necessary for his father, Pippin, to give up the rôle of Mayor of the Palace and become “de jure” King of the Franks. This point was made perfectly clear when the general assembly of Charles’ dominions was held at Mainz in August, 800, and the Italian expedition was announced. In Ravenna a stay of eight days was made by the invading army, and a detachment was sent off to pacify the Lombard Duchy of Benevento. Not far from Rome the King was greeted by the Pope, who then returned to Rome to prepare for the official reception of the ruler, which took place, on November 24th, with the customary ceremonies appropriate to the patrician rank of the visitor. Eight days afterwards, Charles having previously visited the Basilica of St. Peter’s, explained publicly and officially the purpose of his coming to the city, viz.: to investigate the charges against the Pope. This was an informal and personal process, for, according to the ecclesiastical canons, no one could officially judge a cause in which the Pope was concerned. But Charles’ conception of his duties as Patrician meant no mere perfunctory examination. For three weeks there was a public hearing, like an extra-judicial examination before a referee, of the rumors and charges against Leo’s conduct, a chance being given to each side to ventilate its grievances. It is significant that the Frankish King was won over to the view of his leading ecclesiastics, including Alcuin, that the charges against Leo were without foundation, and were only the product of personal enmity. The difficulty was to give the decision such a form that, by avoiding a judicial character, it would not infringe upon the Papal prerogative, according to which the Bishop of Rome was not responsible to any earthly tribunal. The bishops themselves explicitly adopted this position by refusing to pass sentence on the head of the Church. After this principle had been accepted, the Pope could declare himself free from guilt. In so doing he was following a precedent set by his predecessors in like circumstances, Marcellinus, Symmachus, and Pelagius I. So he proceeded on December 23d to exculpate himself by formally declaring his innocence before a great assembly of secular and ecclesiastical dignitaries, expressly mentioning that the proceeding was voluntary and not required by the canons of the Church. In this way the immediate cause of the expedition of the Franks was disposed of, but Charles remained in Rome in order to provide for things needful in the administration of his Italian dominions.