Will The Real Roman Emperor Please Stand Up?

The beef between the Byzantine and Holy “Roman” Emperor

The Franks had done something terrible. Although there already was a Roman emperor, residing in Constantinople, the Frankish king Charlemagne had himself crowned as Roman emperor, too! This was not just a usurpation; it shattered Rome’s legacy, and indeed Christianity, forever.

The Franks, having hitherto called the emperor in Constantinople “Roman emperor”, now started addressing him as “Emperor of the Greeks”. The Eastern Romans…