Pippin of Herstal
Pippin of Herstal (or
Pepin;
Fr. Pépin), also known as
Pippin the Middle,
Pippin the Younger (as with
his grandson), or
Pippin II, (
635 or
640–
December 16,
714,
Jupille) was the grandson of
Pippin (I) the Elder through the marriage of
Ansegisel and
Begga, the daughter of the Elder. He was born in Héristal (now
Herstal,
Belgium), hence his byname. His other bynames and his ordinal number come from his position as the second "Pippin" (of three) in the
Arnulfing dynasty. He was the
Mayor of the Palace of
Austrasia from
680 and of
Neustria and
Burgundy from
687 until his death in
714. He gradually came to control the
Frankish court.
Throughout most of his early career, he fought Neustrian majordomo,
Ebroin, who had designs on all Frankland. When Ebroin died in
681, he made peace with his successor,
Waratton. However, Waratton's successor,
Berthar, and the
Merovingian king
Theuderic III made war and were defeated definitively at
Tertry in 687. Pippin then became the
de facto ruler of Austrasia, keeping a strong influence over the other Frankish kingdoms of which he was now also mayor of the palace, the first mayor of the palace over all the kingdoms, calling himself "
Duke and Prince of the Franks" (
dux et princeps Francorum). He subdued the
Alemanni,
Frisians, and
Franconians, bringing them within the Frankish sphere of influence. He also began the evangelisation of
Germany. In
695, he placed his son
Drogo in the Burgundian office and his son
Grimoald in the Neustrian one. He died
December 16,
714, at
Jupille (in modern Belgium). His descendants continued to serve as mayors of the palace, eventually becoming the legal rulers of the Frankish kingdom.
Around
670, Pippin married
Plectrude for her inheritance of substantial estates in the
Moselle region. They produced at least two children (who both died before Pippin) and through them at least two significant grandchildren. These legitimate grandchildren claimed themselves to be Pippin's true successors and with the help of his widow Plectrude tried to maintain the position of mayor of the palace after Pippin's death. However,
Charles Martel, Pippin's son by his mistress,
Alpaida (or Chalpaida), 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 rival's child by imprisoning him, he became the sole mayor of the palace and
de facto ruler of Francia.
With his wife Plectrude, he had the following issue:
*
Drogo (c.
670-
708), duke of
Champagne and
mayor of the palace of
Burgundy *
Grimoald II (d.
714),
mayor of the palace of
NeustriaWith his mistress Alpaida, he had the following issue:
*
Charles Martel (
August 23 686-
October 22 741),
duke of the Franks*
Childebrand (d.
751),
duke of Burgundy
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