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Pippin of Herstal

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Carolingian Dynasty
Pippinids
Arnulfings
Carolingians
After the Treaty of Verdun (843)
Pippin of Herstal (or Pepin; Fr. Pépin), also known as Pippin the Middle, Pippin the Younger (as with his grandson), or Pippin II, (635 or 640–December 16, 714, Jupille) was the grandson of Pippin (I) the Elder through the marriage of Ansegisel and Begga, the daughter of the Elder. He was born in Héristal (now Herstal, Belgium), hence his byname. His other bynames and his ordinal number come from his position as the second "Pippin" (of three) in the Arnulfing dynasty. He was the Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia from 680 and of Neustria and Burgundy from 687 until his death in 714. He gradually came to control the Frankish court.

Throughout most of his early career, he fought Neustrian majordomo, Ebroin, who had designs on all Frankland. When Ebroin died in 681, he made peace with his successor, Waratton. However, Waratton's successor, Berthar, and the Merovingian king Theuderic III made war and were defeated definitively at Tertry in 687. Pippin then became the de facto ruler of Austrasia, keeping a strong influence over the other Frankish kingdoms of which he was now also mayor of the palace, the first mayor of the palace over all the kingdoms, calling himself "Duke and Prince of the Franks" (dux et princeps Francorum). He subdued the Alemanni, Frisians, and Franconians, bringing them within the Frankish sphere of influence. He also began the evangelisation of Germany. In 695, he placed his son Drogo in the Burgundian office and his son Grimoald in the Neustrian one. He died December 16, 714, at Jupille (in modern Belgium). His descendants continued to serve as mayors of the palace, eventually becoming the legal rulers of the Frankish kingdom.

Descendants and Successors

Around 670, Pippin married Plectrude for her inheritance of substantial estates in the Moselle region. They produced at least two children (who both died before Pippin) and through them at least two significant grandchildren. These legitimate grandchildren claimed themselves to be Pippin's true successors and with the help of his widow Plectrude tried to maintain the position of mayor of the palace after Pippin's death. However, Charles Martel, Pippin's son by his mistress, Alpaida (or Chalpaida), had gained favour among the Austrasians, primarily for his military prowess and ability to keep them well supplied with booty from his conquests. Despite the efforts of Plectrude to silence her rival's child by imprisoning him, he became the sole mayor of the palace and de facto ruler of Francia.

With his wife Plectrude, he had the following issue:

With his mistress Alpaida, he had the following issue:

"|Preceded by:
Wulfoald

|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Theudoald |- |- style="text-align: center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Preceded by:
Berthar

|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Grimoald the Younger |- |-

|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Drogo |- |- style="text-align: center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Preceded by:
New title

|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Charles Martel |- |}

 

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