基督教國王的祝聖典禮（Le sacre），事實上是人類政治權力運作的一種成功的嘗試。此典禮的儀式本身，具有非常強烈神學意識型態的象徵意義，給予王權的內涵與價值，一種更堅實和靈活的論據基礎。 舊有的羅馬帝國政治、法律、社會等體制，在中世紀初期逐漸為人所淡忘。政治上，法蘭克人對於最高權力的行使，最初具有相當濃厚的異教色彩。當他們逐步由異教信仰走向基督教信仰的過程當中，梅洛溫王朝的諸王仍堅持以克洛維後代子孫的王室血統原則，作為王位傳承最主要的依據。但是原先屬於日耳曼人諸子分封的習俗仍然存在。屬於羅馬文化中，國家是公眾利益機構的概念，已被王國屬於國王私有財產的觀念所取代。王國被視為是祖先的遺業家產，因此，國王的諸嫡子皆有權分封承襲國土與頭銜。而這種諸子平分習俗概念，也一直延續到西元九世紀中期。然而，在梅洛溫王朝轉變為加洛林王朝的過程裡，一個新的創舉－屬於宗教性的祝聖典禮，被引入了政權的轉移當中；更確切地說，它改變了一個以血統為主要依據的傳統政權架構，給予新政權超越了習俗、超越了當時普世政治觀念的一種更崇高與神聖的權利新定義。而這種革新的王權定義，又依附於基督教普世價值的思想意識型態之上，使得王權的內在意義具有不可觸犯的神聖性。「國王」這個頭銜的意義，成為一種兼具聖職與俗世政權功能的複合體。這種「雙重性」也正是法蘭克王國加洛林政權「神聖化」的外在表現。 因此，本文就以八到十世紀的法蘭克王國的祝聖典禮，作為研究法國王權「神聖化」萌芽期的主體。從祝聖儀式的淵源著手切入，探索基於何種政治意識型態和政治利益使得法蘭克國王如此重視此儀式，並一直沿用到舊體制的結束？以及，經由國王的祝聖典禮，在政治上與思想意識型態上，對於政權與教權之間權力的平衡，產生的影響為何？從而闡釋法蘭克國王政權的神聖性，對於中世紀王權擴張的歷史發展所產生的意義與影響。

The coronation of Christian kings is, in fact, a successful institution in the maneuvers of poitical power in human history. The ceremony of coronation is highly symbolic in terms of theological ideology, which contributes to a well-grounded and flexible theoretical foundation for the discourse on the essence and value of regal power. The old political, legal, and social systems of the Roman Empire were being forgotten in the Early Middle Ages. Politically, in the early phase of establishing their supreme power, the Franks could not detach themselves from pagan religious practices. During their gradual conversion to Christianity, the kings of the Merovingian dynasty still insisted on their descent from the Clovis lineage as the key principle of royal succession, which meant that the Germanic custom of kings dividing their realms among their sons still remained in force. The Roman concept of the state, defined as an organization of public interest, was replaced by the concept of the realm as the king's personal asset. That is to say that the kingdom was viewed as an asset attached to ancestral heredity. Sons of kings, therefore, were equally entitled to royal land and titles. This practice lasted until the mid-ninth century. However, during the transition from the Merovingian to the Carolingian dynasty, a new practice came into being: the religious coronation, which was introduced to legitimize regime change. To be more precise, coronation transformed the traditional political framework that based royal succession on lineage; it rendered to successive regimes a more elevanted and sacred definition of power so as to surpass the customs and universal political concepts of the age. This innovative definition of regal power, which was very much indebeted to Christian universal ideology, rendered sacred and inviolable the essence of regal power. The concept of “king” thus gradually combined the connotations of spiritual office and secular rule. This “duality” is nothing but the outer manifestation of the sacralization of the Carolingian Kings. This essay thus studies the genesis of the sacralization of regal power by focusing on the coronations of the Frankish Kingdom between the eighth and tenth centuries. It begins with the origins of the coronation, and investigates the stake that the Frankish Kingdom held in the coronation in terms of political ideology and interests. The essay then examines the political and ideological impact that the king's coronation exerted on the balance of power between the authorities of state and church. Finally, this essay attempts to elucidate and interpret the aggrandizement of regal power in the Middle Ages from the perspective of the sacralization of the Frankish Kingdom.