Stamboom Homs » Charles "Martel" (the Hammer) (Charles "Martel" (the Hammer)) "Charles Martel" de France (686-741)

Persoonlijke gegevens Charles "Martel" (the Hammer) (Charles "Martel" (the Hammer)) "Charles Martel" de France 

• Roepnaam is Charles Martel.
• Hij is geboren op 23 augustus 686 in Herstal, Région Wallonne, BelgiqueHerstal, Région Wallonne.

  {geni:event_description} This place is now Belgium. The book, 'The Dark Ages', states that Charles was 26 yrs. old at the time of his father's death.

• Hij werd gedoopt in Mayor of Palace, Austrasia (Belgium), Nustria.
• Alternatief: Hij werd gedoopt in Mayor of Palace, Austrasia (Belgium), Nustria.
• Alternatief: Hij werd gedoopt in Mayor of Palace, Austrasia (Belgium), Nustria.
• Alternatief: Hij werd gedoopt rond 676 in Heristal Austria.
• Alternatief: Hij werd gedoopt rond 714.
• Alternatief: Hij werd gedoopt rond 714 in Austrasia (Karl Martel-Karl of the Hammer).
• Hij is gedoopt rond 714.
• Gedoopt (op 8-jarige leeftijd of later) door het priesterschapsgezag van de LDS-kerk.
• Alternatief: Gedoopt (op 8-jarige leeftijd of later) door het priesterschapsgezag van de LDS-kerk.
• Alternatief: Gedoopt (op 8-jarige leeftijd of later) door het priesterschapsgezag van de LDS-kerk.
• Alternatief: Gedoopt (op 8-jarige leeftijd of later) door het priesterschapsgezag van de LDS-kerk.
• Alternatief: Gedoopt (op 8-jarige leeftijd of later) door het priesterschapsgezag van de LDS-kerk op 12 april 1904.
• Alternatief: Gedoopt (op 8-jarige leeftijd of later) door het priesterschapsgezag van de LDS-kerk op 30 november 1926.
• Alternatief: Gedoopt (op 8-jarige leeftijd of later) door het priesterschapsgezag van de LDS-kerk op 30 november 1926.
• Beroepen:
• in France.

  {geni:current} 0

• in France.

  {geni:current} 0

• Hij is overleden op 22 oktober 741 in Quierzy, Picardie, France, hij was toen 55 jaar oudQuierzy, Picardie.
• Hij is begraven op 22 oktober 741 in Monastery of St. Denis, Paris, Seine, France.

  {geni:event_description} Basiique.

• Een kind van Pépin ll "the Middle" d'Héristal en Alpaïde / Alpais / Chalpaida Aupais
• Deze gegevens zijn voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 5 maart 2012.

Gezin van Charles "Martel" (the Hammer) (Charles "Martel" (the Hammer)) "Charles Martel" de France

Hij is getrouwd met Rotrude de Trèves.

Zij zijn getrouwd rond 680 te France.

Kind(eren):

1. Pépin III "le Bref" Roi des Francs Roi des Francs  ± 714-768 
2. Carlomán des Francs  ± 716-953 
3. Bernard de Saint Quentin  ± 732-± 784 
4. Auda Caroling  ± 724-± 804 
5. Cunegonda  ± 740-± 785 
6. Hiltrud d'Austrasie  ± 716-± 754 

Notities over Charles "Martel" (the Hammer) (Charles "Martel" (the Hammer)) "Charles Martel" de France

==========

Charles Martel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the 13th century titular King of Hungary, see Charles Martel d'Anjou.

Charles Martel, Frankish Ruler
ca. 688 - October 22, 741

Charles Martel is primarily famous for his victory at the Battle of Tours, his stopping the Umayyad invasions of Europe during the Muslim Expansion Era, and his laying the foundation for the Carolingian Empire. (oil on canvas, painted by Charles de Steuben from 1834 till 1837)
Nickname "the Hammer"
Place of birth Herstal (Belgium)
[hide]
v • d • e

Campaigns of Charles Martel
Cologne – Amblève – Vincy – Soissons – Tours – Avignon – Narbonne – River Berre – Nîmes

Charles "The Hammer" Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus, English: Charles "the Hammer") (ca. 688 – 22 October 741) was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a titular King. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks (the last four years of his reign he did not even bother with the façade of a King) and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms. In 739 he was offered an office of Roman consul by the Pope, which he rejected [1] possibly not to conflict with Theodatus Ursus who already occupied the office by appointment of the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian. He expanded his rule over all three of the Frankish kingdoms: Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy. Martel was born in Herstal, in present-day Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida (or Chalpaida).[2] He was described by Louis Gustave and Charles Strauss in their book "Moslem and Frank; or, Charles Martel and the rescue of Europe" as a tall, powerfully built man, who was more agile than his size would lead men to believe.

He is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as an event that halted the Islamic expansionism in Europe that had conquered Iberia. "Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization."[3]

In addition to being the leader of the army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel was a truly giant figure of the Middle Ages. A brilliant general, he is considered the forefather of western heavy cavalry, chivalry, founder of the Carolingian Empire (which was named after him), and a catalyst for the feudal system, which would see Europe through the Middle Ages. Although some recent scholars have suggested he was more of a beneficiary of the feudal system than a knowing agent for social change, others continue to see him as the primary catalyst for the feudal system.[4]
Contents

[edit] Birth and Youth

The following tale is told of Charles, and the origins of his name: in 686, Pippin II and his wife Plectrude were talking together in a room when they were intruded upon by a messenger, bringing news that the Mayor's mistress, Alpaida, had given birth to a son at Herstal.The messenger, fearful of arousing the wrath of Plectrude, decided not to announce the news directly. Instead, he said: "Long live the king, it is a carl" ('man'). Pippin, equally cautious of his wife, dismissed the messenger as follows: "A carl, is it? Then let him be called that." This was done, and, so legend claims, the child was named "Carl". Alpaida also bore Pippin another son, Childebrand.

[edit] Contesting for power
The Frankish kingdoms at the time of the death of Pepin of Heristal. Note that Aquitaine (yellow) was outside of Arnulfing authority and Neustria and Burgundy (pink) were united in opposition to further Arnulfing dominance of the highest offices. Only Austrasia (green) supported an Arnulfing mayor, first Theudoald then Charles. Note that the German duchies to the east of the Rhine were de facto outside of Frankish suzerainty at this time.
The Frankish kingdoms at the time of the death of Pepin of Heristal. Note that Aquitaine (yellow) was outside of Arnulfing authority and Neustria and Burgundy (pink) were united in opposition to further Arnulfing dominance of the highest offices. Only Austrasia (green) supported an Arnulfing mayor, first Theudoald then Charles. Note that the German duchies to the east of the Rhine were de facto outside of Frankish suzerainty at this time.

In December 714, Pippin the Middle (Pippin II) died. Prior to his death, he had, at his wife Plectrude's urging, designated Theudoald, his grandson by their son Grimoald, his heir in the entire realm. This was immediately opposed by the nobles because Theudoald was a child of only eight years of age. To prevent Charles using this unrest to his own advantage, Plectrude had him gaoled (jailed) in Cologne, the city which was destined to be her capital. This prevented an uprising on his behalf in Austrasia, but not in Neustria.

[edit] Civil war of 715-718

In 715, the Neustrian noblesse proclaimed Ragenfrid mayor of their palace on behalf of, and apparently with the support of, Dagobert III, the young king, who in fact had the legal authority to select a mayor, though by this time the Merovingian dynasty had lost most such powers.

The Austrasians were not to be left supporting a woman and her young son for long. Before the end of the year, Charles Martel had escaped from prison and been acclaimed mayor by the nobles of that kingdom. The Neustrians had been attacking Austrasia and the nobles were waiting for a strong man to lead them against their invading countrymen. That year, Dagobert died and the Neustrians proclaimed Chilperic II king without the support of the rest of the Frankish people.

In 716, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia. The Neustrians allied with another invading force under Radbod, King of the Frisians and met Charles in battle near Cologne, which was still held by Plectrude. Charles had little time to gather men, or prepare, and the result was the only defeat. According to Strauss and Gustave, Martel fought a brilliant battle, but realized he could not prevail because he was outnumbered so badly, and retreated. In effect, he fled the field as soon as he realized he did not have the time or the men to prevail, retreating to the mountains of the Eifel to gather men, and train them. The king and his mayor then turned to besiege their other rival in the city and took it and the treasury, and received the recognition of both Chilperic as king and Ragenfrid as mayor. Plectrude surrendered on Theudoald's behalf.

[edit] Magnanimous in victory

At this juncture, however, events turned in favour of Charles. Having made the proper preparations, he fell upon the triumphant army near Malmedy as it was returning to its own province, and, in the ensuing Battle of Amblève, routed it and it fled. Several things were notable about this battle, in which Charles set the pattern for the remainder of his military career: First, he appeared where his enemies least expected him, while they were marching triumphantly home and far outnumbered him. He also attacked when least expected, at midday, when armies of that era traditionally were resting. Finally, he attacked them how they least expected it, by feigning a retreat to draw his opponents into a trap. The feigned retreat, next to unknown in Western Europe at that time—it was a traditionally eastern tactic—required both extraordinary discipline on the part of the troops and exact timing on the part of their commander. Charles, in this battle, had begun demonstrating the military genius that would mark his rule, in that he never attacked his enemies where, when, or how they expected, and the result was an unbroken victory streak that lasted until his death.

In Spring 717, Charles returned to Neustria with an army and confirmed his supremacy with a victory at the Battle of Vincy, near Cambrai. He chased the fleeing king and mayor to Paris, before turning back to deal with Plectrude and Cologne. He took her city and dispersed her adherents. However, he allowed both Plectrude and the young Theudoald to live and treated them with kindness—unusual for those Dark Ages, when mercy to a former jailer, or a potential rival, was rare. On this success, he proclaimed Clotaire IV king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic and deposed the archbishop of Rheims, Rigobert, replacing him with Milo, a lifelong supporter.

[edit] Consolidation of power

After subjugating all Austrasia, he marched against Radbod and pushed him back into his territory, even forcing the concession of West Frisia (later Holland). He also sent the Saxons back over the Weser and thus secured his borders—in the name of the new king Clotaire, of course. In 718, Chilperic responded to Charles' new ascendancy by making an alliance with Odo the Great (or Eudes, as he is sometimes known), the duke of Aquitaine, who had made himself independent during the civil war in 715, but was again defeated, at the Battle of Soissons, by Charles. The king fled with his ducal ally to the land south of the Loire and Ragenfrid fled to Angers. Soon Clotaire IV died and Odo gave up on Chilperic and, in exchange for recognising his dukeship, surrendered the king to Charles, who recognised his kingship over all the Franks in return for legitimate royal affirmation of his mayoralty, likewise over all the kingdoms (718).

[edit] Foreign wars from 718-732

The ensuing years were full of strife. Between 718 and 723, Charles secured his power through a series of victories: he won the loyalty of several important bishops and abbots (by donating lands and money for the foundation of abbeys such as Echternach), he subjugated Bavaria and Alemannia, and he defeated the pagan Saxons.

Having unified the Franks under his banner, Charles was determined to punish the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia. Therefore, late in 718, he laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser, the Lippe, and the Ruhr. He defeated them in the Teutoburg Forest. In 719, Charles seized West Frisia without any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, who had been subjects of the Franks but had seized control upon the death of Pippin. Although Charles did not trust the pagans, their ruler, Aldegisel, accepted Christianity, and Charles sent Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, the famous "Apostle to the Frisians" to convert the people. Charles also did much to support Winfrid, later Saint Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans."

When Chilperic II died the following year (720), Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Theuderic IV, who was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 to 737. Charles was now appointing the kings whom he supposedly served, rois fainéants who were mere puppets in his hands; by the end of his reign they were so useless that he didn't even bother appointing one. At this time, Charles again marched against the Saxons. Then the Neustrians rebelled under Ragenfrid, who had been left the county of Anjou. They were easily defeated (724), but Ragenfrid gave up his sons as hostages in turn for keeping his county. This ended the civil wars of Charles' reign.

The next six years were devoted in their entirety to assuring Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes. Between 720 and 723, Charles was fighting in Bavaria, where the Agilolfing dukes had gradually evolved into independent rulers, recently in alliance with Liutprand the Lombard. He forced the Alemanni to accompany him, and Duke Hugbert submitted to Frankish suzerainty. In 725 and 728, he again entered Bavaria and the ties of lordship seemed strong. From his first campaign, he brought back the Agilolfing princess Swanachild, who apparently became his concubine. In 730, he marched against Lantfrid, duke of Alemannia, who had also become independent, and killed him in battle. He forced the Alemanni capitulation to Frankish suzerainty and did not appoint a successor to Lantfrid. Thus, southern Germany once more became part of the Frankish kingdom, as had northern Germany during the first years of the reign.

But by 730, his own realm secure, Charles began to prepare exclusively for the coming storm from the south and west.

In 721, the emir of Córdoba had built up a strong army from Morocco, Yemen, and Syria to conquer Aquitaine, the large duchy in the southwest of Gaul, nominally under Frankish sovereignty, but in practice almost independent in the hands of the Odo the Great, the Duke of Aquitaine, since the Merovingian kings had lost power. The invading Muslims besieged the city of Toulouse, then Aquitaine's most important city, and Odo (also called Eudes, or Eudo) immediately left to find help. He returned three months later just before the city was about to surrender and defeated the Muslim invaders on June 9, 721, at what is now known as the Battle of Toulouse. This critical defeat was essentially the result of a classic enveloping movement by Odo's forces. (After Odo originally fled, the Muslims became overconfident and, instead of maintaining strong outer defenses around their siege camp and continuous scouting, they did neither.) Thus, when Odo returned, he was able to launch a near complete surprise attack on the besieging force, scattering it at the first attack, and slaughtering units caught resting or that fled without weapons or armour.

