Who was Crowned on Christmas Day in France in 800 by Pope Leo?

Answer 1

Actually, it happened in Rome. The Emperor went to the Pope, not vice versa.

FRANCE: 500-1000 AD

800 AD
Charlemagne is crowned "Emperor and Augustus" in Rome on Christmas Day by Pope Leo III, a gesture intended to bolster the power of both pope and king, to link Charlemagne's rule with the emperors of ancient Rome, and to assert the parity of the Western Roman Empire with Byzantium.

800 AD Charlemagne- Emperor Of The West- Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III on December 25th -- Christmas Day -- in St. Peters Church. Pope Leo allowed Charlemagne to clear himself of a series of charges. The coronation of Charlemagne represented an irrevocable breach between Constantinople and Rome.

Toward the end of the year 800, Pope Leo III asked Charlemagne to come to Rome. On Christmas Day Charlemagne attended mass at St. Peters. When he finished his prayers, Pope Leo prostrated himself before Charlemagne and then placed a crown upon his head. Pope Leo then said "life and victory to Charles Augustus, crowned by God, the great and peaceful emperor of the Romans." This was an extremely important act. Charlemagne became the first emperor in the west since the last Roman emperor was deposed in 476. Charlemagne's biographer, Einhard (c.770-840), has recorded that Charlemagne was not very much interested in Pope Leo's offering. Had Charlemagne known what was to happen on that Christmas day, he never would have attended the mass. The bottom line is this -- Charlemagne had no intention of being absorbed into the Roman Church. From the point of view of Pope Leo, the CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE signified the Pope's claim to dispense the imperial crown. It was Leo's desire to assert papal supremacy over a unified Christendom and he did this by coronating Charlemagne.