CEREMONIAL (Fr. c•'n'nioni4t/e. Lat. nronioli.s, from cariur WI fl , ceremony), I'ot RT. The origin of elaborate formalities in the daily life of a monarchical court is to be traced to the Eastern nations, whose genius is in harmony with -mil external expressions of reverence.
The 'Roman emperors were at first cautious in the introduction of such ceremonial, owing to aversion of their subjects to king ly pomp. Dioeletian was the first to establish it on a large scale, and the later Byzantine em perors largely developed it. Charlemagne, on assuming the title (if Emperor. introduced into western Europe a considerable amount. of this formality: mid the whole spirit of the feudal system, with its regular gradations of rank and its complete theoretical organization, by which every Melliber of the body pOlitie had his own definite place. favored its extension. Some further impulse was given by the marriage of the Emperor tithe IL to the Greek princess Theophano (972) : but it readied a more elabo rate development at the Court of Philip the Good. Duke of Burgundy (1419-67). This prince, whose power equaled that of the sovereigns of his lime, while he could not place himself on a level with them, found satisfartion in establishing a eere monial full of minute formalities. Through the marriage of Mary of Burgundy with 3Iaximilian. they Were into the Austrian Court. where they held their ground until the reign of Joseph I I. (1741-901. to whose modern ideas
they were obnoxious. fly dynastic conniption they spread to Spain and found there a congenial soil, flourishing in all their fullness until com paratively recent. tittles. In France ceremonial was not so elaborate until the reign of Francis llenry III. also took great pleasure in the ordering of stately formalities; but their estab lishment really dates from the marriage of Anne of Austria with Louis XIII. (1615). and her son Innis XIV. had only to put the finishing touches to the system. %thieh is as inseparable from the idea of his reign as the wig is from any repre sentation of his person. So burdensome did its pressure become at the French Court that Fred erick the Great said he would appoint. a deputy. if he were King of France, to attend to the cere monies and leave him time fur nlling. The ReVO lution destroyed ceremonial for a time. hut Na poleon attempted to add to the prestige of his throne by its rePstablishmeot. The Bourbon Restoration revived it still further, but the 'July monarchy' adapted itself more to modern condi tions. In England. Queen Victoria's personal taste fur simplicity abridged ceremonial observ ance during her reign: hut it was to a certain extent restored under her successor. Edward VII. See PREcEDENcE: T1TLEs HONOR.