Pippin of Herstal
Encyclopedia
Pepin of Herstal, or Heristal, (635/45 – 16 December 714) was the Mayor of the Palace
of Austrasia
from 680 to his death and of Neustria
and Burgundy
from 687 to 695. He was also the first mayor of the palace to "reign" as Duke and Prince of the Franks and he by far overshadowed the Merovingian rois fainéants
.
by the marriage of Pepin I's daughter Begga
and Ansegisel
, son of Arnulf of Metz
. That marriage united the two houses of the Pippinids and the Arnulfings which created what would be called the Carolingian
dynasty. Pepin II was probably born in Herstal
(Héristal), modern Belgium
(where his centre of power lay), whence his byname (sometimes "of Heristal").
As mayor of Austrasia, Pepin and Martin
, the duke of Laon
, fought the Neustrian mayor Ebroin
, who had designs on all Francia. Ebroin defeated the Austrasians at Lucofao (Bois-du-Fay, near Laon
) and came close to uniting all the Franks under his rule; however, he was assassinated in 681, the victim of a combined attack by his numerous enemies. Pepin immediately made peace with his successor, Waratton
.
However, Waratton's successor, Berthar
, and the Neustrian king Theuderic III
, who, since 679, was nominal king of all the Franks, made war on Austrasia. The king and his mayor were decisively defeated at the Battle of Tertry
(Textrice) in the Vermandois
in 687. Berthar and Theuderic withdrew themselves to Paris
, where Pepin followed and eventually forced on them a peace treaty with the condition that Berthar leave his office. Pepin was created mayor in all three Frankish kingdoms (Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy) and began calling himself Duke and Prince of the Franks
(dux et princeps Francorum). In the ensuing quarrels, Berthar killed his mother-in-law Ansfled and fled. His wife Anstrude married Pepin's eldest son Drogo
, Duke of Champagne, and Pepin's place in Neustria was secured.
Over the next several years, Pepin subdued the Alemanni, Frisians
, and Franconians, bringing them within the Frankish sphere of influence. He also began the evangelisation of Germany
. In 695, he placed Drogo in the Burgundian mayorship and his other son, Grimoald, in the Neustrian one.
Around 670, Pepin had married Plectrude
, who had inherited substantial estates in the Moselle
region. She was the mother of Drogo of Champagne
and Grimoald II, both of whom died before their father. However, Pepin also had a mistress named Alpaida
(or Chalpaida) who bore him two more sons: Charles
and Childebrand
. Just before Pepin's death, Plectrude convinced him to disinherit his bastards in favour of his grandson, Theudoald
, the son of Grimoald, who was still young (and amenable to Plectrude's control). Pepin died suddenly at an old age on 16 December 714, at Jupille
(in modern Belgium). His legitimate grandchildren claimed themselves to be Pepin's true successors and, with the help of Plectrude, tried to maintain the position of mayor of the palace after Pepin's death. However, Charles had gained favor among the Austrasians, primarily for his military prowess and ability to keep them well supplied with booty from his conquests. Despite the efforts of Plectrude to silence her rival's child by imprisoning him, he became the sole mayor of the palace --and de facto ruler of Francia-- after a civil war which lasted for more than three years after Pepin's death.
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Mayor of the Palace
Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....
of Austrasia
Austrasia
Austrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...
from 680 to his death and of Neustria
Neustria
The territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities...
and Burgundy
Kingdom of Burgundy
Burgundy is a historic region in Western Europe that has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities - the first around the 6th century, the second around the 11th century - have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy; a third was very...
from 687 to 695. He was also the first mayor of the palace to "reign" as Duke and Prince of the Franks and he by far overshadowed the Merovingian rois fainéants
Roi fainéant
Roi fainéant, literally "lazy king", is a French term primarily used to refer to the later kings of the Merovingian dynasty, after they seemed to have lost their initial energy...
.
Biography
Pepin, sometimes called Pepin II and Pepin the Middle was the grandson and namesake of Pepin I the ElderPippin of Landen
Pepin of Landen , also called the Elder or the Old, was the Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia under the Merovingian king Dagobert I from 623 to 629...
by the marriage of Pepin I's daughter Begga
Begga
Saint Begga was the daughter of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, and his wife Itta. On the death of her husband, she took the veil, founded seven churches, and built a convent at Andenne on the Meuse River where she spent the rest of her days as abbess...
and Ansegisel
Ansegisel
Ansegisel was the son of Saint Arnulf, bishop of Metz and his wife Saint Doda. He served King Sigbert III of Austrasia as a duke and domesticus...
, son of Arnulf of Metz
Arnulf of Metz
Saint Arnulf of Metz was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia, who retired to the Abbey of Remiremont....
. That marriage united the two houses of the Pippinids and the Arnulfings which created what would be called the Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
dynasty. Pepin II was probably born in Herstal
Herstal
Herstal, formerly known as Heristal, or Héristal, is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege along the Meuse river. Herstal is included in the "Greater Liège" agglomeration, which counts about 600,000 inhabitants...
(Héristal), modern Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
(where his centre of power lay), whence his byname (sometimes "of Heristal").
As mayor of Austrasia, Pepin and Martin
Martin of Laon
Martin was the count of Laon in the late 7th century....
, the duke of Laon
Laon
Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
, fought the Neustrian mayor Ebroin
Ebroin
Ebroin was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681...
