Palace of Tau — How a Coronation Actually Worked
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
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Transcript
A coronation was not one dramatic moment inside the cathedral. It was a carefully staged sequence, and the archbishop’s Palace of Tau was part of the backstage machinery.
The king lodged here, prayed in the palace chapel, prepared for the anointing, crossed to the cathedral and returned for the coronation banquet. Clothing, regalia, clergy, guests, food and security all had to be coordinated around this ceremonial route.
The palace was largely rebuilt in the seventeenth century, so its fabric is later than much of the ritual it hosted. That is precisely the point: institutions can outlive buildings, and old ceremonies can continue inside repeatedly altered architecture.