The Annals of Lorsch state that Franks and Romans held meetings in Rome during November and December 800, to decide whether Charlemagne should be crowned emperor. An important factor in their thinking was how, in the Byzantine Empire, the 'name of emperor', or nomen imperatoris, was at that moment 'absent' among the Byzantines, who were subject to 'female imperial rule' (femineum imperium). Stating that 'the name of emperor was absent' was a roundabout way of asserting the illegitimacy of Irene’s rule and the vacancy of the imperial office.