Pippin, incorrectly called "of Herstal," assumed leadership of the great nobles of Austrasia around 678 in order to combat Ebroin (Mayor of the Palace) and Neustria. He led the nobles to victory at Tertry (687 - the fall of the Merovingians). He also defeated the Frisians and the Alamanni.

Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (190:10). Called Pepin of Herisatal. Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia.

The first of the great Carolingian Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia. Ruler of the Franks in 687, he managed, through the Battle of Tertry in 687, to unite Neustria and Austrasia under his own "puppet" Merovingian king. But the power struggles in northern Gaul seriously weakened the power of the merovingians and their mayors. The Aquitanians had their own Duke; the "Patricius" of Provence was for all practical purposes an independent ruler.; the aristocrats of Burgundy paid little attention to the Franks in the north.34

Pepin established himself as mayor of the palace in Austrasia after the death of Dagobert II in 679 and defended its autonomy against Theodoric III of Neustria and Ebroon, Theodoric's mayor of the palace. Defeated by Ebroon in 680 at Lucofao (near Laon), Pepin gained his revenge on the Neustrians in 687 at Tertry (near Pironne) and became sole effective ruler of the Franks. He nevertheless retained Theodoric III on the throne and after his death replaced him with three successive Merovingian kings. After several years of warfare Pepin defeated the Frisians on his northeastern border (689) and married his son Grimoald to Theodelind, daughter of the Frisian chief Radbod. He also forced the Alemanni to recognize Frankish authority again and encouraged Christian missionaries in Alemannia and Bavaria.


The first of the Carolingian dynasty to hold the office of Mayor of the Palace. By the seventh century, Merovingian kings had no effective power. Instead, the Mayor of the Palace, spokesman at the king's court for the landholders in Neustria, Austrasia and Burgundy, held the real power.


References: [RFC],[AR7],[Weis1]