Ponthion () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is located southeast of

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons ...

History

Ponthion was a royal

pfalz Pfalz, Pfälzer, or Pfälzisch are German words referring to Palatinate (disambiguation), Palatinate. They may refer to: Places *Pfalz, the Palatinate (region) of Germany **Nordpfalz, the North Palatinate **Vorderpfalz, the Anterior Palatinat ...

(crown estate) under both the Merovingian (mainly Neustrian branch) and the Carolingian dynasties. It appears repeatedly in the Frankish royal and ecclesiastical history.

Pepin

Aistulf Aistulf (also Ahistulf, Haistulfus, Astolf etc.; , ; died December 756) was the Duke of Friuli from 744, King of the Lombards from 749, and Duke of Spoleto from 751. His reign was characterized by ruthless and ambitious efforts to conquer Roman ...

, King of the Lombards, was expanding his control of the Italian peninsula and threatening the Duchy of Rome. Having appealed to no avail to the Emperor in Byzantium,

Pope Stephen II Pope Stephen II (; 714 – 26 April 757) was born a Roman aristocrat and member of the Orsini family. Stephen was the bishop of Rome from 26 March 752 to his death on 26 April 757. Stephen II marks the historical delineation between the Byzan ...

secretly sent a message by way of a pilgrim to

Pepin the Short the Short (; ; ; – 24 September 768), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian dynasty, Carolingian to become king. Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude of H ...

, King of the Franks. Pepin responded by sending Droctegang, abbot of Jumieges, to confer with the pope. Not long after the abbot left, an envoy arrived from the Emperor directing Stephen to negotiate with Aistulf. Shortly before his departure for

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

, Duke Autchar and

Chrodegang Chrodegang (; ;Spellings of his name in (Latin) primary sources are extremely varied: Chrodegangus, Grodegandus, Grodegangus, Grodogangus, Chrodogandus, Krodegandus, Chrodegrangus, Chrotgangus, Ruotgangus, Droctegangus, Chrodegand, and Sirigangus ...

, Bishop of Metz, arrived with an invitation for Stephen to visit Francia.Noble, Thomas F.X., ''The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010, p. 78

left Rome in mid- October 753 accompanied by some clerics, nobles, the Emperor's envoy, and the Frankish delegation. Aistulf, when the Pope met him at Pavia, refused to enter into negotiations or to hear of a restoration of his conquests. Only with difficulty did Stephen finally prevail upon the Lombard king not to hinder him in his journey to the Frankish kingdom. In mid-November the Pope crossed the

Great St Bernard Pass The Great St Bernard Pass (, , ; ) is the third highest road pass in Switzerland, at an elevation of . It connects Martigny in the canton of Valais in Switzerland with Aosta in the region Aosta Valley in Italy. It is the lowest pass lying on t ...

arriving at the Abbey of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune, where he was met by Pepin's archchaplain

Fulrad Saint Fulrad (; ; 710 – 16 July 784) was a French religious leader who was the Abbot of Saint-Denis.Bunson and Bunson 2003, pp.345. He was the counselor of both Pepin the Short and Charlemagne. Historians see Fulrad as important due to his s ...

, Abbot of Saint-Denis. Pepin sent his son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

to escort the Pope to Ponthion, where Pepin and Stephen met on 6 January 754. It was at Ponthion that Pepin first agreed to defend "the rights of St. Peter" against the Lombards. Details would be worked out later at

Quierzy Quierzy (), also known as Quierzy-sur-Oise (; formerly in , ''Carisiacum'', ''Charisagum'', ''Karisiacum''), is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France, straddling the Oise River between Noyon and Chauny. Hi ...

. Pepin sent the Pope, tired from his journey, to the

Abbey of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and archite ...

. The condemnation of future

Pope Formosus Pope Formosus (896) was the pope and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as Pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Kingdom of ...

and others was announced to the emperor and a Synod of Ponthion in July 872, early in the pontificate of John VIII. After

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

's coronation in 875, the new emperor summoned a great synod at Ponthion, which met in June 876, and at which a

papal brief A papal brief or breve (from the Latin "''breve'', meaning "short") is a formal document emanating from the pope. History The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 March 1431 – 23 Februa ...

was read, appointing Ansegis, Archbishop of Sens, as

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of Gaul and Germany. Hincmar, the recognized chief Metropolitan of the West Frankish kingdom (who wrote his treatise '' De jure metropolitanorum'' in defence of his rights as metropolitan), and nearly all the Frankish bishops made an energetic protest against what they considered an infringement on their rights, and refused to recognize the vicar, so that the latter could not exercise the rights which had been conferred upon him.

History

Pepin

See also