Who is pepin

During this time Carloman developed deeper feelings of piety than his brother, and perhaps deeper than the demands of a ruler could abide. He wanted to focus more on church reform and missionary work than on strengthening the kingdom, but he could not ignore the perils of external enemies. The tension within himself must have been terrible, with terrible consequences.

In he convened the infamous Blood Court of Cannstatt. I believe that this must have been the last straw, the event that forced him to choose what life he would live. In Carloman retired from public life and joined a monastery. While it was his father Martel who had gone so far as to rule without even a figurehead king, thus demonstrating the impotence of the Merovingian family, Pepin turned de facto command into a de jure kingship.

Was the idea of a Carolingian king something his father had discussed with him? How much political horse-trading did he have to engage in before he secured the support of the noble families? More excellent questions. As the Eastern Empire weakened, emperor in Constantinople was not able to support the Bishop of Rome as vigorously as in the past.

Stephen saw which the way the wind was blowing, and requested aid from the more vigorous kingdom north of the Alps. Pepin took this opportunity to extract a promise from the pope, by asking the pontiff a famous question: who should wear the crown — he to whom it was given, or he who actually wielded power?

Sometime after Pepin apparently wanted to divorce Bertrada. Caroline Code, letter 3, King, Translated Sources , p. Apparently Pepin wanted to marry someone named Angla, who was already married to someone named Theodrad. Wemple, Women in Frankish Society , note 11, p. In the pope came north, the first pope to ever cross the Alps, and spent the winter and spring with the Frankish king. Stephen personally anointed Pepin and his family during this visit.

Also during this visit brother Carloman makes a final appearance. Book of the Popes , ch. Pepin and his brother Carloman jointly ruled Francia after the death of their father in In , Carloman a devout Christian retired to a religious life and Pepin became the sole ruler of Frankish Kingdom. During his reign, Pepin was a great supporter of Papacy and fought several battles in support of Pope.

Pepin is remembered as one of the most successful and a prominent ruler of his time but his reign was overshadowed by his remarkable son, Charlemagne. Early Life : Pepin was born in Martel had gathered considerable influence and by the time he died in he left territories of Austrasia, Alemannia and Thuringia to his elder son Carloman and Burgundy, Provence and Neustria to his other son Pepin III.

The two brothers jointly ruled the Francia till , when Carloman a deeply religious man, decided to retire from public life. Like his father, he had courage and resolution; unlike his father, he had a strong desire to unite the papacy with the Frankish realm. In he sent two envoys to Pope Zacharias with a letter asking: "Is it wise to have kings who hold no power of control?

By apostolic authority I bid that you be crowned King of the Franks. Pepin and Pope Stephen II. The pope was in need of aid. Aistulf, king of the Lombards, had seized Ravenna with its lands, known as the exarchate. Soon, Lombard troops marched south, surrounded Rome, and prepared to lay siege to its walls. So matters stood when in Zacharias died and Stephen II became pope.

In November Pope Stephen made his way over the stormy mountain passes to Frankish territory. He remained in France until the summer of , staying at the abbey of Saint-Denis, Paris.

There he himself anointed Pepin and his sons, Charles and Carloman, as king and heirs of the crown. See Italy, history of. The pope returned to Italy accompanied by Pepin and his army. A fierce battle was fought in the Alps against Aistulf and the Lombards. In , they ended the Frankish interregnum by choosing Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian monarch, as figurehead king of the Franks. After Carloman, who was an intensely pious man, retired to religious life in , Pepin became the sole ruler of the Franks.

He suppressed a revolt led by his half-brother Grifo, and succeeded in becoming the undisputed master of all Francia. Giving up pretense, Pepin then forced Childeric into a monastery and had himself proclaimed king of the Franks with the support of Pope Zachary in As king, Pepin embarked on an ambitious program to expand his power.

He reformed the legislation of the Franks and continued the ecclesiastical reforms of Boniface. He 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 Byzantines, keen to make good relations with the growing power of the Frankish empire, gave Pepin the title of Patricius. In wars of expansion, Pepin conquered Septimania from the Islamic Umayyads, and subjugated the southern realms by repeatedly defeating Waifer of Aquitaine and his Basque troops, after which the Basque and Aquitanian lords saw no option but to pledge loyalty to the Franks.