The chronicler Einhard later claimed—unconvincingly—that Charlemagne had been unaware of Leo’s plans and was surprised to be offered such high honor.37 This was nonsense: Einhard’s dissembling was aimed at Byzantine readers who disapproved of Charlemagne usurping the title of emperor. In fact, far from being an embarrassing accident, Charlemagne’s elevation was deliberate, meticulously planned, and revolutionary. It restored to western and central Europe the fact of imperium, which had gone missing on the ground several hundred years earlier, and which seemed to be wobbling even in
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