Thread by @Arby_K

A Pope under siege,

A former Mayor's son comes to the rescue and,

A former nation returns from the dead.

Story in the evening ...

Leo was born in 8th century AD to Atyuppius and Elizabeth in Rome. He became a priest, eventually made a Cardinal by Pope Hadrian. At the time of Pope Hadrian's death in 795, Leo was the Cardinal Priest of Santa Susanna. 1/10

Pope Hadrian and the Frankish King Karolus were frenemies, in a matter of speaking. A generation earlier, Pepin, Mayor of the Palace of Neustria and Austrasia, deposed the Frankish King and got himself crowned King of the Franks with the approval of Pope Zacharius. 2/10

In return, Pepin had to rescue Rome from the Lombards, who captured Ravenna in 751 and threatened Rome by 756. But their King Aistulf died in an accident, and a Lombard Dux, Desiderius, became King with the help of Frankish troops. This also led to the Donation of Pepin. 3/10

The Donation gave the Pope rule over the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. Although, Pepin had no authority to give away the land, Byzantines had limited ability to prevent it. This formed the basis for the creation of the Papal States. 4/10

Pope Hadrian retained this arrangement with Pepin's son, Karolus. When Desiderius attempted to seize Rome in 772, Karolus deposed him and crowned himself King of the Lombards. But they did not see eye to eye on many other things. 5/10

In 795, Leo was elected as Pope on the same day Hadrian died. One of the first letters by the new Pope was to King Karolus. Karolus congratulated Pope Leo and is said to have parted war booty from defeating Avars for the new Pope. 6/10

In 799, a mob led by Pope Hadrian's nephew attempted to kill Leo. But he escaped, with the help of Duke Winichis of Spoleto (who had been appointed by Karolus), to Paderborn where Karolus stayed. With his help, Leo returned to Rome, to stand trial for his crimes. 7/10

In December 800, Byzantium was ruled by Eirene, who had effectively seized the throne arresting and blinding her son, Konstantinos. Leo decided to close the imperial vacancy by creating his own Emperor, in the West, on Christmas - the Frankish King Karolus. 8/10

In 808, Leo backed the return of King Eardwulf to Northumbria. The King had sought refuge with Karolus after Ælfwald had seized the throne. The relations between Emperor and Pope remained good till 809 Council of Aachen which gave a theological ruling not favoured by Leo. 9/10

The ruling was backed by Karolus and was put in effect in his Empire. When Karolus crowned his son, Hludowic, as Co-Emperor, the Pope was not invited. The Empire that Leo "named" would collapse soon after Hludowic's death, but it would live on in Germany till 1806. 10/10