St Leo III

St Leo III (c. 750-816), pope (795-816). He was born in Rome. In 800 he crowned Charlemagne emperor of the West. In return, the temporal sovereignty of the pope over the Roman city and state was established under the suzerainty of the emperor. The coronation, a watershed in Western history, marked the end of papal dependence on the emperors of the East and the beginning of a distinct western European society, in which the emperor held temporal sway and the pope spiritual sway. Charlemagne frequently interfered in the papal domain, but Leo managed to keep control over doctrinal matters; for example, to avoid giving offence to the Eastern Church, he firmly resisted imperial pressure to insert the filioque in the Nicene Creed. With money donated by Charlemagne, Leo built and decorated many churches in Rome. His traditional feast day is June 12.