Editing Pepin of Herstal

{{Short description|Duke and Prince of the Franks (635–714)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox royalty
| succession     = [[Duke and Prince of the Franks]]
| reign          = 687 – 714
| successor      = [[Charles Martel]]
| succession1    = [[Mayor of the Palace]] of [[Austrasia]]
| reign1         = 680 – 714
| predecessor1   = [[Wulfoald]]
| successor1     = [[Theudoald]]
| succession2    = [[Mayor of the Palace]] of [[Neustria]]
| reign2         = 687 – 695
| predecessor2   = [[Berchar]]
| successor2     = [[Grimoald II|Grimoald]]
| succession3    = [[Mayor of the Palace]] of [[Burgundy]]
| reign3         = 687 – 695
| predecessor3   = Position reestablished
| successor3     = [[Drogo of Champagne|Drogo]]
| spouse         = [[Plectrude]]<br/>[[Alpaida]] <small>(mistress)</small>
| issue          = [[Grimoald the Younger]]<br />[[Drogo of Champagne]]<br />[[Charles Martel]]<br />[[Childebrand]]
| house          = [[Arnulfings]]<br />[[Pippinids]] (maternal)
| father         = [[Ansegisel]]
| mother         = [[Begga]]
| birth_date     = 635
| birth_place    = 
| death_date     = 16 December 714
| death_place    = [[Jupille-sur-Meuse|Jupille]], [[Austrasia]]
| place of burial= Basilique Notre-Dame de Chèvremont, [[Liège]] 
| signature      = 
}}
{{carolingians|254px}}

[[File:St Hubert of Liège offers his services to Pepin of Heristal.jpg|thumb|The painting of St Hubert of Liège as he offers his services to Pepin of Heristal]]

'''Pepin II''' (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as '''Pepin of Herstal''', was a [[Franks|Frankish]] statesman and military leader who was the de facto ruler of [[Francia]] as the [[Mayor of the Palace]] from 680 until his death. He took the title [[Duke and Prince of the Franks]] upon his conquest of all the Frankish realms.

The son of the powerful Frankish statesman [[Ansegisel]], Pepin worked to establish his family, the [[Pippinids]], as the strongest in Francia. He became Mayor of the Palace in [[Austrasia]] in 680. Pepin subsequently embarked on several wars to expand his power. He united all the Frankish realms by the conquests of [[Neustria]] and [[Burgundy]] in 687. In foreign conflicts, Pepin increased the power of the Franks by his subjugation of the [[Alemanni]], the [[Frisians]], and the [[Franconians]]. He also began the process of evangelisation in [[Germany]].

Pepin's statesmanship was notable for the further decrease of [[Merovingian]] royal authority, and for the acceptance of his family's undisputed right to rule. Therefore, Pepin was able to name as heir his grandson [[Theudoald]]. But this was not accepted by his powerful son [[Charles Martel]], leading to a civil war after his death in which the latter emerged victorious.

== Background ==
Pepin, sometimes called '''Pepin II''' and '''Pepin the Middle''', was the grandson and namesake of [[Pippin of Landen|Pepin I the Elder]] through the marriage of Pepin I's daughter [[Begga]] to [[Ansegisel]].<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Manchester University Press| isbn = 978-0719047909| others = Paul Fouracre, Richard A. Gerberding (eds.)| title = Late Merovingian France: history and hagiography, 640–720| location = Manchester| series = Manchester medieval sources series| date = 1996| page = 311| chapter = Vita Sanctae Geretrudis (The Life of Saint Geretrud) and the Additamentum Nivialense de Fuilano (the Nivelles supplement to the Vita Fursei concerning Foillan)| doi = 10.7765/MMSO.47909.8.301}}</ref> He was also the grandfather of [[Pepin the Short]] and great-grandfather of [[Charlemagne]]. That marriage united the two houses of the [[Pippinids]] and the [[Arnulfings]] which created what would be called the [[Carolingian]] dynasty. Pepin II was probably born in [[Herstal]] (Héristal), modern [[Belgium]] (where his centre of power lay), whence his byname (sometimes "of Heristal").

== Rise to power ==
As mayor of Austrasia, Pepin and [[Martin of Laon|Martin]], the duke of [[Laon]], fought the Neustrian mayor [[Ebroin]], who had designs on all [[Francia]]. Ebroin defeated the Austrasians in the [[Battle of Lucofao]] and came close to uniting all the Franks under his rule; however, he was assassinated in 681, the victim of a combined attack by his numerous enemies<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Ebroïn|volume=8|page=844|first=Christian|last=Pfister|authorlink=Christian Pfister}}</ref> Pepin immediately made peace with his successor, [[Waratton]].

