The Pippinids and the Arnulfings were two Frankish aristocratic families from

Austrasia Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...

during the Merovingian period. They dominated the office of

mayor of the palace Under the Merovingian dynasty, the mayor of the palace or majordomo, ( or ) was the manager of the household of the Frankish king. He was the head of the Merovingian administrative ladder and orchestrated the operation of the entire court. He ...

after 687 and eventually supplanted the Merovingians as kings in 751, founding the

Carolingian dynasty The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Franks, Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Pippinids, Arnulfi ...

. The names "Pippinid" and "Arnulfing" are modern conventions, reflecting the families' descent from two contemporaries,

Arnulf of Metz Arnulf of Metz ( 582 – 645) was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia. He later retired to the Abbey of Remiremont. In French he is also known as Arnoul or Arnoulf. In English he is known as Arnold. G ...

(died c. 640) and

Pippin of Landen Pepin I (also Peppin, Pipin, or Pippin) of Landen (c. 580 – 27 February 640), also called the Elder or the Old, was the Mayor of the palace of Austrasia under the Merovingians, Merovingian King Dagobert I from 623 to 629. He was also the ...

(died 640). The recurrence of the

leading name A leading name (German ''Leitname'', plural ''Leitnamen'') is a given name that is used repeatedly over several generations in a lineage (anthropology), lineage or broader kin group. Usually the entire name is used again and again, but sometimes a ...

Pippin in the family led the anonymous author of the ''

Annals of Metz The ''Annals of Metz'' () are a set of Latin Carolingian annals covering the period of Frankish history from the victory of Pepin II in the Battle of Tertry (687) to the time of writing (c. 806). Sections covering events after 806 are not origin ...

'' (c. 805) to call the family ''Pippinios'', the earliest known designation for the family.

Rosamond McKitterick Rosamond Deborah McKitterick (born 31 May 1949) is an English medieval historian. She is an expert on the Frankish kingdoms in the eighth and ninth centuries AD, who uses palaeographical and manuscript studies to illuminate aspects of the pol ...

, ''Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity'' (Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 57n. In a strict sense, the Pippinids are the descendants of Pippin of Landen and the Arnulfings those of Arnulf of Metz. These groups only overlap via the marriage of Arnulf's son

Ansegisel Ansegisel (c. 602 or 610 – murdered before 679 or 662) was the younger son of Saint Arnulf, bishop of Metz. Life He served King Sigebert III of Austrasia (634–656) as ''domesticus''. He was killed sometime before 679, slain in a feud by his ...

and Pippin's daughter

Begga Saint Begga (also Begue, Beghe, Begge) (615 – 17 December 693) was the daughter of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, and his wife Itta. She is also the grandmother of Charles Martel, who is the grandfather of Charlemagne. ...

and their son,

Pippin of Herstal Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who was the de facto ruler of Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and P ...

and his descendants. Since the late eighth century, the rise of the family has been depicted as the defining feature of the late Merovingian period, with the kings portrayed as ''

rois fainéants Rois may refer to: People * Carrie Rois, victim of Gary Ridgway * Joan Roís de Corella (1435–1497), Valencian author * Juancho Rois (1958-1994), Colombian musician * Sophie Rois, Austrian actress *Róis (Rose Connolly), Northern Irish composer a ...

'' ("do-nothing kings"), puppets of their mayors. This theme has been continued in modern historiography. Some have even suggested that the Pippinids and Arnulfings followed a "long-term strategy" to seize power.

Bernard Bachrach Bernard Stanley Bachrach (May 14, 1939 – July 14, 2023) was an American historian. He taught history at the University of Minnesota from 1967 until his retirement in 2020. He specialized in the Early Middle Ages, mainly on the topics of mediev ...

, ''Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), pp. 2–5. Following his victory at the

Battle of Tertry The Battle of Tertry was an important engagement in Merovingian Gaul between the forces of Austrasia under Pepin of Herstal, Pepin II on one side and those of Neustria and Kingdom of Burgundy, Burgundy on the other. It took place in 687 at Tertry ...

in 687, Pippin of Herstal extended his influence into

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages, in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, Austrasia. It initially included land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, in the north of present-day ...

. His death in 714 was followed by years of civil war between his successors. By 718, his younger son

Charles Martel Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...

had taken control of both Austrasia and Neustria. His descendants are the Carolingians proper, although some historians apply this label as far back as the marriage of Ansegisel and Begga. The descendants of Charles's brother,

Childebrand Childebrand I (c. 678 – 743 or 751) was a Frankish duke (''dux''), son of Pepin of Heristal and Alpaida, and brother of Charles Martel. He was born in Autun, where he later died. He married Emma of Austrasia and was given Burgundy by his fath ...

, on the other hand, are known as the

Nibelungids {{about, the historical Frankish dynasty sometimes called the Nibelungs, an explanation of the term Nibelung in Germanic heroic legend, Nibelung The Nibelungids were a Frankish noble family descended from Childebrand, the younger full brother of ...

References

External links

BBC2: "From Merovingians to Carolingians : Dynastic Change in Frankia"
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714080142/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A251542 , date=2010-07-14 Frankish noble families French noble families German noble families * 7th century in Francia