653 
FRA 
The arms of Pepin triumphed again; the Saxons were 
routed ; their duke Theodoric, tire captive of the vidtor, 
was from that moment buried in oblivion ; and his fub- 
jects purchafed their pardon by the facrifice of their reli¬ 
gion, and purified themfelves in the baptifmal fount from 
the crime of rebellion. 
The death of Odilon, duke of Bavaria, devolved his 
fceptre on his infant fonTallilon ; and his widow Hiltrude 
readily offered an afylum to her half-brother, the fugitive 
Gripp-on. Aftifted by a firong body of malcontent Franks, 
the perfidious fuppliant, in 748, feized his fitter and her 
fon, and ufurped the dukedom of Bavaria. But his tran- 
fient power vanifhed on the approach of Pepin : Taflilon 
was once more reftored to his dominions; and Grippon, 
again pardoned by his brother, again endeavoured to 
awaken the dormant embers of faction ; and efcaping from 
the city of Mans, fought protection in the court of the 
duke of Aquitain. Thus the enemies of Pepin were 
crufhed by his valour, as his friends were multiplied by 
his liberality ; all the powers of royalty had been long 
exercifed by the mayors of the palace, and the regal title 
of king was only wanting to confirm the fucceflion and 
gratify the ambition of the defcendants of Charles Martel. 
The Franks were perplexed between the name and fub- 
ftance of their government; and the mayor and nobles 
were bound by a folemn oath of fidelity to the feeble and 
lingering Childeric. Their common ambafladors, in 751, 
addrelfea pope Zachary to difpel their fcruples and ab- 
folve their promife; and the Roman pontiff pronounced, 
that it was lawful to transfer the regal dignity from hands 
incapable of maintaining it, to thofe which had fo fuc- 
cefsfully preferved it; and that the nation might unite 
in the fame perfon the authority and the title of king. 
An anfwer fo agreeable to the wifiies of the FrankS" was 
received with tumultuous approbation; the unfortunate 
Childeric was degraded, fhaved, and immured for ever 
in a monafiery ; and the final extinction of the blood of 
Clovis in the Merovingian princes, was forgotten in the 
rifing glories of the Carlovingian race. The memory of 
this firft dynafty of the French kings, is for ever black¬ 
ened with the moft horrid fpecies of cruelty, rapine, and 
murder, that can poflibly degrade human nature, or place 
dignified man on a level with brutes. Even the light of 
the gofpel, and the mild doctrines of Chriftianity, had 
but a weak and tranfient influence on their favage minds. 
Implacable revenge, and uncontrouled ambition, often 
led them to the perpetration of the moft fliocking maffa- 
cres; but which, to the eternal difgrace of the papal efta- 
blifhment, were readily commuted by large gifts to the 
church, or by the foundation of monafteries, and other 
religious houfes. Thus vice of the moft deliberate kind 
was encouraged, while the heads of thofe impolitic foun¬ 
dations fattened on its fruits ! 
From the ACCESSION of the CARLOVINGIAN 
RACE, ro the EXTINCTION of the HOUSE 
of CHARLEMAGNE. 
Pepin the Short, the firft of the Carlovingian race, 
affumed the title of king of France in 751. His attention 
was foon claimed by a revolt of the Saxons; but they 
were quickly reduced to fubjedtion, and obliged to pay 
an additional tribute. In his expedition againft them, the 
king had alfo the fatisfadtion of defeating his refilefs and 
treacherous competitor Grippon. This turbulent prince, 
weary or redding at the court of Aquitain, efcaped from 
thence, and put himfelf under the protection of Adolphus 
king of the Lombards; but he was killed in boldly at¬ 
tempting to force a pal's on the confines of Italy. Pepin 
in the mean time continued to pufh his good fortune. The 
fubmifiion of the Saxons was followed by the reduction 
of Britanny ; and that by the recovery of Narbonne fro;n 
the infidels. His next exploit was the protection of pope 
Stephen III. againft Aftolphus king of the Lombards, 
who had violently feized on the exarchate of Ravenna, 
and infilled on being acknowledged king of Rome. The 
Vol. VII. No. 457. 
