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When Pope Adrian died in 795 CE, a new pope (Leo III) took over. Leo III wanted the church to be in charge of the lives of the people of Europe, not the king. He was not sure how he was going to take power from Charlemagne, but he knew he wanted to try. It was nothing personal. He simply believed that the church was in a better position to rule than any king. He wanted taxes to come to the church and not to secular leaders. He wanted land to be controlled by the church, and not the secular leaders. Most importantly, he wanted the church to have absolute power, including the power to give and to take away power from others. 

In pursuit of this goals, Leo had been nibbling away at the estates and pocketbooks of the nobles in Rome. In 799 CE, there was an uprising in Rome. Many nobles were not happy with the way Leo had been handling things. Leo had to flee the city to save his own life. He did not want to ask Charlemagne for help, but he had no where else to turn. The Frankish governor of the city of Rome would not even take him in. Charlemagne loved it, of course. The "church" had sought protection from him. 

It was obvious to Charlemagne what had happened. The nobles would never have attempted a takeover if Adrian had still been pope. Charlemagne would have rushed troops to Adrian's side. Everyone knew that. But Leo was different. Nobody liked Leo very much. 

Charlemagne did not like Leo either. Just the same, he assigned troops to escort Leo safely back to Rome. Being Charlemagne, he decided to tag along. When Charlemagne entered Rome, the nobles rushed to defend their actions. Charlemagne could have said, "Nonsense." He knew the stories he was hearing were not true. Charlemagne could have stopped things right there. But he did not.   

Two days before Christmas in the year 800 CE, Charlemagne assembled a gathering of high-church officials, and appointed himself as judge of the inquiry. He heard testimony. Then he dismissed the charges, and returned Leo to his position as pope.  

This made Charlemagne very happy. It clearly established that he was in charge, not the church. 

Pope Leo, on the other hand, was furious. More than ever before, Leo wanted desperately to position the church as more powerful than any secular leader, especially Charlemagne. But how to do it? The people loved Charlemagne. He had to think of something the people would support. He thought and thought - he had an idea! He began to prepare.  

Pope Leo Gets Even