The coronation of Charlemagne was one of the most
important events in medieval history. It might be thought a small matter that
he should take the imperial title, when he already exercised imperial sway
throughout western Europe. But Charlemagne's contemporaries believed that the
old Roman Empire had now been revived, and a German king now sat on the throne
once occupied by Augustus and Constantine. Henceforth there was established in
the West a line of Roman emperors which lasted until the opening of the
nineteenth century. [16]
[16] The title of "Holy Roman Emperor," assumed
by the later successors of Charlemagne, was kept by them till 1806 A.D.
CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE
Charlemagne's empire was not in any true sense a
continuation of the Roman Empire. It did not include the dominions over which
the emperors at Constantinople were to reign for centuries. Moreover,
Charlemagne and his successors on the throne had little in common with the old
rulers of Rome, who spoke Latin, administered Roman law, and regarded the
Germans as among their most dangerous enemies. Charlemagne's empire was, in
fact, largely a new creation.
