Pepin the Short
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2022) |
Pepin the Short | |
---|---|
Carolingian | |
Father | Charles Martel |
Mother | Rotrude of Hesbaye |
Religion | Chalcedonian Christianity |
Signature |
Pepin
Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince
Being well disposed towards the
As King of the Franks, Pepin embarked on an ambitious program to expand his power. He reformed the Franks' legislation and continued Boniface's ecclesiastical reforms. Pepin also intervened in favour of the Papacy of Stephen II against the Lombards in Italy. In the midsummer of 754, Stephen II anointed Pepin afresh,[3] together with his two sons, Charles and Carloman.[4] The ceremony took place in the Abbey Church of St. Denis, and the Pope formally forbade the Franks ever to elect as king anyone who was not of the sacred race of Pepin. He also bestowed upon Pepin and his sons the title of Patrician of Rome.[5] Pepin was able to secure several cities, which he then gave to the Pope as part of the Donation of Pepin. This formed the legal basis for the Papal States in the Middle Ages. The Byzantine Greeks, keen to make good relations with the growing power of the Frankish Empire, gave Pepin the title of Patricius.[citation needed]
In wars of expansion for the Frankish realm, Pepin conquered
Pepin died in 768 from unknown causes and was succeeded by his sons Charlemagne and Carloman. Although Pepin was unquestionably one of the most powerful and successful rulers of his time, his reign is largely overshadowed by that of his more famous son, Charlemagne.[citation needed]
Assumption of power
Pepin's father
In the Frankish realm, the kingdom's unity was essentially connected with the king's person. So Carloman, to secure this unity, raised the Merovingian Childeric to the throne (743). Then, in 747, Carloman resolved to enter a monastery after years of consideration.[8] This left Francia in the hands of Pepin as sole mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum.[citation needed]
At the time of Carloman's retirement, Grifo escaped his imprisonment and fled to Duke
Carolingian dynasty |
---|
Under the reorganization of Francia by Charles Martel, the dux et princeps Francorum was the commander of the kingdom's armies, in addition to his administrative duties as mayor of the palace.[9]
First Carolingian king
As mayor of the palace, Pepin was formally subject to the decisions of Childeric III, who had only the title of king, with no power. Since Pepin had control over the magnates and had the power of a king, he now addressed to Pope Zachary a 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 Zachary welcomed this move by the Franks to end an intolerable condition and lay the constitutional foundations for exercising royal power. The Pope replied that such a state of things is not proper. Under these circumstances, the wielder of actual power should be called King. After this decision, Childeric III was deposed and confined to a monastery. He was the last of the Merovingians.
Pepin was then elected King of the Franks by an assembly of Frankish nobles, with a large portion of his army on hand. The earliest account of his election and anointing is the Clausula de Pippino, written around 767. Meanwhile, Grifo continued his rebellion but was eventually killed in the battle of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in 753.
Pepin was assisted by his friend
The significance of the anointment ceremony is visible in that the Pope newly adopted it and was unheard of in Rome. This, together with granting the title of Patrician of the Romans, which was connected to the role of Defensor Civitatis (protector of oppressed citizens), meant that Pepin was now designated as the defender of the Church.[12]
Expansion of the Frankish realm
Pepin's first major act as king was to go to war against the Lombard king
when they were driven out to Hispania.However, Aquitaine remained under Waiofar's Gascon-Aquitanian rule and beyond Frankish reach. Duke Waiofar appears to have confiscated Church lands, maybe distributing them among his troops. In 760, after conquering the Roussillon from the Muslims and denouncing Waiofar's actions, Pepin moved his troops over to Toulouse and Albi, ravaged with fire and sword most of Aquitaine, and, in retaliation, counts loyal to Waiofar ravaged Burgundy.[15] Pepin, in turn, besieged the Aquitanian-held towns and strongholds of Bourbon, Clermont, Chantelle, Bourges and Thouars, defended by Waiofar's Gascon troops, who were overcome, captured and deported into northern France with their children and wives.[16]
In 763, Pepin advanced further into the heart of Waiofar's domains and captured major strongholds (Poitiers, Limoges, Angoulême, etc.), after which Waiofar counterattacked and war became bitter. Pepin opted to spread terror, burning villas, destroying vineyards, and depopulating monasteries. By 765, the brutal tactics seemed to pay off for the Franks, who destroyed resistance in central Aquitaine and devastated the whole region. The city of Toulouse was conquered by Pepin in 767, as was Waiofar's capital of Bordeaux.[17]
As a result, Aquitanian nobles and Gascons from beyond the Garonne also saw no option but to accept a pro-Frankish peace treaty (Fronsac, c. 768). Waiofar escaped but was assassinated by his frustrated followers in 768.
