The Coronation Gospels in the Imperial Treasury Vienna

Few other manuscripts from the Middle Ages can compare with the status and importance of the Vienna Coronation Gospels. It not only bears witness to Charlemagne's ecclesiastical policy (reigned 768-814), but also to his claim to establish an empire in the West in succession to the ancient Imperium Romanum. The form, function and history of this extraordinary manuscript, which was subsequently to become an essential part of coronation ceremonies in the Holy Roman Empire, are at the centre of this lecture.