although he later submitted. But he was treated with disdain at Parliament and would not submit to Edward’s request to serve in his army for England’s impending war with France; indeed, in 1295 he became an ally of France’s King Philip IV. The next year, Balliol invaded England but was captured and surrendered. To demonstrate Scottish subjugation, Edward took possession of Scotland’s royal documents and seized the Stone of Scone, placing it in Westminster Abbey, next to his seat of power, the Palace of Westminster. It is possible that at this time iron rings were attached to the top of the heavy stone so poles could be inserted to carry it south to London.

  In 1301 Edward I ordered a special Coronation Chair* to be made, in which the Stone of Scone could be enclosed under the chair’s wooden seat. From the time Edward II was crowned in 1308, every sovereign of England has been crowned on the oaken chair containing the stone, with three exceptions: The thirteen-year-old son of Edward IV, Edward V, whose father’s marriage was alleged to be invalid and who was subsequently murdered—supposedly by Richard III—in the Tower of London; Mary II, who shared the crown with William III and used another chair while William sat in the Coronation Chair; and Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936 before he could be crowned.

  The Coronation Chair with the Stone of Scone under the seat. Almost all the monarchs of England since Edward II in 1308 have been crowned sitting in the chair.

  These three exceptions notwithstanding, the Coronation Chair, with the Stone of Scone under the seat, since 1308 has represented the remarkable common bond among all the English monarchs who have received the crown since that time. Even a Scottish king was crowned on the Stone. In 1603, England’s Queen Elizabeth died, and since she had no heirs, the monarchy passed to her nearest living male relative, her cousin, King James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary Queen of Scots. James VI became King James I of England and united Scotland and England.

  Over the centuries the lofty stone was used only for coronations of English sovereigns. It was always kept encased in the Coronation Chair except on a rare few occasions. One was possibly for the installation of Oliver Cromwell in 1657 as Lord Protector, when the Coronation Chair was moved to Westminster Hall during England’s Commonwealth Period (Cromwell was installed in a ceremony but rejected kingship). During World War II the stone was hidden in a vault in Westminster Abbey, while the Coronation Chair was removed to Gloucester Cathedral.

  Perhaps the stone’s most remarkable absence from the Coronation Chair resulted from its theft on Christmas morning 1950.

  At about two o’clock in the morning, four Scottish nationalists, ranging in age from twenty to twenty-five, broke into Westminster Abbey. Construction workers were effecting repairs on the church, and scaffolds that had been erected provided partial shielding while the nationalists carried out their crime. After exerting much labor to extract the stone from the chair, they dragged the stone along by its iron rings, only to have it break into two pieces. They placed the smaller piece in a car, and after a policeman appeared, they left, but one nationalist returned later to take the larger piece.

  Dr. Alan Don, the dean of Westminster, pleaded for the return of the Stone on radio, and a massive police investigation to recover the relic ensued. The Scottish nationalists, who had hidden the stone in a wooded area, moved it to the Arbroath Abbey in Scotland. On April 11, 1951, a surprised custodian found the stone, restored to one piece now (presumably by mortar), on the altar, and two days later the medieval coronation throne was returned to Westminster Abbey. The following February, after security measures were instituted, the Stone of Scone was returned to its cavity in the Coronation Chair. The Scottish nationalist thieves were not prosecuted, perhaps out of sympathy for their belief that the Stone should be returned to its homeland.

  Indeed, the stone’s official return was later to take place. After seven hundred years at Westminster Abbey, the Stone of Scone, by consent of the queen of England, was returned to Scotland on November 30, 1996. The announcement of the decision was made in the House of Commons by Prime Minister John Major, and it came as a shock to authorities at Westminster. The reason the stone was removed was unclear to the Abbey authorities; conjectures in the press ranged from the fact that 1996 was the seven hundredth anniversary of the stone’s seizure from Scotland in 1296 to the suspicion that its removal was a political ploy in an election year for the Conservative Party to receive votes from Scottish people. But announcement of the removal also promoted discussion over whether Scotland should gain independence.

  Although the Stone of Scone is now separated from the Coronation Chair, provisions have been made to temporarily return it to Westminster Abbey to serve its traditional role when a new British monarch is crowned. With the return of the Stone of Scone to Scotland, a national treasure is home once again.

