Pope Stephen III
They are the only source to date Charlemagne's birth to 747. They are also the only source to name either of Carloman I's two known sons, who fled to Italy with his widow in 771. The one born towards 770, whom Pope Stephen III offered to baptise himself, was named Pepin. Carloman's widow, Gisela, is also named in only one source: the "Annales mettenses priores". The "Annales Petaviani" also provide a unique explanation for the retirement of Carloman's uncle and namesake, Carloman, son of Charles Martel, who entered the Abbey of Montecassino in 747, leaving power in the hands of his brother, Pepin the Short. The "Annales" claim that Carloman's conversion to the religious life came about because his conscience was unsettled by his defeat in Alemannia, where he lost thousands of men: "Karolomannus intravit Alamanniam ubi fertur quod multa hominum millia ceciderit. Unde compunctus regnum reliquit" ("Carloman entered Alemannia where it is said that many thousands of men died. In remorse he relinquished the kingdom"). The "Annales" also provide evidence of an Anglo-Saxon presence in Marseille, the great seaport of Merovingian Gaul, when they note under the year 790 the death of the son of Botto, an English "negotiator" in Marseille.