Childéric III

King of the Franks · 743-751 · born in 714

Last Merovingian king, Childeric III is generally presented as the son of Chilperic II. In 743, after several years without a king, the mayors of the palace Pippin the Short and Carloman restored a Merovingian king. Childeric reigned without real power: the two mayors of the palace jointly exercised authority.

He was deposed in 751 by Pippin the Short, who had himself elected king of the Franks at Soissons. The expression “roi fainéant” (“do-nothing king”), coined much later by the Carolingian chroniclers for these powerless kings, must be used with caution. Childeric III was then tonsured and confined to the monastery of Saint-Bertin.

He probably died around 755, most likely unaware of the fate of his son, Theuderic. With him died out the Merovingian dynasty, replaced as early as 751 by the Carolingian dynasty, whose power was consecrated in 754 by the anointing of Pippin at Saint-Denis.

In the tree of power

Further reading