Before leaving for a sabbatical at Columbia University in New York, Dr. Marios Costambeys enthralled a rapt audience by challenging existing theories about why Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day 800. He began by revealing how there was little or no precedent for the coronation of emperors in Rome. Therefore it was unlikely that the ceremony was meant to herald a new era of the Caesars. As was made clear from an original mosaic preserved at the papal basilica of St John Lateran, Christ was seen as dividing power between Pope Leo III and the new emperor. Dr. Costambeys pointed out that Charlemagne had perfectly normal medieval aspirations in that he wished to endow a large monastery in the city of St Peter. Legal uncertainties regarding the powers of the pope and the authority of the now-distant emperor in the East led Charlemagne to constitute his own imperial authority as a means of safeguarding his spiritual and worldly investment in Rome.
Historical Association Bolton Branch 