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Events on Monday 25 December 800 1
800Charlemagne crowned -- the challenge to Byzantine universalismPope Leo III crowns Charlemagne as 'Emperor of the Romans' on Christmas Day 800 in St Peter's Basilica in Rome. The coronation is a direct challenge to Byzantine claims of universal Roman sovereignty -- there is, in Byzantine eyes, already a Roman emperor in Constantinople. The Byzantines refuse to recognise Charlemagne's title for over a decade; eventually a compromise formula (Charlemagne as 'Emperor' without the 'of the Romans') is accepted. The coronation begins the process by which Western Europe defines itself as a separate civilisation from Byzantium -- a process completed by the Great Schism of 1054.