Note 836 — Chapter VIII · THE BISHOP.
Reading edition
No sooner was Charlemagne crowned as emperor by Leo III. (Dec. 20th, 800) than he caused an oath of fidelity to be administered to all his subjects who were above the age of twelve years. See on this subject Dönniges, p. 2, etc. He thus obtained all the rights of the ancient emperors over the church and the Roman provincials, in addition to the powers as a German king, which in his vigorous hands assumed a consistency and compass unknown to his predecessors. Charlemagne required all the aid of the Pope against the great Frankish families, who might have given him a mayor of the palace, as they had given his own progenitors to the Merwingian kings. The following important passage will show in what spirit he considered the imperial authority which he had assumed, “A.D. 802. Eo anno demoravit domnus Caesar Carolus apud Aquis palatium quietus cum Francis sine hoste; sed recordatus misericordiae suae de pauperibus, qui in regno suo erant et iustitias suas pleniter [h]abere non poterant, noluit de infra palatio pauperiores vassos suos transmittere ad iustitias faciendum propter munera, sed elegit in regno suo archiepiscopos et reliquos episcopos et abbates cum ducibus et comitibus, qui iam opus non [h]abebant super innocentes munera accipere, et ipsos misit per universum regnum suum, ut ecclesiis, viduis et orfanis et pauperibus, et cuncto populo iustitiam facerent. Et mense Octimbrio congregavit universalem synodum in iam nominato loco, et ibi fecit episcopis cum presbyteris seu diaconibus relegi universos canones quas sanctus synodus recepit, et decreta pontificum, et pleniter iussit eos tradi coram omnibus episcopis, presbyteris et diaconibus. Similiter in ipso synodo congregavit universos abbates et monachos qui ibi aderant, et ipsi inter se conventum faciebant, et legerunt regulam sancti patris Benedicti, et eam tradiderunt sapientes in conspectu abbatum et monachorum; et tunc iussu eius generaliter super omnes episcopos, abbates, presbyteros, diaconos seu universo clero facta est, ut unusquisque in loco suo iuxta constitutionem sanctorum patrum, sive in episcopatibus seu in monasteriis aut per universas sanctas ecclesias, ut canonici, iuxta canones viverent, et quicquid in clero aut in populo de culpis aut de negligentiis apparuerit, iuxta canonum auctoritate emendassent; et quicquid in monasteriis seu in monachis contra regulam sancti Benedicti factum fuisset, hoc ipsud iuxta ipsam regulam sancti Benedicti emendare fecissent. Sed et ipse imperator, interim quod ipsum synodum factum est, congregavit duces, comites et reliquo christiano populo cum legislatoribus, et fecit omnes leges in regno suo legi, et tradi unicuique homini legem suam, et emendare ubicumque necesse fuit, et emendatam legem scribere, et ut iudices per scriptum iudicassent, et munera non accepissent; sed omnes homines, pauperes et divites, in regno suo iustitiam habuissent.” Annal. Lauresham, xxv. Pertz, i. 38. In the theory of that great man, the imperial title was no empty name.