WI Charlemagne marries Empress Irene?

In OTL, after his coronation, Charlemagne sent envoys to Constantinople suggesting the two rulers wed. Irene responded fairly favorably, but her failure to immediately rebuff the proposal enraged her people, and she was overthrown and replaced by one of her ministers.

Say the Roman people had not responded so negatively to the idea, and the marriage was arranged? What would the consequences of a marriage between Charlemagne and Irene of Athens be?
 
In OTL, after his coronation, Charlemagne sent envoys to Constantinople suggesting the two rulers wed. Irene responded fairly favorably, but her failure to immediately rebuff the proposal enraged her people, and she was overthrown and replaced by one of her ministers.

Say the Roman people had not responded so negatively to the idea, and the marriage was arranged? What would the consequences of a marriage between Charlemagne and Irene of Athens be?

Well nobility and the people of Constantinople would never accept someone as Emperor who in their eyes would be a mere barbarian...
P.S. i think we have discussed this in earlier threads...
 
Well nobility and the people of Constantinople would never accept someone as Emperor who in their eyes would be a mere barbarian...
P.S. i think we have discussed this in earlier threads...

Oh, okay. I did a quick search, but didn't see a thread specifically related to this. And yes, I doubt Charlemagne would be accepted as Emperor, he'd merely be some sort of emperor-consort in the unlikely case that this would happen.
 
Besides that a marriage to Irene would have legitimised his own title as Emperor... And none in the ERE would like that as traditionally Eastern Emperors considered themselves sole heirs of the old Roman Empire... Charlemagne pressed hard Nicephorus I to recognise him as his colleague in the West but he kept receiving constant NOs for an answer... Finally in the "Pax Nicephori" he was recognised as Emperor and sovereign of Franks only...
 
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