General Notes

Carolingian, dynasty of Frankish kings who ruled in Western Europe from the 7th to the 10th centuries. Pepin the Elder, the ancestor of the Carolingian kings, served the earlier dynasty of Merovingian kings in the position of mayor of the palace at Austrasia in the late 500s and early 600s. His descendants acquired increasing power, eventually ruling the Frankish kingdom in all but name. Pepin the Short became the first Carolingian king in 751. He was succeeded by his two sons, Carloman and Charlemagne. After 771 Charlemagne was sole ruler and increased the kingdom to include what is now France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Low Countries, and northern Italy. On December 25, 800, Charlemagne was crowned the first emperor of the revived Western Roman Empire. His son Louis I inherited the kingdom, but it was divided after his death among his three surviving sons, who fought each other for the title of emperor. Thereafter the dynasty declined.

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Political Events, 768
Pepin the Short dies September 24 at age 54 and is succeeded as Frankish king by his son Charles, 26, who will be called Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, in a reign that will continue until 814. Pepin's son Carloman becomes king of Austrasia.

The People's Chronology is licensed from Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Copyright © 1995, 1996 by James Trager. All rights reserved.

· Note:

Pepin III, son of Charles Martel, was crowned at Saint-Denis (France) byPope Stephen II, and the new Frankish dynasty was then proclaimed holyand its title indisputable. 754.

Pepin III, called le bref or the Short, succeeded his father, CharlesMartel, as ruler of the Merovengian Kingdom, which later became ImperialGermany, in 741. Pepin III ruled until 751 as Mayor of the Palace, thenas King of Carolingia from 751 to 768. He was succeeded Charles, whobecame known as Charlemagne.

Pepin, son of Charles Martel, had himself crowned at Soisson in 751, bythe archbishop of Mainz Wynfrith Boniface, and became Pepin III in a newceremony for the Franks, one which gives much prestige to the newsovereign. Pepin le Brief (the short) in 751 had asked the PopeZacharias whether it would be wiser for the family who had all the power(after the end of the Meerwing Kings with King Childeric III) and thePope agreed. Saint Boniface, the English missonary, annointed Pepin atSoissons in 752.

Charles Martel's legacy of the House of the Carlings was carried intopower by his son Pepin II who became the founder of the House ofCarolingia in 751, becoming King of all the Franks, and ruled the kingdomof Carolingia until 768. Succeeded by Charlemagne.

Pepin II the Short, along with his brother, Carloman, received the officeof Mayor of the Palace from his father Charles Martel in 741. Pepin IIserved the Meerwing King Childeric III until Childeric was put in amonastary. Pepin then became King of the Franks in 751.

The Frankish King Pepin III had taken lands that legally belonged to theByzatine/Eastern Roman Empire. Pepin II forced King Astolfo of theLombards to give up part of his lands. Pepin gave the lands to PopeStephen II, tacitly recognizing the claims of popes as heirs to theempire of Italy. Thus established the papal states which began temporalpower of the papacy.

Pepin III aka Pepin the Short died at age 54. He was succeeded asFrankish King by his son, Carl or Charles, 26 years old, who becameknown as Charles the Great (Charlemagne) King of the Franks and theCarlings.

Title:
Trager's The People's Chronology. A Year by Year Record of HumanEvents from Prehistory to Present.
Author: James Trager, Editor
Publication: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. New York. 1979.