Майордомът Пипин II и борбата за политическо надмощие в Regnum Francorum през последната четвърт на VII – началото на VIII век
The Mayor of the palace Pippin II and the struggle for political supremacy in Regnum Francorum in the last quarter of the 7th and early 8th centuries

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to trace in chronological and thematic order the stages of the struggle of Pippin II for political supremacy in Regnum Francorum – the largest and most stable state in West European world in the late 7th and the early 8th centuries. One of the characteristics in the development of the Frankish society during the period under discussion is that various families of similar starting positions joined the struggle for power with the clearly expressed intention to transform the traditional electoral office of Mayor of the Palace – a key position in the government of the Franks – into their own hereditary asset. The Frankish nobility’s reluctance to agree to such claims raised a series of conflicts as a result of which Pippin II, thanks to his victory at Tertry and the successful implementation of a moderate political programme, managed to turn his family into a significant factor again and to retain the leading positions of power among the eastern and western Franks while ruling single-handedly against the backdrop of the legitimate, but increasingly insignificant Merovingian kings. He thus paved the way to the rise of a new ruling dynasty, which would play a crucial role in the history of Europe.

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