After his defeat of the Saracens Charles Martel was looked upon as
the great champion of Christianity; and to the day of his death, in
741, he was in reality, though not in name, the king of the Franks.
III
Charles Martel had two sons, Pepin and Carloman. For a time they
ruled together, but Carloman wished to lead a religious life, so he
went to a monastery and became a monk. Then Pepin was sole ruler.
Pepin was quite low in stature, and therefore was called Pepin the
Short. But he had great strength and courage. A story is told of
him, which shows how fearless he was.
One day he went with a few of his nobles to a circus to see a fight
between a lion and a bull. Soon after the fight began, it looked
as though the bull was getting the worst of it. Pepin cried out
to his companions:
"Will one of you separate the beasts?"
But there was no answer. None of them had the courage to make the
attempt. Then Pepin jumped from his seat, rushed into the arena,
and with a thrust of his sword killed the lion.
In the early years of Pepin's rule as mayor of the palace the
throne was occupied by a king named Childeric (Chil'-der-ic) III.
Pages:
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100