  That this object has played a consistent and vital role in a national custom for centuries is in itself quite remarkable. The antiquity of the stone and its alleged use as an inauguration throne by Scottish kings of the Dark Ages conjures up romantic images of regal ceremonies with noblemen and prelates dressed in their finest garments, paying homage to the new monarch sitting proudly on the royal seat, or of warriors transporting it through the countryside, filled with awe at its reputation. With its fantastic uses and associations through the ages, the Stone of Scone, revered by many long ago as Jacob’s Pillow, serves as a tangible emblem of the efforts of our long-ago ancestors to establish and maintain an orderly, harmonious society.

  LOCATION: Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland.

  Footnotes

  *In medieval times the word inauguration was used to describe the ceremony in which Scottish kings came to power by sitting on the Stone of Scone (much later, the word came to refer to the ceremony in which presidents were inducted into office). Unlike Scottish kings, English kings were crowned, and the word coronation was (and continues to be) used to describe their accession to the throne. Medieval English kings looked down on their Scottish counterparts, seeing coronation as a more powerful investiture of royal authority.

  *The 1301 oaken Coronation Chair is still in existence today and is in relatively good shape for its great age, despite suffering some maltreatment over the years in addition to natural wear. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, for example, schoolboys and visitors to Westminster Abbey defaced the chair by etching their names and other writings into it. At its highest point, the chair is seven feet tall.

  THE ESSEX RING

  DATE: Late sixteenth century.

  WHAT IT IS: A finger ring with a dramatic Renaissance legend attached to it.

  WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE: The ring has an outer border of gold and is set with a sardonyx cameo portrait of Elizabeth I about a half inch high and a half inch at its greatest width. Elizabeth’s left profile is shown, her face a light bluish white. She wears a wig and a ruff, both auburn in color, and her dress is bluish white; there are a few auburn streaks on the shoulder of the dress. The background of the portrait is dark blue, surrounded by a border that is a very dark blue-black. There are patterns of circles on the shank of the ring (the loop around the finger). The condition of the gold is good, although Elizabeth’s nose is somewhat snub, perhaps due to damage to the cameo.

  English folklore is ri
fe with tales about characters who extricate themselves from suspenseful dilemmas by using magical or divinely endowed objects. The Holy Grail, the Excalibur Scabbard, and the Bleeding Lance, for example, are mythical artifacts that supposedly protected or saved the lives of such heroes as Lancelot, Perceval, Galahad, and even King Arthur himself. Passed down through the ages in real life is a gold cameo ring whose legend tells of a venerable queen who bestowed it upon a favored soldier with the declaration that should he ever be in trouble, he was to send it back to her, and she would come to his rescue. Just a few years later the soldier, convicted of treason, faced a gruesome death by beheading and made a desperate attempt from prison to return the cameo ring to the queen and save his life. What happened next swept the nation into one of England’s most compelling romantic legends, capturing the imagination and hearts of its citizens.

  There are two main protagonists in this tale: Elizabeth, the queen of England from 1558 to 1603; and Robert Devereux, the second earl of Essex. They were related—Essex’s mother being the queen’s cousin—but it wasn’t until his introduction at court in 1584 by his guardian, Lord Burghley, Queen Elizabeth’s lord high treasurer and chief minister, that the handsome and genteel young Essex became a favorite of the fifty-one-year-old queen. In 1587, after Essex returned from the Netherlands—where he had fought valiantly at Zutphen in a mission to help a Spanish rebellion—he was made Master of the Horse. Many fabulous honors at court were in store for the favorite of the queen, and the future of Essex, who was born in 1566 and graduated from Trinity College in Cambridge, shone brightly.

  By this time in her life, Elizabeth had established herself as a firm and intelligent sovereign, and she was on the eve of one of the greatest accomplishments of her reign: the defeat of the Spanish Armada sent by Philip II, who wanted to protect Spanish colonies in the New World from English invasion and to make England a Catholic country again by ousting the queen. Elizabeth continued the absolute monarchy of her Tudor forebears—her father, Henry VIII, who was king of England from 1509 to 1547, and grandfather, Henry VII, who ruled from 1485 to 1509 and was the son of the earl of Richmond, Edmund Tudor—as well as maintained the country’s religion of Protestantism, instituted by Henry VIII.