Carolingian dynasty

Carolingian dynasty, family of Frankish aristocrats and the dynasty (750–887 ce) that they established to rule western Europe. The dynasty’s name derives from the large number of family members who bore the name Charles, most notably Charlemagne.

A brief treatment of the Carolingians follows. For full treatment, see France: The Carolingians.

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European History

The family came to power as hereditary mayors of the palace of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, and, by the time of Pippin II of Herstal (French Héristal), who became mayor of the palace in 679, they had reduced their nominal Merovingian kings to mere figureheads. Indeed, in 687 Pippin II gained effective rule over the entire Frankish realm when he defeated his Neustrian rival, Ebroïn. At his death in 714 Pippin left a legitimate heir, a child of six, and an illegitimate son, Charles Martel. By 725 Charles Martel had established himself as ruler of the Franks, although he maintained the fiction of Merovingian sovereignty until 737, when following the death of Theuderic IV he let the throne remain vacant. Charles Martel died in 741, and his sons Pippin III the Short and Carloman divided the realm between themselves. Upon Carloman’s abdication in 747, Pippin III became the sole ruler. His position was so secure that in 750 he deposed the last of the Merovingians, Childeric III, and, with the support of Pope Zacharias, had himself elected king by an assembly of Frankish nobles and consecrated by a bishop of the Roman church.

The realm was again divided on Pippin III’s death in 768, but the death three years later of his younger son, Carloman, reunited all the territories in the hands of Pippin’s elder son, Charles, who became known as Charlemagne. Charlemagne extended Frankish power by conquest over virtually all of Gaul and into Germany and Italy, and he made tributaries of the Bohemians, Avars, Serbs, Croats, and other peoples of eastern Europe. He formed an alliance with the papacy and in 774 created a papal state in central Italy. On Christmas Day of 800, in the presence of Pope Leo III, he was crowned emperor of the restored Roman Empire. The unity that Charlemagne was able to impose on western Europe, however, fell victim to the ancient Frankish custom of dividing the realm among all a deceased king’s sons. On the death of Charlemagne’s sole surviving son and successor, Louis the Pious, in 840, three of his sons contested the succession. In the Treaty of Verdun in 843 they agreed to divide the empire into three kingdoms. Francia Occidentalis in the west went to Charles II the Bald, Francia Orientalis in the east went to Louis II the German, and Francia Media, including the Italian provinces and Rome, went to Lothar, who also inherited the title of emperor.

Subsequent partitions of the three kingdoms, together with the rise of such new powers as the Normans and the Saxons, whittled away at Carolingian authority. The imperial title passed from Lothar to his son Louis II in 855, from Louis II to his uncle Charles the Bald in 875, and, after an interregnum following Charles’s death in 877, to Charles III the Fat, the youngest son of Louis the German, in 881. By the time Charles III was deposed in 887, Carolingian power had all but dissolved in the empire, though Carolingian kings returned to power in France in 893/898–923 and 936–987.