I have written about Elizabeth I’s coronation, which took place o 15th January 1559, in previous years, but I just wanted to share with you this primary source account of both the coronation and the banquet following written by Il Schifanoya, the Mantuan ambassador, to the Castellan of Mantua:

“On Sunday, 15th January, mass was sung for the coronation in Westminster Abbey, which was decorated with the handsomest and most precious tapestries that were ever seen, they having been purchased by Henry VIII., representing on one side the whole of Genesis, and on the other the Acts of the Apostles, from a design by Raffael d’Urbino; and the chambers were hung with the history of Cæsar and Pompey. At one of the sides the buffet was prepared with its raised steps, on which were seen 140 gold and silver drinking cups, besides others which were below for the service.