Historyfags, need some help with sorting out my history. When Rome fell, did the Roman elite take cover under the Holy Roman Empire AkA the Vatican?
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Odoacer deposes last Western Roman Emperor from Rome and declares himself King of Italy, 476.
Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne first Holy Roman Emperor, 800.
Lots of interchange happened between those dates. The succession of popes remained but their power (other than local bishopric) wavered wildly and so making a narrative that when Rome fell there was immediate cover in the HRE doesn't wash. It's more like any other city where the primary religious leader's office is subject to the vagaries of history; compare the political history of the Patriarch of Constantinople (who now lives in Istanbul).
The question is which power narrative you want to support, and then you can get to what facts do and don't support it.