Legacy
Pepin died on campaign in 768 at the age of 54. He was interred in the
The Frankish realm was divided according to the Salic law between his two sons: Charlemagne and Carloman I.
Historical opinion[who?] 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 building up the heavy cavalry 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 whole army in wartime. He not only contained the Spanish Muslims as his father had but drove them out of what is now France and, as important, he managed to subdue the Aquitanians and the Gascons after three generations of on-off clashes, opening the gate to central and southern Gaul and Muslim Spain. He continued his father's expansion of the Frankish church (missionary work in Germany and Scandinavia) and the institutional infrastructure (feudalism) that would prove the backbone of medieval Europe.
His rule was historically significant and greatly beneficial to the Franks as a people. Pepin's assumption of the crown and the title of Patrician of Rome were harbingers of his son's imperial coronation. He made the Carolingians the ruling dynasty of the Franks and the foremost power of Europe. Even at an estimated height of around 4 and a half feet tall, he proved to the medieval world that height did not matter. Known as a great conqueror, he was undefeated during his lifetime.
Family
Pepin married Leutberga from the Danube region. They had five children. She was repudiated sometime after the birth of Charlemagne, and her children were sent to convents.[18]
In 741, Pepin married
- Charles (Charlemagne) (2 April 742 – 28 January 814)
- Carloman(751 – 4 December 771)
- Pepin (756–762)
- Gisela(757–810)
- Berthe, died young
- Adelais (Adelaide), died young, buried in Metz
- Chrothais (Rothaide), died young, buried in Metz.
Notes
References
- ^ Duckett 2022
- ^ Riché 1993, p. 65.
- ^ Doig 2008, p. 110
- ^ Duckett 2022
- ^ R.H.C 1957, p. 133
- ISBN 9780367184582.
- ISBN 978-1-349-26924-2.
- ^ Duckett 2022
- ^ Schulman 2002, p. 101.
- ^ Enright 1985, p. ix, 198.
- ^ Kazhdan 1991
- ^ Ullmann 2013, pp. 67–69
- ^ a b Brown 1995, p. 328.
- ^ Lewis 2010, p. chapter 1.
- ^ Petersen 2013, p. 728.
- ^ Petersen 2013, pp. 728–731.
- ^ Tucker 2011, p. 215.
- ^ Borovský 2019, p. 139
Bibliography
- Borovský, Jozef (2019). Chrysalis: Metamorphosis of Odium. Friesen Press. ISBN 978-1525547690.
- Brown, T.S. (1995). "Byzantine Italy". In McKitterick, Rosamond (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History, c. 700–c. 900. Vol. II. Cambridge University Press.
- Doig, Allan (2008). Liturgy and architecture from the early church to the Middle Ages. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0754652748.
- Duckett, Eleanor Shipley (20 September 2022). "Pippin III". www.britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
- Dutton, Paul Edward (2008). Charlemagne's Mustache: And Other Cultural Clusters of a Dark Age. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Enright, M.J. (1985). Iona, Tara, and Soissons: The Origin of the Royal Anointing Ritual. Walter de Gruyter.
- Kazhdan, Alexander P. (1991). The Oxford dictionary of Byzantium. (Aleksandr Petrovich), 1922–1997, Talbot, Alice-Mary Maffry, Cutler, Anthony, 1934–, Gregory, Timothy E., Ševčenko, Nancy Patterson. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 22733550.
- Lewis, Archibald R. (2010). The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. The Library of Iberian Resources Online.
- Petersen, Leif Inge Ree (2013). Siege Warfare and Military Organization in the Successor States (400–800 AD): Byzantium, the West and Islam. Leiden: ISBN 978-90-04-25199-1.
- R.H.C, Davis (1957). A History of Medieval Europe – From Constantine to Saint Louis. Great Britain: Longman. ISBN 0582482089.
- Riché, Pierre (1993). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. Translated by Allen, Michael Idomir. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Schulman, Jana K., ed. (2002). The Rise of the Medieval World, 500–1300: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press.
- Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2011). A Global Chronology of Conflict. Vol. I. ABC-CLIO.
- Ullmann, Walter (2013). Growth of Papal Government in Middle Ages – Study in Ideological Relation of Clerical to Lay Power. Routledge.
External links
- Literatur über Pippin den Jüngeren in the German National Library catalogue
- Document by Pepin for Fulda Abbey, 760, "digitalised image". Photograph Archive of Old Original Documents (Lichtbildarchiv älterer Originalurkunden). University of Marburg..