Pépin III, Charlemagne (“Charles the Great”) were neither fools nor ciphers. These three men had one enormous political problem: although they held all the power of the state through their (now) hereditary position as Mayors of the Palace, they had absolutely no right whatever to the throne of France, under any law then in force. Pépin solved this problem temporarily by getting the pope to sanction his assumption of the crown. However, his claim was still very shaky, and one must assume that he only made his move when he felt absolutely certain that he could control the possible reaction of the people, and could remove any possible Merovingian pretenders permanently from the scene, therefore eliminating a major rallying point against his regime. Charlemagne would have been faced with exactly the same political realities.
The last Merovingian king, Childéric III, was childless, so Pépin did not need worry about his progeny; the king himself was locked away in a monastery under close guard, just to make certain that he could not escape or have children. Childéric died or was killed four years later. The historian must ask the obvious question: why was Childéric not killed immediately? The only possible response is this: his death was not necessary. Why was his death not necessary? Because all other possible pretenders were dead, leaving Childéric as the last of his line; with Childéric’s death, the heir to the Merovingian line became any one of the surviving Merovingian princesses, several of whom had already been married off to the Carolingians to establish the latter’s legitimacy after the fact. With Childéric under firm control (and perhaps not in the best of health), and especially with Childéric childless, there was no need to upset the natural order of things any further than they had been already, with Pépin’s usurpation of the throne; there were undoubtedly old supporters of the Merovingians among the nobility, men who would have been offended with Childéric’s execution without cause; and since there was no other obvious threat to his position, Pépin clearly was content to control the ex-King until his belated demise.
At that point, Pépin and his son became the genuine heirs to the crown. Had any other Merovingian males survived, they would automatically have become the rightful kings at Childéric’s death. One must remember that the Merovingian succession was not always from father to son, but often from father to sons, or cousin to cousin; every male heir had an equal right to the throne. The Carolingian kings could not have allowed even one Merovingian to survive for any length of time; their own necks were at stake. The price for political failure would have been torture and execution; there was no retirement to the Western White House in medieval times. Those who played at politics played either for complete power or complete oblivion; there was very little in between. Since Charles Martel, Pépin III, and Charlemagne are among the strongest rulers recorded in French history, they surely would have been eminently aware of this potential threat to their necks, and would have made absolutely certain that every Merovingian descendant had been accounted for. We must remember also that they had every means of the state at their disposal: these were absolute rulers in almost every sense of the word, men who knew how to use their power: they would have had agents everywhere throughout the land, officers beholden only to the new kings; it is virtually impossible that a Merovingian could have survived in a titled position of power anywhere in the French realm. History teaches us that even female members of deposed royal houses (and their offshoots) do not survive long under the new regime, be it another dynasty or a republic.
A similar argument can be applied to Baigent’s contention that Christ staged and survived his supposed execution. We must again recall existing testimony on this
The last Merovingian king, Childéric III, was childless, so Pépin did not need worry about his progeny; the king himself was locked away in a monastery under close guard, just to make certain that he could not escape or have children. Childéric died or was killed four years later. The historian must ask the obvious question: why was Childéric not killed immediately? The only possible response is this: his death was not necessary. Why was his death not necessary? Because all other possible pretenders were dead, leaving Childéric as the last of his line; with Childéric’s death, the heir to the Merovingian line became any one of the surviving Merovingian princesses, several of whom had already been married off to the Carolingians to establish the latter’s legitimacy after the fact. With Childéric under firm control (and perhaps not in the best of health), and especially with Childéric childless, there was no need to upset the natural order of things any further than they had been already, with Pépin’s usurpation of the throne; there were undoubtedly old supporters of the Merovingians among the nobility, men who would have been offended with Childéric’s execution without cause; and since there was no other obvious threat to his position, Pépin clearly was content to control the ex-King until his belated demise.
At that point, Pépin and his son became the genuine heirs to the crown. Had any other Merovingian males survived, they would automatically have become the rightful kings at Childéric’s death. One must remember that the Merovingian succession was not always from father to son, but often from father to sons, or cousin to cousin; every male heir had an equal right to the throne. The Carolingian kings could not have allowed even one Merovingian to survive for any length of time; their own necks were at stake. The price for political failure would have been torture and execution; there was no retirement to the Western White House in medieval times. Those who played at politics played either for complete power or complete oblivion; there was very little in between. Since Charles Martel, Pépin III, and Charlemagne are among the strongest rulers recorded in French history, they surely would have been eminently aware of this potential threat to their necks, and would have made absolutely certain that every Merovingian descendant had been accounted for. We must remember also that they had every means of the state at their disposal: these were absolute rulers in almost every sense of the word, men who knew how to use their power: they would have had agents everywhere throughout the land, officers beholden only to the new kings; it is virtually impossible that a Merovingian could have survived in a titled position of power anywhere in the French realm. History teaches us that even female members of deposed royal houses (and their offshoots) do not survive long under the new regime, be it another dynasty or a republic.
A similar argument can be applied to Baigent’s contention that Christ staged and survived his supposed execution. We must again recall existing testimony on this
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