Coronation Chair

The Coronation Chair is an important part of the Westminster Cathedral as every King since 1308 has been coronated in this chair. It even was used during the coronation of Henry III. This is important because of what it represents. The gold footing and sturdy oak suggest greatness and the chair even depicts St. Edward triumphs over a lion on the back of the chair to suggest the bravery needed to lead. The impressionable Henry III would have seen this great work of art inside the modest Westminster Abbey and found that the setting needed to be grander for this type of moment. In fact, evidence suggests that after his coronation Henry III did much research into St. Edward the Confessor and made him his personal patron saint.