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| In ], Carloman renounced his position as ''major domo'' and withdrew to a monastic life in ] and then ]. All sources from the period indicate he truly believed his brother was capable of leading the kingdom by himself, and that his calling was the Church. He felt he had done his duty for the family for six years in ruthlessly eliminating its enemies, and strengthening the dynasty. Having completed what he felt were his worldly tasks, and believing "one hand on the sword holds it better than two," he withdrew to a monastery and spent the remainder of his life in meditation and prayer. At the time of Carloman's retirement, Grifo escaped his imprisonment and fled to Bavaria, where Duke ] provided support and assistance, but when Odilo died a year later and Grifo attempted to seize the ] for himself, Pippin, who had become sole ''major domo'' and ''dux et princeps Francorum'', took decisive action by invading Bavaria and installing Odilo's infant son, ], as duke under Frankish suzerainty. Grifo continued his rebellion, but was eventually killed in the battle of ] in ]. | In ], Carloman renounced his position as ''major domo'' and withdrew to a monastic life in ] and then ]. All sources from the period indicate he truly believed his brother was capable of leading the kingdom by himself, and that his calling was the Church. He felt he had done his duty for the family for six years in ruthlessly eliminating its enemies, and strengthening the dynasty. Having completed what he felt were his worldly tasks, and believing "one hand on the sword holds it better than two," he withdrew to a monastery and spent the remainder of his life in meditation and prayer. At the time of Carloman's retirement, Grifo escaped his imprisonment and fled to Bavaria, where Duke ] provided support and assistance, but when Odilo died a year later and Grifo attempted to seize the ] for himself, Pippin, who had become sole ''major domo'' and ''dux et princeps Francorum'', took decisive action by invading Bavaria and installing Odilo's infant son, ], as duke under Frankish suzerainty. Grifo continued his rebellion, but was eventually killed in the battle of ] in ]. | ||
| Carloman enters the pages of history only once more, seven years after his retirement and on the eve of his death. In ], ] had begged Pippin, now king, to come to his aid agains the king of the ], . Carloman visited his brother to beg him not to bring war to Italy, but Pippin was unmoved and Carloman retired to ], where he died on ]. He was buried in Monte Cassino. | Carloman enters the pages of history only once more, seven years after his retirement and on the eve of his death. In ], ] had begged Pippin, now king, to come to his aid agains the king of the ], ]. Carloman visited his brother to beg him not to bring war to Italy, but Pippin was unmoved and Carloman retired to ], where he died on ]. He was buried in Monte Cassino. | ||
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Revision as of 02:23, 29 March 2006
| Carolingian dynasty |
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Pippinids
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Arnulfings
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Carolingians
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After the Treaty of Verdun (843)
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Carloman (c.710 – 17 August 754) was the son of Charles Martel, major domo or mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, and his wife Chrotrud. On Charles' death (741), he and his brother Pippin the Short succeeded to their father position, Pippin in Neustria and Carloman in Austrasia. He was a member of the family later called the Carolingians and it can be argued that he was instrumental in consolidating their power at the expense of the ruling Merovingian kings of the Franks. He withdrew from public life in 747 to take up the monastic habit.
Assumption of power
After the death of his father in, power was not initially divided to include Grifo, Charles' bastard son. This was per Charles' wishes, though Grifo demanded a portion of the realm from his brothers, who refused him. By 742, Carloman and Pippin had ousted Grifo and forced him into a monastery, and each turned his attention towards his own area of influence as major domo, Pippin in the West and Carloman in the East. With Grifo contained, Pippin and Carloman, who had not proved themselves in battle in defence of the realm as their father had, installed the Merovingian Childeric III as king, even though Martel had left the throne vacant since the death of Theuderic IV in 737. Childeric had the title of king, but he was a puppet. Unlike most of most medieval instances of fraternal power-sharing, Carloman and Pippin seemed to at least be willing to work together without plotting against each other, and some sources even suggested the brothers genuinely liked each other: certainly, they undertook every military action as one.
Strengthening of the dynasty
In his own realm, Carloman strengthened his authority in part via his support of the Anglo-Saxon missionary Winfrid (later Saint Boniface), the so-called "Apostle of the Germans," whom he charged with restructuring the chuch in the Austrasia. This was in part the continuation of a policy begun under his grandfather Pippin of Herstal and continued to a lesser extent under Charles Martel. Carloman was instrumental in convening the Concilium Germanicum in 742, the first major Church synod to be held in the eastern regions of the Frankish kingdom. Chaired jointly by him and Boniface, the synod ruled that priests were not allowed to bear arms or to host females in their houses and that it was one of their primary tasks to eradicate pagan beliefs. While his father had frequently confiscated church property to reward his followers, and to use those properties to pay for the standing army that had brought him victory at Tours, by 742, the Carolingians were wealthy enough to pay their military retainers and still support the Church. For Carloman, a deeply religious man, it was a duty of love, for Pippin, a practical duty. Both saw the necessity for strengthening the ties between their house and the Holy Mother Church. Therefore, Carloman sought to increase the assets of the church. He donated, for instance, the land for one of Boniface's most important foundations, the monastery of Fulda.
Political ruthlessness
Despite his piety, Carloman could be ruthless towards real or perceived opponents. In 746, he convened an assembly of the Alamanni magnates at Cannstatt and then had most of them, numbering in the thousands, arrested and executed for high treason in the Blood Court at Cannstatt. This eradicated virtually the entire tribal leadership of the Alamanni and ended the independence of the tribal duchy of Alamannia, which was thereafter governed by counts appointed by their Frankish overlords.
These actions strengthened Carloman's position, and that of the family as a whole, especially in terms of their rivalries with other leading barbarian families such as the Bavarian Agilolfings.
Withdrawal from public life
In 747, Carloman renounced his position as major domo and withdrew to a monastic life in Monte Soracte and then Monte Cassino. All sources from the period indicate he truly believed his brother was capable of leading the kingdom by himself, and that his calling was the Church. He felt he had done his duty for the family for six years in ruthlessly eliminating its enemies, and strengthening the dynasty. Having completed what he felt were his worldly tasks, and believing "one hand on the sword holds it better than two," he withdrew to a monastery and spent the remainder of his life in meditation and prayer. At the time of Carloman's retirement, Grifo escaped his imprisonment and fled to Bavaria, where Duke Odilo provided support and assistance, but when Odilo died a year later and Grifo attempted to seize the duchy of Bavaria for himself, Pippin, who had become sole major domo and dux et princeps Francorum, took decisive action by invading Bavaria and installing Odilo's infant son, Tassilo III, as duke under Frankish suzerainty. Grifo continued his rebellion, but was eventually killed in the battle of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in 753.
Carloman enters the pages of history only once more, seven years after his retirement and on the eve of his death. In 754, Pope Stephen III had begged Pippin, now king, to come to his aid agains the king of the Lombards, Aistulf. Carloman visited his brother to beg him not to bring war to Italy, but Pippin was unmoved and Carloman retired to Vienne, where he died on 17 August. He was buried in Monte Cassino.
| Carloman (mayor of the palace) Carolingian DynastyBorn: 716 Died: 754 | ||
| Preceded byCharles Martel | Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia 741–747 |
Succeeded byTitle disappears |
Notes
- There is some discrepancy between the sources on his year of birth. It is given variously as 706, 708, 714, or 716.
- There is some discrepancy between the sources on his date of death. It is the 17 of either August or July.