Carloman | |
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 Charles Martel divides the realm betweenPepin and Carloman (On the right). | |
| Born | c. 713 |
| Died | 17 July or 17 August 754(aged 40-41) |
| Resting place | Abbey of Monte Cassino 41°29′24″N13°48′50″E / 41.49000°N 13.81389°E /41.49000; 13.81389 |
| Known for | Mayor of the Palace ofAustrasia,Duke of the Franks |
| Children | Drogo, (possibly) Rotrude, Countess of Paris |
| Carolingian dynasty |
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After theTreaty of Verdun (843)
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Carloman (between 706 and 716[a] – 17 August[b] 754) was the eldest son ofCharles Martel,mayor of the palace andduke of the Franks, and his wifeChrotrud of Treves. On Charles's death (741), Carloman and his brotherPepin the Short succeeded to their father's legal positions, Carloman inAustrasia, and Pepin inNeustria. He was a member of the family later called theCarolingians and it can be argued that he was instrumental in consolidating their power at the expense of the rulingMerovingian kings of the Franks. He withdrew from public life in 747 to take up the monastic habit, "the first of a new type of saintly king", according toNorman Cantor, "more interested in religious devotion than royal power, who frequently appeared in the following three centuries and who was an indication of the growing impact of Christian piety on Germanic society".[1]
After the death of Charles Martel, power was not divided to include Carloman's half-brotherGrifo, Charles's son by his second wifeSwanachild. This was per Charles' wishes; although Grifo demanded a portion of the realm, his brothers refused him. In 741, Carloman and Pepinbesieged Grifo inLaon, took him captive and forced him into a monastery. Each brother turned his attention towards his own area of influence asmayor of the Palace, Pepin in the West (in what was calledNeustria, roughly the area betweenNancy andReims) and Carloman in the East (in what was calledAustrasia, roughly the area betweenBruges,Metz andFulda), which was the Carolingian base of power.[2]
With Grifo contained, the two mayors, who had not yet proved themselves in battle in defence of the realm as their father had, on the initiative of Carloman, installed the MerovingianChilderic III as king (743),[3] even though Martel had left the throne vacant since the death ofTheuderic IV in 737.
Unlike most medieval instances of fraternal power sharing, Carloman and Pepin for seven years seemed at least willing to work together; certainly, they undertook many military actions together. Carloman joined Pepin againstHunald I of Aquitaine's rising in 742 and again in 745.[3] Pepin assisted Carloman against the Saxons in 742–43, whenDuke Theoderic was forced to come to terms, and againstOdilo, Duke of Bavaria, in 742 and again in 744, when peace was established between the brothers and their brother-in-law, for Odilo had married their sister Hiltrude.
In his realm, Carloman strengthened his authority in part via his support of theAnglo-Saxon missionary Winfrid (laterSaint Boniface), the so-called "Apostle of the Germans," whom he charged with restructuring the church in Austrasia. This was in part the continuation of a policy begun under his grandfather,Pepin of Herstal, and continued under his father, Charles Martel, who erected four dioceses in Bavaria (Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau)[4] and gave them Boniface as archbishop and metropolitan over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at Mainz. Boniface had been under Charles Martel's protection from 723 on; indeed the saint himself explained to his old friend,Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry.
Carloman was instrumental in convening theConcilium Germanicum in 742, the first majorsynod of the Church 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. His father had frequently confiscated church property to reward his followers and to pay for the standing army that had brought him victory atTours (a policy supported by Boniface as necessary to defend Christianity). By 742 the Carolingians were wealthy enough to pay their military retainers and support the Church. For Carloman, a deeply religious man, it was a duty of love; for Pepin a practical duty. Both saw the necessity of strengthening the ties between their house and the Church. Carloman donated the land for one of Boniface's most important foundations, the monastery ofFulda.[3]
Despite his piety, Carloman could be ruthless towards opponents. After repeated armed revolts and rebellions, Carloman in 746 convened an assembly of theAlemanni magnates atCannstatt and then had most of the magnates, numbering in the thousands, arrested and executed forhigh treason in theBlood Court at Cannstatt. This eradicated virtually the entire tribal leadership of the Alemanni and ended the independence of the tribal duchy of Alemannia, which was thereafter governed by counts appointed by their Frankish overlords.[5]
These actions strengthened Carloman's position, and that of the family as a whole, especially in terms of their rivalries with other leading Germanic families such as theBavarianAgilolfings.
On 15 August 747, Carloman renounced his position as mayor of the palace and withdrew to a monastic life, beingtonsured inRome byPope Zachary. All sources from the period indicate that Carloman's renunciation of the world was volitional, although some have speculated that he went to Rome for other, unspecified reasons and was "encouraged" to remain in Rome by the pope, acting on a request from Pepin to keep Carloman in Italy.[6]
Carloman founded a monastery onMonte Soratte and then went toMonte Cassino. All sources from the period indicate that he believed his calling was monastic life. He withdrew to Monte Cassino and spent most of the remainder of his life there, presumably in meditation and prayer. His son,Drogo, demanded from Pepin his father's share of the family patrimony, but was swiftly neutralised.[7]
Seven years after Carloman's retirement and on the eve of his death, he once more stepped briefly on the public stage. In 754,Pope Stephen II had begged Pepin, now king, to come to his aid against the king of theLombards,Aistulf. Carloman left Monte Cassino, at Aistulf's behest, to visit his brother to ask him not to march on Italy.[8] Pepin, believing his uninformed brother was being used by Aistulf to stall for time, continued his preparations and asked his brother to settle in a Benedictine monastery in France instead of returning to Monte Cassino. However, before that could happen Carloman died shortly after inVienne, on 17 August. He was buried in Monte Cassino.
Carloman (mayor of the palace) Born: 716 Died: 754 | ||
| Preceded by | Mayor of the Palace ofAustrasia 741–747 | Succeeded by |
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