800

Charlemagne crowned Emperor of the West

On Christmas day in the year 800, Charles, King of the Franks, was crowned emperor by the Pope in Rome. Three hundred years after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, this event marked the reunification of Europe under a single crown. In his lifetime, Charlemagne even adopted the name Pater Europae ('Father of Europe'). But this period of European unity was short-lived: only thirty years or so after the death of Charlemagne, the Carolingian realm was divided into kingdoms that soon became rivals.

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