the new monarchy would protect the Roman church, the pope used the occasion to name
Pepin and his sons “patricians of the Romans.”
As ruler of the Franks, Pepin III oversaw reform of the secular government and, with
the aid of the Irish missionary Boniface, of the ecclesiastical organization. His efforts in
the latter regard, especially, provided the foundation for the cultural and intellectual
revival known as the Carolingian renaissance, under Pepin’s son Charlemagne.
Celia Chazelle
[See also: CARLOMAN; CAROLINGIAN DYNASTY; FRANKS; MAYOR OF
THE PALACE]
Hlawitschka, Eduard. “Die Vorfahren Karls des Grossen.” In Karl der Grosse: Lebenswerk und
Nachleben, ed. W.Braun-fels et al. 5 vols. Düsseldorf: Schwann, 1965, Vol. 1, pp. 51–82.
McKitterick, Rosamond. The Frankish Kingdoms Under the Carolingians, 751–987. London:
Longman, 1983.
Miller, David Harry. “Sacral Kingship, Biblical Kingship, and the Elevation of Pepin the Short.” In
Religion, Culture, and Society in the Early Middle Ages: Studies in Honor of Richard E.
Sullivan, ed. Thomas F.X.Noble and John J. Contreni. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute, 1987.
Noble, Thomas F.X. The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680–825.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984.
Riché, Pierre. The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe, trans. Michael I.Allen.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.
PERCEFOREST
. Middle French prose romance composed ca. 1337–44 for Count William I of Hainaut,
perhaps by an author attached to the monastery of Saint-Landelin at Crespin in Hainaut.
This immense work, divided into 531 chapters in six books (it will fill some 6,000 to
7,000 octavo pages when fully edited), treats the history of Britain from Alexander the
Great to King Arthur. It exists complete in only one manuscript (Paris, Arsenal 3483–94),
compiled by the scribe David Aubert in 1459–60 for Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy.
Three other partial manuscripts survive, all from the third quarter of the 15th century, as
well as two 16th-century printed editions. The romance was translated into Italian and
Spanish in the 16th century.
Unlike many prose romances of its time, Perceforest is not an adaptation of an earlier
verse romance but presents new materials, though incorporating traditional themes and
motifs. After a brief geographical excursus on the island of Britain, the anonymous
author traces its history from its founding by the legendary Brutus after the fall of Troy,
as recounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth. The romance proper begins with Chapter 15 of
Book 1 and is marked by inventiveness, exuberant style, and complex interlacing. The
first three books tell of England before Julius Caesar’s conquest. The author links
England to the glories of Alexander the Great, who arrives in Britain at the beginning of
the romance with two companions, Bétis and Gadifer, whom he appoints kings of
England and Scotland, respectively. Together, they overcome the evil superstitions of the
magician Darnant. Bétis, after slaying Darnant and freeing the forests of the island from
his curse, takes the new name Perceforest and is crowned king of Britain by Alexander.
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