I, (name), promise in the name of the omnipotent God and on the four holy gospels and on this cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and on the body of most blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, that from this day I will be faithful to our lords, the emperors, Ludwig [the Pious] and Lothar, all my life, according to my strength and understanding, without any fraud or deceit, in so far as this shall not violate the oath of fidelity which I have sworn to the pope. And I promise that according to my strength and understanding I will not permit a papal election to take place in any way except canonically and legally, and that he who may be elected pope shall not with my consent be consecrated until, in the presence of the emperor's ambassadors and of the people, he takes such an oath as pope Eugene{65} did that he will rule without any change. {65} Eugene II (824-827) was then pope. The text of the oath which he had sworn to Lothar is not preserved. But we may infer its contents from the expression "that he will rule without any change." 51. The Emperor Admits the Right of the Pope to Confer the Imperial Title. Passages from a Letter of Ludwig II, Emperor, to Basil, Emperor at Constantinople, 871. Bouquet, VII, pp. 572 [ff]. Although the Greek emperor, Michael, recognized Karl the Great as emperor in the west (see nos. 13-14), some of his successors took a different view of the matter and declared the emperors in the west usurpers. Basil had written to Ludwig II saying that the latter was not emperor and therefore should not assume the title. Ludwig replied with some vigor, advancing various arguments in his own favor. The student should examine this letter to discover (1) the objections which Basil had made, and (2) the arguments by which Ludwig II refuted them. Among other things, Ludwig said he had a right to the title of emperor: Because all the patriarchs and all men of every rank, except you alone, have, of their own accord, addressed us as such whenever they have written to us. And besides, our uncles [Charles the Bald and Ludwig the German], glorious kings, willingly call us emperor. And they do so, not out of regard for our age, for they are older than we, but because of the anointing and consecration by which, with God's will, we were advanced to this high office through the laying on of the hands of the pope, and because, at God's command, we have the government of the Roman empire.... We are much surprised that you should say we are laying claim to a title which is new to our family. For that cannot be a new title which was held by our grandfather. And he did not usurp it, as you say he did, but he received it at the command of God, by the decision of the church, and through the anointing and laying on of the hands of the pope....