However, Waratton's successor, [[Berchar]], and the Neustrian king [[Theuderic III]], who, since 679, was nominal king of all the Franks, made war on Austrasia. The king and his mayor were decisively defeated at the [[Battle of Tertry]] (Textrice) in the [[Vermandois]] in 687. Berchar and Theuderic withdrew themselves to [[Paris]], where Pepin followed and eventually forced on them a peace treaty with the condition that Berchar leave his office. Pepin was created mayor in all three Frankish kingdoms (Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy) and began calling himself [[Duke and Prince of the Franks]] (''dux et princeps Francorum'').<ref>[http://www.histoire-fr.com/carolingiens_les_premiers_carolingiens_1.htm "Pépin de Herstal (687 à 714)", Histoire-fr.com]</ref> In the ensuing quarrels, Berchar killed his mother-in-law Ansfled and fled. His wife Anstrude married Pepin's eldest son [[Drogo of Champagne|Drogo]], [[Duke of Champagne]], and Pepin's place in Neustria was secured.

== Duke and Prince of the Franks ==
The Neustrians barely tolerated an Austrasian overlord, but Pepin preferred to put these local resistances aside to deal with Germany.
Over the next several years, Pepin subdued the [[Alemanni]], [[Frisians]], and [[Franconians]], bringing them within the Frankish sphere of influence. Between 690 and 692, Utrecht fell. This gave the Franks control of important trade routes on the Rhine to the North Sea. He also supported the missionary work of [[Willibrord]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wm9khNwHYtAC&dq=Pepin+of+Herstal&pg=PA52 Butler, Alban. "Willibrord", ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'', Volume 11, Liturgical Press, 1995], {{ISBN|9780814623879}}</ref> In 695, he placed Drogo in the Burgundian mayorship and his other son, [[Grimoald II|Grimoald]], in the Neustrian one.

Around 670, Pepin had married [[Plectrude]], who had inherited substantial estates in the [[Moselle]] region. She was the mother of [[Drogo of Champagne]] and [[Grimoald II]], both of whom died before their father. However, Pepin also had a mistress (or possibly, a second wife) named [[Alpaida]] (or Chalpaida) who bore him two more sons: [[Charles Martel]] and [[Childebrand]].

==Marriage and Children==
[[File:Auguste_Chauvin_-_Le_banquet_de_Jupille_après_restauration_en_1996.jpg|thumb|[[Banquet of Jupille]] (1861) by [[:fr: Auguste Chauvin|Auguste Chauvin]] depicting [[Saint Lambert]] addressing Pepin and his second wife [[Alpaida]].]]

Pepin married Plectrude and had two children: 

* [[Drogo of Champagne|Drogo]]
* [[Grimoald II|Grimoald]]

Pepin had one son by an unnamed mistress:

* [[Childebrand I]]

Pepin had one son by [[Alpaida]]:

* [[Charles Martel]]

== 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.

== Cultural uses ==
In 2018, the Dutch production company Farmhouse released a movie called [[Redbad (film)]], based on the historical [[Redbad, King of the Frisians|Redbad]] and directed by [[Roel Reiné]]. [[Jonathan Banks]] played Pepin of Herstal, who is the main villain in this movie.<ref>{{cite news|title='Breaking Bad' star Jonathan Banks boards Dutch epic '754 A.D. Redbad'|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/breaking-bad-star-jonathan-banks-boards-dutch-epic-754-ad-redbad-exclusive/5123206.article|work=ScreenDaily|language=en|date=12 October 2017}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* [[Charles Oman|Oman, Charles]]. ''The Dark Ages 476–918''. London: Rivingtons, 1914.
* [[John Michael Wallace-Hadrill|Wallace-Hadrill, J. M.]], translator. ''[[Chronicle of Fredegar|The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations]]''. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1960.
* [[Bernard Bachrach|Bachrach, Bernard S.]], translator. ''Liber Historiae Francorum''. 1973.

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Pepin of Herstal}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Arnulfing]] Dynasty||635||714}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Wulfoald]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Mayors of the Palaces|Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia]]|years=680–714}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Theudoald]]}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Berchar]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Mayors of the Palaces|Mayor of the Palace of Neustria]]|years=688–695}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Grimoald the Younger]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Mayors of the Palaces|Mayor of the Palace of Burgundy]]|years=688–695}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Drogo of Champagne|Drogo]]}}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Frankish Kings|Duke of the Franks]]|years=687–714}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Martel]]}}
{{s-end}}

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[[Category:630s births]]
[[Category:714 deaths]]
[[Category:Pippinids]]
[[Category:Frankish warriors]]
[[Category:Mayors of the Palace]]
[[Category:7th-century dukes in Europe]]
[[Category:8th-century dukes in Europe]]
[[Category:People from Herstal]]