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Empire." Clearly, what Charles and
Leo are after deals with the right of
e lecting the ruler of the Roman Em–
pire - and a single empire which
embraces both East and West.
Since 797, a woman, Empress Ir–
ene, having dethroned the legal em–
peror, has been on the throne in
Constantinople. The fact that a
woman is on the throne of a secular
empire is unthinkable at both By–
zantium and Rome.
It
provides,
along with other circumstances, a
method to rationalize the Legitimacy
of Charles as emperor . In theory,
then, Charles accepts the crown for
a vacant imperial throne, and he
becomes the heir to the throne of
Jrene's legitirnate predecessor, Con–
stantine VJ.
The chronicler of the
Annales
Laureshamenses
will write, " Because
the name of emperor had now
ceased to exis t in the land of the
Greeks, and because they had a
woman emperor, it was seen, both
by the apostolic Leo himself. and al!
the holy fathers who were present
... that they ought to name as em–
peror Charles himself, king of the
Franks, who now held Rome itself,
where the Caesars were aJways ac–
customed to have their residence,
and [who now held] the rest of the
places which they held in Italy,
Gaul and Germany."
Charles is held to be the legiti–
mate successor of Leo IV, Heraclius,
Justinian, Arcadius and the eastern
line of emperors and not of Ro–
mulus Augustulus. In the annals of
the time and succeeding centuries,
the name of Constantine VI , the
sixty-seventh in order from Au–
gustus. is followed without a break
by that ofCharles, the sixty-eighth.
Charles apparently seeks other
means to legitimize his rule as Ro–
man emperor. One account claims
he has dispatched an embassy to
Constantinople to ask for the hand
of Irene in marriage. But the pro–
ceedings never get very far.
A Byzantine general named Nice-
PLAIN TRUTH November 1973
MAPS CONTINUED
Frankisb empire was officially
divided up at
the
Treaty of V
erdun.
Tbe fragmentation continued and
was completed by A.D. 890. Tbus,
the
first
revival of
Europe
since
Justinian, under the banner of a
resurrected Roman Empire, was
sbattered.
Please see the accompanying
maps for a sequeoce of what oc–
corred
in
Europe
throughout
these
important_four centuries.
MM
SOIMCIS: Tho119h o • .,....., ol sourc.. -•
consu,ed, rM it'l#o(mof'ion
for-
rfte
mOfM
wos
gleoned "-
lhr"
prHftOiy
onos ·
Tho
Pengu;n
Atlcn
of
MocNvol H;.tory, e•
Mcf..dy, London
,_..,. loolos.
Ud.. 1961 , Tho
C"'~•zotion
of
Cl>o~emogno.
Jocq..,
lowoord,
"onolo,.d
Ir–
,,._
Frettdt
by
ftOtt(ts
Portridge,
Ne..,
Yorl'·
M<G<ow·H~I.
1968,
Modó- Hitlory,
2nd
edoOon,
Normon'
Contor,
~
Mocmollon
Co., 1969.
27