[RETROPOST, MARCH 1511]

Music.

How’d the fucker have time to sweat so much in this weather, Jan thought, glaring at the Moravian nobleman who stood in front of him. The corpulent man was outright rank under his dark blue coat - so much so that the poor Hradec kid next to him was doing his best to shuffle further away from the man.

The day was damn cold for March. This at least gave the attendees in the cathedral free reign to wear all available layers of regnal symbolism. Jan Vrat had come dressed simple - red coat with silver linings, his freshly obtained personal ostrich crest decorating the front. Around his neck, the livery collar of his Chancellery of Prague, a silver chain holding the crest of the city. Dress to your status among the highborn, and no more, his father had said as he sent Jan off from the farm to university. But remind them in detail of your achievement.

Remind them he did, standing wedged between some Moravian highborn types and the rank bastard up front. Hussites, the whole lot of them. Jan was ambivalent to their presence in the cathedral of his kind - the Supreme Burgrave had been clear in emphasising the need for all of the Crown’s subjects to pledge loyalty to the to-be-King. But to do so in a sacred house of the Lord God in the presence of scores of doubtful believers was in Jan’s mind a step too far in the appeasement ploy.

The well oiled hinges of the Saint Vitus cathedral hummed as the gigantic doors opened onto the castle square outside and the cathedral choir commenced with a hymn. A trail had been set up from the palace doors to the cathedral to clear the way, lined with the red calixtine banners of the Hussite Prague militia. A message to the King.

A message to true believers, Jan thought, scrunching his nose. The city chooses to tolerate us, to host the King, to be ruled by the Supreme Burgrave.

Through the cathedral doors, a procession entered. The High Marshal of the Crown, Jindřich z Lipé, walked front and centre. In his out-stretched hands he held the Sword of Saint Wenceslas, its handle on the left. Tobiáš Kaplíř, Burgrave of Karlštejn, followed the Marshal. Four men were lined up behind him, carrying a small gold-encrusted litter. Inside, one could see resting upon a red pillow the Crown of Saint Wenceslas, surrounded by the royal sceptre and orb. Behind the litter walked the toddler - Louis Jagiellon, five years of age. Surrounded by the King’s men, the kid made a stoic face, though his eyes eagerly searched for the old King. Vladislaus awaited at the front, on the right before the main altar.

To the tune of some groans, men took a knee as the litter passed by. As they reached the main altar, the procession was greeted by four nobleman officers of the crown council. Zdeněk Lev stood in the middle, clad in full ceremonial armour with his house colours on display. The others surrounded him, while the spot immediately to Lev’s left was left vacant. The procession split as it reached the front of the altar. The Marshal took his place beside Lev, turning around to face the King. Kaplíř led the litter left and stopped in front of the High Chamberlain Ladislav Šternberk. Prince Louis stepped out from amongst his father’s men to come face to face with Zdeněk Lev, while the knights turned to face the crowd behind him.

The choir quietened. Metal scraped on metal as the Supreme Marshal pulled the blessed sword from its scabbard and took a knee to present it to Zdeněk Lev. Lev raised it above his head to present the cut-out in the blade in the shape of the sacred cross. Lowering the sword, he took five steps to the Prince, knelt, and presented the sword to Louis. The prince uttered a phrase in Latin under his breath and took the sword in both hands. As Lev released the sword from his grasp, the Prince swayed forward, arms shaking under the weight of the weapon. Jan Vrat could hear breaths being held around him. After an excruciating moment, the Prince remained standing however, the sword resting safely on his arms.

Lev rose, turning to the litter. Tobiáš Kaplíř stepped forth, retrieved the crown and bequeathed it to the Supreme Burgrave. Lev returned to the Prince and displayed the crown high above, between himself and Louis. The Prince turned and took a seat on the throne behind him. The apostolic administrator of the archbishopric stepped forth from beside the King. The choir once again let itself be heard, singing Veni Creator Spiritus. Jan Vrat could finally feel the presence of God - despite the political follies and doubtful believers that were present, he now had confidence. This was right.

As the choir finished, the apostolic administrator called to his side a priest bearing the holy oil and led the crowd in prayer. Still holding the Crown high above, Lev demanded from the gathered whether it is their wish that the Prince be crowned King, and the crowd let sound an Aye that would echo in the great cathedral. The apostolic administrator then approached the Prince, drawing with holy oil a cross on the child’s forehead and dipping three drops on his hair. Finished, he stepped back and exclaimed: “In nomine Dei.”

The Burgrave of Karlštejn stepped forth. The Prince lowered the Sword onto his lap and received from the Burgrave investment with the royal sceptre and orb. The Burgrave stepped back and all the Officers but Lev took a knee. In the ensuing piercing silence, the Supreme Burgrave looked at the King and lowered the Crown of Saint Wenceslas onto the bare oiled head of Louis of the Jagiellons.

“In nomine Dei,” Zdeněk Lev declared, “Ludovicus Rex.”

And so echoed the thousands.

Music.

The Vladislav Hall was awash in Bohemian and Praguer red, white and gold. Standards lined the walls and long tables were set up along the sides of the enormous banquet hall, groaning under the weight of platters of the finest Bohemia had to offer. The centre of the hall was left empty, except for a wooden fence that ran along the spine of the hall. After an hour of feasting under the King’s watchful eye, armoured men entered the hall. One could recognize the ceremonial armour of the Supreme Burgrave and assume the rest too were Officers of the Crown, though the men had ditched their family colours for a white tunic bearing a golden cross. They proceeded to the table of the royals at the far end of the hall, knelt in front of the king and recited the Lord’s Prayer.

Rising, they then drew their swords and led the hall in the Praguer militia chant: Pán Bůh pomoc naše - the Lord is our relief. At its conclusion, parts of the gathered crowd followed with another: ave Praga, mater urbium.

The Officers joined the tables beside the King’s. To the sound of fanfare, more knights entered and a crier declared a joust in the name of Louis.

Alongside the royal feast, another was held on the castle square outside, next to the cathedral, for those less fortunate who were unfit to eat in the presence of the King. A play was put on amongst them, where a faux-crowned child resembling Louis pranced about in a sheep-herder get-up, chasing his livestock. He had one particularly fat, turban-bearing ram under control, having tied a rope around its testicles. Tugging it along, faux-Louis did his best to catch a fighting pair of rams, one of which was equipped with an exceptional moustache. After a while, the two rams locked horns and faux-Louis proceeded to beat the crap out of both with his shepherd’s crook as the watchers cheered.

At the conclusion of the play, a field is set up outside for a melee, where all can enter. While the melee goes on, more areas are set up for contests in archery, strength and speed.

Throughout the night, plays, dancing grounds and locales are kept running all around the castle and the city at large.

Expenses:

Bohemian Crown Treasury finances the event to the tune of 250,000f, of which 75,000f goes to the joust, melee and archery reward funds. A further 400,000f is invested in a fund overseen by the Praguer Chancellor (Vrat) to restore and beautify the city and main venues - cosmetic work is done rapidly ahead of the coronation, with the rest going toward long term restoration and infrastructure work planned for the next 5 years - the needs of the city are scoped out during the superficial restorations.

[META]

See the comment below to send a specific person to the contests.

Feel free to present yourself and RP at the events.