Carolingian takeover!

Pippin the Younger is anointed king by the Pope

The Merovingian dynasty that had ruled the Frankish Empire since its inception in the middle of the 5th century AD had largely lost its position of influence by the year 700. Although the dynasty was still present as a figurehead, the true power behind the throne was wielded by a family called the Carolingians. The sacral nature of rulership in the early Middle Ages meant, however, that the Carolingians could not just do away with the Merovingians, as the people would fear for the harvest, general prosperity and success in war. After Pippin the Younger had eliminated all his Carolingian rivals, he decided it was high time that he should also be recognized as king. The problem of sacral kingship was to be solved by a dispensation from the Pope, the head of the Church in Western Europe.

According to the Imperial Annals, Pope Zachary told Pippin that “he who has the power” should be king. Pippin wasted no time and announced the deposition of King Childeric III at a meeting of the Frankish nobility. Childeric was shorn of his long hair as a demonstration of his lost honour, and was confined to a monastery. Pippin was proclaimed king, and both he and his sons were anointed by a new Pope Stephen I on 28 July 754. Pippin returned the favour and went about smiting some of the powerful enemies of the Papacy. The medieval Church also claimed that Pippin granted the Pope secular rule over a number of central Italian territories, thereby laying the foundation for the later Papal States. Historians tend to view documents purporting to be the “Donation of Pippin” as a forgery.