10-23-2011, 12:28 PM
Avete,
I just stumbled on something very intriguing by Gregory of Tours about Clovis, the first Catholic king of the Franks. Writing about the year 508 A.D. he says:
Letters reached Clovis from the emperor Anatasius to confer the consulate on him. In St. Martin's church he stood clad in a purple tunic and the military mantle, and he crowned himself with a diadem. He then rode out on his horse, showered gold and silver coins among the people present all the way from the doorway of St. Martin's church to Tours cathedral. From that day on he was called consul or Augustus. (Greg. Tur., Hist. 2.38, trans. Thorpe)
If true this is remarkable. I never read about Frankish kings prior to Charles the Great who claimed the title Augustus. Anastasius surely would've heard about this but apparently did not protest. So, perhaps Charles in 800 A.D. could have legitimately claimed to have been following precedent when he accepted the emperorship.
Thoughts, anyone ?
~Theo
I just stumbled on something very intriguing by Gregory of Tours about Clovis, the first Catholic king of the Franks. Writing about the year 508 A.D. he says:
Letters reached Clovis from the emperor Anatasius to confer the consulate on him. In St. Martin's church he stood clad in a purple tunic and the military mantle, and he crowned himself with a diadem. He then rode out on his horse, showered gold and silver coins among the people present all the way from the doorway of St. Martin's church to Tours cathedral. From that day on he was called consul or Augustus. (Greg. Tur., Hist. 2.38, trans. Thorpe)
If true this is remarkable. I never read about Frankish kings prior to Charles the Great who claimed the title Augustus. Anastasius surely would've heard about this but apparently did not protest. So, perhaps Charles in 800 A.D. could have legitimately claimed to have been following precedent when he accepted the emperorship.
Thoughts, anyone ?
~Theo
Jaime