Due to the situation in Iberia, Martel believed he needed a virtually fulltime army --one he could train intensely-- as a core of veteran Franks who would be augmented with the usual conscripts called up in time of war. (During the Early Middle Ages, troops were only available after the crops had been planted and before harvesting time.) To train the kind of infantry that could withstand the Muslim heavy cavalry, Charles needed them year-round, and he needed to pay them so their families could buy the food they would have otherwise grown. To obtain money he seized church lands and property, and used the funds to pay his soldiers. The same Charles who had secured the support of the ecclesia by donating land, seized some of it back between 724 and 732. Of course, Church officials were enraged, and, for a time, it looked as though Charles might even be excommunicated for his actions. But then came a significant invasion.

[edit] Eve of Tours

Historian Paul K. Davis said in 100 Decisive Battles "Having defeated Eudes, he turned to the Rhine to strengthen his northeastern borders - but in 725 was diverted south with the activity of the Muslims in Acquitane." Martel then concentrated his attention to the Umayyads, virtually for the remainder of his life. [5] Indeed, 12 years later, when he had thrice rescued Gaul from Umayyad invasions, Antonio Santosuosso noted when he destroyed an Umayyad army sent to reinforce the invasion forces of the 735 campaigns, "Charles Martel again came to the rescue." .[6] It has been noted that Charles Martel could have pursued the wars against the Saxons—but he was determined to prepare for what he thought was a greater danger.

It is also vital to note that the Muslims were not aware, at that time, of the true strength of the Franks, or the fact that they were building a real army instead of the typical barbarian hordes that had infested Europe after Rome's fall. They considered the Germanic tribes, including the Franks, simply barbarians and were not particularly concerned about them. The Arab Chronicles, the history of that age, show that Arab awareness of the Franks as a growing military power came only after the Battle of Tours when the Caliph expressed shock at his army's catastrophic defeat. Further, the Muslims had not bothered to scout their potential foes. If they had, they surely would have noted Charles Martel as the head of a formidable military force. Martel's thorough domination of Europe from 717 on, and his sound defeat of all powers who contested his dominion, should have alerted the Moors that a gifted general with a well-trained army had risen from the ashes of the Western Roman Empire. As a result, when they launched their great invasion of 732, they were not prepared to confront Martel and his Frankish army.

This, in retrospect, was a disastrous mistake. The Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi was a good general but neglected to do two important things: he failed to assess the strength of the Franks in advance of invasion, assuming that they would not come to the aid of their Aquitanian cousins; and he failed to scout the movements of the Frankish army and Charles Martel. Had he done either, he might have curtailed his lighthorse ravaging throughout lower Gaul and marched at once, with his full power, against the Franks. This strategy would have nullified every advantage Charles had at Tours, as the invaders would have not been burdened with booty that played such a huge role in the battle. They would not have lost a single warrior in the battles they fought prior to Tours. (Although they lost relatively few men in subduing Aquitane, the casualties they did suffer may have been significant at Tours).

Finally, the Moors would have bypassed weaker opponents such as Odo, whom they could have picked off at will later, while moving at once to force battle with the real power in Europe, and at least partially picked the battlefield. While some military historians point out that leaving enemies in your rear is generally unwise, the Mongols proved that indirect attack and bypassing weaker foes to eliminate the strongest first is a devastatingly effective mode of invasion. In this case, those enemies posed virtually no danger, given the ease with which the Muslims destroyed them. The real danger was Charles, and the failure to scout Europe adequately proved disastrous. Had Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi realized how thoroughly Martel had dominated Europe for 15 years, and how gifted a commander Charles was, Al Ghafiqi might not have allowed Martel to select the time and place the two powers would collide, which historians agree was pivotal to Martel's victory.

[edit] Battle of Tours

Main article Battle of Tours.

[edit] Leadup and importance

"It was under one of their ablest and most renowned commanders, with a veteran army, and with every apparent advantage of time, place, and circumstance, that the Arabs made their great effort at the conquest of Europe north of the Pyrenees."[7]
—Edward Shepherd Creasy, The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World

The Cordoban emirate had previously invaded Gaul and had been stopped in its northward sweep at the Battle of Toulouse, in 721. The hero of that less celebrated event had been Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine, who was not the progenitor of a race of kings and patron of chroniclers. It has previously been explained how Odo defeated the invading Muslims, but when they returned, things were far different. The arrival in the interim of a new emir of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who brought with him a huge force of Arabs and Berber horsemen, triggered a far greater invasion. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had been at Toulouse, and the Arab Chronicles make clear he had strongly opposed the Emir's decision not to secure outer defenses against a relief force, which allowed Odo and his relief force to attack with impunity before the Islamic cavalry could assemble or mount. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had no intention of permitting such a disaster again. This time the Umayyad horsemen were ready for battle, and the results were horrific for the Aquitanians. Odo, hero of Toulouse, was badly defeated in the Muslim invasion of 732 at the battle prior to the Muslim sacking of Bordeaux, and when he gathered a second army, at the Battle of the River Garonne—where the western chroniclers state, "God alone knows the number of the slain"— and the city of Bordeaux was sacked and looted. Odo fled to Charles, seeking help. Charles agreed to come to Odo's rescue, provided Odo acknowledged Charles and his house as his Overlords, which Odo did formally at once. Thus, Odo faded into history while Charles marched into it. It is interesting to note that Charles was pragmatic; while most commanders would never use their enemies in battle, Odo and his remaining Aquitanian nobles formed the right flank of Charles' forces at Tours.

The Battle of Tours earned Charles the cognomen "Martel", for the merciless way he hammered his enemies. Many historians, including the great military historian Sir Edward Creasy, believe that had he failed at Tours, Islam would probably have overrun Gaul, and perhaps the remainder of western Christian Europe. Gibbon made clear his belief that the Umayyad armies would have conquered from Rome to the Rhine, and even England, with ease, had Martel not prevailed. Creasy said "the great victory won by Charles Martel ... gave a decisive check to the career of Arab conquest in Western Europe, rescued Christendom from Islam, [and] preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilization." Gibbon's belief that the fate of Christianity hinged on this battle is echoed by other historians including John B. Bury, and was very popular for most of modern historiography. It fell somewhat out of style in the twentieth century, when historians such as Bernard Lewis contended that Arabs had little intention of occupying northern France. More recently, however, many historians have tended once again to view the Battle of Tours as a very significant event in the history of Europe and Christianity. Equally, many, such as William Watson, still believe this battle was one of macrohistorical world-changing importance, if they do not go so far as Gibbon does rhetorically.

In the modern era, Matthew Bennett and his co-authors of "Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World", published in 2005, argue that "few battles are remembered 1,000 years after they are fought...but the Battle of Poitiers, (Tours) is an exception...Charles Martel turned back a Muslim raid that had it been allowed to continue, might have conquered Gaul." Michael Grant, author of "History of Rome", grants the Battle of Tours such importance that he lists it in the macrohistorical dates of the Roman era.

It is important to note however that modern western historians, military historians, and writers, essentially fall into three camps. The first, those who believe Gibbon was right in his assessment that Martel saved Christianity and western civilization by this Battle are typified by Bennett, Paul Davis, Robert Martin, and educationalist Dexter B. Wakefield who writes in An Islamic Europe
“ A Muslim France? Historically, it nearly happened. But as a result of Martel’s fierce opposition, which ended Muslim advances and set the stage for centuries of war thereafter, Islam moved no farther into Europe. European schoolchildren learn about the Battle of Tours in much the same way that American students learn about Valley Forge and Gettysburg."[8] ”

The second camp of contemporary historians believe that a failure by Martel at Tours could have been a disaster, destroying what would become western civilization after the Renaissance. Certainly all historians agree that no power would have remained in Europe able to halt Islamic expansion had the Franks failed. William E. Watson, one of the most respected historians of this era, strongly supports Tours as a macrohistorical event, but distances himself from the rhetoric of Gibbon and Drubeck, writing, for example, of the battle's importance in Frankish, and world, history in 1993:
“ There is clearly some justification for ranking Tours-Poitiers among the most significant events in Frankish history when one considers the result of the battle in light of the remarkable record of the successful establishment by Muslims of Islamic political and cultural dominance along the entire eastern and southern rim of the former Christian, Roman world. The rapid Muslim conquest of Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the North African coast all the way to Morocco in the seventh century resulted in the permanent imposition by force of Islamic culture onto a previously Christian and largely non-Arab base. The Visigothic kingdom fell to Muslim conquerors in a single battle on the Rio Barbate in 711, and the Hispanic Christian population took seven long centuries to regain control of the Iberian Peninsula. The Reconquista, of course, was completed in 1492, only months before Columbus received official backing for his fateful voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Had Charles Martel suffered at Tours-Poitiers the fate of King Roderick at the Rio Barbate, it is doubtful that a "do-nothing" sovereign of the Merovingian realm could have later succeeded where his talented major domus had failed. Indeed, as Charles was the progenitor of the Carolingian line of Frankish rulers and grandfather of Charlemagne, one can even say with a degree of certainty that the subsequent history of the West would have proceeded along vastly different currents had ‘Abd ar-Rahman been victorious at Tours-Poitiers in 732.[9] ”

The final camp of western historians believe that Tours was vastly overrated. This view is typified by Alessandro Barbero, who writes, "Today, historians tend to play down the significance of the battle of Poitiers, pointing out that the purpose of the Arab force defeated by Charles Martel was not to conquer the Frankish kingdom, but simply to pillage the wealthy monastery of St-Martin of Tours".[10] Similarly, Tomaž Mastnak writes:
“ Modern historians have constructed a myth presenting this victory as having saved Christian Europe from the Muslims. Edward Gibbon, for example, called Charles Martel the savior of Christendom and the battle near Poitiers an encounter that changed the history of the world... This myth has survived well into our own times... Contemporaries of the battle, however, did not overstate its significance. The continuators of Fredegar's chronicle, who probably wrote in the mid-eighth century, pictured the battle as just one of many military encounters between Christians and Saracens - moreover, as only one in a series of wars fought by Frankish princes for booty and territory... One of Fredegar's continuators presented the battle of Poitiers as what it really was: an episode in the struggle between Christian princes as the Carolingians strove to bring Aquitaine under their rule.[11] ”

However, it is vital to note, when assessing Charles Martel's life, that even those historians who dispute the significance of this one Battle as the event that saved Christianity, do not dispute that Martel himself had a huge effect on western history. Modern military historian Victor Davis Hanson acknowledges the debate on this battle, citing historians both for and against its macrohistorical placement:
“ Recent scholars have suggested Poitiers, so poorly recorded in contemporary sources, was a mere raid and thus a construct of western mythmaking or that a Muslim victory might have been preferable to continued Frankish dominance. What is clear is that Poitiers marked a general continuance of the successful defense of Europe, (from the Muslims). Flush from the victory at Tours, Charles Martel went on to clear southern France from Islamic attackers for decades, unify the warring kingdoms into the foundations of the Carolingian Empire, and ensure ready and reliable troops from local estates.".[12] ”

[edit] Battle

The Battle of Tours probably took place somewhere between Tours and Poitiers (hence its other name: Battle of Poitiers). The Frankish army, under Charles Martel, consisted mostly of veteran infantry, somewhere between 15,000 and 75,000 men. While Charles had some cavalry, they did not have stirrups, so he had them dismount and reinforce his phalanx. Odo and his Aquitanian nobility were also normally cavalry, but they also dismounted at the Battle's onset, to buttress the phalanx. Responding to the Umayyad invasion, the Franks had avoided the old Roman roads, hoping to take the invaders by surprise. Martel believed it was absolutely essential that he not only take the Umayyads by surprise, but that he be allowed to select the ground on which the battle would be fought, ideally a high, wooded plain where the Islamic horsemen, already tired from carrying armour, would be further exhausted charging uphill. Further, the woods would aid the Franks in their defensive square by partially impeding the ability of the Umayyad horsemen to make a clear charge.

From the Muslim accounts of the battle, they were indeed taken by surprise to find a large force opposing their expected sack of Tours, and they waited for six days, scouting the enemy and summoning all their raiding parties so their full strength was present for the battle. Emir Abdul Rahman was an able general who did not like the unknown at all, and he did not like charging uphill against an unknown number of foes who seemed well-disciplined and well-disposed for battle. But the weather was also a factor. The Germanic Franks, in their wolf and bear pelts, were more used to the cold, better dressed for it, and despite not having tents, which the Muslims did, were prepared to wait as long as needed, the autumn only growing colder.

On the seventh day, the Umayyad army, mostly Berber and Arab horsemen and led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, attacked. During the battle, the Franks defeated the Islamic army and the emir was killed. While Western accounts are sketchy, Arab accounts are fairly detailed in describing how the Franks formed a large square and fought a brilliant defensive battle. Rahman had doubts before the battle that his men were ready for such a struggle, and should have had them abandon the loot which hindered them, but instead decided to trust his horsemen, who had never failed him. Indeed, it was thought impossible for infantry of that age to withstand armoured cavalry.

