Editing Carloman I (section)

==Competition with Charlemagne==
Carloman's reign proved short and troublesome. The brothers shared possession of [[Aquitaine]], which broke into rebellion upon the death of Pepin the Short; when Charlemagne campaigned to put down the revolt, Carloman led his own army to assist. The two quarreled at [[Moncontour, Vienne|Moncontour]], near Poitiers, and Carloman withdrew.<ref>Collins, Roger, ''Medieval Europe''</ref> This, it had been suggested, was an attempt to undermine Charlemagne's power since the rebellion threatened Charlemagne's rule. Charlemagne crushed the rebels, while Carloman's behaviour damaged his standing amongst the Franks.<ref>McKitterick, Rosamond, ''The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians'', p. 64</ref><ref name=Chamberlin>Chamberlin, Russell, ''The Emperor Charlemagne''</ref> Relations between the two then degenerated further, requiring the mediation of their mother, Bertrada, who appears to have favoured Charlemagne, with whom she would live out her widowhood.<ref name=Chamberlin/>

[[Rosamond McKitterick]] has argued, however, that our assumption about the relationship between the two brothers can't be based solely on a few examples and that there is no evidence to suggest that there was lasting animosity between the two. She also points out that Charlemagne showed great political pragmatism and astuteness throughout his reign and that it would have been in the brothers' common interest to work together to secure their dynasty's control over the Franks, having only recently gained royal power. She also argues that it cannot be assumed that Bertrada favoured one son over the other, pointing out the meeting between Bertrada and Carloman in 770 at Seltz.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McKitterick |first=Rosamond |title=Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-511-39884-1 |location=Cambridge |pages=79–81}}</ref>

In 770, his mother Bertrada began a series of diplomatic offensives to encircle Carloman. Charlemagne had married [[Desiderata, wife of Charlemagne|Desiderata]], the daughter of the Lombard king [[Desiderius]] in Italy, which created an alliance between Charlemagne and the Lombards; Bertrada had also secured for Charlemagne the friendship of his cousin [[Tassilo III of Bavaria]]; she had even attempted to secure Papal support for the marriage by arranging for Desiderius to cede certain territories to Rome, to which the Papacy laid claim. Although [[Pope Stephen III]] remained hostile to an alliance between the Franks and the Lombards in theory, in reality, he was deeply conflicted between the threat the Lombards posed to him and the chance to dispose of the anti-Lombard Christopher the ''Primicerius'', the dominant figure at the Papal court.<ref>Davis, Raymond (Editor), ''The Lives of the Eighth Century Popes'', pp. 102–103 n.76; Chamberlin, Russell, ''The Emperor Charlemagne'', pp. 64–65; McKitterick, Rosamond, ''The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians'', pp. 64–65; Collins, Roger, ''Early Medieval Europe'', p. 279</ref>

These maneuvers had generally favoured the Franks but posed serious threats to Carloman's position. He had been left without allies: he attempted to use his brother's alliance with the Lombards to his advantage in Rome, offering his support against the Lombards to Stephen III and entering into secret negotiations with the ''Primicerius'', Christopher, who had been isolated by the Franco-Lombard ''rapprochement''; but after the murder of Christopher by Desiderius, Stephen III gave his support to the Lombards and Charlemagne. However, Carloman's position was rescued by Charlemagne's sudden repudiation of his Lombard wife, Desiderius' daughter. Desiderius, outraged and humiliated, appears to have allied with Carloman in opposition to Charlemagne and the Papacy, which took the opportunity to declare itself against the Lombards.<ref name=McKitterick65>McKitterick, Rosamond, ''The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians'', p. 65</ref>