User:Ichthyovenator/Style of the Roman emperor

Imperial titles in Byzantium
The elaborate Justinianic version of the imperial titulature remained in official use until 629, when Heraclius ((r. undefined – undefined)610–641), by then mid-way into his reign, replaced it with the simpler Greek style Ἡράκλειος πιστὸς ἐν Χριστῷ βασιλεύς ("Herakleios, faithful in Christ, Basileus"). This change marked the beginning of the eventually permanent "hellenization" of Byzantine imperial titulature.

After Heraclius, his new imperial style changed very little through the centuries.

https://www.doaks.org/resources/online-exhibits/gods-regents-on-earth-a-thousand-years-of-byzantine-imperial-seals/imperial-titulature/augustus

https://www.doaks.org/resources/online-exhibits/gods-regents-on-earth-a-thousand-years-of-byzantine-imperial-seals/imperial-titulature

Justinianic titulature (XXX–629) [WIP]
The "Justinianic" form of the imperial title is attested through the Justinian dynasty up until 629, in the middle of the reign of Heraclius.

Early and Middle Byzantine titulature (629–1195)
In 629, Heraclius changed his imperial style from the previous Justinianic rendition to the simpler Ἡράκλειος πιστὸς ἐν Χριστῷ βασιλεύς, "Herakleios, faithful in Christ, Basileus". This change marked the beginning of the gradual, and eventually permanent, "hellenization" of Byzantine imperial titulature.

https://books.google.se/books?id=l97WJwbuAWsC&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178&dq=%22David%22+%22despot%22+%22Heraclius%22&source=bl&ots=62s29ssGc_&sig=ACfU3U3DjoUgeht0BkcOLS6nGxf8F_7-FA&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-uKaIop_yAhUFiIsKHQ1xBfoQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=%22David%22%20%22despot%22%20%22Heraclius%22&f=false


 * "of the Romans" added under Michael I
 * Theophilus used "Theophilos, faithful in Christ, Basileus of the Romans"
 * Leo VI added "pious"
 * "autocrat" was used from time to time, often to mark a senior emperor, Heraklonas, Alexander, Nikephoros II, John I Tzimiskes
 * Family names were introduced with Constantine IX Monomachos

Charlemagne
With the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, the Papacy formally ceased to recognize the rulers of the Byzantine Empire as Roman emperors. In their place, the popes would recognize Charlemagne and his successors (the so-called Holy Roman emperors) as the rightful Roman emperors. In their contemporary worldview, the coronation of Charlemagne was not a division of the Roman Empire into the old east and a new empire in the west, nor a restoration of the old Western Roman Empire, but rather a transfer (translatio imperii) of imperial power from the "Greeks" in the east to the Franks in the west. To contemporaries in Western Europe, Charlemagne's key legitimizing factor as emperor (other than papal approval) was the territories which he controlled. As he controlled formerly Roman lands in Gaul, Germany and Italy (including Rome itself), and was seen as acting as a true emperor in these lands, which the eastern emperor was seen as having had abandoned, he thus deserved to be called an emperor.

The official titulature of Charlemagne fluctuated throughout 801, with several rarely used early versions being known. The standard elaborate version that was eventually settled on was. Among the clearer differences to the royal titulature used by Charlemagne prior to his imperial coronation,, is that the Roman element, previously left at the end of the title, has been moved to before the Frankish and Lombard elements. In his royal title,, "patrician of the Romans", was a distinction given by Pope Stephen II to Charlemagne's father Pepin, Charlemagne himself, and Charlemagne's younger brother Carloman after the Donation of Pepin in 752, and it explicitly referred to the Romans as a people. Charlemagne abandoned the title of patrician when be was crowned emperor. Though initial titles referred to the Romans as a people, with the March 801 Tuscan variant still referring to the "Romanorum" rather than "Romanum", the eventual standard version of the titles presents the "Romanum Imperium" as more abstract. The Romans are no longer spoken of as a people, and the use of "Roman" has thus changed function in the titulature. That some early examples of Charlemagne's titles after his coronation referred to him as "king of the Romans" rather than an emperor shows that there was initially some uncertainty about Charlemagne's dignity, and that the transition from royal to imperial title schemes was slightly gradual.

From the Tuscan title, it appears that Charlemagne initially deemed "king of the Romans" sufficient for marking Roman imperial dignity. Charlemagne omitted the Roman element of his title when writing to Constantinople in 813, and his titles refer to him as an "emperor governing the Roman Empire" rather than explicitly a "Roman emperor". This could be seen as an attempt at avoiding the dispute and issue over who was the true emperor and attempting to keep the perceived unity of the Roman Empire intact. His 813 title without "Roman" altogether appears to link Charlemagne's imperial power to his kingship over multiple kingdoms (the Franks and the Lombards) rather than any Roman dignity. It is not clear why Charlemagne's imperial title incorporated "Roman" at all. Though Byzantine seals had used βασιλεὺς Ῥωμαῖων ("Emperor of the Romans") since the 7th century, the element had not been incorporated into the official imperial titulature by either the ancient Roman or the Byzantine emperors. It is unlikely that Byzantine seals were referenced for composing Charlemagne's titles and the why the Franks would be interested in an explicit Roman qualification is not clear either. As the contemporary Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor writes that Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as "βασιλεὺς Ῥωμαῖων", it is possible that the qualifier was applied to Charlemagne at his coronation by the Pope himself.

Succeeding emperors [WIP]
The imperial titulature of Charlemagne's son and successor, Louis the Pious ((r. undefined – undefined)813–840), changed the formula, omitting not only the Roman qualifier, but also the Frankish and Lombard elements, reducing the title to simply. Additionally, Louis changed the motto that had been used by Charlemagne, ("renewal of the Roman Empire"), to  ("renewal of the Kingdom of the Franks"), highlighting the Franks, rather than the Romans.

A numeral was first introduced into the official titulature by Henry IV ((r. undefined – undefined)1084–1105). The numeral was initially used in regards to the imperial titles, with emperors enumerating themselves after past emperors: Henry IV was officially titled as Heinricus Tertius (Henry III) and his successor Henry V ((r. undefined – undefined)1111–1125) was officially Heinricus Quartus (Henry IV), as they were the third and fourth emperors by that name, respectively. This practice changed with Henry V's successor Lothair III ((r. undefined – undefined)1133–1137), who titled himself as Lotharius Tertius, even though he was only the second emperor by that name (also enumerating himself after Lothair II, who had only been a king). Succeeding emperors would enumerate themselves after previous kings of Germany, rather than previous emperors.

The element "semper Augustus" (ever august), originally used by some Roman emperors in antiquity, was introduced into the titulature under Henry VI ((r. undefined – undefined)1191–1197). "Semper Augustus" was also added into the royal style of the king of the Romans (the emperor-designate, a title first used under Henry V) under Philip of Swabia ((r. undefined – undefined)1198–1208) and Otto IV ((r. undefined – undefined)1198–1209; then emperor 1209–1215), who were thus titled as.

[on electus Romanorum imperator]