Martel managed to inspire his men to stand firm against a force which must have seemed invincible to them, huge mailed horsemen, who, in addition, probably vastly outnumbered the Franks. In one of the rare instances where medieval infantry stood up against cavalry charges, the disciplined Frankish soldiers withstood the assaults even though, according to Arab sources, the Umayyad cavalry several times broke into the interior of the Frankish square. The scene is described in Bishop Isidore of Beja's Chronicle (translated passage from Fordham University's Internet Medieval Source Book):

"And in the shock of the battle the men of the North seemed like a sea that cannot be moved. Firmly they stood, one close to another, forming as it were a bulwark of ice; and with great blows of their swords they hewed down the Arabs. Drawn up in a band around their chief, the people of the Austrasians carried all before them. Their tireless hands drove their swords down to the breasts of the foe."

Both accounts agree that the Umayyad forces had broken into the square and were trying to kill Martel, whose liege men had surrounded him and would not be broken, when a trick Charles had planned before the battle bore fruit beyond his wildest dreams. Both Western and Muslim accounts of the battle agree that sometime during the height of the fighting, with the battle still in grave doubt, scouts sent by Martel to the Muslim camp began freeing prisoners. Fearing loss of their plunder, a large portion of the Muslim army abandoned the battle and returned to camp to protect their spoils. In attempting to stop what appeared to be a retreat, Abdul Rahman was surrounded and killed by the Franks, and what started as a ruse ended up a real retreat, as the Umayyad army fled the field that day. The Franks resumed their phalanx, and rested in place through the night, believing the battle would resume at dawn of the following morning.

The next day, when the Umayyad army did not renew the battle, the Franks feared an ambush. Charles at first believed the Muslims were attempting to lure him down the hill and into the open, a tactic he would resist at all costs. Only after extensive reconnaissance by Frankish soldiers of the Umayyad camp—which by both accounts had been so hastily abandoned that even the tents remained, as the Umayyad forces headed back to Iberia with what spoils remained that they could carry—was it discovered that the Muslims had retreated during the night. As the Arab Chronicles would later reveal, the generals from the different parts of the Caliphate, Berbers, Arabs, Persians and many more, had been unable to agree on a leader to take Abd er Rahman's place as Emir, or even to agree on a commander to lead them the following day. Only the Emir, Abd er Rahman, had a Fatwa from the Caliph, and thus absolute authority over the faithful under arms. With his death, and with the varied nationalities and ethnicities present in an army drawn from all over the Caliphate, politics, racial and ethnic bias, and personalities reared their head. The inability of the bickering generals to select anyone to lead resulted in the wholesale withdrawal of an army that might have been able to resume the battle and defeat the Franks.

Martel's ability to have Abd er Rahman killed through a clever ruse he had carefully planned to cause confusion, at the battle's apex, and his years spent rigorously training his men, combined to do what was thought impossible: Martel's Franks, virtually all heavy infantry, withstood both mailed heavy cavalry with 20 foot lances, and bow-wielding light cavalry, without the aid of bows or firearms.[13] This was a feat of war almost unheard of in medieval history, a feat which even the heavily armored Roman legions proved themselves incapable of against the Parthians,[14] and left Martel a unique place in history as the savior of Europe[15] and a brilliant general in an age not known for its generalship.

[edit] After Tours

In the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Frisians and Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne, primarily because Martel concentrated the bulk of his efforts against Muslim expansion.

So instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he continued expanding Frankish authority in the west, and denying the Emirate of Córdoba a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus. After his victory at Tours, Martel continued on in campaigns in 736 and 737 to drive other Muslim armies from bases in Gaul after they again attempted to get a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus.

[edit] Wars from 732-737

Between his victory of 732 and 735, Charles reorganized the kingdom of Burgundy, replacing the counts and dukes with his loyal supporters, thus strengthening his hold on power. He was forced, by the ventures of Radbod, duke of the Frisians (719-734), son of the Duke Aldegisel who had accepted the missionaries Willibrord and Boniface, to invade independence-minded Frisia again in 734. In that year, he slew the duke, who had expelled the Christian missionaries, in the battle of the Boarn and so wholly subjugated the populace (he destroyed every pagan shrine) that the people were peaceful for twenty years after.

The dynamic changed in 735 because of the death of Odo the Great, who had been forced to acknowledge, albeit reservedly, the suzerainty of Charles in 719. Though Charles wished to unite the duchy directly to himself and went there to elicit the proper homage of the Aquitainians, the nobility proclaimed Odo's son, Hunold, whose dukeship Charles recognised when the Umayyads invaded Provence the next year, and who equally was forced to acknowledge Charles as overlord as he had no hope of holding off the Muslims alone.

This naval Arab invasion was headed by Abdul Rahman's son. It landed in Narbonne in 736 and moved at once to reinforce Arles and move inland. Charles temporarily put the conflict with Hunold on hold, and descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Umayyads. In 736, he retook Montfrin and Avignon, and Arles and Aix-en-Provence with the help of Liutprand, King of the Lombards. Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, held by Islam since 725, fell to him and their fortresses were destroyed. He crushed one Umayyad army at Arles, as that force sallied out of the city, and then took the city itself by a direct and brutal frontal attack, and burned it to the ground to prevent its use again as a stronghold for Umayyad expansion. He then moved swiftly and defeated a mighty host outside of Narbonnea at the River Berre, but failed to take the city. Military historians believe he could have taken it, had he chosen to tie up all his resources to do so—but he believed his life was coming to a close, and he had much work to do to prepare for his sons to take control of the Frankish realm. A direct frontal assault, such as took Arles, using rope ladders and rams, plus a few catapults, simply was not sufficient to take Narbonne without horrific loss of life for the Franks, troops Martel felt he could not lose. Nor could he spare years to starve the city into submission, years he needed to set up the administration of an empire his heirs would reign over. He left Narbonne therefore, isolated and surrounded, and his son would return to liberate it for Christianity. Provence, however, he successfully rid of its foreign occupiers, and crushed all foreign armies able to advance Islam further.

Notable about these campaigns was Charles' incorporation, for the first time, of heavy cavalry with stirrups to augment his phalanx. His ability to coordinate infantry and cavalry veterans was unequaled in that era and enabled him to face superior numbers of invaders, and to decisively defeat them again and again. Some historians believe the Battle against the main Muslim force at the River Berre, near Narbonne, in particular was as important a victory for Christian Europe as Tours. In Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels, Antonio Santosuosso, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Western Ontario, and considered an expert historian in the era in dispute, puts forth an interesting modern opinion on Martel, Tours, and the subsequent campaigns against Rahman's son in 736-737. Santosuosso presents a compelling case that these later defeats of invading Muslim armies were at least as important as Tours in their defence of Western Christendom and the preservation of Western monasticism, the monasteries of which were the centers of learning which ultimately led Europe out of her Middle Ages. He also makes a compelling argument, after studying the Arab histories of the period, that these were clearly armies of invasion, sent by the Caliph not just to avenge Tours, but to begin the conquest of Christian Europe and bring it into the Caliphate.

Further, unlike his father at Tours, Rahman's son in 736-737 knew that the Franks were a real power, and that Martel personally was a force to be reckoned with. He had no intention of allowing Martel to catch him unawares and dictate the time and place of battle, as his father had, and concentrated instead on seizing a substantial portion of the coastal plains around Narbonne in 736 and heavily reinforced Arles as he advanced inland. They planned from there to move from city to city, fortifying as they went, and if Martel wished to stop them from making a permanent enclave for expansion of the Caliphate, he would have to come to them, in the open, where, he, unlike his father, would dictate the place of battle. All worked as he had planned, until Martel arrived, albeit more swiftly than the Moors believed he could call up his entire army. Unfortunately for Rahman's son, however, he had overestimated the time it would take Martel to develop heavy cavalry equal to that of the Muslims. The Caliphate believed it would take a generation, but Martel managed it in five short years. Prepared to face the Frankish phalanx, the Muslims were totally unprepared to face a mixed force of heavy cavalry and infantry in a phalanx. Thus, Charles again championed Christianity and halted Muslim expansion into Europe, as the window was closing on Islamic ability to do so. These defeats, plus those at the hands of Leo in Anatolia were the last great attempt at expansion by the Umayyad Caliphate before the destruction of the dynasty at the Battle of the Zab, and the rending of the Caliphate forever, especially the utter destruction of the Umayyad army at River Berre near Narbonne in 737.

[edit] Interregnum

In 737, at the tail end of his campaigning in Provence and Septimania, the king, Theuderic IV, died. Martel, titling himself maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum, did not appoint a new king and nobody acclaimed one. The throne lay vacant until Martel's death. As the historian Charles Oman says (The Dark Ages, pg 297), "he cared not for name or style so long as the real power was in his hands."

Gibbon has said Martel was "content with the titles of Mayor or Duke of the Franks, but he deserved to become the father of a line of kings," which he did. Gibbon also says of him, "in the public danger, he was summoned by the voice of his country."

The interregnum, the final four years of Charles' life, was more peaceful than most of it had been and much of his time was now spent on administrative and organisational plans to create a more efficient state. Though, in 738, he compelled the Saxons of Westphalia to do him homage and pay tribute, and in 739 checked an uprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus. Charles set about integrating the outlying realms of his empire into the Frankish church. He erected four dioceses in Bavaria (Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau) and gave them Boniface as archbishop and metropolitan over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at Mainz. Boniface had been under his protection from 723 on; indeed the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. It was Boniface who had defended Charles most stoutly for his deeds in seizing ecclesiastical lands to pay his army in the days leading to Tours, as one doing what he must to defend Christianity. In 739, Pope Gregory III begged Charles for his aid against Liutprand, but Charles was loathe to fight his onetime ally and ignored the Papal plea. Nonetheless, the Papal applications for Frankish protection showed how far Martel had come from the days he was tottering on excommunication, and set the stage for his son and grandson literally to rearrange Italy to suit the Papacy, and protect it.

[edit] Death
Tomb of Charles Martel, Basilique Saint-Denis.
Tomb of Charles Martel, Basilique Saint-Denis.

Charles Martel died on October 22, 741, at Quierzy-sur-Oise in what is today the Aisne département in the Picardy region of France. He was buried at Saint Denis Basilica in Paris. His territories were divided among his adult sons a year earlier: to Carloman he gave Austrasia and Alemannia (with Bavaria as a vassal), to Pippin the Younger Neustria and Burgundy (with Aquitaine as a vassal), and to Grifo nothing, though some sources indicate he intended to give him a strip of land between Neustria and Austrasia.

Gibbon called him "the hero of the age" and declared "Christendom ... delivered ... by the genius and good fortune of one man, Charles Martel." A strong argument can be made that Gibbon was correct on both counts.

[edit] Legacy

At the beginning of Charles Martel's career, he had many internal opponents and felt the need to appoint his own kingly claimant, Clotaire IV. By his end, however, the dynamics of rulership in Francia had changed, no hallowed Meroving was needed, neither for defence nor legitimacy: Charles divided his realm between his sons without opposition (though he ignored his young son Bernard). In between, he strengthened the Frankish state by consistently defeating, through superior generalship, the host of hostile foreign nations which beset it on all sides, including the heathen Saxons, which his grandson Charlemagne would fully subdue, and Moors, which he halted on a path of continental domination.

Though he never cared about titles, his son Pippin did, and finally asked the Pope "who should be King, he who has the title, or he who has the power?" The Pope, highly dependent on Frankish armies for his independence from Lombard and Byzantine power (the Byzantine emperor still considered himself to be the only legitimate "Roman Emperor", and thus, ruler of all of the provinces of the ancient empire, whether recognised or not), declared for "he who had the power" and immediately crowned Pippin.

Decades later, in 800, Pippin's son Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the Pope, further extending the principle by delegitimising the nominal authority of the Byzantine emperor in the Italian peninsula (which had, by then, shrunk to encompass little more than Apulia and Calabria at best) and ancient Roman Gaul, including the Iberian outposts Charlemagne had established in the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees, what today forms Catalonia. In short, though the Byzantine Emperor claimed authority over all the old Roman Empire, as the legitimate "Roman" Emperor, it was simply not reality. The bulk of the Western Roman Empire had come under Carolingian rule, the Byzantine Emperor having had almost no authority in the West since the sixth century, though Charlemagne, a consummate politician, preferred to avoid an open breach with Constantinople. An institution unique in history was being born: the Holy Roman Empire. Though the sardonic Voltaire ridiculed its nomenclature, saying that the Holy Roman Empire was "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire," it constituted an enormous political power for a time, especially under the Saxon and Salian dynasties and, to a lesser, extent, the Hohenstaufen. It lasted until 1806, by then it was a nonentity. Though his grandson became its first emperor, the "empire" such as it was, was largely born during the reign of Charles Martel.

Charles was that rarest of commodities in the Middle Ages: a brilliant strategic general, who also was a tactical commander par excellence, able in the heat of battle to adapt his plans to his foe's forces and movement — and amazingly, to defeat them repeatedly, especially when, as at Tours, they were far superior in men and weaponry, and at Berre and Narbonne, when they were superior in numbers of brave fighting men. Charles had the last quality which defines genuine greatness in a military commander: he foresaw the dangers of his foes, and prepared for them with care; he used ground, time, place, and fierce loyalty of his troops to offset his foe's superior weaponry and tactics; third, he adapted, again and again, to the enemy on the battlefield, cooly shifting to compensate for the unforeseen and unforeseeable.

