Pepin or
Pippin (714 – 24 September
768- Europe :* Pepin the Short , king of the Franks since 751, dies; he is succeeded by his sons Carloman and Charles, aka Charlemagne .* Deventer is founded ....
), called
the Short, and often known as
Pepin the Younger or
Pepin III, was the
Mayor of the PalaceMayor 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....
and
Duke of the FranksThe 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...
from 741 and King of the Franks from 751 to 768. He was the father of
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
.
He was the son of
Charles MartelCharles Martel , called 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 title...
,
mayor of the palaceMayor 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....
and duke of the Franks, and of
Rotrude of TrierRotrude of Treves , also known as Rotrou of Treves, was possibly born in Austrasia in an uncertain year; and died 724. There was a tentative suggestion that she might be the daughter of St. Leutwinus, Bishop of Treves, Bishop of Trier...
(690-724).
Assumption of power
Pepin's father,
Charles MartelCharles Martel , called 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 title...
, died in 741. He divided the rule of the Frankish kingdom between Pepin and his elder brother, Carloman, his surviving sons by his first wife: Carloman became Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, Pepin became Mayor of the Palace of Neustria.
GrifoGrifo was the son of the Frankish major domo Charles Martel and his second wife Swanahild.After the death of Charles Martel power may well have been intended to be divided among Grifo and his half-brothers Pepin the Younger and Carloman...
, Charles's son by his second wife, Swanahild (
aka Swanhilde), demanded a share in the inheritance, but he was imprisoned in a
monasteryMonastery , a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer Monastery (plural: monasteries), a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios...
by his two half-brothers.
As in the Frankish realm the unity of the kingdom was essentially connected with the person of the king, Carloman, to secure this unity raised the Merovingian Childeric to the throne (743). In 747 he resolved to enter a monastery. This left Francia in the hands of Pepin as sole
mayor of the palaceMayor 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....
and
dux et princeps Francorum, a title originated by his grandfather and namesake Pepin of Heristal.
At the time of Carloman's retirement, Grifo escaped his imprisonment and fled to Duke
Odilo of BavariaOdilo , a son of Gotfrid of the house of Agilolfing, ruled Bavaria from 736 until his death in 748, succeeding Duke Hugbert of Bavaria. Odilo presided over the establishment of bishoprics in Bavaria in 739, when the dioceses of Regensburg, Freising, Passau, and Salzburg were established by St...
, who was married to Hiltrude, Pepin's sister. Pepin put down the renewed revolt led by his half-brother and succeeded in completely restoring the boundaries of the kingdom.
Under the reorganization of Francia by Charles Martel the
dux et princeps Francorum were the commanders of the armies of the kingdom, in addition to their administrative duties as mayor of the palace, and specifically commander of the standing guard which Charles Martel had begun maintaining year-round since Toulouse in 721.
First Carolingian king
Pepin was subject to the decisions of Childric who had only the title of King but no power. Childric was considered a joke by the people.
Since Pepin had control over the magnates and actually had the power of the king, he now addressed to
Pope ZacharySaint Zachary , pope , the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. He came from a Greek family of Calabria. Most probably he was a deacon of the Roman Church and as such signed the decrees of the Roman council of 732; and was on intimate terms with Gregory III, whom he succeeded in December 10...
the suggestive question: In regard to the kings of the Franks who no longer possess the royal power, is this state of things proper?
Hard pressed by the Lombards, Pope Zacharias welcomed this advance of the Franks which aimed at ending an intolerable condition of things, and at laying the constitutional foundations for the exercise of the royal power. The pope replied that such a state of things was not proper. The
de facto power is more important than the
de jure power.
After this decision the throne was declared vacant. The crown was given him not by the pope but by the Franks. According to the ancient custom Pepin was then elected King of the Franks by an assembly of Frankish leading-men, with a large portion of his army on hand (in the event that the nobility inclined not to honor the
Papal bullA Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a pope. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end to authenticate it....
), and anointed at
SoissonsSoissons is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardie in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about 100 kilometres northeast of Paris...
, by
Boniface, Archbishop of MainzSaint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid or Wynfrith at Crediton in the kingdom of Wessex , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz.He was killed in Frisia in 754...
, who, along with his niece,
Saint LeobaLeoba was an Anglo-Saxon nun who was part of Boniface's mission to the Germans, and a saint.- Early life :...
, was a court advisor. Meanwhile, Grifo continued his rebellion, but was eventually killed in the battle of Saint-Jean de Maurienne in 753. Childeric III was deposed, his hair shaved off and he was confined to a monastery. He was the last of the Merovingians.
Expansion of the Frankish realm
Pepin added to his power after
Pope Stephen IIPope Stephen II was a Pope of the Roman Catholic Church .The Lombards to the north of Rome had captured Ravenna, former capital of the Eastern Roman Empire exarchate, in 751, and began to put pressure on Rome. Relations were very strained in the mid-8th century between the papacy and the Eastern...
traveled all the way to
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to anoint him in a lavish ceremony at
Saint Denis BasilicaThe Cathedral Basilica of St Denis is a large abbey church in the commune of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The abbey church was created a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy...
, bestowing upon him the additional title of
patricius Romanorum (Patrician of the Romans). As life expectancies were short in those days, and Pepin wanted family continuity, the Pope also anointed Pepin's sons,
CharlesCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
(eventually known as
Charlemagne) and
CarlomanCarloman I was the king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon...
.
