Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 27 Coronation Ceremony
Time quickly came to the end of November 1869, which was also the time when the Spanish government prepared the coronation ceremony for King Carlo I.

Primo attached great importance to the coronation ceremony and invited European powers including Britain, France, Prussia, Russia, Italy, Austria and old European monarchies such as Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium.

However, different countries have different attitudes towards the coronation ceremony of the King of Spain, and the identities of the envoys they sent are also completely different.

The most important ones should be Italy and Portugal.

Italy is easy to understand. Carlo was born into the Italian royal family and is the father of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy. It is natural that he is valued.

On the Portuguese side, Carlo's sister, Princess Maria Pia, married King Luis I of Portugal, so the two countries were related by marriage.

Secondly, as the only two countries on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain is a huge threat to Portugal.

The Portuguese government wanted to use this ceremony to get a glimpse into the attitude of the new Spanish King Carlo towards Portugal so that they could make corresponding preparations.

Although most European countries were invited to the coronation ceremony, the overall scale of the coronation ceremony was not large. After all, the Spanish government did not invest much money in this ceremony.

It's not that Primo didn't attach importance to Carlo's coronation ceremony. But the current Spanish government is supporting the colonial rebellion war while carrying out various reforms. It is indeed difficult to come up with a large amount of funds to hold the coronation ceremony.

Carlo didn't care how big his coronation ceremony was. What mattered most was the recognition of the Spanish people, and a bigger ceremony was not a good thing.

Through agricultural tax cuts and free literacy education, Carlo still gained a certain reputation in the hearts of the Spaniards.

At least the Spaniards supported this coronation ceremony, and there were many Spaniards participating in the event, making it look very lively.

Under the expectant gaze of the crowd, a well-trained royal guard protected several carriages with the crest of the Spanish Savoy dynasty and slowly drove towards the parliament.

Inside the carriage, Carlo, dressed in luxurious attire, was sitting with a serious expression on his face. Next to him was his palace steward Loren, who was reminding Carlo about the procedures of the coronation ceremony.

"Your Majesty, please remember to keep smiling." Loren did not forget to remind Carlo a second before Carlo stepped out of the carriage.

Carlo nodded, and the moment he stepped out of the carriage, the Spanish people watching outside immediately burst into warm cheers.

Of course, the leaders must have been arranged by the government long ago. At such a critical moment, it is impossible not to arrange a few people to incite public sentiment.

Carlo smiled and waved to the cheering crowd in a very friendly manner, without any airs of a king.

It was only then that the Spaniards saw clearly what their king looked like: a young and handsome man, with a completely different demeanor from Queen Isabella.

"This is what our king should be like." This thought came to the minds of many Spaniards.

For those Spaniards who still support the monarchy, what they most desire is for Spain to give birth to a wise and powerful monarch, who would also care about the plight of the lower-class Spaniards.

As for Carlo's current actions, although he is still far from being a wise and powerful monarch, Carlo has indeed shown some attitudes different from Queen Isabel in caring about the grassroots people.

In fact, we have to admit that making a living by relying on one's looks is useful in any era.

Carlo not only has a good appearance, but also has a height of more than 1.8 meters and a strong body. Coupled with his noble status as a king and his aura of being rich and wealthy, he quickly attracted the favor of a large number of Spanish girls.

If a media organization were to select the most popular man in Spain, Carlo would definitely be on the list, and it would not be difficult for him to be ranked first.

Maintaining his gentle smile, Carlo waved to the crowd and slowly walked into the parliament building.

Some of the guards behind him stayed around the carriage, while others stood guard around the parliament building.

At the entrance of the parliament, Spanish Prime Minister Primo had been waiting eagerly. After Primo gave Carlo a standard Spanish noble salute, he led Carlo into the parliament building.

In the parliament hall on the first floor, Spanish nobles, members of parliament, a small number of invited foreign guests and some religious figures had been waiting for a long time.

Carlo was crowned by the Spanish Archbishop, Archbishop Pedro of Toledo
It has been a long-standing European tradition for bishops to crown kings, and it was almost a default practice before Napoleon.

The status of the bishop who crowns the monarch seems to determine the legitimacy of the crowned monarch.

Therefore, whether for the sake of his legitimacy in the hearts of the people or to reassure the complex religious forces in Spain, an archbishop with sufficient status and position was needed to crown Carlo.

In fact, the best choice was Pope Pius IX. But the Pope had just been driven out of Rome by the Italian government, and his territory had been reduced from the vast Papal States to the tiny Vatican. How could he crown Carlo, who was also from the House of Savoy?
Although the use of force could threaten Pius IX to come to Madrid to be crowned, it might also backfire and make the Catholic Spaniards dissatisfied.

It would be better to let the Spanish chief archbishop do the crowning. Anyway, the Archbishop of Toledo’s status in Spain is already sufficient.

"Your Majesty Carlo. Are you willing to dedicate your life to Spain?" Archbishop Pedro asked seriously, holding the crown representing the King of Spain.

"I am willing."

Archbishop Pedro nodded and said solemnly: "On behalf of God, I grant you the crown of Spain. May you be kind to your people and loyal to your country."

After a long and tedious coronation process, Archbishop Pedro of Toledo finally placed the crown representing the Spanish throne on Carlo's head in front of everyone.

Carlo wore the Spanish crown and held the scepter symbolizing the king's power in his hand. He glanced at the Spanish nobles and parliamentarians, feeling full of pride and high spirits.

"Greetings to His Majesty the King."

Primo, who was standing by, saw that the time had come and took the lead in performing the noble salute to Carlo.

"Your Majesty the King!"

In unison, Spanish parliamentarians and nobles, including Archbishop Pedro of Toledo, bowed their heads to the new king of Spain.

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(End of this chapter)