Gibbon, whose tribute to Martel has been noted, was not alone among the great mid era historians in fervently praising Martel; Thomas Arnold ranks the victory of Charles Martel even higher than the victory of Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in its impact on all of modern history:

"Charles Martel's victory at Tours was among those signal deliverances which have affected for centuries the happiness of mankind." [History of the later Roman Commonwealth, vol ii. p. 317.]

German historians are especially ardent in their praise of Martel and in their belief that he saved Europe and Christianity from then all-conquering Islam, praising him also for driving back the ferocious Saxon barbarians on his borders. Schlegel speaks of this " mighty victory " in terms of fervent gratitude, and tells how " the arm of Charles Martel saved and delivered the Christian nations of the West from the deadly grasp of all-destroying Islam", and Ranke points out,

"as one of the most important epochs in the history of the world, the commencement of the eighth century, when on the one side Mohammedanism threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other the ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their champion, maintained them with all the energy which the necessity for self-defence calls forth, and finally extended them into new regions."

In 1922 and 1923, Belgian historian Henri Pirenne published a series of papers, known collectively as the "Pirenne Thesis", which remain influential to this day. Pirenne held that the Roman Empire continued, in the Frankish realms, up until the time of the Arab conquests in the 7th century. These conquests disrupted Mediterranean trade routes leading to a decline in the European economy. Such continued disruption would have meant complete disaster except for Charles Martel's halting of Islamic expansion into Europe from 732 on. What he managed to preserve led to the Carolingian Renaissance, named after him.

Professor Santosuosso [6] perhaps sums up Martel best when he talks about his coming to the rescue of his Christian allies in Provence, and driving the Muslims back into the Iberian Peninsula forever in the mid and late 730's::

"After assembling forces at Saragossa the Muslims entered French territory in 735, crossed the River Rhone and captured and looted Arles. From there they struck into the heart of Provence, ending with the capture of Avignon, despite strong resistance. Islamic forces remained in French territory for about four years, carrying raids to Lyon, Burgundy, and Piedmont. Again Charles Martel came to the rescue, reconquering most of the lost territories in two campaigns in 736 and 739, except for the city of Narbonne, which finally fell in 759. The second (Muslim) expedition was probably more dangerous than the first to Poiters. Yet its failure (at Martel's hands) put an end to any serious Muslim expedition across the Pyrenees (forever)."

In the Netherlands, a vital part of the Carolingian Empire, and in the low countries, he is considered a hero. In France and Germany, he is revered as a hero of epic proportions.

Skilled as an administrator and ruler, Martel organized what would become the medieval European government: a system of fiefdoms, loyal to barons, counts, dukes and ultimately the King, or in his case, simply maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum. ("First or Dominant Mayor and Prince of the Franks") His close coordination of church with state began the medieval pattern for such government. He created what would become the first western standing army since the fall of Rome by his maintaining a core of loyal veterans around which he organized the normal feudal levies. In essence, he changed Europe from a horde of barbarians fighting with one another, to an organized state.

[edit] Beginning of the Reconquista

Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of Septimania and across the Pyrenees, Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil turned the tide of Islamic advances, and the unification of the Frankish kingdoms under Martel, his son Pippin the Younger, and his grandson Charlemagne created a western power which prevented the Emirate of Córdoba from expanding over the Pyrenees. Martel, who in 732 was on the verge of excommunication, instead was recognised by the Church as its paramount defender. Pope Gregory II wrote him more than once, asking his protection and aid,[16] and he remained, till his death, fixated on stopping the Muslims. Martel's son Pippin the Younger kept his father's promise and returned and took Narbonne by siege in 759, and his grandson, Charlemagne, actually established the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia, reconquering Girona in 785 and Barcelona in 801. This sector of what is now Spain was then called "The Moorish Marches" by the Carolingians, who saw it as not just a check on the Muslims in Hispania, but the beginning of taking the entire country back. This formed a permanent buffer zone against Islam, which became the basis, along with the King of Asturias, named Pelayo (718-737, who started his fight against the Moors in the mountains of Covadonga, 722) and his descendants, for the Reconquista until all of the Muslims were eradicated from the Iberian Peninsula.

[edit] Military legacy

[edit] Heavy infantry and permanent army

Victor Davis Hanson argues that Charles Martel launched "the thousand year struggle" between European heavy infantry, and Muslim cavalry. [17] Of course, Martel is also the father of heavy cavalry in Europe, as he integrated heavy armoured cavalry into his forces. This creation of a real army would continue all through his reign, and that of his son, Pepin the Short, until his Grandson, Charlemagne, would possess the world's largest and finest army since the peak of Rome.[18] Equally, the Muslims used infantry - indeed, at the Battle of Toulouse most of their forces were light infantry. It was not till Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi brought a huge force of Arab and Berber cavalry with him when he assumed the emirite of Al-Andulus that the Muslim forces became primarily cavalry.

Martel's army was known primarily for being the first standing permanent army since Rome's fall in 476, and for the core of tough, seasoned heavy infantry who stood so stoutly at Tours. The Frankish infantry wore as much as 70 pounds of armour, including their heavy wooden shields with an iron boss. Standing close together, and well disciplined, they were unbreakable at Tours.[19] Martel had taken the money and property he had seized from the church and paid local nobles to supply trained ready infantry year round. This was the core of veterans who served with him on a permanent basis, and as Hanson says, "provided a steady supply of dependable troops year around." This was the first permanent army since Rome. "[18] While other Germanic cultures, such as the Visigoths or Vandals, had a proud martial tradition, and the Franks themselves had an annual muster of military aged men, such tribes were only able to field armies around planting and harvest. It was Martel's creation of a system whereby he could call on troops year round that gave the Carolingians the first standing and permanent army since Rome's fall in the west.

And, first and foremost, Charles Martel will always be remembered for his victory at Tours. Creasy argues that the Martel victory "preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilizations." Gibbon called those eight days in 732, the week leading up to Tours, and the battle itself, "the events that rescued our ancestors of Britain, and our neighbors of Gaul [France], from the civil and religious yoke of the Koran." Paul Akers, in his editorial on Charles Martel, says for those who value Christianity "you might spare a minute sometime today, and every October, to say a silent 'thank you' to a gang of half-savage Germans and especially to their leader, Charles 'The Hammer' Martel." [20]

In his vision of what would be necessary for him to withstand a larger force and superior technology (the Muslim horsemen had adopted the armour and accutraments of heavy cavalry from the Sassanid Warrior Class, which made the first knights possible), he, daring not to send his few horsemen against the Islamic cavalry, used his army to fight in a formation used by the ancient Greeks to withstand superior numbers and weapons by discipline, courage, and a willingness to die for their cause: a phalanx. He had trained a core of his men year round, using mostly Church funds, and some had literally been with him since his earliest days after his father's death. It was this hard core of disciplined veterans that won the day for him at Tours. Hanson emphasizes that Martel's greatest accomplishment as a General may have been his ability to keep his troops under control. This absolute iron discipline saved his infantry from the fate of so many infantrymen - such as the Saxons at Hastings - who broke formation and were slaughtered piecemeal. After using this infantry force by itself at Tours, he studied the foe's forces and further adapted to them, initially using stirrups and saddles recovered from the foe's dead horses, and armour from the dead horsemen.

[edit] Development of heavy cavalry

After 732, he began the integration into his army of heavy cavalry, using the armour and accoutrements of heavy armoured horsemen, training his infantry to fight in conjunction with cavalry, a tactic which stood him in good stead during his campaigns of 736-7, especially at the Battle of Narbonne. His incorporation of heavy armoured cavalry into the western forces created the first "knights" in the west.

[edit] Brilliant generalship

Martel earned his reputation for brilliant generalship, in an age generally bereft of same, by his ability to use what he had and by integrating new ideas and technology. As a consequence, he was undefeated from 716 to his death against a wide range of opponents, including the Muslim cavalry (at that time, the world's best) and the fierce barbarian Saxons on his own borders -- and all this in spite of virtually always being outnumbered. He was the only general in the Middle Ages in Europe to use the eastern battle technique of feigned retreat. His ability to attack where he was least expected and when he was least expected was legendary. The process of the development of the famous chivalry of France continued in the Edict of Pistres of his great-great-grandson and namesake Charles the Bald.

The defeats Martel inflicted on the Muslims were vital in that the split in the Islamic world left the Caliphate unable to mount an all out attack on Europe via its Iberian stronghold after 750. His ability to meet this challenge, until the Muslims self-destructed, is considered by most historians to be of macrohistorical importance, and is why Dante writes of him in Heaven as one of the "Defenders of the Faith." After 750, the door to western Europe, the Iberian emirate, was in the hands of the Umayyads, while most of the remainder of the Muslim world came under the control of the Abbasids, making an invasion of Europe a logistical impossibility while the two Muslim empires battled. This put off Islamic invasion of Europe until the Turkish conquest of the Balkans half a millennium later.

H. G. Wells says of Charles Martel's decisive defeat of the Muslims in his "Short History of the World:

"The Moslim when they crossed the Pyrenees in 720 found this Frankish kingdom under the practical rule of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace of a degenerate descendant of Clovis, and experienced the decisive defeat of Poitiers (732) at his hands. This Charles Martel was practically overlord of Europe north of the Alps from the Pyrenees to Hungary."[21]

John H. Haaren says in “Famous Men of the Middle Ages”

”The battle of Tours, or Poitiers, as it should be called, is regarded as one of the decisive battles of the world. It decided that Christians, and not Moslems, should be the ruling power in Europe. Charles Martel is especially celebrated as the hero of this battle.”

Just as his grandson, Charlemagne, would become famous for his swift and unexpected movements in his campaigns, Charles was legendary for never doing what his enemies forecast he would do. It was this ability to do the unforeseen, and move far faster than his opponents believed he could, that characterized the military career of Charles Martel.

It is notable that the Northmen did not begin their European raids until after the death of Martel's grandson, Charlemagne. They had the naval capacity to begin those raids at least three generations earlier, but chose not to challenge Martel, his son Pippin, or his grandson, Charlemagne. This was probably fortunate for Martel, who despite his enormous gifts, would probably not have been able to beat off the Vikings in addition to the Muslims, Saxons, and everyone else he defeated. However, it is notable that again, despite the ability to do so, (the Danes had constructed defenses to defend from counterattacks by land, and had the ability to launch their wholesale sea raids as early as Martel's reign), they chose not to challenge Charles Martel.

[edit] Conclusion

J.M. Roberts says of Charles Martel in his note on the Carolingians on page 315 of his 1993 History of the World:

It (the Carolingian line) produced Charles Martel, the soldier who turned the Arabs back at Tours, and the supporter of Saint Boniface, the Evangelizer of Germany. This is a considerable double mark to have left on the history of Europe."

Gibbon perhaps summarized Charles Martel's legacy most eloquently: "in a laborious administration of 24 years he had restored and supported the dignity of the throne..by the activity of a warrior who in the same campaign could display his banner on the Elbe, the Rhone, and shores of the ocean."

[edit] Family and children

Charles Martel married twice:

His first wife was Rotrude of Treves, (690-724) (daughter of St. Leutwinus, Bishop of Treves). They had the following children:

* Hiltrud (d. 754), married Odilo I, Duke of Bavaria
* Carloman
* Landrade (Landres), married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania
* Auda, Aldana, or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse
* Pippin the Short

His second wife was Swanhild. They had the following child:

* Grifo

Charles Martel also had a mistress, Ruodhaid. They had the following children:

* Bernard (b. before 732-787)
* Hieronymus
* Remigius, archbishop of Rouen (d. 771)
* Ian (d. 783)

[edit] Ancestors


Charles Martel
Carolingian Dynasty
Born: 686 Died: 741
Preceded by
Pepin II the Middle Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
714–741 Succeeded by
Carloman
Preceded by
Ragenfrid Mayor of the Palace of Neustria
717–741 Succeeded by
Pepin the Short

[edit] Notes

1. ^ e. the Fat so. 2001. The Encyclopedia of World History
2. ^ "Charles Martel". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.
3. ^ Battle of Tours - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
4. ^ Fouracre, John. “The Age of Charles Martel
5. ^ Davis1999, p. 104.
6. ^ a b Santosuosso, Anthony . Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels2004
7. ^ [1]
8. ^ An Islamic Europe?, Tomorrow's World, Volume 8, No 3. ; An Islamic Europe?
9. ^ Watson, William, E. (1993). The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited. Providence: Studies in Western Civilization v.2 n.1.
10. ^ Barbero, 2004, p. 10.
11. ^ Mastnak, 2002, pp. 99-100.
12. ^ Hanson, Victor Davis, 2001, p. 167.
13. ^ [2]
14. ^ [3]
15. ^ [4]
16. ^ [5]
17. ^ Hanson, 2001, p. 141-166.
18. ^ a b Bennett, Michael. Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World
19. ^ Hanson, 2001, p. 154.
20. ^ [6]
21. ^ [7]

[edit] References

* Watson, William E., "The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited", Providence: Studies in Western Civilization, 2 (1993)
* Poke,The Battle of Tours, from Sir Edward Creasy, MA, Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World From Marathon to Waterloo
* Edward Gibbon, The Battle of Tours, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
* Micheal Grant "History of Rome"

[edit] External links

* Ian Meadows, "The Arabs in Occitania": A sketch giving the context of the conflict from the Arab point of view.
* http://www.standin.se/fifteen07a.htm Poke's edition of Creasy's "15 Most Important Battles Ever Fought According to Edward Shepherd Creasy" Chapter VII. The Battle of Tours, A.D. 732.
* Richard Hooker, "Civil War and the Umayyads"
* The Battle of Tours 732, from the "Jewish Virtual Library" website: A division of the American-Israeli Cooperative.
* Tours,Poiters, from "Leaders and Battles Database" online.
* Robert W. Martin, "The Battle of Tours is still felt today", from about.com
* Medieval Sourcebook: Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732
* Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732: Three Accounts from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
* Medieval Sourcebook: Gregory II to Charles Martel, 739
* Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

