In 750 A.D. the Frankish royal throne was occupied by an ancient dynasty called the Merovingians, famous for their long hair. The Merovingians reigned but did not rule. Real power was exercised by a royal officer called the mayor of the palace. Mayor Pepin, facing threats to his rule from his own relatives, decides to take the revolutionary step of becoming king himself, and turns to the only power greater in the Frankish mind than the Merovingian mystique: Saint Peter. Pepin cleverly employs an Anglo-Saxon missionary named Boniface to conduct negotiations with the papacy. Pepin gets his wish, but in the process the Church becomes much more powerful.