Editing Pepin of Herstal (section)

== Death and succession ==
Just before Pepin's death, Plectrude convinced him to disinherit the sons he had with his mistress [[Alpaida]] in favour of his grandson, [[Theudoald]] (the son of Pepin and Plectrude's son Grimoald), who was still a young child (and amenable to Plectrude's control). Pepin died suddenly at the age of 79 on 16 December 714, at [[Jupille-sur-Meuse|Jupille]] (in modern Belgium). His grandchildren through Plectrude claimed themselves to be Pepin's true successors and, with the help of Plectrude, tried to maintain the position of mayor of the palace after Pepin's death. However, Charles (son of Pepin and Alpaida) had gained favour among the Austrasians, primarily for his military prowess and ability to keep them well supplied with booty from his conquests. Despite the efforts of Plectrude to silence her child's rival by imprisoning him, he became the sole mayor of the palace—and ''de facto'' ruler of Francia—after a civil war which lasted for more than three years after Pepin's death.