 In 973 , Dunstan 's statesmanship reached its zenith when he officiated at the coronation of King Edgar . Edgar was crowned at Bath in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation , but as the culmination of his reign ( a move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy ) . This service , devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the Anglo @-@ Saxon Chronicle forms the basis of the present @-@ day British coronation ceremony . There was a second symbolic coronation held later . This was an important step , as other kings of Britain came and gave their allegiance to Edgar at Chester . Six kings in Britain , including the kings of Scotland and of Strathclyde , pledged their faith that they would be the king 's liege @-@ men on sea and land . 
