Pepin "The Short"

Ruler of Neustria and King of the Franks, 751-768. The first Carolingian King. He deposed Childeric III (751), the last Merovingian king. He supported the extension of papal control and was anointed by St. Boniface in a ceremony of symbolic importance. Again anointed by Pope Stephen II (754), he defeated the Lombards on the pope's behalf. The new papal lands thus acquired were known as the Donation of Pepin. The close relationship between the pope and the Carolingian kings tied papal development to the West rather than to Italy and the East.