of being a mediator between clergy and people. Also, the tradition of the Church viewed Christian monarchs not only as civil rulers of Christian nations, but also as defenders of the Church and helpers of the ecclesiastical authority. Furthermore, the task of governing a Christian people was understood a holy one. Thus, the coronation ritual was predicated on the view that the monarch had a sacred function, as was sacred the function of the biblical Israelite kings and of the other leaders of the Israelites mentioned in the prayers of the coronation rite. Although the coronation of a monarch is not a sacrament but a sacramental (unlike the Sacrament of Holy Orders that constitutes deacons, priests and bishops), it is still a solemn religious act of consecration, like the dedication of a new church or of an altar, the blessing of a monk as an abbot to govern a monastery or the consecration of virgins as nuns: by the said act of consecration the monarch was set apart as possessing a sacred character not equal but similar to that of the clergy, and was invested with a kingship that derived from God like the kingship of the ancient kings of Israel. After the above-mentioned prayer, the anointings were duly purified, and the presiding prelate, removing his episcopal ring, washed his hands. He then resumed the use of the episcopal gloves and replaced the ring in the fourth finger of his right hand over the glove. Meanwhile, the emperor stood to receive the imperial vestments. The vesting of the emperor The rites of the anointing being concluded, newly consecrated emperor rose to his feet to be clad in the imperial vestments (the same majestic dress that was thereafter used for the opening and closing of the annual sessions of the Imperial Parliament). The Roman Pontifical provided options for this. The newly anointed monarch could either briefly retire to the church's sacristy to put on the majestatic vestments, returning to the sacred space of the church when already dressed, or he could be dressed in the sacred space of the church itself. In the coronation of Emperor Pedro I, the first pattern was followed (with the emperor going to the sacristy and then returning to the sacred area of the church via a door in the chancel area of the chapel that connected the chancel to the sacristy), while in the coronation