Who he was
Leo was a Roman, the son of Atyuppius and Elizabeth, and Cardinal-Priest of St Susanna when he was elected, on the very day his predecessor was buried. In 799 relatives of Adrian I attacked him in the street during a procession and tried to blind him and cut out his tongue; he recovered and fled to Charlemagne at Paderborn. Back in Rome he cleared himself of his enemies' charges by a solemn oath, of his own accord.
What he is remembered for
On Christmas Day 800, in St Peter's, he crowned Charlemagne emperor, reviving the empire in the West with the emperor as protector of the Church. He kept close ties with England, upholding the rights of Canterbury, and encouraged the monks of Constantinople, including St Theodore the Studite. He was a great benefactor of Rome's churches and poor, and was canonised in 1673.
He is honoured by the Church as Saint. Read his page in the dictionary of saints.
Sources
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