Shortly before his death, Karl Martel summoned a council of the princes and nobles of his realm, and obtained their consent that his eldest son, Karloman, should succeed him as Royal Steward of Germany, and his second son, Pippin, surnamed the Short, as Royal Steward of France and Burgundy. The Merovingian throne had already been vacant for four years, but the monarch had become so insignificant that this circumstance was scarcely noticed. On his death-bed, however, Karl Martel was persuaded by Swanhilde, one of his wives, to bequeath a part of his dominions to her son, Grifo. This gave rise to great discontent among the people, and furnished the subject Dukes of Bavaria, Alemannia and Aquitaine with another opportunity for endeavoring to regain their lost independence. [Sidenote: 752. PIPPIN THE SHORT MADE KING.] Karloman and Pippin, in order to strengthen their cause, sought for a descendant of the Merovingian line, and, having found him, they proclaimed him king, under the name of Childeric III. This step secured to them the allegiance of the Franks, but the conflict with the refractory Dukedoms lasted several years. Battles were fought on the Loire, on the Lech, in Bavaria, and then again on the Saxon frontier: finally Aquitaine was subdued, Alemannia lost its Duke and became a Frank province, and Bavaria agreed to a truce. In this struggle, Karloman and Pippin received important support from Bonifacius, a part of whose aim it was to bring all the Christian communities to acknowledge the Pope of Rome as the sole head of the Church. They gave him their support in return, and thus the Franks were drawn into closer relations with the ecclesiastical power. In the year 747, Karloman resigned his power, went to Rome, and was made a monk by Pope Zacharias. Soon afterwards Grifo, the son of Karl Martel and Swanhilde, made a second attempt to conquer his rights, with the aid of the Saxons. Pippin the Short allied himself with the Wends, a Slavonic race settled in Prussia, and ravaged the Saxon land, forcing a part of the inhabitants, at the point of the sword, to be baptized as Christians. Grifo fled to Bavaria, where the Duke, Tassilo, espoused his cause, but Pippin the Short followed close upon his heels with so strong a force that resistance was no longer possible. A treaty was made whereby Grifo was consigned to private life, the hereditary rights of the Bavarian Dukes recognized by the Franks, and the sovereignty of the Franks accepted by the Bavarians.