Richard of Cornwall's coronation at Aachen

1257

The brother of Henry III was crowned King of the Romans inside the ancient cathedral of Aachen, seated on Charlemagne's throne. His German lords extracted enormous sums for their support and promptly ignored him once the ceremonies were over. The coronation's hollow pageantry underlined how far the Holy Roman Empire had fallen from the days when its emperor could command armies and dictate terms to popes.