=========

(Research):Charles Martel Charles Martel Pronounced As: märtel [O.Fr.,=Charles the Hammer], 688?-741, Frankish ruler, illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal and grandfather of Charlemagne. After the death of his father (714) he seized power in Austrasia from Pepin's widow, who was ruling as regent for her grandsons, and became mayor of the palace. He subsequently subdued the W Frankish kingdom of Neustria and began the reconquest of Burgundy, Aquitaine, and Provence. Charles Martel defeated the Spanish Muslims at the battle of Tours (732-33) and began the military campaigns that reestablished the Franks as the rulers of Gaul. Although he never assumed the title of king, he divided the Frankish lands, like a king, between his sons Pepin the Short and Carloman. France, history of Encyclopædia Britannica Article Merovingian and Carolingian age The Carolingians Charles Martel and Pepin III the Short Charles Martel The situation was rectified by Pepin's illegitimate son, Charles Martel. Defeating the Neustrians at Amblève (716), Vincy (717), and Soissons (719), he made himself master of northern Francia. He then re-established Frankish authority in southern Gaul, where the local authorities could not cope with the Islamic threat; he stopped the Muslims near Poitiers (Battle of Tours; 732) and used this opportunity to subdue Aquitaine (735-736). The Muslims then turned toward Provence, and Charles Martel sent several expeditions against them. At the same time, he succeeded in reestablishing authority over the dissident provinces in the southeast (737-738) with the exception of Septimania. Finally, he reestablished his influence in Germany. In his numerous military campaigns he succeeded in driving the Saxons across the Rhine, returned the Bavarians to Frankish suzerainty, and annexed southern Frisia and Alemannia. He also encouraged missionary activity, seeing it as a means to consolidate his power; this undertaking was supported by the papacy, which was beginning to seek support in the West. Missionaries east of the Rhine, most of whom were Anglo-Saxon (e.g., Willibrord and Winfrid, also known as Boniface), made definite progress in their task. Charles Martel had supported a figurehead Merovingian king, Theodoric IV (ruled 721-737), but upon the latter's death he felt his own position secure enough to leave the throne vacant. His chief source of power was a strong circle of followers, who furnished the main body of his troops and became the most important element in the army because local dislocation of government had weakened the recruitment of the traditional levies of free men. He attached them to himself by concessions of land, which he obtained by drawing on the considerable holdings of the church. This gave him large tracts of land at his disposal, which he granted for life (precaria). He was thus able to recruit a larger and more powerful circle of followers than that surrounding any of the other influential magnates. Pepin III the Short At the death of Charles Martel (741), as was the custom, the lands and powers in his hands were divided between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin III the Short. This partition was followed by unsuccessful insurrections in the peripheral duchies_Aquitaine, Alemannia, and Bavaria. Carloman's entrance into a monastery in 747 reunited Carolingian holdings. Pepin the Short, who had held de facto power over Francia, or the regnum Francorum, as mayor of the palace, now desired to be king. He was crowned with the support of the papacy, which, threatened by the Lombards and having problems with Byzantium, sought a protector in the West. The change of dynasty was accomplished in two stages: in 751, after obtaining the support of Pope Zacharias, Pepin deposed Childeric III; he then had himself elected king by an assembly of magnates and consecrated by the bishops, thus ending the nominal authority of the last Merovingian king, Childeric III, who had been placed on the throne in 743. The new pope, Stephen II (or III), sought aid from Francia; in 754 at Ponthion he gave Pepin the title patrician of the Romans, renewed the king's consecration, and consecrated Pepin's sons, thus providing generational legitimacy for the line. As king, Pepin limited himself to consolidating royal control in Gaul, thus establishing the base for later Carolingian expansion. Despite Pepin's efforts, the situation at the German frontier was unstable. The duchy of Bavaria, which had been given to Tassilo III as a benefice, gained its independence in 763; several expeditions were unable to subdue the Saxons. On the other hand, Pepin achieved a decisive victory in southern Gaul by capturing Septimania from the Muslims (752-759). He broke down Aquitaine's resistance, and it was reincorporated into the kingdom (760-768). Pepin intervened in Italy twice (754-755; 756) on the appeal of the pope and laid the foundations for the Papal States. He exchanged ambassadors with the great powers of the eastern Mediterranean_the Byzantine Empire and the caliphate of Baghdad. France, history of Encyclopædia Britannica Article Merovingian and Carolingian age The Carolingians Charlemagne Pepin III, faithful to ancient customs, divided his kingdom between his two sons, Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman. On Carloman's death in 771 the kingdom was reunited. Charlemagne established the base of his kingdom in northeastern Francia (his preferred residence was Aachen [Aix-la-Chapelle]). The conquests Charlemagne extended considerably the territory he controlled and unified a large part of the Christian West; he followed no grand strategy of expansion, taking advantage, instead, of situations as they arose. Charlemagne consolidated his authority up to the geographic limits of Gaul. Though he put down a new insurrection in Aquitaine (769), he was unable to bring the Gascons and the Bretons fully under submission. He pursued an active policy toward the Mediterranean world. In Spain he attempted to take advantage of the emir of Córdoba's difficulties; he was unsuccessful in western Spain, but in the east he was able to establish a march south of the Pyrenees to the important city Barcelona. Pursuing Pepin's Italian policy, he intervened in Italy. At the request of Pope Adrian I, whose territories had been threatened by the Lombards, he took possession of their capital city, Pavia, and had himself crowned king of the Lombards. In 774 he fulfilled Pepin's promise and created a papal state; the situation on the peninsula remained unsettled, and many expeditions were necessary. This enlargement of his Mediterranean holdings led Charlemagne to establish a protectorate over the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean (798-799). Charlemagne conquered more German territory and secured the eastern frontier. By means of military campaigns and missionary activities he brought Saxony and northern Frisia under control; the Saxons, led by Widukind, offered a protracted resistance (772-804), and Charlemagne either destroyed or forcibly deported a large part of the population. To the south, Bavaria was brought under Frankish authority and annexed. Conquests in the east brought the Carolingians into contact with new peoples_Charles was able to defeat the Avars in three campaigns (791, 795, 796), from which he obtained considerable booty; he was also able to establish a march on the middle Danube, and the Carolingians undertook the conversion and colonization of that area. Charles established the Elbe as a frontier against the northern Slavs. The Danes constructed a great fortification, the Dannevirke, across the peninsula to stop Carolingian expansion. Charles also founded Hamburg on the banks of the Elbe. These actions gave the Franks a broad face on the North Sea. The Frankish state was now the principal power in the West. Charlemagne claimed to be defender of Roman Christianity and intervened in the religious affairs of Spain. Problems arose over doctrinal matters that, along with questions concerning the Italian border and the use of the imperial title, brought him into conflict with the Byzantine Empire; a peace treaty was signed in 810-812. Charles continued his peace policy toward the Muslim East: ambassadors were exchanged with the caliph of Baghdad, and Charles received a kind of eminent right in Jerusalem. France, history of Encyclopædia Britannica Article Merovingian and Carolingian age The Carolingians Charlemagne The restoration of the empire When by the end of the 8th century Charles was master of a great part of the West, he reestablished the empire in his own name. He was crowned emperor in Rome (Christmas Day, 800), by Pope Leo III. Charlemagne's powers in Rome and in relation to the Papal States, which were incorporated, with some degree of autonomy, into the Frankish empire, were clarified. Although his new title did not replace his royal titles, it was well suited to his preponderant position in the old Roman West. The imperial title indicates a will to unify the West; nevertheless, Charlemagne preserved the kingdom of Italy, giving the crown to one of his sons, Pepin, and made Aquitaine a kingdom for his other son, Louis. Emperors ruled over kings. Louis I the Pious Only chance ensured that the empire remained united under Louis I the Pious, the last surviving son of Charlemagne (the latter had anticipated the partitioning of his empire among his sons). The era of great conquests had ended, and, on the face of it, Louis's principal preoccupation was his relations with the peoples to the north. In the hope of averting the threat posed by the Vikings, who had begun to raid the coasts of the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Louis proposed to evangelize the Scandinavian world. This mission was given to St. Ansgar but was a failure. During Louis's reign, the imperial bureaucracy was given great uniformity. Louis saw the empire, above all, as a religious ideal, and in 816 the imperial coronation, originally a secular ceremony, was complemented by a religious ceremony, the anointment, at which the pope presided. At the same time Louis the Pious took steps to regulate the succession so as to maintain the unity of the empire (Ordinatio Imperii, 817). His oldest son, Lothair I, was to be sole heir to the empire, but within it three dependent kingdoms were maintained: Louis's younger sons, Pepin and Louis, received Aquitaine and Bavaria, respectively; his nephew Bernard was given Italy. The remarriage of Louis the Pious to Judith of Bavaria and the birth of a fourth son, Charles II the Bald, upset this project. In spite of opposition from Lothair, who had the support of a unity faction drawn from the ranks of the clergy, the emperor's principal concern was to create a kingdom for Charles the Bald. These divergent interests led to conflicts that weakened imperial prestige (in 833, abandoned by his followers at the Field of Lies, Louis the Pious was forced to make public penance at the church of Notre-Dame at Compiègne). The question of Aquitaine arose at the death of Pepin I, ruler there since 814; the emperor gave this subordinate kingdom to Charles, but the magnates rose up and proclaimed Pepin II, the son of the dead king. France, history of Encyclopædia Britannica Article Merovingian and Carolingian age The Carolingians The partitioning of the Carolingian empire After the death of Louis I the Pious (840), his sons continued their plotting to alter the succession. Louis II the German and Charles II the Bald affirmed their alliance against Lothair I (Oath of Strasbourg, 842). The Treaty of Verdun Later the three brothers came to an agreement in the Treaty of Verdun (843). The empire was divided into three kingdoms arranged along a north-south axis: Francia Orientalis was given to Louis, Francia Media to Lothair, and Francia Occidentalis to Charles the Bald. The three kings were equal among themselves. Lothair kept the imperial title, but it had completely lost its universal character and had meaning only in a portion of the old empire. France, history of Encyclopædia Britannica Article Merovingian and Carolingian age The Carolingians The partitioning of the Carolingian empire The kingdoms created at Verdun Until 861 the clerical faction tried to impose a government of fraternity on the descendants Charlemagne, manifested in the numerous conferences they held; but particularistic forces destroyed it. Francia Media proved to be the least stable of the kingdoms, and the imperial institutions bound to it suffered as a result. In 855 the death of Lothair I was followed by a partition of his kingdom among his three sons: the territory to the north and west of the Alps went to Lothair II (Lotharingia) and to Charles (kingdom of Provence); Louis II received Italy and the imperial title. At the death of Charles of Provence (863), his kingdom was divided between his brothers Lothair II (Rhône region) and Louis II the German (Provence). After the death of Lothair II in 869, Lotharingia was divided between his two uncles, Louis the German and Charles the Bald. Louis, however, did not gain control of his share until 870. Charles was made master of the Rhône regions of the ancient kingdom of Provence. Louis II (d. 875) devoted most of his attention to fighting the Muslims who threatened the peninsula and the papal territories. In Francia Occidentalis Charles II the Bald was occupied with the struggle against the Vikings, who ravaged the countryside along the Scheldt, Seine, and Loire rivers. More often than not, the king was forced to pay for their departure with silver and gold. Aquitaine remained a centre of dissension. For some time (until 864) Pepin II continued to have supporters there, and Charles the Bald attempted to pacify them by installing his sons_first Charles the Young (ruled 855-866) and then Louis II the Stammerer (ruled 867-877)_on the throne of Aquitaine. The problems in Aquitaine were closely connected to general unrest among the magnates, who wished to keep the regional king under their control. By accumulating countships and creating dynasties, the magnates succeeded in carving out large principalities at the still unstable borders: Robert the Strong and Hugh the Abbot in the west; Eudes, son of Robert the Strong, in this same region and in the area around Paris; Hunfred, Vulgrin, Bernard Plantevelue, count of Auvergne, and Bernard of Gothia in Aquitaine and the border regions; Boso in the southeast; and Baldwin I in Flanders. Nevertheless, Charles the Bald appeared to be the most powerful sovereign in the West, and in 875 Pope John VIII arranged for him to accept the imperial crown. An expedition he organized in Italy on the appeal of the pope failed, and the magnates of Francia Occidentalis rose up. Charles the Bald died on the return trip (877). Charles's son, Louis II the Stammerer, ruled for only two years. At his death in 879 the kingdom was divided between his sons Louis III and Carloman. In the southeast, Boso, the count of Vienne, appropriated the royal title to the kingdom of Provence. The imperial throne remained vacant. The death of Louis III (882) permitted the reunification of Francia Occidentalis (except for the kingdom of Provence) under Carloman. In Francia Orientalis royal control over the aristocracy was maintained. But decentralizing forces, closely bound to regional interests, made themselves felt in the form of revolts led by the sons of Louis the German. The latter had made arrangements to partition his kingdom in 864, with Bavaria and the East Mark to go to Carloman, Saxony and Franconia to Louis the Younger, and Alemannia (Swabia) to Charles III the Fat. Although Louis II the German managed to gain a portion of Lotharingia in 870, he was unable to prevent Charles the Bald's coronation as emperor (875). When Louis the German died in 876, the partition of his kingdom was confirmed. At the death of Charles the Bald, Louis the German's son Carloman seized Italy and intended to take the imperial title, but ill health forced him to abandon his plans. His youngest brother, Charles III the Fat, benefited from the circumstances and restored the territorial unity of the empire. The deaths of his brothers Carloman (880) and Louis III the Younger (882) without heirs allowed him to acquire successively the crown of Italy (880) and the imperial title (881) and to unite Francia Orientalis (882) under his own rule. Finally, at the death of Carloman, son of Louis the Stammerer, Charles the Fat was elected king of Francia Occidentalis (885); the magnates had bypassed the last heir of Louis the Stammerer, Charles III the Simple, in his favour. Charles the Fat avoided involving himself in Italy, in spite of appeals from the pope, and concentrated his attention on coordinating resistance to the Vikings, who had resumed the offensive in the valleys of the Scheldt, Meuse, Rhine, and Seine. He was unsuccessful, however, and in 886 had to purchase the Vikings' departure: they had besieged Paris, which was defended by Count Eudes. The magnates of Francia Orientalis rose up and deposed Charles the Fat in 887.

