Kevin Patrick Mostyn Family - Person Sheet
Kevin Patrick Mostyn Family - Person Sheet
NamePepin I 'the Elder' Mayor Of Austrasia, 39G Grandfather
Web Notes notes for Pepin I 'the Elder' Mayor Of Austrasia
From the middle of the sixth century, the Austrasian nobility profited from recurrent wars between the kings of Neustria and Austrasia. At the death of Chlotar I in 561, the kingdom of Austrasia passed to his son Sigebert I while his brother Chilperic I inherited Neustria. The two brothers proceeded to make war on each other. After the notorious Fredegund, wife of Chilperic, arranged for the murder of Sigebert, his widow, the Visigoth Brunhild, ruled Austrasia in the name of her son Childebert II and then on behalf of her grandsons Theudebert and Theideric. When in turn these two brothers raised arms against each other, Chlotar II of Neustria, the son of Chilperic, sought to intervene and subdue Austrasia on his own account. Brunhild's authoritarian manner had disaffected the Austrasian nobility, and in 613 they rallied behind Chlotar II. Among the leading men who worked for the defeat and death of Brunhild figured two ancestors of the Carolingians, Arnulf and Pippin.142
Known since the thirteenth century as Pippin of Landen (from the name of one of his domains), this noble came from an immensely wealthy landed family. The domains of this clan lay in Brabant, Hesbaye, and the vicinity of Namur-in the basin of the lower Meuse, the river highway that became a major axis of economic life in northern Europe.142
When Chlotar II chose to establish his ten-year-old son Dagobert at Metz, the king entrusted Arnulf with the upbringing of the young prince and the government of the realm. To share this heavy responsibility, Chlotar II named Pippin as mayor of the palace of Austrasia. The duty of mayor of the palace was an ancient one. In the sixth century, the maior palatii was attached to the person of the king or queen, and he oversaw the managers of the royal domains. This responsibility vested great power in the mayor, who subsequently became the king's principal collaborator and sometimes his rival. When Pippin I was named mayor of the palace of Austrasia, he in fact ruled the kingdom together with Arnulf. Soon he ruled it alone.142
Pippin was hard-pressed to restrain other noble Austrasian families who sought to play an active role in religion and politics.142
During the personal reign of King Dagobert from 629-39, Pippin held no official post in Austrasia. Formerly his pupil, Dagobert now summoned Pippin to Neustria, where he established the political center of the realm. . . Later Dagobert was obliged to make a concession to Austrasian particularism. He gave the land a king in the person of his eldest son, Sigebert. He did not, however, appoint Pippin to manage the kingdom, but looked to other families who were rivals of the Pippinids. With Arnulf in his hermitage and Pippin in Paris, the political ambitions of the two families seemed for a time compromised.
The death of Dagobert in 639 allowed Pippin to recoup his position in Metz. Pippin made an arrangement with Archbishop Cunibert, who encouraged the Austrasians to recognize Sigebert III, now aged 10, as king. Pippin governed the great vassals of Austrasia with prudence and attached them to himself by ties of friendship. The royal treasure remained in the hands of the queen mother. One of Pippin's first political acts was to recover and bring to Metz part of this treasury, where it was turned over and inventoried. Yet in 640 death came unexpectedly, just as Pippin moved to repossess his office of mayor of the palace.142
Known since the thirteenth century as Pippin of Landen (from the name of one of his domains), this noble came from an immensely wealthy landed family. The domains of this clan lay in Brabant, Hesbaye, and the vicinity of Namur-in the basin of the lower Meuse, the river highway that became a major axis of economic life in northern Europe.142
When Chlotar II chose to establish his ten-year-old son Dagobert at Metz, the king entrusted Arnulf with the upbringing of the young prince and the government of the realm. To share this heavy responsibility, Chlotar II named Pippin as mayor of the palace of Austrasia. The duty of mayor of the palace was an ancient one. In the sixth century, the maior palatii was attached to the person of the king or queen, and he oversaw the managers of the royal domains. This responsibility vested great power in the mayor, who subsequently became the king's principal collaborator and sometimes his rival. When Pippin I was named mayor of the palace of Austrasia, he in fact ruled the kingdom together with Arnulf. Soon he ruled it alone.142
Pippin was hard-pressed to restrain other noble Austrasian families who sought to play an active role in religion and politics.142
During the personal reign of King Dagobert from 629-39, Pippin held no official post in Austrasia. Formerly his pupil, Dagobert now summoned Pippin to Neustria, where he established the political center of the realm. . . Later Dagobert was obliged to make a concession to Austrasian particularism. He gave the land a king in the person of his eldest son, Sigebert. He did not, however, appoint Pippin to manage the kingdom, but looked to other families who were rivals of the Pippinids. With Arnulf in his hermitage and Pippin in Paris, the political ambitions of the two families seemed for a time compromised.
The death of Dagobert in 639 allowed Pippin to recoup his position in Metz. Pippin made an arrangement with Archbishop Cunibert, who encouraged the Austrasians to recognize Sigebert III, now aged 10, as king. Pippin governed the great vassals of Austrasia with prudence and attached them to himself by ties of friendship. The royal treasure remained in the hands of the queen mother. One of Pippin's first political acts was to recover and bring to Metz part of this treasury, where it was turned over and inventoried. Yet in 640 death came unexpectedly, just as Pippin moved to repossess his office of mayor of the palace.142