Charlemagne Arrives in Rome to Judge the Pope

The most powerful ruler in Western Europe rode into Rome not as a pilgrim but as a judge. Charlemagne, King of the Franks, arrived in the Eternal City in late November 800 to investigate charges against Pope Leo III, who had been attacked, beaten, and nearly blinded by a Roman mob the previous year. The encounter between king and pope would lead, within weeks, to Charlemagne's coronation as Holy Roman Emperor, an event that shaped European politics for a thousand years. Leo III had been pope since 795, but his papacy was contested from the start. Roman nobles accused him of perjury and adultery. In April 799, a group of conspirators ambushed Leo during a procession, dragged him from his horse, and attempted to gouge out his eyes and cut out his tongue. Leo escaped, fleeing across the Alps to Charlemagne's court at Paderborn. The king provided an escort to return Leo to Rome, but the charges against the pope remained unresolved. Charlemagne's arrival in November forced the issue. Canon law held that the pope could be judged by no earthly authority, creating a constitutional crisis. Leo resolved it on December 23 by swearing an oath of purgation, declaring his innocence before God and Charlemagne's assembled court. No formal trial took place. Two days later, on Christmas Day, Leo crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans during Mass at St. Peter's Basilica. Whether Charlemagne expected the coronation remains one of medieval history's most debated questions. The Frankish chronicler Einhard claimed Charlemagne was surprised and would never have entered the church had he known. Modern historians are skeptical of this account. The coronation created a Western imperial title that rivaled Byzantium, established the precedent that popes could make emperors, and entangled church and state in a relationship that dominated European affairs throughout the Middle Ages.