Weis: Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor over the Saracens at Poitiers, 732.

[grosenbaum2.ged]

Caroliingian Dynastry Ruled 714-741 Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwestern Germany). Charles, whose surname means, "the hammer, " was the son of Pepin of Herstal and the grandfather of Charlemagne. Pepin was mayor of the palace under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. After Pepin died in 714, Charles, and illegitimate son, was imprisoned by his father's widow, but he escaped and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasians. A war between Austrasia and the Frankish kingdom of Neustria followed, and at the end of it Charles became the undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Although he was engaged in wars against the Alamanni, Bavarians, and Saxons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims from Spain, who invaded France in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers at the Battle of Tours in which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the emir of Spain was killed. The progress of Islam, which had filled all Christendom with alarm, was thus checked for a time. Charles drove the Muslims out of the Rhone valley in 739, when they had again advanced into France as far as Lyon, leaving them nothing of their possessions north of the Pyrenees beyond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy, on the Oise River, leaving the kingdom divided between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin the Short.[grosenbaum3.ged]

Caroliingian Dynastry Ruled 714-741 Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwestern Germany). Charles, whose surname means, "the hammer, " was the son of Pepin of Herstal and the grandfather of Charlemagne. Pepin was mayor of the palace under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. After Pepin died in 714, Charles, and illegitimate son, was imprisoned by his father's widow, but he escaped and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasians. A war between Austrasia and the Frankish kingdom of Neustria followed, and at the end of it Charles became the undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Although he was engaged in wars against the Alamanni, Bavarians, and Saxons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims from Spain, who invaded France in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers at the Battle of Tours in which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the emir of Spain was killed. The progress of Islam, which had filled all Christendom with alarm, was thus checked for a time. Charles drove the Muslims out of the Rhone valley in 739, when they had again advanced into France as far as Lyon, leaving them nothing of their possessions north of the Pyrenees beyond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy, on the Oise River, leaving the kingdom divided between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin the Short.

King of the Franks[New Cunard.ged]

Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia 714-741 Mayor of the Palace of Neustria 719-7 20 Mayor of the Palace of Burgundy 719-720 Charles Martel became Mayor of th e Palace of Austrasia when his father,Pepin II, died in 714. That year he was imprisoned by his step-motherPlectudis, but escaped later in the year to lead the Austrasian andNeustrian nobles. The next year, the new King Chilperic II r efused toact as a puppet to the nobles, and was backed by the Aquitaine duke Eudo, who was by then semi-independent from Frankish sovergnty. In 719,Charles defeated Eudo and took Chilperic hostage. Eudo's terms for mercywere that Chil peric would be recognized as sole ruler of the Franks, andthe Charles would co ntrol all royal offices (i.e. as Mayor). Eudo had noother choice but to accept . In 720, Chilperic II died, Theuderic IVbecame king, Charles was stripped of his positions, Eudo was able toattain full independence, and Charles was preoc cupied with pushing backSaxon invaders across the Rhine.

The next year, Eu do defeated the advancing Moslem armies and made peacewith them, however in 72 5 they attacked Septimania and invaded Burgundy,drawn by the wealth of the Cat holic Church. In 731, the Spanish governorAbd ar-Rahman, much loved by the Mos lem people, invaded and easilyoverran all of Aquitaine. The next year he took Poitiers and marched toTours, where he was soundly beaten by Mayor Charles, an d Rahman waskilled in the battle. Three years later Eudo died, and Charles too ksupreme control of Gaul. In 737, Provence invited back the Moslems, whowere defeated by Charles and his younger brother Hildebrand, then pushedout of Gaul forever. In 741, Charles died. [New Cunard.ged]

Name Prefix: Mayor Name Suffix: Of The Palace Of Austrasia GIVN Charles "Martel", Mayor SURN Austrasia AFN 9GC9-KK EVEN Mayor of Austrasia TYPE Elected DATE BET 714 AND 741 PLAC Frankish Kingdom EVEN Merovingia TYPE Ruled DATE BET 714 AND 741 EVEN of the House of Carlings TYPE Founder DATE BET 714 AND 741 PLAC Frankish Kingdom EVEN Tours TYPE Battle of DATE 732 PLAC Tours,France

NSFX Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, France TYPE Book AUTH Å or c:Weis, Frederick Lewis PERI Ancestral Roots EDTN 7th PUBL Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD (1999) TEXT 50-11; 190-11 TYPE Book AUTH Stuart, Roderick W. PERI Royalty for Commoners EDTN 3d PUBL Genealogical Publishing co., Inc, Baltimore, MD (1998) ISB 0-8063-1561-X TEXT 171-43;269-44; 352-45 TYPE E-Mail Message AUTH Ed Mann ((XXXXX@XXXX.XXX)) TITL Re: early Plantagenets DATE 29 Oct 1998 LOCA (XXXXX@XXXX.XXX)/PowerMac 6500>Applications>Reunion>Documents-source DATE 29 APR 2000

OCCU King of the Franks, 724.. SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots) says 688; FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve) says 689; www.public.asu.edu/bgertz/family/d0000 says 676,HERISTAL, L, BELGIUM; COLLINS.ROY (Compuserve) says 686;BAIL3.GED (Compuserve),#153says 685 SOUR Anglo-Saxon England, Sir Frank Stenton, p. 169 says 741; Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129; CHARLEMAG.ZIP (GS) SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots), p. 4; Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129; http://misc.traveller.com/genealo gy/gedhtml/kmilburn/d0001/g0000043.htm#I1341; CHARLES MARTEL, son of PEPIN II and ALPAIDA DE SAXONIE, was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal and grandfather of Charlemagne. Although never king he ruled as mayor of the palace (714-741). He united all Merovingian kingdoms under his rule and halted the European invasion of the Moors. His sons, Pepin the Short and Carloman, divided the Frankish lands at his death. - Encyclopedia, p. 158 Mayor of the Palce 714-741, Carl of the Hammer - FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve) Charles (Karl) Martel "the Hammer", of Heristol, Liege, Belgium; Mayorof the Palace of Austrasia; victor at the Battle of Poitiers, 676 - Royalty forCommoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129 b. 676, d. 22 Oct 741, Quierzy,Aisne,France - http://www.teleport.com/~ddonahue/donahue/d0001/s0000027.htm#I2222 Frankish King, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor at the Battle of Tours in Oct 732, stopping the Saracen invasion of Europe ensuring our Western Christiancivilization; described as being descended from the ancient Burgundian Kings.The second source lists his DOB as 685 He was know as the "King Maker". He mayhave been born as late as 690. Mayor of the Palace; the First King of France.Major Domus in Austrasia.: Source: Pedigrees of ... Descendants of Charlemagne, p cvi; Royal.zip (Compuserve); Genealogy of the Kings of France; Charlemagne's Ancestors Charlemagne's 40 Generation Ahnentafel Chart by Tom Peterson, 24Oct 1992; Ahnentafel of Edward III, King of England -http://al7fl.abts.net/green-page/greenged.html/notes/not0017.html#NI34015 Charles Major Domus en Austrasia Martel, Ruler of France - COMYNI.GED (Compu- serve), #1507;Karl Martel ---> the Carolingians - VERGY.TXT (Compuserve);Major domo Austrasia Ruler France- PROVEN.TAF (Compuserve); Mayor of the Palace - Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 85

OCCU King of the Franks, 724.. SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots) says 688; FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve) says 689; www.public.asu.edu/bgertz/family/d0000 says 676,HERISTAL, L, BELGIUM; COLLINS.ROY (Compuserve) says686;BAIL3.GED (Compuserve),#153 says 685 SOUR Anglo-Saxon England, Sir Frank Stenton, p. 169 says 741; Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129; CHARLEMAG.ZIP (GS) SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots), p. 4; Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129; http://misc.traveller.com/genealo gy/gedhtml/kmilburn/d0001/g0000043.htm#I1341; CHARLES MART

Alias: Mayor of Austria & /Neustra/ REFERENCE: 1982

[Norvell.FTW]

[Eno.ftw]

BIOGRAPHY: Charles Martel, Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwestern Germany). Charles, whose surname means 'the hammer', was the son of Pepin of Herstal and the Grandfather of Charlemagne. Pepin was mayor of the palace under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. When he died in 714, Charles, an illegitimate son, was imprisoned by his father's widow, but escaped in 715 and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasians. A war between Austrasia and the Frankish kingdom of Neustria (now part of France) followed, and at the end of it Charles became the undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Although he was engaged in wars against the Alamanni, Bavarians, and Saxons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims from Spain, who invaded France in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers in a great battle in which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the Emir of Spain, was killed. The progress of Islam, which had filled all Christendom with alarm, was thus checked for a time. Charles drove the Muslims out of the Rhone valley in 739, when they had again advanced into France as far as Lyon, leaving them nothing of their possessions north of the Pyrenees beyond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy, on the Oise River, leaving the kingdom divided between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin the Short. Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.

BIOGRAPHY: The Battle of Tours near Poitiers October 11 ends the menace of a 90,000-man Moorish army that has invaded southern France under the Yemenite Abd ar-Rahman, who has crossed the Pyrenees, captured and burned Bordeaux, defeated an army under Eudo, duke of Aquitaine, and destroyed the basilica of St. Hilary at Poitiers. The Moors march on Tours, attracted by the riches of its famous church of St. Martin, but they are routed in battle by the Frankish leader Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer), 44 whose men kill Abd ar-Rahman. The Moors retreat to the Pyrenees, and their advance into Europe is terminated, partly by their loss to Charles Martel and partly by a frvolt of the Berbers in North Africa.

BIOGRAPHY: Charles Martel, Mayor of Austrasia and Neustria, conquers, Burgundy.

BIOGRAPHY: Pope Gregory III asks Charles Martel to help fight the Lombards, Greeks, and Arabs.

BIOGRAPHY: Charles Martel dies October 22 at age 53 after dividing his realms between his elder son Carloman and younger son Pepin, although the country has had no true king since the death of Theodoric in 737. Lands to the east, including Austrasia, Alemannia, and Thuringia, have gone to Carloman along with suzerainty over Bavaria, while Pepin has received Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence. "The People's Chronology"

