The Pope favors removing the Merovingians and acclaiming Pippin the Short as king of the Franks

[A] Frankish mission arrived in Rome and proceeded to inquire, in diplomatic terms, the attitude of the pope towards the delicate problem of the Frankish crown. Ought a person who was without real authority to retain the name of king?—or ought the name and the power to go together? The pope…answered that the name and the power should go together. His approval freed Pippin from his oath of allegiance….

The last Merovingian, a half-forgotten person of no importance, was deposed. It was a moment of curious and extraordinary solemnity. But Gaul was now Christian; the church had spoken in favor of the change.

 

G. P. Baker, Charlemagne: And the United States of Europe (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1932), 49.

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 332

 

Tagged as: Chivalry, Elites, History of Western Civilization, Honor, Leaders, Monarchy, Pope, Short Stories