The Christmas Day Coronation in 800 CE at Which Pope Leo III Crowned the Frankish King Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans in Saint Peter's Basilica
Pope Leo III placed an imperial crown on Charlemagne's head during Christmas Day mass in Old Saint Peter's Basilica on 25 December 800 CE. The Roman congregation acclaimed Charlemagne as emperor. The act revived a Western Roman imperial title that had been vacant since 476 CE. The political relationship between the Catholic papacy and the European emperors that followed substantially structured the next thousand years of European politics.
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