[LEGENDARY LAST IMPERIAL CORONATION SOLEMNIZED BY A POPE – "THE EMPIRE ON WHICH THE SUN NEVER SET" OR CHARLES V AND THE BEGINNING OF THE COLONIZATION OF SOUTH AMERICA] Kaysers Karls Krönung zü Bononia [The coronation of Emperor Charles at Bologna].

[Landshut: Johann Weißenburger, 1530]. Small quarto (19.2 × 15.5 cm). Modern half-vellum binding in the style of the period; [8 pp.] wih full-page title woodcut. Title woodcut very closely trimmed, with loss of the lower border line; tiny nick to final leaf; else about very good. Item #55433

Rare, sole published edition of a description of the legendary solemn coronation of Charles V as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation by Pope Clement VII (Giulio de’ Medici) in Bologna on February 24, 1530. This coronation, which took place three years after the Sack of Rome, is often seen as a historical turning point that marked the end of the Middle Ages in political terms. Unlike previous coronations, it did not take place in Rome, but in the northern Italian university city of Bologna, which belonged to the Papal States. Ten years earlier, the Habsburg had been elected emperor by the prince-electors in Frankfurt and then crowned Roman-German king in Aachen. Nevertheless, the imperial coronation in Bologna also made the division of office between Charles and his brother Ferdinand unambiguous, because only one year after the imperial coronation, Ferdinand was elected king in Cologne and then crowned in Aachen (his successors would no longer be crowned in Aachen, but directly in Frankfurt). Charles remained emperor, while his brother merely represented him as king.

The title woodcut seems to emphasize the emperor's self-confidence vis-à-vis Rome in two ways: The crowned emperor in the woodcut does not wear the actual Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, but rather a “house crown” or “private crown” used by the Habsburgs themselves in the form of a “mitre crown”, as seen, for example, in Hans Burgkmair's portrait of Emperor Frederick III (The most famous mitre crown is undoubtedly that of Rudolf II). The mitre crown deliberately combined the ecclesiastical mitre with the secular crown. And the woodcut depicts Charles not with the pope, but surrounded by the German prince-electors.

Yet the ceremony described speaks a completely different symbolic language. With the coronation during the Mass, between the Epistle sung “in Greek or Hebrew” and the Gospel, the subordination of the newly crowned emperor under the pope is repeatedly set on display. During the Mass the emperor now assumes the role of a subdeacon, who holds the paten during the Offertory. Several times the text makes the liturgical subordination of the emperor clear: “Then His Imperial Majesty rose and removed his mantle, and came before the pope like a Levite, and fell down upon the ground and kissed the pope’s maniple, and thereafter placed himself beneath the pope (…)”. In the course of the liturgy, deep bows and kneelings of the crowned emperor acting as a Levite before the pope follow repeatedly. While the pope finally received Communion seated, the emperor knelt at the end before the papal throne in order to receive the sacrament from his hand.

What preceded this is also described in detail: for example, the magnificent entrance into the church of dozens of bishops and cardinals and, above all, the pope, who was carried by twelve men and sat, dressed in a golden pluvial, on a "red velvet chair with golden buttons.” The liturgical sequence of the coronation was similar to the ordination of a deacon, who first lies prostrate on the floor while the Litany of All Saints is sung. But this subordination of the emperor to the pope was not limited to the liturgy alone. Even after Mass in front of the church, this principle of order is confirmed once again, for example when the emperor literally serves as a stirrup holder for the pope: “And when the pope wished to mount the horse, His Imperial Majesty reached for the right stirrup to hold it for him.” But it is not only actions that are recounted in detail; the colors, fabrics, and embellishments of the garments are also described repeatedly.

Even before that, coronation by the pope was not considered legally necessary, as election by the prince-electors and coronation as king were legally sufficient. His predecessor, Maximilian I, for example, was unable to be crowned by the pope because the Venetians prevented him from traveling to Rome. Maximilian had himself proclaimed “elected” emperor in the cathedral in Trento, and Pope Julius II agreed to this procedure from afar. The coronation of the emperor by the pope, which all subsequent emperors were to renounce, was therefore primarily a symbolic act. The divine right to rule had already been sealed by the archbishop's coronation of the king.

This major event was preceded by lengthy and momentous discussions between the emperor and the pope about the political order in Europe against the backdrop of the rise of Protestantism and threats from the Ottoman Empire. Among other things, Charles expressed his wish that the pope should refuse Henry VIII of England's request to annul his marriage to the Habsburg queen. As is well known, this conflict led to the establishment of the Church of England.

Just a few years after his coronation in Bologna, Charles received news of the conquest of the Inca Empire and the plundering of their gold treasures. Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital with a population of around two hundred thousand, far surpassing any European city, was destroyed and the Aztec Empire was placed under Charles' rule as New Spain. In Europe, the area became known as the “new land of gold,” and Charles also used the plundered works to demonstrate his global claim to power as Roman emperor. Albrecht Dürer visited an exhibition of Aztec spoils in Brussels, which he reported on extensively in his diary. Charles also took gold and silver works with him on state visits to impress the English king, for example. This further demonstrated that the war coffers were full.

Nevertheless, there were clear conflicts of interest between the Church and the Emperor. The conquistadors were not directly subordinate to the crown, but acted on their own account; they were profit-oriented entrepreneurs rather than salaried servants of the crown. The brutal actions of these people were criticized by some clerics. Franciscans and Dominicans in particular opposed enslavement with religious and moral arguments. (Cf. Heinz Schilling, Karl V. Der Kaiser, dem die Welt zerbrach, Munich 2020.)

The last imperial coronation solemnized by a pope, documented in this volume, marks the turning point from medieval Europe, in which the pope operated with political and military power, to the early modern world, in which the separation between ecclesiastical and secular power became increasingly manifest in rituals as well.

The printer and priest Johannes Weyssenburger initially lived and worked in Nuremberg, Franconia, although the vast majority of his books were later issued in the Bavarian metropolis of Landshut. His press was primarily used by the Roman Catholic Church in its fight against Protestantism. He printed not only explanations of the mass canon, collections of sermons, and legends of saints, but also writings against Luther. This made him one of the few printers available to the opponents of the new movement. At the same time, however, Weyssenburger was initially the printer of Luther's pre-Reformation defense of church asylum, “Tractatulus de his qui ad ecclesias confugiunt ...”. (Cf. ADB, vol. 42, pp. 290-291.)

VD16, K 40.

As of January 2026, KVK, OCLC shows only one holding in North America.

Price: €3,500.00

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