CHAPTER III.

THE CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTY.

752-987.

Section I.

PEPIN.

EXALTED to the throne, Pepin actively sought to establish himself thereon. He quickly quelled a rebellion raised against him in Aquitaine, by his brother Griffon; and he as quickly subdued the Bretons of Brittany, and Saxons of Germany, who were ever ready to revolt when any favourable OCcasion presented itself,

After these events, A.D. 754, Pepin's aid was sought in Italy. Ravenna and Rome were all that remained, at this time, of the Western empire, belonging to the emperor of Constantinople; and Astolpho, king of the Lombards, was desirous of adding these to his other dominions in Italy. marched first upon Ravenna; and having taken that city, laid siege to Rome.

He

Stephen II. had succeeded to the popedom at Rome; and having in vain entreated aid at the hands of Constantine, who was deeply engaged with the Bulgarian war; and having in vain, also, solicited Astolpho to spare the seat of St. Peter, he implored the interposition of Pepin, and put himself under his protection.

The author of the Annals of Metz represents the pope in dust and ashes at the feet of Pepin, supplicating him earnestly to deliver Rome. Be this as it may, the king showered honours upon him, and lodged him in the abbey of Saint Denis, till he should reinstate him on the papal throne.

Stephen remained during the winter in Paris; and Pepin, glad of the opportunity of establishing himself more firmly on his throne, proposed that he should be consecrated anew by the pope himself, together with his queen, and his two sons, Charles and Carloman. The pontiff acceded to his request; and having performed the ceremony, he denounced anathemas and excommunication against every one who should attempt to dethrone the Carlovingian family.

Meanwhile negotiations were pending between Pepin and Astolpho concerning Rome. But negotiations failed, and war was determined upon. And it was not only Rome that was now sought for Stephen. Grateful for the additional security given to their title, Pepin and his sons presented the pope with the Greek exarchate; which included the cities of Ravenna, Adria, Ferrara, Imola, Fayenza, Forli, and six other cities, with their dependencies.

To secure these acquisitions, recourse was had to a more daring fraud than any of the popes had yet perpetrated. A deed was produced, to the purport that the Greek exarchate was a donation from the first Christian emperor, Constantine, to the successors of St. Peter. Thus, when Pepin put the pontiff into the possession of these territories, it seemed only to be a restitution of ancient possessions; and the temporal power of the popes,

which was then but of mushroom growth, was ostensibly invested with the sanction of remote antiquity.

With this atrocious forgery in his hands, Pepin marched forward, A.D. 756, to realise his donation. He quickly forced the pass of Suza, defeated the Lombards, and drove Astolpho into Pavia. Astolpho was glad to accept of peace on these terms that he should relinquish Ravenna and its dependencies for ever; give forty hostages for his fidelity; and deliver Narni into the hands of the pontiff. Stephen was now conducted in triumph to Rome, and Pepin returned to France.

But Astolpho soon repented of what he had done. Relieved from a perilous siege, he refused to deliver up Ravenna to the pope, and again invested Rome. Stephen saw the danger was imminent; and fearing that his own influence would not be sufficient to recall Pepin to his aid, he had recourse to an impious artifice. He wrote a letter in his own name, and another in the name and character of, or as proceeding from St. Peter, in which not only that apostle, but the Virgin Mary, the angels, saints, martyrs, and all the host of heaven, were represented as standing at Pepin's feet, requesting his aid against Astolpho! Such were the daring and blasphemous frauds which the pontiffs of Rome had recourse to, in order to gain power on earth. Their kingdom was, emphatically, of this world; and while assuming to be the vicars of the Son of God, they were slaves of Satan, the prince of this world.

The aid which the pontiff sought was granted. Like a true son of the church of Rome, Pepin was ever ready at her beck to unsheath his sword.

He advanced hastily towards Italy, and proceeded to besiege Pavia. Astolpho saw him in earnest, dreaded the result of a battle, and acceded to the following conditions: that the treaty of Pavia should be fulfilled, and that the city of Commachio should be added to the exarchate; and that the Lombards should defray the expense of the war, and pay an annual tribute, which, before the days of Clotaire 11., they had been bound to pay to France. These were humiliating terms; but, as Pepin was inexorable, and his army formidable, they were acceded to without delay.

Pepin now renewed the donation of the exarchate to the pope, received hostages for the faithful execution of the treaty, and then returned to France.

Shortly after this, Astolpho died; and Didier, his general, who succeeded him on the throne, offered the pope the faithful execution of the treaty of Pavia, with the addition of Bologna and its dependencies, if he would give him his countenance, and secure for him the favour and protection of France. The pope grasped at the offer, and supported Didier; and he now felt himself a temporal prince, possessing great power, and much political influence; for which he justly acknowledged he

was indebted to France.

Pepin's attention was next directed towards the tributary states. He chastised and subjected the Saxons, Sclavonians, and Bavarians, who attempted to shake off his yoke. He took, also, from the turbulent duke of Aquitaine, during five campaigns, all his towns and castles, and finally incorporated that principality with the French empire.

He was thus engaged when death arrested him. He was seized with a fever at Saintes; and his friends, under the influence of superstition, carried him from one saint's tomb to another, in order that he might recover. But neither St. Martin nor St. Denis was able to save him. He died A.D. 768, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and the seventeenth of his reign; and he was succeeded in his kingdom by his sons.

CHARLEMAGNE AND CARLOMAN.

Charles, better known by the name of Charlemagne, had for his portion Neustria, Burgundy, and Aquitaine. Austrasia, with all the German states, were given to Carloman. Both princes were crowned on the same day,-Charles at Noyon, and Carloman at Soissons.

Immediately after their accession, the two brothers acted in concert against Aquitaine, which was excited to revolt by the aged Hunald, who, for the purpose of avenging his son Guaifer, had emerged from the monastery, where he had lived in seclusion for twenty-three years. But the efforts of Hunald were unavailing; betrayed and vanquished, he was compelled to take refuge with the king of the Lombards.

Soon after this, the ambition of Charles armed the two brothers against each other; but the death of Carloman, which took place A.D. 770, extinguished the civil war, and Charles usurped the dominions of his brother, to the prejudice of his nephews. These, with their mother, found an asylum in Lombardy; and Charles was left undisputed master of the kingdom. His victories