Pepin the Short

Educated by monks at St. Denis, Pepin and his brother Carloman inherited their father Charles Martel's position as Mayor of the Palace in 741, jointly ruling Francia while a Merovingian figurehead occupied the throne. When Carloman withdrew to religious life in 747, Pepin forced the last Merovingian into a monastery and had himself crowned king with Pope Zachary's support in 751. He answered the call when Pope Stephen II faced Lombard threats in Italy, securing cities that became the legal foundation for the Papal States through the Donation of Pepin. His armies took Septimania from the Umayyads, broke Aquitanian resistance, and pushed Frankish power across Gaul, though the Saxons and Bavarians remained unsubdued. He died in 768, dividing the realm between his sons Charlemagne and Carloman - one of whom would eclipse him entirely.