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Carloman I (28 June 751 – 4 December 771), German Karlmann, Karlomann, was king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon and was a younger brother of Charlemagne. His death allowed Charlemagne to take all of Francia.
It is commonly agreed that Carloman and Charlemagne disliked each other. However, the reasons behind this are unclear: some historians suggest that each brother considered himself rightfully to be the sole heir of their father – Charlemagne as the elder child, Carloman as the legitimate childChamberlin, Russell, The Emperor Charlemagne, p. 62 (Charlemagne is sometimes claimed to have been born a bastard in 742, a claim not always accepted). Be that as it may, Pepin the Short's disposal of his kingdom appears to have exacerbated the bad relations between the pair since it required cooperation between the pair and left both feeling cheated.
Rosamond McKitterick has argued, however, that our assumption about the relationship between the two brothers can't be based solely on a few examples and that there is no evidence to suggest that there was lasting animosity between the two. She also points out that Charlemagne showed great political pragmatism and astuteness throughout his reign and that it would have been in the brothers' common interest to work together to secure their dynasty's control over the Franks, having only recently gained royal power. She also argues that it cannot be assumed that Bertrada favoured one son over the other, pointing out the meeting between Bertrada and Carloman in 770 at Seltz.
In 770, his mother Bertrada began a series of diplomatic offensives to encircle Carloman. Charlemagne had married Desiderata, the daughter of the Lombard king Desiderius in Italy, which created an alliance between Charlemagne and the Lombards; Bertrada had also secured for Charlemagne the friendship of his cousin Tassilo III of Bavaria; she had even attempted to secure Papal support for the marriage by arranging for Desiderius to cede certain territories to Rome, to which the Papacy laid claim. Although Pope Stephen III remained hostile to an alliance between the Franks and the Lombards in theory, in reality, he was deeply conflicted between the threat the Lombards posed to him and the chance to dispose of the anti-Lombard Christopher the Primicerius, the dominant figure at the Papal court.Davis, Raymond (Editor), The Lives of the Eighth Century Popes, pp. 102–103 n.76; Chamberlin, Russell, The Emperor Charlemagne, pp. 64–65; McKitterick, Rosamond, The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, pp. 64–65; Collins, Roger, Early Medieval Europe, p. 279
These maneuvers had generally favoured the Franks but posed serious threats to Carloman's position. He had been left without allies: he attempted to use his brother's alliance with the Lombards to his advantage in Rome, offering his support against the Lombards to Stephen III and entering into secret negotiations with the Primicerius, Christopher, who had been isolated by the Franco-Lombard rapprochement; but after the murder of Christopher by Desiderius, Stephen III gave his support to the Lombards and Charlemagne. However, Carloman's position was rescued by Charlemagne's sudden repudiation of his Lombard wife, Desiderius' daughter. Desiderius, outraged and humiliated, appears to have allied with Carloman in opposition to Charlemagne and the Papacy, which took the opportunity to declare itself against the Lombards.McKitterick, Rosamond, The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, p. 65
Carloman married a Frankish woman, Gerberga, who, according to Pope Stephen III, was chosen for him, together with Charlemagne's concubine, Himiltrude, by Pepin the Short.Dutton, PE, Carolingian Civilisation: A Reader, p. 25 With Gerberga, he had two sons, the older of whom was named Pepin after his grandfather, marking him according to Carolingian tradition as the heir of Carloman, and of Pepin the Short.Davis, Raymond (Editor), The Lives of the Eighth Century Popes, p. 102 n.76 After Carloman's death, Gerberga expected her elder son to become king and for herself to rule as his regent; however, Carloman's former supporters – his cousin Adalhard, Saint Fulrad and Count Warin – turned against her, and invited Charlemagne to annex Carloman's territory, which he duly did.Riché, Pierre, The Carolingians, p. 86 Gerberga then fled (according to Einhard, "for no reason at all")Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne, in Dutton, PE, Carolingian Civilisation: A Reader, p. 29 with her sons and Count Autchar, one of Carloman's faithful nobles, to the court of Desiderius, who demanded of the new Pope Hadrian I that he anoint Carloman's sons as kings of the Franks.Riché, Pierre, The Carolingians, p. 97 Gerberga's flight ultimately precipitated Charlemagne's destruction of the Kingdom of the Lombards; he responded to Desiderius' support of Carloman's children, which threatened Charlemagne's position, by sweeping into Italy and subjugating it. Desiderius and his family were captured, , and sent to Frankish religious houses; the fate of Gerberga and her children by Carloman is unknown, although it is possible that they, too, were sent by Charlemagne to monasteries and convents.Chamberlin, Russell, The Emperor Charlemagne, p. 75.
Despite their complex relationship and the events following Carloman's death, Charlemagne would later name his second legitimate son "Carloman" after his deceased brother. This had, perhaps, been a public gesture to honour the boy's uncle's memory and quell any rumours about Charlemagne's treatment of his nephews. If so, it was swept away in 781, when Charlemagne had his son renamed as Pepin.
Competition with Charlemagne
Carloman's reign proved short and troublesome. The brothers shared possession of Aquitaine, which broke into rebellion upon the death of Pepin the Short; when Charlemagne campaigned to put down the revolt, Carloman led his own army to assist. The two quarreled at Moncontour, near Poitiers, and Carloman withdrew.Collins, Roger, Medieval Europe This, it had been suggested, was an attempt to undermine Charlemagne's power since the rebellion threatened Charlemagne's rule. Charlemagne crushed the rebels, while Carloman's behaviour damaged his standing amongst the Franks.McKitterick, Rosamond, The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, p. 64Chamberlin, Russell, The Emperor Charlemagne Relations between the two then degenerated further, requiring the mediation of their mother, Bertrada, who appears to have favoured Charlemagne, with whom she would live out her widowhood.
Death and legacy
Carloman died on 4 December 771 at the Villa of Samoussy; the death, sudden and convenient though it was, was set down to natural causes (a severe nosebleed is sometimes claimed as being at fault).Chamberlin, Russell, The Emperor Charlemagne, p. 70Story, Joanna, "Cathwulf, Kingship, and the Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis", Speculum 74.1 (January 1999:1–21) At the time of his death, he and his brother Charlemagne were close to outright war, which Charlemagne's biographer Einhard attributes to the miscounsel of Carloman's advisors. Carloman was buried in Reims, but he was reburied in the Basilique Saint-Denis in the 13th century.
Family
He had several children with Gerberga.
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