Page:History of the Thirty Years' War - Gindely - Volume 1.djvu/199

 matrons and maidens of the nobility and the citizens waiting in their best attire for the arrival of the royal pair. As the Queen was far advanced in a delicate state, artillery salutes were, on her account, avoided. The whole pageant, the cost of which for Prague alone amounted to 50,000 florins, was admired by all, although the unfriendly weather of the late autumnal day was a drawback on the pleasantness of the impression. Superstitious people thought they could see signs from which they might draw auguries of the future of the new kingdom; of course they found what they wished, some pleasing themselves with propitious, and others troubled by unpropitious, omens.

After the festive entrance, preparations were made for the coronation in the cathedral. In spite of the great changes which had long been taking place in Bohemia, this church had remained until within a few days still in the hands of the Catholics, and the metropolitan chapter provided for a daily service there. On the 17th of October the chapter had received orders from the Directors at the Palsgrave’s demand to deliver the keys of the church and vacate their lodgings in the castle and upon the Hradschin.

The coronation itself took place on the 4th of November (1619). At the appointed hour Frederic repaired to the Chapel of Wenceslas, where he was clad with a splendid coronation mantle, after which he advanced in solemn procession to the high altar. Thirty-eight clergymen—all adherents of the Bohemian Protestant Confession—headed the procession; these were followed by the chief functionaries of the land, who bore the insignia of the