The first event of the brothers’ reign was the uprising of the Aquitainians and Gascons, in 769, in the territory split between the two kings. Charlemagne met Carloman at Vienne to plan for the battle, but they quarreled and Carloman refused to participate and returned to Burgundy. Charlemagne turned his anger on the rebellion and led an army to Bordeaux, where he set up a camp at Fron-sac. Duke Chunoald II was forced to flee to the court of Duke Lupus II of Gascony, but Lupus, fearing Charlemagne, turned Chunoald II over in exchange for peace, and Aquitaine was considered to be finally subdued by the Franks.
The brothers maintained lukewarm relations with the assistance of their mother, Bertrada, and the new pope, Stephen III. Carloman’s actions soon revealed his scheming to gain political advantage over his brother—even though he was the younger brother, he considered himself Pepin’s real heir because he had been legitimate since birth. Charlemagne struck back, signing a treaty in 770 with Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria. He set aside his wife/ concubine Himiltrude (who had provided him with a son, Pepin the Hunchback; since the supposedly handsome boy sadly had a deformity, it explains why Charlemagne was in no hurry to marry the boy’s mother) and married a Lombard princess (commonly known today as Desiderata, though we do not know her real name), the daughter of King Desiderius.
Charlemagne’s aim was to create allies with whom he would surround his brother. Though Pope Stephen III first opposed the marriage with the Lombard princess, he would soon have little to fear from a Frankish-Lombard alliance. Charlemagne had cleverly made an alliance with Bavaria and Lombardy that ringed Carloman’s territory—land-wise, Charlemagne now held his brother in a vise. King Desiderius took the opportunity to threaten Carloman if the young king tried to break up the alliance, and Carloman, of course, was incensed and decided to bring his forces into Italy to “influence” the pope. The pope was clear—Carloman was not welcome in Rome while Desiderius was well received. That summer and autumn, the two brothers watched each other carefully. It seemed only a matter of time before a fraternal war would break out. The nobles in Francia carefully settled into their positions, awaiting the worst. Then, on December 4, 771, Carloman suddenly died, at the age of 20. With that event, Charles was free to become Charles the Great.
World History