Pepin the Short's first major act was to go to war against the Lombard king
AistulfAistulf was the Duke of Friuli from 744, King of Lombards from 749, and Duke of Spoleto from 751. His father was the Duke Pemmo.After his brother Ratchis became king, Aistulf succeeded him in Friuli. He succeeded him later as king when Ratchis abdicated to a monastery...
, who had a policy of expansion into the
ducatus RomanumThe Duchy of Rome was a Byzantine district in the Exarchate of Ravenna. Like other Byzantine states in Italy, it was ruled by an imperial functionary with the title dux...
, as a partial repayment for papal support in his quest for the crown. Victorious, he forced the Lombard king to return property seized from the Church and confirmed the papacy in possession of
RavennaRavenna is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The city is inland, but is connected to the Adriatic Sea by a canal. Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire till 476. It was later the capital ofKingdom of the Ostrogoths and the Exarchate of Ravenna till 751...
and the
PentapolisA pentapolis, from the Greek words penta 'five' and polis 'city' is geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities.-Significant historical cases:...
, the so-called
Donation of PepinThe "Donation of Pepin" in 756 provided a legal basis for the erection of the Papal States, which extended papal temporal rule beyond the traditional diocese and duchy of Rome....
whereby the
Papal StatesThe Papal States, State of the Church or Pontifical States were one of the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
was founded. In 759, he drove the Saracens out of
GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
with the capture of
NarbonneNarbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon région. It lies from Paris in the Aude département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...
and then consolidated his power further by integrating
AquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger...
into the kingdom. In taking Narbonne, and formally annexing Aquitaine (whose status was always dependent on the strength of her suzerains), he completed the work of his father save for one last task: fully subduing the
SaxonsThe Saxons were a confederation of Old Germanic tribes. Their modern-day descendants in Lower Saxony and Westphalia and other German states are considered ethnic Germans ; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch; those in north...
. He was preparing for war against them when his health began to fail, and thus, this final task was left for his son, the great Charlemagne.
Legacy
Pepin died during a campaign and was brought to Saint Denis to be buried near the saint in 768 and is interred there in the basilica with his wife
BertradaBertrada of Laon, also called Bertha Broadfoot , was a Frankish queen. She was born in Laon, in today's Aisne, France, the daughter of Caribert of Laon...
. Pepin was buried "outside that entrance [of
Saint Denis BasilicaThe Cathedral Basilica of St Denis is a large abbey church in the commune of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The abbey church was created a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy...
] according to his wishes, face down, for the sins of his father Charles Martel".
The Frankish realm was fractioned according to
salic lawSalic law was an important body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
between his two sons:
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
and Carloman I.
Historical opinion often seems to regard him as the lesser son and lesser father of two greater men, though a great man in his own right. He continued to build up the
heavy cavalryHeavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
which his father had begun. He maintained the standing army that his father had found necessary to protect the realm and form the core of its full army in wartime. He not only maintained his father's policy of containing the
MoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
, he drove them over and across the
PyreneesThe Pyrenees are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain...
with the capture of Narbonne. He continued his father's expansion of the Frankish church (
missionaryA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
work in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
and
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
) and the infrastructure (
feudalismFeudalism is a decentralized sociopolitical structure in which a weak monarchy attempts to control the lands of the realm through reciprocal agreements with regional leaders...
) that would prove the backbone of medieval Europe.
His rule, while not as great as either his father's or son's, was historically important and of great benefit to the Franks as a people. It can certainly be argued that Pepin's assumption of the crown, and the title of Patrician of
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, were harbingers of his son's imperial coronation which is usually seen as the founding of the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
. He certainly made the Carolingians
de jure what his father had made them
de facto—the ruling dynasty of the Franks and the foremost power of Europe. While not known as a great general, he was undefeated during his lifetime.
Family
.
In 741, Pepin married
Bertrada of LaonBertrada of Laon, also called Bertha Broadfoot , was a Frankish queen. She was born in Laon, in today's Aisne, France, the daughter of Caribert of Laon...
, Her father,
CharibertCaribert , Count of Laon, son of Martin of Laon, was the maternal grandfather of Charlemagne. He was the father of Charles's mother, Bertrada of Laon. In 721, he signed, with his mother Bertrada of Prüm, the foundation act of the Abbey of Prüm. The same year, also with his mother, he made a...
, was the son of Pepin II's brother,
Martin of LaonMartin was the count of Laon in the late 7th century. He is the father of Caribert of Laon, and great-grandfather of Charlemagne....
. They are known to have had eight children, at least three of whom survived to adulthood:
- Charles
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
(April 2 742-Asia:* Chinese poet Li Po is presented before the emperor and given a position in the Imperial court .* Artabasdus is Byzantine Emperor until the capital is stormed by Constantine V, who regains control and resumes the suppression of image-worship.* Emperor Xuanzong of Tang begins to favor Taoism...
– January 28 814-Europe:* Charlemagne dies in Aachen, aged 67 or 72 * Louis the Pious succeeds Charlemagne as king of the Franks and Emperor.* The nation of Serbia is formed.-Religion:* Iconoclasts regain power in the Byzantine Empire....
), (Charles the Great)
- Carloman
Carloman I was the king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon...
(751 – December 4 771-Europe:* December 4—Carloman I, King of the Franks, dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne king of the now complete Frankish kingdom.*Gerberga, the widow of Carloman, flees to Desiderius, the king of the Lombards.-Deaths:...
)
- Gisela (757 – 810)
- Pepin, who died in infancy.
- Chrothais, died young, buried Metz.
- Adelais, died young, buried Metz.
- 2 un-named daughters
|-