Karl ?Hammeren? var rikshovmester av Austrasia og Neustria.
Merovingerslekten var konger i Franken fra 457 til 751. I 561 ble riket oppdelt i
kongerikene Austrasia, Neustria og Burgund. Karolingerslekten var først rikshovmestere (major
domus) under Merovingerslekten. Deretter overtok de som konger av Franken fra 751 til 800
og som tysk-romerske keisere fra 800 til 928. Forstavelsen ?tysk-? ble egentlig først tatt i bruk
av Liudolfingerslekten. Dessuten var slekten konger av Frankrike fra 843 til 987 og konger av
Tyskland fra 843 til 911. Etter Ludvig ?den Fromme?'s død ble Karl ?den Store?'s rike oppdelt i
kongerikene Frankrike (Karl), Tyskland (Ludvig), Italia, Lothringen og Burgund (Lothar). Lothar
arvet også keisertitelen, men det var en tittel uten særlig makt. Lothringen ble delt mellom
Tyskland og Frankrike etter Lothar II's død. Slekten ble i Frankrike etterfulgt av
Kapetingerslekten, i Tyskland av Liudolfingerslekten, i Italia av Italiaslekten og i Burgund av
Welferslekten.
Karl hadde som ?Major domus? - Rikshovmester - den virkelige makt i Austrasien og
Neustrien, de to viktigste av de provinser som det merovingiske rike da var delt opp i. Han var
den høyeste hoffembedsmann i det frankiske rike og var samtidig kongens mektigste minister
og øverstbefalende for hæren. Han tilnavn, som betyr ?Hammeren?, var høyst betegnende for
en mann med hans slagkraft, en egenskap som bl.a. satte ham i stand til å ta ledelsen av rikets
affærer i en tid da kongene av Klodvigs ætt, de såkalte merovinger, hadde utartet fullstendig.
Et dynasti av skyggekonger, som setter barn til verden i 14-15-årsalderen og er utlevd i
begynnelsen av tyveårene, har ikke store utsikter til å få leve lenge på jorden. ?De dådløse
konger? er historiens navn på de siste merovinger.
Det som de frankiske kongene ikke lenger maktet, nemlig å holde riket sammen, greide
imidlertid den mektige Karl Martell. Hans enhetsbestrebelser ble faktisk også understøttet ved
at landet stadig ble utsatt for angrep fra ytre fiender. Arabere, langobarder, slaver og saksere -
et hedensk germanerfolk mellom nedre Rhinen, nedre Elben og Eideren - trengte på fra
forskjellige kanter og tvang den ene stolte hertug etter den andre til å be riksregjeringen om
hjelp. Og hjelp fikk de.
I 717 seiret han over neustrierne, og da disse i 719 gjentok sitt angrep alliert med
akvitanerne, beseiret han dem igjen. Karl førte kamp mot en rekke andre folk, og tvang disse
inn under sitt overherredømme. Ved sine kriger fra 717 til 719 samlet han hele Frankrike.
Omkring 720 gikk araberne og berberne som hadde beseiret vestgoterne i Spania, over
Pyreneene, lokket av skattene i de galliske kirkene. Kanskje også med et håp om med tiden
å kunne komme fram til Konstantinopel til lands og gi den stolte keiserbyen det drepende slag.
Men først skulle det nå rettes et støt mot frankernes rike, mot hjertet til den vesterlandske
kristenhet. Hvem skulle vel et århundre tidligere ha kunnet drømme om at det skulle bli
nødvendig for Gallias folk å skjelve for erobrere fra det fjerne sagalandet Arabia og at disse
erobrere skulle grunnlegge et rike som omfatte så forskjellige land som Spania og Persia!
Araberne møtte Karl ved Poitiers i 732. I syv dager lå de to hærene urørlig rett overfor
hverandre og bare holdt øye med hverandre. Men da endelig de arabiske rytterskarene på sine
raske hester styrtet fram mot frankernes tette rekker med hevede krumsabler, prellet de
fullstendig av mot denne levende muren. De spebygde arberne ble formelig knust av de tunge
frankiske slagsverdene, som ble ført ?med jernhånd?. Natten avbrøt blodbadet, men da dagen
grydde, sto frankerne igjen oppstilt i slagorden, ferdige til å fortsette kampen. Men det var ikke
en araber å se, og leiren deres var tom og forlatt. Islams seierrike fremmarsj var blitt stanset.
Romersk-germansk kultur og kristen tro hadde enda engang, som på slagmarken ved Troyes
nesten 300 år tidligere, holdt stand mot Østens hærskarer. Helt knekket var arabernes
pågangsmot riktignok ikke, for enda i mange år måtte Karl kjempe mot dem før de lot det
frankiske rike i fred.
Hvor betydningsfullt slaget ved Poitiers enn var, er det imidlertid en stor overdrivelse å
påstå at det var Karl som fikk islams stolte bølge til å stilne av. Hvis ikke Konstantinopels murer
og skip hadde stanset de fremstormende Allah-tilhengerne, ville de ha gått over Bosporus og
truet hele kristenheten fra den andre kysten av stredet. Den tapre karolingeren hadde bare
stanset den siste utløperen av verdenserobrernes hærskarer. Det bysantinerne gjorde, nemlig
å holde stand mot stormen fra den arabiske sentralmakt i mannsaldre og slå den definitivt
tilbake til slutt, er uten sammenligning en meget større bedrift.
Etter seieren ved Poitiers og senere ved Berre i 737 var imidlertid Karls stilling i det
frankiske rike blitt så sterk at da den kongen som i navnet regjerte landet døde, kunne han
tillate seg å la tronen bli stående tom og selv lede regjeringen. Etter å ha erobret Provence,
forberedet han seg til å dra over Alpene for å beskytte paven mot langobardene. Han døde
imidlertid 22.10.741 i Kirsey ved Oise innen han kunne gjennomføre planen.
Hvem som er mor til Pipin ?den Lille?, vet man neppe. I visse kilder kalles hun
Rothrudis, i andre Christrudis.

Charles Martel
      The Frankish ruler Charles Martel, born c.688, died October 22, 741, was the first CAROLINGIAN to bring most of what is today France under his control. He was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal, mayor of the palace in AUSTRASIA. When his father died (714) Charles fought for five years against Pepin's widow, Plectrude; Ragemfred, mayor of the palace in NEUSTRIA; and Radbod, duke of the Frisians, to secure his position as mayor. from 719 until his death, Charles worked to expand Carolingian domination. In 732 or 733 he stopped the Muslim Arab advance northward from Spain in a celebrated battle between Poitiers and Tours. He conquered (733) Burgundy and thereafter fought steadily in the south of France. Although Charles supported the Christian mission of St. BONIFACE in Germany, he declined to help Pope Gregory III against the LOMBARDS in Italy. When Charles died he was succeeded as mayor of the palace by his sons PEPIN THE SHORT and Carloman.

     .
Charles was born circa 688.3,4 He was the son of Pepin II of Heristal and Aupais. He married Chrotrude Duchess of Austrasia circa 713.5 He married Swanhilde A Bavarian after 714.6 Charles Martel "The Hammer" was Crowned in 724; King of the Franks [Carolingian]. Charles died on 22 October 741 at Quierzy, Aisne, France.

[Norvell.FTW]

[Eno.ftw]

BIOGRAPHY: Charles Martel, Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwestern Germany). Charles, whose surname means 'the hammer', was the son of Pepin of Herstal and the Grandfather of Charlemagne. Pepin was mayor of the palace under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. When he died in 714, Charles, an illegitimate son, was imprisoned by his father's widow, but escaped in 715 and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasians. A war between Austrasia and the Frankish kingdom of Neustria (now part of France) followed, and at the end of it Charles became the undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Although he was engaged in wars against the Alamanni, Bavarians, and Saxons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims from Spain, who invaded France in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers in a great battle in which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the Emir of Spain, was killed. The progress of Islam, which had filled all Christendom with alarm, was thus checked for a time. Charles drove the Muslims out of the Rhone valley in 739, when they had again advanced into France as far as Lyon, leaving them nothing of their possessions north of the Pyrenees beyond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy, on the Oise River, leaving the kingdom divided between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin the Short. Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.

BIOGRAPHY: The Battle of Tours near Poitiers October 11 ends the menace of a 90,000-man Moorish army that has invaded southern France under the Yemenite Abd ar-Rahman, who has crossed the Pyrenees, captured and burned Bordeaux, defeated an army under Eudo, duke of Aquitaine, and destroyed the basilica of St. Hilary at Poitiers. The Moors march on Tours, attracted by the riches of its famous church of St. Martin, but they are routed in battle by the Frankish leader Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer), 44 whose men kill Abd ar-Rahman. The Moors retreat to the Pyrenees, and their advance into Europe is terminated, partly by their loss to Charles Martel and partly by a frvolt of the Berbers in North Africa.

BIOGRAPHY: Charles Martel, Mayor of Austrasia and Neustria, conquers, Burgundy.

BIOGRAPHY: Pope Gregory III asks Charles Martel to help fight the Lombards, Greeks, and Arabs.

BIOGRAPHY: Charles Martel dies October 22 at age 53 after dividing his realms between his elder son Carloman and younger son Pepin, although the country has had no true king since the death of Theodoric in 737. Lands to the east, including Austrasia, Alemannia, and Thuringia, have gone to Carloman along with suzerainty over Bavaria, while Pepin has received Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence. "The People's Chronology"

Charles MARTEL, Latin CAROLUS MARTELLUS, German KARL MARTELL (b. c. 688--d. Oct. 22, 741, Quierzy-sur-Oise, France), mayor of the palace ofAustrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom) from 715 to 741,who reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Saracen invasion at Poitiers in 732. His byname, Martel, means "the hammer." A man of valiant determination, ambition, and ability, he strove incessantly to consolidate his power.
Background.
After the death of Dagobert I in 639, there had been no king of any worth in the Frankish kingdom. All of them were of the Merovingian line--idle, slothful, and bent on ease and luxury. The burden of rule lay upon the mayors of the palace, who in reality governed Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom, and Neustria, its western portion. These mayors not only controlled routine in the royal palace but also directed the political, social, and commercial life of the Franks. Neustria bitterly resented its conquest and annexation in 687 by Pepinof Herstal, mayor of Austrasia and father of Charles Martel, at the Battle of Tertry (Testry), near Péronne.
When in 714 Pepin of Herstal died, he left as heirs three grandsons, his legitimate children all being dead. Until his grandchildren came of age, Plectrude, Pepin's widow, was to hold power. As an illegitimate son, Charles Martel was entirely neglected in the will. But he was young, strong, and determined, and a struggle for control at once began between him and Plectrude.
Both Charles and Plectrude faced rebellion throughout the Frankish kingdom when Pepin's will was made known. The king, Chilperic II, was inthe power of Ragenfrid, mayor of the palace of Neustria, who joined forces with an enemy of the Franks, Radbod, king of the Frisians in Holland, in order to eliminate Charles. Plectrude managed to imprison Charles, but he escaped, gathered an army, defeated King Chilperic and Mayor Ragenfrid, and conquered the hostile Neustrians. His success made resistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; realizing the spirit and power of young Charles, they submitted, and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor. Peace and order reigned in Austrasia and Neustria, so that by 724 Charles was free to deal with hostile elements elsewhere. This involved expeditions against the Saxons and the peoples of the lands near the Rhine and the Danube.
Battle of Poitiers.
Charles next crossed the Loire into Aquitaine, where one Eudes (Odo) was duke. Eudes, once an ally of Charles, had become disloyal and promptly called to his aid the Saracens, Moors from Africa, who, entering Spain in 711, had soon conquered it and were now (732) threatening Gaul. Led by their king, 'Abd ar-Rahman, they marched for Bordeaux, thereto burn churches and to plunder. From Bordeaux they went across Aquitaine to Poitiers. It was outside this city that Charles Martel came upon them and put them to flight.
In 733 Charles forced Burgundy to yield to his rule, and in 734 he subdued the Frisians. During 735 word arrived that Eudes was dead, and Charles marched rapidly across the Loire River in order to make his power felt around Bordeaux. In 736 he fought to secure his conquest of Burgundy, and there were further engagements against the Saracens duringthe 730s.
Charles Martel's health began to fail in the late 730s, and in 741 heretired to his palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise, where he died soon after. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two legitimate sons, Pepin and Carloman. He had maintained the fiction of Merovingian rule all of his life, refraining from transferring the royaltitle to his own dynasty

Charles MARTEL, Latin CAROLUS MARTELLUS, German KARL MARTELL (b. c. 688--d. Oct. 22, 741, Quierzy-sur-Oise, France), mayor of the palace ofAustrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom) from 715 to 741,who reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Saracen invasion at Poitiers in 732. His byname, Martel, means "the hammer." A man of valiant determination, ambition, and ability, he strove incessantly to consolidate his power.
Background.
After the death of Dagobert I in 639, there had been no king of any worth in the Frankish kingdom. All of them were of the Merovingian line--idle, slothful, and bent on ease and luxury. The burden of rule lay upon the mayors of the palace, who in reality governed Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom, and Neustria, its western portion. These mayors not only controlled routine in the royal palace but also directed the political, social, and commercial life of the Franks. Neustria bitterly resented its conquest and annexation in 687 by Pepinof Herstal, mayor of Austrasia and father of Charles Martel, at the Battle of Tertry (Testry), near Péronne.
When in 714 Pepin of Herstal died, he left as heirs three grandsons, his legitimate children all being dead. Until his grandchildren came of age, Plectrude, Pepin's widow, was to hold power. As an illegitimate son, Charles Martel was entirely neglected in the will. But he was young, strong, and determined, and a struggle for control at once began between him and Plectrude.
Both Charles and Plectrude faced rebellion throughout the Frankish kingdom when Pepin's will was made known. The king, Chilperic II, was inthe power of Ragenfrid, mayor of the palace of Neustria, who joined forces with an enemy of the Franks, Radbod, king of the Frisians in Holland, in order to eliminate Charles. Plectrude managed to imprison Charles, but he escaped, gathered an army, defeated King Chilperic and Mayor Ragenfrid, and conquered the hostile Neustrians. His success made resistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; realizing the spirit and power of young Charles, they submitted, and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor. Peace and order reigned in Austrasia and Neustria, so that by 724 Charles was free to deal with hostile elements elsewhere. This involved expeditions against the Saxons and the peoples of the lands near the Rhine and the Danube.
Battle of Poitiers.
Charles next crossed the Loire into Aquitaine, where one Eudes (Odo) was duke. Eudes, once an ally of Charles, had become disloyal and promptly called to his aid the Saracens, Moors from Africa, who, entering Spain in 711, had soon conquered it and were now (732) threatening Gaul. Led by their king, 'Abd ar-Rahman, they marched for Bordeaux, thereto burn churches and to plunder. From Bordeaux they went across Aquitaine to Poitiers. It was outside this city that Charles Martel came upon them and put them to flight.
In 733 Charles forced Burgundy to yield to his rule, and in 734 he subdued the Frisians. During 735 word arrived that Eudes was dead, and Charles marched rapidly across the Loire River in order to make his power felt around Bordeaux. In 736 he fought to secure his conquest of Burgundy, and there were further engagements against the Saracens duringthe 730s.
Charles Martel's health began to fail in the late 730s, and in 741 heretired to his palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise, where he died soon after. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two legitimate sons, Pepin and Carloman. He had maintained the fiction of Merovingian rule all of his life, refraining from transferring the royaltitle to his own dynasty

