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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Constantine was a Roman emperor. Roman emperors at that period were recognized by the army & the Senate rubber-stamped it. Constantine was in Britain at the time with his father, Constantius, one of the tetrarchs with Diocletian & married to the daughter of Maximius, another tetrarch. When D & M retired -- an amazing act in itself -- Constantius became augustus. When he died a year later, his troops proclaimed his son, Constantine, augustus. There were assorted jobs of tidying up to do before the Milvian Bridge thing & becoming sole emperor. The point is that emperors were made by the army, not by priests. DW Marjorie Greene wrote: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > In a previous post about the anointing of the Christian kings, I specifically mentioned the OT and the desire to imitate that practice. But there seems (and I hope everyone notices that I'm saying "seems") to be a gap between Constantine (was he anointed emperor?) and Charlemagne. Saul was anointed by a prophet; Ch. & Sons, by a pope. So when did the Christian kings/emperors decide it was advisable or necessary to be anointed (in obvious imitation of the OT kings) and why? This question may not be answerable. I'll also point out that at some point in time, "crowned" (or, horrors, "coronated") took precedence in speaking of the event. I bet no one in GB said "Elizabeth was anointed today." > On quite a different subject, I announce for the too-modest Supple Doctor Bill East that _Follow Me!_ is now available from Dominican Publications, Dublin. Full details on the Dominican Publications website. This is a collection of Bill's homilies through the years. > MG > _____________________________________________________________ > Click to learn how you can earn extra cash in day trading. > http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2111/fc/Ioyw6iigD06N6wa4F31VR6bdip92kMKpkiy2tQZmkBZI0RlzAIQE4T/ > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html > > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html