**7. Conclusions**

As is known, coronations were an important demonstration of sovereignty over the subjects, and their liturgy (of varying complexity) could be complemented by gestures and other minor acts which made visible the power of the king and the "state of health" of relations between the king and the ecclesiastical powers, whose role was progressively reduced in ceremonies until they were relegated to the strictly religious.

Although lack of space prevents me from adding specific comparisons with other kingdoms, it is particularly evident that in the Crown of Aragon papal power constantly hindered the development of the Aragonese coronation ceremony. Although at first glance the picture described here does not seem to have an overarching sense, the relationship between the kings and the popes (sometimes fluid, sometimes very tense) was the reason for the introduction of significant innovations in the coronation rites, whose roots go back to the Roman pontifical of the 13th century. In some cases, to prevent their subjugation to Rome, kings were not crowned, but this meant that their power was subsequently questioned by their subjects. Birth right was key to their claim to power, as was their submission to the law when they swore to respect the customs of the respective kingdoms before the Cortes. James I introduced the sword as a characteristic emblem of the Crown of Aragon: this insignia grew in prominence as a symbol of authority because justified his sovereignty over newly conquered lands. But this meant that his authority was solely secular and did not have support of the church. During the 14th century, with the monarchy's increasingly autocratic nature, a kind of new secularization can be observed in the "ordo coronationis" whose peculiar features had been articulated little earlier during the reign of Alfonso IV, who abandoned the vassalage commitment to Rome and adopted a new symbolic language. These new developments were recorded in the scrolls of the *Ceremonial de consagración y coronación* commissioned by Peter IV and strengthened the monarchy; however, they also threatened a clear break with the church which the king sought to avoid through various mechanisms. One of the most significant was the promotion of the cult of Saint George who, as emissary and representative of God, his holy assistance has to be perceived as a way of sanctifying and giving divine approval to the authenticity and legitimacy of James' right to govern these territories as a king without being crowned. Thus, the relationship between the monarchic and the divine was finally clearly established. Peter IV promoted this sacred help, as well as featured the emergence of a form of political theology that will reach, in the manifestation of the monarch as *rex et sacerdos*, one of its clearest and most spectacular expressions in the sensory realm. During the 14th century will be seen other artistic depictions (such as almost all the funerary devices adopted over the course of the century) that showed the king, or the institution he represented, under a quasi-sacred halo.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Catalan Government, in the framework of the Pre-Consolidated Research Group *Edificis i escenaris religiosos medievals en la Corona d'Aragó* [GRPRE 2017 1724].

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
