“And from that moment on, he was addressed as emperor and Augustus!” The coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800 AD, is one of the landmark moments in all world history. More than three centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the emperors had returned once more, and a Caesar ruled in Rome. But how did this legendary event come to pass? For many years Charlemagne, though a formidable figure, had been but one power player in the game of empires, competing with the emperor of Constantinople and the new Pope in Rome. Then, in 797 a spectacular crisis struck Constantinople. The cruel and politically feckless emperor, Constantine VI, was ruthlessly usurped by his mother, Irene, who became the first and only ruling empress in the whole sweep of Roman history. In the West though, her rule as a woman was not acknowledged. To Charlemagne, then, it seemed the perfect opportunity to claim the vacant throne. What unfolded after this would see Rome and Constantinople lock horns in a terrible power struggle, involving blindings, mutilation and political scheming. With Charlemagne acting as arbiter between them, would he take the ultimate step and become, for the first time since 476 AD, the emperor in Rome? Join Tom and Dominic for the climax of their epic series on Charlemagne: the Frankish king turned emperor, who transformed the western world forever. What would become of his mighty empire, faced with Saracen pirates, vikings and division? _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Editor: Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What happened on Christmas Day 800 AD?
fresh, rough-hewn fortress called Paderborn, which had been built back in the 770s as a base for prosecuting the Saxon Wars, but which Charlemagne, just the year before, had founded as a bishopric. So you can see him presenting himself
to the leaders of the ancient world as this vibrant go-ahead figure who is raising fortifications and churches in the wilds that had never been conquered by the ancient Romans. And it's very, very impressive. And markers of his prowess as a warlord, therefore, are kind of very much being pushed in the noses of both the Byzantine ambassadors and of the Pope himself. Now,
What the Pope and Charlemagne discuss, we don't know. We don't have a record of it, but we can probably take a guess because we do know what Alcuin thought about it. Alcuin, he's in distant tour, he's in this monastery, this Yorkshireman who had been Charlemagne's great teacher, but he still very much got his finger on the pulse of geopolitics. He writes a letter to Charles before
the arrival of both the papal and Byzantine ambassadors. And in it, he points out how extraordinary what is happening actually is. Because as he says, there are three great figures of authority whom God has appointed to rule the world. And these are the Pope, the Emperor in the second Rome, so Constantinople, and Charlemagne himself. And he says, you know, the Pope is caught up in a scandal.
The emperor in Constantinople is a woman. This imposes on you a massive duty to God to do what is right for the Christian people. And he says, Alcuin says this specifically, the Christian people depend upon the excellence of your power, the luster of your wisdom and the loftiness of your dignity as a ruler.
Behold, upon you alone rests the entire health deteriorated as it is of the churches of Christ. And it's hard to imagine that the implications of that letter are not very much on Charlemagne's mind as he consults with the Pope. at Paderborn.
No pressure, but he's got a great opportunity here, right? Because basically the other two authority figures are tarnished. You know, there's question marks, shall we say, hanging over them. The question mark, of course, the Carolingian innovation. So Charlemagne has an opportunity here to really assert himself as primus inter pares, right? The most important of all of these characters.
Yeah, he does. Yes.
So two or three years pass and we are now in the summer of AD 800. So the turning of the century. And that summer, I think it's really telling. Charlemagne decides to head westwards to Tours, where, of course, Alcuin is abbot. He holds a summit there with his sons. So he's consulting with his great teacher and advisor. He's consulting with his sons.
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