CARLOMAN

Frankish mayor of the palace; b. before 714; d. Vienne, France, Aug. 17, 754. The assembly of nobles accepted charles martel's division of the Frankish kingdom between his eldest son Carloman, who received Austrasia, Alamannia, and Thuringia, and his younger son pepin iii, who ruled in Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence, and the two brothers soon united to dispossess Grifo (d. 753), an illegitimate son of their father, of his rather meager inheritance. They then reduced revolts in Aquitaine and Bavaria and collaborated against rebellions of Aquitanians, Alans, Bavarians, and Saxons. They crowned the last Merovingian, the so-called son of Theuderich IV (d. 737), who became Childeric III. Carloman took the initiative in supporting the reform of the Church in Gaul, which was carried out by St. boniface, and he established bishoprics in Würzburg, Erfurt, and Eichstätt. He arranged for reforming councils in 742 and 743 and secured metropolitan dignity for Boniface. The opposition of the nobles and the perils of war made it impossible for him to restore the church property confiscated by his father, but he gave new lands to the Church and endowed the Abbey of fulda for Boniface. In 747 Carloman entrusted his lands and his children to his brother Pepin and went to Rome to become a monk. He built the monastery of St. Sylvester on Mt. Soracte, but later retired to monte cassino to escape the attentions of affectionate Frankish pilgrims. Later when Aistulf, King of the lombards, menaced the safety of Rome, Pope stephen ii, having asked in vain for aid from the eastern Roman Emperor constantine v, turned to Pepin, who had with papal support declared himself king of the Franks. To counteract this appeal, Aistulf sent Carloman (whether willing or not is unknown) to intervene on his behalf or to rouse his former subjects in opposition to Pepin's policy of papal alliance. As Monte Cassino lay in the territory of the Duke of Benevento, a vassal of the Lombard king, it is probable that Carloman was under pressure to perform this difficult mission. He was entirely unsuccessful, however, as Pepin forced him into a monastery at Vienne, where he died the next year. His sons were deprived of their inheritance and were also confined to a monastery. Carloman was buried at Monte Cassino, and he was considered a saint during the centuries immediately following his death. He is still remembered in the benedictine calendar on August 17.

Bibliography: Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores 1:292, 329; 7:581. Liber pontificalis, ed. l. duchesne (Paris 186–1958) 1:448. Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne (Paris 1878–90) 173:498. g. drioux, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 11:1058–60, with extensive bibliog. b. gebhardt, Handbuch der deutschen Geschichte, ed. h. grundmann (Stuttgart 1954–60) 1:125–27. t. schieffer, Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 5: 1362–63; Winfrid-Bonifatius und die christliche Grundlegung Europas (Freiburg 1954); "Angelsachsen u. Franken," Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz 20 (1950) 1431–1529. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige (Metten 1933–38) 2:584–586. r. macaigne, L'Église mérovingienne et l'état pontifical (Paris 1929) 287–292. j. mabillon, Acta sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti (Venice 1733–40) 4:112–118. j. dubois, Catholicisme 2:561–562.

[c. m. aherne]