Whose coronation in 800 CE is often cited as the revival of a Western Roman Empire?

• A. Constantine VII
• B. Charlemagne
• C. Clovis
• D. Alfred the Great

Answer: (B)

The main concept here is how Western rulers tied their authority to Rome by adopting the imperial title and seeking papal endorsement. When Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the pope in 800, it symbolically revived the Western Roman imperial idea, but under a Christian ruler. This act framed Charlemagne’s realm as a continuation of Rome’s imperial legacy rather than just a Frankish kingdom, and it linked church and state in a new, legitimizing partnership. The crowning in Rome gave Charlemagne’s rule universal Christian authority across Western Europe and set the stage for later concepts of a Western empire that drew on Roman tradition. It’s a turning point because it shows how medieval rulers used Roman imagery to legitimize their power and to unify diverse lands under a single imperial model.

Constantine VII belongs to the Byzantine East and centuries later, Clovis predates the event and was never crowned emperor, and Alfred the Great remained a West Saxon king without an imperial title. So the coronation in question is best understood as Charlemagne’s, the moment many readers see as the revival of the Western Roman imperial idea.