What did Charlemagne do to avoid war with the Byzantine Empire?

Both Charlemagne, who ruled the Franks, and the Byzantine Empire claimed to be the inheritors of what used to be the Roman Empire. This caused a great deal of tension between them, but it never led to direct war for a number of reasons. First, Charlemagne himself had been crowned by the pope, whose authority was recognized by the Byzantines. Although the Byzantines did not acknowledge Charlemagne as Roman emperor, they could not openly defy the pope. Crucially, the Byzantine Empire was not at this time in a position to fight a war against Charlemagne. By the time of his coronation by the pope, he already controlled much of Europe, and although the Byzantines were a formidable force in Italy, they did not have the confidence to defeat Charlemagne in a military conflict.

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