, who had designs on all Francia. Ebroin defeated the Austrasians at Lucofao (Bois-du-Fay, near Laon
Laon
Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
) and came close to uniting all the Franks under his rule; however, he was assassinated in 681, the victim of a combined attack by his numerous enemies. Pepin immediately made peace with his successor, Waratton
Waratton
Waratton, Waratto, or Warato was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy on two occasions, owing to the deposition he experienced at the hands of his own faithless son. His first term lasted from 680 or 681 to 682, when his son Gistemar deposed him and took over the office...
.
However, Waratton's successor, Berthar
Berthar
Berthar was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy from 686 to 687. He was the successor of Waratton, whose daughter Anstrude he had married....
, and the Neustrian king Theuderic III
Theuderic III
Theuderic III was the king of Neustria on two occasions and king of Austrasia from 679 to his death in 691. Thus, he was the king of all the Franks from 679...
, who, since 679, was nominal king of all the Franks, made war on Austrasia. The king and his mayor were decisively defeated at the Battle of Tertry
Battle of Tertry
The Battle of Tertry was an important engagement in Merovingian Gaul between the forces of Austrasia on one side and those of Neustria and Burgundy on the other. It took place in 687 at Tertry, Somme....
(Textrice) in the Vermandois
Vermandois
Vermandois was a French county, that appears in the Merovingian period. In the tenth century, it was organised around two castellan domains: St Quentin and Péronne . Pepin I of Vermandois, the earliest of its hereditary counts, was descended in direct male line from the emperor Charlemagne...
in 687. Berthar and Theuderic withdrew themselves to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where Pepin followed and eventually forced on them a peace treaty with the condition that Berthar leave his office. Pepin was created mayor in all three Frankish kingdoms (Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy) and began calling himself Duke and Prince of the Franks
Duke of the Franks
The title dux et princeps Francorum, or duke and prince of the Franks, was the title adopted by Pepin of Heristal after his epoch-making victory at the Battle of Tertry in 687...
(dux et princeps Francorum). In the ensuing quarrels, Berthar killed his mother-in-law Ansfled and fled. His wife Anstrude married Pepin's eldest son Drogo
Drogo of Champagne
Drogo , son of Pepin the Middle and Plectrude, was the duke of Champagne by appointment of his father in 690 and duke of Burgundy from the death of Nordebert in 697...
, Duke of Champagne, and Pepin's place in Neustria was secured.
Over the next several years, Pepin subdued the Alemanni, Frisians
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...
, and Franconians, bringing them within the Frankish sphere of influence. He also began the evangelisation of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In 695, he placed Drogo in the Burgundian mayorship and his other son, Grimoald, in the Neustrian one.
Around 670, Pepin had married Plectrude
Plectrude
Plectrude was the wife of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, from about 670. She was the daughter of Hugobert, seneschal of Clovis IV, and Irmina d'Oeren....
, who had inherited substantial estates in the Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
region. She was the mother of Drogo of Champagne
Drogo of Champagne
Drogo , son of Pepin the Middle and Plectrude, was the duke of Champagne by appointment of his father in 690 and duke of Burgundy from the death of Nordebert in 697...
and Grimoald II, both of whom died before their father. However, Pepin also had a mistress named Alpaida
Alpaida
Alpaida was Pepin II's concubine and mother to Pepin II's two illegitimate sons, Charles Martel and Childebrand .-External links:*...
(or Chalpaida) who bore him two more sons: Charles
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
and Childebrand
Childebrand
Childebrand was a Frankish duke , son of Pepin of Heristal and Alpaida, brother of Charles Martel. He married Emma of Austrasia and was given Burgundy by his father...
. Just before Pepin's death, Plectrude convinced him to disinherit his bastards in favour of his grandson, Theudoald
Theudoald
Theudoald was the mayor of the palace, briefly unopposed in 714 until Ragenfrid was acclaimed in Neustria and Charles Martel in Austrasia by the nobles, after the death of his grandfather, Pepin of Heristal. He was the illegitimate son of Grimoald II and Theudesinda of Frisia and thus a grandson...
, the son of Grimoald, who was still young (and amenable to Plectrude's control). Pepin died suddenly at an old age on 16 December 714, at Jupille
Jupille
Jupille is a former Belgian municipality. It is now a part of the city of Liège.Jupille is the location of the brewery Piedbœuf , where Jupiler is made. It is also the death place of Pepin of Herstal...
(in modern Belgium). His legitimate grandchildren claimed themselves to be Pepin's true successors and, with the help of Plectrude, tried to maintain the position of mayor of the palace after Pepin's death. However, Charles had gained favor among the Austrasians, primarily for his military prowess and ability to keep them well supplied with booty from his conquests. Despite the efforts of Plectrude to silence her rival's child by imprisoning him, he became the sole mayor of the palace --and de facto ruler of Francia-- after a civil war which lasted for more than three years after Pepin's death.
Sources
- Oman, CharlesCharles OmanSir Charles William Chadwick Oman was a British military historian of the early 20th century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering...
. The Dark Ages 476–918. London: Rivingtons, 1914. - Wallace-Hadrill, J. M.John Michael Wallace-HadrillJohn Michael Wallace-Hadrill CBE was Professor of Mediaeval History at the University of Manchester , a Senior Research Fellow of Merton College in the University of Oxford , Chichele Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford and a Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford...
, translator. The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1960. - Bachrach, Bernard S.Bernard BachrachBernard S. Bachrach is an American historian and a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. He specialises in the Early Middle Ages, mainly on the topics of Medieval warfare, Medieval Jewry, and early Angevin history...
, translator. Liber Historiae Francorum. 1973.
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