Karoulomannos 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitM VIII
Dates741 (taq) / 754 (ob.)
Variant NamesCarloman
ReligionChristian
EthnicityFrank
LocationsSt Benedict (Monastery of, Aquinum) (residence);
Francia;
St Peter (Church of, Rome);
Aquinum
OccupationMonk;
Priest
TitlesMaior palati (office);
Ruler of the Franks (office)
Textual SourcesChronicon Moissiacense, ed. H. Pertz, MGH, SS 1 (Hanover, 1826; repr. Stuttgart/New York, 1963), pp. 280-313 (chronicle);
Continuator of Fredegarius, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, Scr. Rer. Mer. 2 (Hanover, 1888; repr. Hanover, 1956), pp. 168-193; also ed. and tr. J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredeg (chronicle);
Liber Pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne, Le liber pontificalis. Texte, introduction et commentaire, 2 vols. (Paris, 1886-92); re-issued with 3rd vol. by C. Vogel, (Paris, 1955-57) (chronicle)

Karoulomannos 1 was the son of the Frankish ruler ("rex"), Carolus (Charles Martel; see Karoulos 2) ("Carolomannus, filius Caroli Francorum regis"); he retired from secular life and secular power ("praesentis vite relinquens gloriam atque potestatem terrenam") and came to St Peter's at Rome with a few loyal followers during the pontificate of Zacharias 16; he undertook henceforward to devote himself to the spiritual life and was ordained to the priesthood by Zacharias 16 ("in spiritali habitu fore spondens permansurum, clericatus iugum ab eodem sanctissimo suscepit pontifice"); shortly afterwards he withdrew to the monastery of St Benedict at Aquinum, where he swore that he would end his life: Lib. Pont. 93. 21. An addition to this section in the later recension of the Lib. Pont. notes that Carloman (Karoulomannos 1) made many gifts to St Peter, including a large silver bow weighing seventy pounds. He was apparently a priest and a monk. Duchesne, Lib. Pont., p. 438, n. 46, cites the Continuator of Fredegarius s.a. 747: "Carolomannus devotionis causa instinctu succensus regnum una cum filio suo Drogone manibus germani sui Pippini committens, ad limina beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli Romam in monachorum ordine perseveraturus advenit". Duchesne loc. cit. also refers to Chronicon Moissiacense s.a. 741 (p. 292). Karoulomannos 1 was the father of Drogo 2 and the brother of Pippin (Pepin 1).

Later, in 754, Karoulomannos 1 was persuaded to leave the monastery of St Benedict by the Lombard king, Aistulf 1, and return to Francia, in order to dissuade Pepin 1 from granting pope Stephen III (II) (Stephanos 8)'s request for help against the Lombards; he failed to move Pepin 1, and Pepin 1 and Stephanos 8 agreed that, because he was a monk, Karoulomannos 1 should be placed in a monastery in Francia; after a few days only in the monastery, he died: Lib. Pont. 94. 30.

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