105. THE FRANKS UNDER CHARLES MARTEL AND PEPIN THE SHORT
THE LATER MEROVINGIAN KINGS
After the middle of the seventh century the Frankish rulers, worn out by violence and excesses, degenerated into weaklings, who reigned but did not rule. The actual management of the state passed into the hands of officers, called "mayors of the palace." They left to the kings little more than their title, their long hair,—the badge of royalty among the Franks,—and a scanty allowance for their support. The later Merovingians, accordingly, are often known as the "do-nothing kings."
CHARLES MARTEL
The most illustrious of these mayors was Charles, surnamed Martel, "the Hammer," from the terrible defeat which he administered to the Mohammedans near Tours, in central France. [11] Charles Martel was virtually a king, but he never ventured to set aside the Merovingian ruler and himself ascend the throne. This step was taken, however, by Charles's son, Pepin the Short.
PEPIN THE SHORT BECOMES KING OF THE FRANKS, 751 A.D.
Before dethroning the last feeble "do-nothing," Pepin sought the approval of the bishop of Rome. The pope, without hesitation, declared that it was only right that the man who had the real authority in the state should have the royal title also. Pepin, accordingly, caused himself to be crowned king of the Franks, thus founding the Carolingian [12] dynasty. (751 A.D.). Three years later Pope Stephen II came to Pepin's court and solemnly anointed the new ruler with holy oil, in accordance with ancient Jewish custom. The rite of anointing, something unknown to the Germans, gave to Pepin's coronation the sanction of the Roman Church. Henceforth the Frankish sovereigns called themselves "kings by the grade of God."
"DONATION OF PEPIN," 756 A.D.
Pepin was soon able to repay his great obligation to the Roman Church by becoming its protector against the Lombards. These barbarians, who were trying to extend their rule in Italy, threatened to capture Rome and the territory in the vicinity of that city, then under the control of the pope. Pepin twice entered Italy with his army, defeated the Lombards, and forced them to cede to Pope Stephen an extensive district lying between Rome and Ravenna. Pepin might have returned this district to the emperor at Constantinople, to whom it belonged, but the Frankish king declared that he had not fought for the advantage of any man but for the welfare of his own soul. He decided, therefore, to bestow his conquests on St. Peter's representative, the pope. Before this time the bishops of Rome had owned much land in Italy and had acted as virtual sovereigns in Rome and its neighborhood. Pepin's gift, known as the "Donation of Pepin," greatly increased their possessions, which came to be called the States of the Church. They remained in the hands of the popes until late in the nineteenth century. [13]