In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Imperator Romanus – Emperor of Rome. Leo’s decision to crown a new Roman Emperor despite one already existing in Constantinople stemmed from the fact that the holder of this title in the east was a woman – Irene of Athens. But who was this female Emperor who ruled one of the most powerful and prestigious Empires in the Middle Ages?
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Woodcut Illustration of Empress Irene (in the left) and Charlemagne (in the right), from Penn Provenance Project, CC by 2.0 |