Saint Begga of Landen

Notes:

Death: Moriarty (1944) and Sewell give her death date as 694.

Name:
She was also known as Saint Bègue.

Begga married Duke Ansgise, Mayor of the Palace before 639. Ansgise (son of Saint Arnulf, Mayor of the Palace and Bishop of Metz and Clothilde "Dode") was born in 602 in Austrasia; died in 685. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Pépin married Plactruda before 673. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Aupais. Aupais was born about 654. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Princess Bertrada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• History: birth to death

Notes:

History:
From 737 to 738, he held Bugy and Perrecy.

He was living in 751.

Family/Spouse: Rolande. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Miscellaneous: 714
• Military: 732
• Miscellaneous: say 735

Notes:

Miscellaneous:
When Pépin of Heristal died in 714, Charles Martel had to overcome opposition from the family of Pépin's first wife Pletrude. By 718, Charles had triumphed, gaining not only his father's office of Mayor of the Palace, but also his father's fortune. He then vanquished other Frankish leaders to greatly extend his realm. The Merovingian kings Childperic II (reigned 715-721) and Theuderic IV (reigned 721-737) were mere figureheads, and the Mayor of the Palace possessed supreme authority. Following the death of King Theuderic IV in 737, Charles Martel ruled alone as Mayor of the Palace. Although the throne was vacant, Charles did not attempt to claim it.

Military:
Charles' most spectacular victory came in 732 when he triumphed over an invading Islamic army from Spain at the Battle of Poitiers, also called the Battle of Tours, and is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in the history of the world. The fighting began near Tours, France, and ended near Poitiers. Charles was later called Martel, meaning "the Hammer", because of his victory over the Muslims.

Miscellaneous:
In order to maintain his power, Charles had to engage in continual struggles with various princes, both secular and ecclesiastical. Following his victory at Poitiers in 732, he attacked some unruly bishops including Eucherius of Orléans. Because of this, his memory suffered. During the ninth century, his tomb at the abbey of St. Denis is said to had been opened by the abbot, and a hideous dragon supposedly emerged from a blackened, charred and otherwise barren coffin; thus demonstrating Charles Martel's damnation for despoiling the Church of its property. Later historians at St. Denis said he had taken Church lands only temporarily and had intended eventually to reimburse and further enrich the Church.

Charles married Rotrou of Allemania on Yes, date unknown. Rotrou (daughter of Saint Liévin, Count and Bishop of Trèves and daughter of Rutpert) died in 724. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Chrotrude. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Living: Between 720 and 747

Family/Spouse: Bertrada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• History: birth to death

Notes:

History:
Nivelon I's name was also spelt Nibelung.

He held Bugy, Perrecy, and Marolles. He passed them to Autbert by 786 illegally.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Title(s): 741
• Crowned: 751
• Reign: From 751 to 768; King of the Franks (Carolingian dynasty)
• Military: 753

Notes:

Name:


Pépin served as Mayor of the Palace.

Title(s):
Following the death of their father Charles Martel in 741, Pépin the Short along with his older brother Carloman imprisoned their half brother Grifo and took control of the Frankish Empire as joint Mayors of the Palace. Pépin ruled in Neustria, Burgundy and Provence and Carloman ruled in Austrasia. In order to legitimize their rule, the brothers revived the kingship by raising Childeric III to the throne in 743. Pépin and Carloman continued to hold the real power. That same year, Pépin and Carloman conquered their brother-in-law Duke Odilo of Bavaria. However, discord in Bavaria continued; and it was not until 757 that Odilo's son (Pépin's nephew) Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and the magnates of Bavaria were finally forced to acknowledge themselves as vassals of Pépin the Short.

Crowned:
In 747, Carloman withdrew from politics. With the support of the church and the Pope, Pépin had himself declared King of the Franks in 751. The former king, Childeric III, retired to a monastery.

Military:
In the winter of 753-754 after the Lombards forced Pope Stephen to leave Rome, the Pope visited Pépin the Short. The next summer, Pope Stephen anointed Pépin and his two sons Charlemagne and Carloman, and declared that the Franks were never to elect a king who was not of the sacred lineage of Pépin the Short. In return for Pope Stephen's support, Pépin the Short took his army to Italy and defeated the Lombards. Pépin's gift of a wide strip of land in central Italy to the Pope became known as the "Donation of Pépin". This land, called the Papal States, remained under the control of the popes until the unification of Italy in the 19th century.

Pépin married Bertha "Broadfoot" about 740. Bertha (daughter of Caribert, Count of Laon and Bertrada) was born about 720 in Laon, Hauts-de-France, France; died on 12 Jul 783. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Bernard married daughter of Caribert on Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: 764, Lorsch Abbey, Lorsch, Hesse, Germany; In 764 , she founded with her nephew Cancor, Lorsch Abbey, Lorsch, Hesse, Germany.
• Last Full Review: 10 Nov 2021

Notes:

Name:

Landrée married Sigrand, Count of Hesbaye on Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Offices Held: Between 741 and 747
• Retired: 747, Abbey of Monte Cassino, Lazio, Italy

Notes:

Offices Held:
Carloman served between 741 and 747 as Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia.

Retired:
In 747, he retired from political life and became a monk at the Monastery, now Abbey of Monte Casino.

Family/Spouse: daughter of Alard. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• History: birth to death

Notes:

History:
He was endowed with a portion of his father's land, but was displaced and imprisoned by his half brothers Carloman and Pépin the Short.

Chiltrud married Odilo, Duke of Bavaria in 749. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Bertha was known as Queen Goose-Foot or Goose-Footed Bertha, and is the original Mother Goose.

Bertha married Pépin "the Short", King of the Franks about 740. Pépin (son of Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace and Rotrou of Allemania) was born in 714/15 in Austrasia; died on 24 Sep 768; was buried in Basilica of Saint-Denis, St. Denis, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Parents: Father: Caribert, Count of Laon Mother: Bertada

daughter married Duke Bernard on Yes, date unknown. Bernard (son of Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace and Rotrou of Allemania) died about 784. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]