Pepin Le Bref (son of Charles
Martel and Rotrude) was born 714, and
died 768. He married Bertha (daughter of
Count Canbert of Laon).
Notes
for Pepin Le Bref:
Often known under the mistranslation Pippin
the Short (French, Pépin le Bref;
German, Pippin der Kleine), was a King of
the Franks 751-758
{pep'-in}
Pepin, also known as Pepin III, c.714-68,
was the first Carolingian king of the Franks
(rex francorum ) and the father of CHARLEMAGNE.
Pepin and his brother Carloman succeeded
(741) their father, CHARLES MARTEL, as mayors
of the palace; during the next six years
they crushed a half dozen serious revolts
in Bavaria, Alamannia, Saxony, and Aquitaine.
With the realm at peace Carloman entered
a monastery (747). Three years later Pepin
altered the long-standing pro-Lombard policy
of his family and arranged with Pope Zacharias
to support the papacy in return for papal
sanction of Carolingian usurpation of the
Frankish kingship. Thus Pepin deposed (751)
King Childeric III and was anointed king
of the Franks. To preserve his bond with
the papacy, Pepin crushed the Lombards when
they threatened Rome (754, 756). He ceded
conquered territories to the pope (the Donation
of Pepin), thus establishing the basis for
the PAPAL STATES. Pepin also crushed revolts
in Saxony (748, 753) and Bavaria (749) and
conquered Aquitaine. He was succeeded by
his sons, Charlemagne and Carloman.
Bernard S. Bachrach
Bibliography: Fichteneau, Heinrich, The
Carolingian Empire, trans. by Peter Munz
(1957); Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., The Barbarian
West, 400-1000, 3d ed. (1967)
Mayor of the Palace
of Austrasia 741-751
King of the Franks 751-768
When his father Charles Martel died in 741,
Pepin III and his brother Carloman succeeded
as joing Mayors of the Palace of Austrasia.
In 746, Carloman abdicated and became a
monk, leaving Pepin to rule all of Austrasia
on his own. In 750, Pepin received papal
permission from Pope Zachary to take the
Frankish crown from King Childeric III.
In 751, Zachary formerly deposed Childeric,
and Pepin became the first Caroliginian
king of the Franks. In 753, Pope Stephen
went to Gaul to affirm Pepin's crown. In
755, on Stephen's wishes, Pepin attacked
the Lombards of Italy who were harrasing
the Roman See, and peace was made. The next
year, the Lombard king again marauded near
Rome, was again defeated, and again made
peace with Pepin. That year, Pepin promised
the Church Frankish protection, thus breaking
ties with the Eastern Empire that were only
needed for Italian safety. In 760, Pepin
and Duke Waifar of independent Aquitaine
started a war which lasted many years. In
764, both sides were tired, and the war
took a one year break. Pepin launched a
final campaign against Aquitaine in 766
with full force, Aquitaine was defeated,
and Waifar and his family were executed.
By 768, the year Pepin died, Aquitaine had
been completely conquered.
More
About Pepin Le Bref:
Father (2): Charles Martel.
Children
of Pepin Le Bref:
| i |
|
+Charlemagne,
b. 742, d. 814, Aix-la-Chaplle |
| ii |
|
Carloman,
b. Abt. 740, d. 771, France |
|
