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Who crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans, and when?
Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne *Imperator Romanorum* in St Peter's Basilica in Rome on Christmas Day, 800. The act was politically contested — the existing Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople, did not recognise it — and established the principle that Western Christian Europe could have its own emperor. The Holy Roman Empire, which dated itself from this coronation, lasted until Napoleon dissolved it in 1806.
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Charlemagne Charlemagne (Charles the Great, c. 742–814 AD) was a Frankish king who united most of western and central Europe under his rule and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day 800. He is the founder of the medieval European state system.
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