Wolf, chief of the southwestern Frankish dukedom, raised the banner of revolt, believing that he could now accomplish what his predecessor, Waisar, had striven in vain to do while Pepin was living. Charlemagne promptly prepared to suppress the uprising, and called upon his brother Carloman to assist him. Carloman declined, and Charlemagne was forced to act alone; but he quickly succeeded in quelling the revolt. It is not strange that he and his Franks were angry at the conduct of his brother, and that there were many, not only in his own, but in his brother’s part of the kingdom, who regretted that Charlemagne had not been made sole ruler. Carloman’s action was not only regarded as faithless toward his brother, but even stigmatized as treachery against the united kingdom, the evil consequences of which could be averted only by Charlemagne’s strong arm. The latter’s leading warriors, indeed, had been in favor of taking the field against Wolf without paying any attention to his brother. It was due to Charlemagne’s mother, the royal widow Bertha,[19] that the world of that day was spared the tragedy of a fraternal and civil war. This distinguished lady, who was so greatly beloved by the people that she was celebrated in later tradition as “The Swan Maiden,” was tenderly loved by Charlemagne. She determined to overcome his resentment against his brother and reconcile them. She succeeded in doing this, but had hardly done so when Carloman died. The grandees and church dignitaries thereupon assembled and named Charlemagne ruler of the whole Frankish kingdom. They recognized the danger confronting a divided kingdom and hastened to avert it. Gilberga, Carloman’s widow, if she had been wise would have placed herself under the protection of Charlemagne and her mother-in-law, the widow Bertha. Instead of this, she was induced by Charlemagne’s enemies to leave the country, with the intention at a favorable time of asserting the rights of her two sons. This she soon did at the court of the Lombardian King, Desiderius, who entertained strong animosity against the Franks. Pepin had forced King Haistulf, Desiderius’s predecessor, when he was threatening Rome and had seized Ravenna, to give up not only the Roman, but other possessions to the Papacy. This was not forgotten by Desiderius; and when, after Haistulf’s death by a fall from his horse, he succeeded him, he regarded himself as heir to the Papal throne and the avenger of Haistulf; and he lost no opportunity of intermeddling in Roman affairs.