N C E. 
pope, unable to contend with fuch a rival, battened to crofs 
the Pennine Alps, and implore the aid of Pepin, who re¬ 
ceived him with all the refpeCt due to his facred charac¬ 
ter. Tie was lodged in the abbey of St. Dennis, and, 
during a fudden and dangerous indifpofition, was attended 
by the king in perfon. Oil bis recovery, pope Stephen 
folemnly placed the diadem on the bead of bis ber.efadtor, 
bellowed the regal unftipn on bis fons Charles and Car- 
loman, ajid conferred on the three princes the title of 
patrician of Rome. In gratitude fur thefe honours, Pepin 
accompanied the pontiff into Italy, at the bead of a pow¬ 
erful army. Aftolphus, unable to withftand fo potent an 
antagonift, fhut himfelf up in Pavia, where he was clofely 
befieged by the Franks, and obliged to renounce all pre¬ 
tentions to the fovereignty of Rome, as well as to the 
exarchate of Ravenna, and fwear to a faithful obfervance 
of the treaty. But no fooner was Pepin gone, than Adol¬ 
phus broke the treaty he bad thus folemnly ratified. The 
pope was again reduced to diftrefs, and again protected 
by Pepin, who inftantly fet out for Italy, and compelled 
Aftolphus a fecond time to fubmit to his terms, which 
were rendered more fevere by the impofitio,n of an annual 
tribute. Pepin next made a tour to Rome ; and foon 
after his return Aftolphus died, and his dominions were 
ufurped by his general Didier; who, however, obtained 
the papal fanCtion, and was recognifed as lawful fovereign 
of the Lombards, in 756. 
Pepin returned to France in triumph; but the peace 
of his dominions was again difturbed by the revolt of the 
Saxons, who bore the French yoke with the utmoff impa¬ 
tience. Their prefent attempts, however, proved equally 
abortive with thole they had formerly made ; beingobliged 
to purchale their pardon not only by a renewal of their 
tribute, but by an additional fupply of three hundred 
horfe. While the king was abfent on this expedition, 
Vaifar duke of Aquitain took the opportunity of ravaging 
Burgundy, where he carried his devaftations as far as 
Chalons. Pepin foon returned, and, entering the domi¬ 
nions of Vaifar, carried all before him; and would proba¬ 
bly have reduced the whole territory of Aquitain, had he 
not been called aw'ay by the hoflile preparations of his 
nephew Taflilon, the duke of Bavaria. Thus the bound- 
lefs luff of power which has marked the potentates of a 
more polifhed period, is invariably to be traced through 
the fanguinary annals of a barbarous age: the ambition 
of princes has feldom been reftrained by the ties of con- 
fanguinity, or the impulfe of gratitude ; and the moment 
that Taflilon beheld with envy the rifing fortune of his 
uncle, he ceafed to remember that Pepin had formerly 
delivered him from the ufurpation of Grippon. From 
the court of France he retired into his own dominions, re¬ 
nounced his homage, and prepared to alfert by arms his 
claim of independence. 
The king, however, contented himfelf with fecuring 
his frontiers by a chain of polls; after which he renewed 
the combat with Vaifar. Victory declared in favour of 
Pepin ; but he refufed to grant a peace upon any terms. 
The French monarch advanced to the banks of the Ga¬ 
ronne ; while Vaifar was abandoned by his ally the duke 
of Bavaria, and even by his own fubjedts. In this diftrefs 
he retired with a band of faithful followers into tIre coun¬ 
try of Saintonge, where he defended himfelf as,long as 
pofiible, but was at laft deprived both of his crown and 
life by the victor. By this warfare Aquitain was again 
annexed to the crown of France; but Pepin bad fcarcely 
indulged himfelf with a view of bis new conquefl, when 
he was feized with a fever, which put an end to his life 
in the year 768, the fifty-fourth of his age, aqd feven- 
teenth of his reign. He was of a fhort ftature, whence he 
had the filename of Le Brrf ; but his great and noble ac¬ 
tions juftly intide him to the character of an hero; though 
under the fucceeding reign his own fame feemed to have 
been forgotten, fince on his tomb was only inferibed, 
“ Here lies the father of Charlemagne.” 
At the beginning of his reign, he perceived with fome 
* D regret 
