On Christmas Day 800, Charlemagne ⓘ, King of the Franks, was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III ⓘ in Saint Peter’s ⓘ Basilica, Rome.

Leo’s pontificate had quickly become contentious. Those who had secured his election expected compliance, yet relations deteriorated. On 25 April 799 he was ambushed in Rome, blinded, and an attempt was made to cut out his tongue.1 The mutilation was intended to render him incapable of exercising the papal office. Leo escaped from the monastery where he was being held and sought protection from Charlemagne.

After negotiations, Leo was restored to Rome later in 799. In November 800 Charlemagne himself travelled to the city to oversee an inquiry into accusations of fornication and perjury brought against the pope.2 Acting on the advice of the Northumbrian deacon Alcuin, Charlemagne declared that the pope was not subject to judgment by his inferiors. On 23 December Leo made a public profession of innocence. Two days later, during the Christmas liturgy, he placed the imperial crown upon Charlemagne’s head.3

The coronation signified more than personal vindication or political alliance. It articulated a renewed claim to imperial authority in the Latin West and redefined the relationship between papal sanction and royal power. From this moment the Frankish ruler bore an imperial title that would shape the political imagination of medieval Europe.

• 1. Kelly, J.N.D Oxford Dictionary Of Popes Oxford Oxford University Press 1986. p97.
• 2. Kelly, J.N.D Oxford Dictionary Of Popes Oxford Oxford University Press 1986. p98.
• 3. Collins, Roger Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000 Palgrave Macmillan 2010. pp 290-1.