Pepin the Hunchback

Pepin (or Pippin) the Hunchback, (c. 769 – 811) was the eldest son of Charlemagne by Himiltrude. [For the nature of the relationsip between Charlemagne and Himiltrude see this article.]

Accounts describe Pepin as normally proportioned with attractive features. However, his looks were marred by a spinal deformity from which his nickname is derived.

Due to his disability, and possible illegitimacy, Pepin was never likely to inherit much of the Frankish domains. Nevertheless, Charles treated his son well, giving him precedence over his younger brothers as was appropriate for his age. Pepin was an amiable fellow, and he grew to be a well-liked member of Charles' court. The hunchbacked prince probably held some hope for succession from his father. In addition, Pepin was an easy target for discontented nobles, who lavished sympathies on him and lamented the treatment his mother had received when Charles had put her aside in order to marry a Lombard princess, Desiderata.

In 780, Charles formally disinherited Pepin and had the pope baptize his third son, Carloman, who now received the name Pepin. The name had a special significance as Pepin had been a recurring name in the Carolingian dynasty. This move may have been prompted by Hildegard, Charles' wife and Carloman's mother, who felt her son's inheritance expectations threatened by the hunchbacked prince.

Pepin was allowed to remain at court, and Charles continued to give the boy precedence over his younger brothers. Pepin also remained a popular "friend" of discontented nobles, and in 792, several counts played upon Pepin's dislike for his brothers to convince the deformed prince to play the figurehead in their rebellion. The conspirators planned to kill Charles, his wife Hildegarde, and his three sons by her. Pepin the Hunchback would then be set upon the throne as a more sympathetic (and more easily manipulated) king. The day of the assassination, Pepin pretended to be ill in order to meet with the plotters. The scheme nearly succeeded, but a Lombard deacon named Fardulf ultimately exposed it.

Charlemagne held an assembly at Regensburg to try the conspirators, and all were found guilty of high treason and ordered executed. Charles seemed still to have held fond feelings for his first son, however, for Pepin's sentence was commuted. Instead, Pepin was forced to enter the monastery of Prüm to live out the rest of his life as a monk. Pepin died there some twenty years later.

Cultural references

The Broadway musical "Pippin" was based on his life, but uses it more as a framework for very modern issues than to relate history.

References

ources

* Winston, Richard (1954). "Charlemagne: From the Hammer to the Cross". Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs-Merrill.