v61_0401 - PEPIN THE SHORT Denier

PEPIN THE SHORT

(752-09/24/768)

Pépin le Bref was born in Jupille (Belgium) around 715 from the union of Charles Martel and Rothrud. On October 22, 741, on the death of his father, he became Duke of Neustria, Burgundy and Provence while his older brother Carloman held Austrasia. In 747, Carloman retired to a monastery and left his territories to Pepin who administered them under the authority of the "lazy" king Childeric III. In November 1751, Pépin obtained from Pope Zacharie the dismissal of Childeric III, which marked the end of the Merovingian dynasty; he is crowned king at Soissons by Saint Boniface. On July 27, 754, Pepin the Brief was crowned king of the Franks in the basilica of Saint-Denis by Pope Stephen II. His two sons and heirs, Carloman and Charles (future Charlemagne), are also crowned on the same day. Founder of the Carolingian dynasty, after having been at the origin of the creation of the Papal States and having fought the Saracens, Pépin died on September 24, 768 in Saint-Denis.