A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

sSa The Fninkish Power
l£s religion.
/."'. 26.
up from infancy, was held by Karl as nio5t s-uuxl. and he
w orshipped in it with the greatest piety. For this reason
he built at Aachen a most beautiful church, which he enriched
with gold and sil\'er and candlesticks, and also
with lattices and doors of solid brass. When ccdumi^ and
marbles for the building wuld not be obtained from elsewhere,
he had them brought from Rome and Ravenna, . . .
VT.
His Rex.\tioks with the Pope
far the
Church of
St. Pet«r.
Eginhard.
KtHtki
«>«< 17.
Crowned
Emperor
by the pope.
E^inhard.
Kari tkt
He held the Church of
the blessed Peter the .\postle,
at Rome, in far higher regard than any other place of
sanctity and \-eneration, and he enriched its treasury with
a great quantity of gv^ld. sil\-er. and precious stones.
To the Pope he made many and rich presents; and
nothing lay nearer his heart during his whcJe reign than
that the city of Rome should attain to its ancient iropK»rtance
by his seal and patnonage. and that the church of
St. Peter should, through him, not only be in safe keeping
and protection, but should also by his wealth be ennobled
and enriched beyond all other churches. Although he
thought so much of this, it was only four times, duriiig the
forty-se\-en years of his reign, that he had leisure to go to
Rome for praN'er and supplication.
The kist \-isit he paid to Rome was not only for the
.iKn-e re^asons.
but also because the Romans had dri\-en
Pope Leo to ask his assistance—for they had grie\xiusly
ill
treated him; indeed, his eyes had been plucked out. and
his tongue cut off.
Karl therefore went to Rome, and st.ii>-ed there the whole
winter in order to reform and quiet the Church, which
was in a most disturbed state.
It was at this time that he
recei\-ed the title of Emperc^r and .\ugustus. to which at
first he was so a\-erse that he remarked that had he known