Charles MARTEL, Latin CAROLUS MARTELLUS, German KARL MARTELL (b. c. 688--d. Oct. 22, 741, Quierzy-sur-Oise, France), mayor of the palace ofAustrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom) from 715 to 741,who reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Saracen invasion at Poitiers in 732. His byname, Martel, means "the hammer." A man of valiant determination, ambition, and ability, he strove incessantly to consolidate his power.
Background.
After the death of Dagobert I in 639, there had been no king of any worth in the Frankish kingdom. All of them were of the Merovingian line--idle, slothful, and bent on ease and luxury. The burden of rule lay upon the mayors of the palace, who in reality governed Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom, and Neustria, its western portion. These mayors not only controlled routine in the royal palace but also directed the political, social, and commercial life of the Franks. Neustria bitterly resented its conquest and annexation in 687 by Pepinof Herstal, mayor of Austrasia and father of Charles Martel, at the Battle of Tertry (Testry), near Péronne.
When in 714 Pepin of Herstal died, he left as heirs three grandsons, his legitimate children all being dead. Until his grandchildren came of age, Plectrude, Pepin's widow, was to hold power. As an illegitimate son, Charles Martel was entirely neglected in the will. But he was young, strong, and determined, and a struggle for control at once began between him and Plectrude.
Both Charles and Plectrude faced rebellion throughout the Frankish kingdom when Pepin's will was made known. The king, Chilperic II, was inthe power of Ragenfrid, mayor of the palace of Neustria, who joined forces with an enemy of the Franks, Radbod, king of the Frisians in Holland, in order to eliminate Charles. Plectrude managed to imprison Charles, but he escaped, gathered an army, defeated King Chilperic and Mayor Ragenfrid, and conquered the hostile Neustrians. His success made resistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; realizing the spirit and power of young Charles, they submitted, and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor. Peace and order reigned in Austrasia and Neustria, so that by 724 Charles was free to deal with hostile elements elsewhere. This involved expeditions against the Saxons and the peoples of the lands near the Rhine and the Danube.
Battle of Poitiers.
Charles next crossed the Loire into Aquitaine, where one Eudes (Odo) was duke. Eudes, once an ally of Charles, had become disloyal and promptly called to his aid the Saracens, Moors from Africa, who, entering Spain in 711, had soon conquered it and were now (732) threatening Gaul. Led by their king, 'Abd ar-Rahman, they marched for Bordeaux, thereto burn churches and to plunder. From Bordeaux they went across Aquitaine to Poitiers. It was outside this city that Charles Martel came upon them and put them to flight.
In 733 Charles forced Burgundy to yield to his rule, and in 734 he subdued the Frisians. During 735 word arrived that Eudes was dead, and Charles marched rapidly across the Loire River in order to make his power felt around Bordeaux. In 736 he fought to secure his conquest of Burgundy, and there were further engagements against the Saracens duringthe 730s.
Charles Martel's health began to fail in the late 730s, and in 741 heretired to his palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise, where he died soon after. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two legitimate sons, Pepin and Carloman. He had maintained the fiction of Merovingian rule all of his life, refraining from transferring the royaltitle to his own dynasty

[s2.FTW]

Source: Church of JC of the LDS "Ancestral File" CD-Rom database, ver 4.17.Source: Church of JC of the LDS "Ancestral File" CD-Rom database, ver 4.17.

Basic Life Information

Born ca. 688 Died October 22, 741

Charles Martel is primarily famous for his victory at the Battle of Tours, his stopping the Umayyad invasions of Europe during the Muslim Expansion Era, and his laying the foundation for the Carolingian Empire. (oil on canvas, painted by Charles de Steuben from 1834 till 1837)

Charles "The Hammer" Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus, English: Charles "the Hammer") (ca. 688 - 22 October 741) was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a titular King. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks (the last four years of his reign he did not even bother with the façade of a King) and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms. In 739 he was offered an office of Roman consul by the Pope, which he rejectedpossibly not to conflict with Theodatus Ursus who already occupied the office by appointment of the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian. He expanded his rule over all three of the Frankish kingdoms: Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy.

Martel was born in Herstal, in present-day Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida (or Chalpaida). He was described by Gustave Louis Maurice Strauss in his book "Moslem and Frank; or, Charles Martel and the rescue of Europe" as a tall, powerfully built man, who was more agile than his size would lead men to believe.

He is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers) in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as an event that halted the Islamic expansionism in Europe that had conquered Iberia. "Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization."

In addition to being the leader of the army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel was a truly giant figure of the Middle Ages. A brilliant general, he is considered the forefather of western heavy cavalry, chivalry, founder of the Carolingian Empire (which was named after him), and a catalyst for the feudal system, which would see Europe through the Middle Ages. Although some recent scholars have suggested he was more of a beneficiary of the feudal system than a knowing agent for social change, others continue to see him as the primary catalyst for the feudal system.

Birth and Youth

The following tale is told of Charles and of the origins of his name: in 686, Pippin II and his wife Plectrude were talking together in a room when they were intruded upon by a messenger, bringing news that the Mayor's mistress, Alpaida, had given birth to a son at Herstal. The messenger, fearful of arousing the wrath of Plectrude, decided not to announce the news directly. Instead, he said: "Long live the king, it is a carl" ('man'). Pippin, equally cautious of his wife, dismissed the messenger as follows: "A carl, is it? Then let him be called that." This was done, and, so legend claims, the child was named "Carl". Alpaida also bore Pippin another son, Childebrand.

Contesting for Power

In December 714, Pippin the Middle (Pippin II) died. Prior to his death, he had, at his wife Plectrude's urging, designated Theudoald, his grandson by their son Grimoald, his heir in the entire realm. This was immediately opposed by the nobles because Theudoald was a child of only eight years of age. To prevent Charles using this unrest to his own advantage, Plectrude had him gaoled (jailed) in Cologne, the city which was destined to be her capital. This prevented an uprising on his behalf in Austrasia, but not in Neustria.

Civil War of 715-718

In 715, the Neustrian noblesse proclaimed Ragenfrid mayor of their palace on behalf of, and apparently with the support of, Dagobert III, the young king, who in theory had the legal authority to select a mayor, though by this time the Merovingian dynasty had lost most such powers.

The Austrasians were not to be left supporting a woman and her young son for long. Before the end of the year, Charles Martel had escaped from prison and been acclaimed mayor by the nobles of that kingdom. The Neustrians had been attacking Austrasia and the nobles were waiting for a strong man to lead them against their invading countrymen. That year, Dagobert died and the Neustrians proclaimed Chilperic II king without the support of the rest of the Frankish people.

In 716, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia. The Neustrians allied with another invading force under Radbod, King of the Frisians and met Charles in battle near Cologne, which was still held by Plectrude. Charles had little time to gather men, or prepare, and the result was his only defeat. According to Strauss and Gustave, Martel fought a brilliant battle, but realized he could not prevail because he was outnumbered so badly, and retreated. In fact, he fled the field as soon as he realized he did not have the time or the men to prevail, retreating to the mountains of the Eifel to gather men, and train them. The king and his mayor then turned to besiege their other rival in the city and took it and the treasury, and received the recognition of both Chilperic as king and Ragenfrid as mayor. Plectrude surrendered on Theudoald's behalf.

Magnanimous in Victory

At this juncture, however, events turned in favour of Charles. Having made the proper preparations, he fell upon the triumphant army near Malmedy as it was returning to its own province, and, in the ensuing Battle of Amblève, routed it and it fled. Several things were notable about this battle, in which Charles set the pattern for the remainder of his military career: First, he appeared where his enemies least expected him, while they were marching triumphantly home and far outnumbered him. He also attacked when least expected, at midday, when armies of that era traditionally were resting. Finally, he attacked them how they least expected it, by feigning a retreat to draw his opponents into a trap. The feigned retreat, next to unknown in Western Europe at that time-it was a traditionally eastern tactic-required both extraordinary discipline on the part of the troops and exact timing on the part of their commander. Charles, in this battle, had begun demonstrating the military genius that would mark his rule, in that he never attacked his enemies where, when, or how they expected, and the result was an unbroken victory streak that lasted until his death.

In Spring 717, Charles returned to Neustria with an army and confirmed his supremacy with a victory at the Battle of Vincy, near Cambrai. He chased the fleeing king and mayor to Paris, before turning back to deal with Plectrude and Cologne. He took her city and dispersed her adherents. However, he allowed both Plectrude and the young Theudoald to live and treated them with kindness-unusual for those Dark Ages, when mercy to a former jailer, or a potential rival, was rare. On this success, he proclaimed Clotaire IV king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic and deposed the archbishop of Rheims, Rigobert, replacing him with Milo, a lifelong supporter.

Consolidation of Power

After subjugating all Austrasia, he marched against Radbod and pushed him back into his territory, even forcing the concession of West Frisia (later Holland). He also sent the Saxons back over the Weser and thus secured his borders-in the name of the new king Clotaire, of course. In 718, Chilperic responded to Charles' new ascendancy by making an alliance with Odo the Great (or Eudes, as he is sometimes known), the duke of Aquitaine, who had made himself independent during the civil war in 715, but was again defeated, at the Battle of Soissons, by Charles. The king fled with his ducal ally to the land south of the Loire and Ragenfrid fled to Angers. Soon Clotaire IV died and Odo gave up on Chilperic and, in exchange for recognising his dukedom, surrendered the king to Charles, who recognised his kingship over all the Franks in return for legitimate royal affirmation of his mayoralty, likewise over all the kingdoms (718).

Foreign Wars From 718-732

The ensuing years were full of strife. Between 718 and 723, Charles secured his power through a series of victories: he won the loyalty of several important bishops and abbots (by donating lands and money for the foundation of abbeys such as Echternach), he subjugated Bavaria and Alemannia, and he defeated the pagan Saxons.

Having unified the Franks under his banner, Charles was determined to punish the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia. Therefore, late in 718, he laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser, the Lippe, and the Ruhr. He defeated them in the Teutoburg Forest. In 719, Charles seized West Frisia without any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, who had been subjects of the Franks but had seized control upon the death of Pippin. Although Charles did not trust the pagans, their ruler, Aldegisel, accepted Christianity, and Charles sent Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, the famous "Apostle to the Frisians" to convert the people. Charles also did much to support Winfrid, later Saint Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans."

When Chilperic II died the following year (720), Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Theuderic IV, who was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 to 737. Charles was now appointing the kings whom he supposedly served, rois fainéants who were mere puppets in his hands; by the end of his reign they were so useless that he didn't even bother appointing one. At this time, Charles again marched against the Saxons. Then the Neustrians rebelled under Ragenfrid, who had been left the county of Anjou. They were easily defeated (724), but Ragenfrid gave up his sons as hostages in turn for keeping his county. This ended the civil wars of Charles' reign.

The next six years were devoted in their entirety to assuring Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes. Between 720 and 723, Charles was fighting in Bavaria, where the Agilolfing dukes had gradually evolved into independent rulers, recently in alliance with Liutprand the Lombard. He forced the Alemanni to accompany him, and Duke Hugbert submitted to Frankish suzerainty. In 725 and 728, he again entered Bavaria and the ties of lordship seemed strong. From his first campaign, he brought back the Agilolfing princess Swanachild, who apparently became his concubine. In 730, he marched against Lantfrid, duke of Alemannia, who had also become independent, and killed him in battle. He forced the Alemanni capitulation to Frankish suzerainty and did not appoint a successor to Lantfrid. Thus, southern Germany once more became part of the Frankish kingdom, as had northern Germany during the first years of the reign.

But by 730, his own realm secure, Charles began to prepare exclusively for the coming storm from the south and west.

In 721, the emir of Córdoba had built up a strong army from Morocco, Yemen, and Syria to conquer Aquitaine, the large duchy in the southwest of Gaul, nominally under Frankish sovereignty, but in practice almost independent in the hands of the Odo the Great, the Duke of Aquitaine, since the Merovingian kings had lost power. The invading Muslims besieged the city of Toulouse, then Aquitaine's most important city, and Odo (also called Eudes, or Eudo) immediately left to find help. He returned three months later just before the city was about to surrender and defeated the Muslim invaders on June 9, 721, at what is now known as the Battle of Toulouse.

This critical defeat was essentially the result of a classic enveloping movement by Odo's forces. (After Odo originally fled, the Muslims became overconfident and, instead of maintaining strong outer defenses around their siege camp and continuous scouting, they did neither.) Thus, when Odo returned, he was able to launch a near complete surprise attack on the besieging force, scattering it at the first attack, and slaughtering units caught resting or that fled without weapons or armour.

Due to the situation in Iberia, Martel believed he needed a virtually fulltime army --one he could train intensely-- as a core of veteran Franks who would be augmented with the usual conscripts called up in time of war. (During the Early Middle Ages, troops were only available after the crops had been planted and before harvesting time.) To train the kind of infantry that could withstand the Muslim heavy cavalry, Charles needed them year-round, and he needed to pay them so their families could buy the food they would have otherwise grown. To obtain money he seized church lands and property, and used the funds to pay his soldiers. The same Charles who had secured the support of the ecclesia by donating land, seized some of it back between 724 and 732. Of course, Church officials were enraged, and, for a time, it looked as though Charles might even be excommunicated for his actions. But then came a significant invasion.

Eve of Tours

Historian Paul K. Davis said in 100 Decisive Battles "Having defeated Eudes, he turned to the Rhine to strengthen his northeastern borders - but in 725 was diverted south with the activity of the Muslims in Acquitane." Martel then concentrated his attention to the Umayyads, virtually for the remainder of his life. Indeed, 12 years later, when he had thrice rescued Gaul from Umayyad invasions, Antonio Santosuosso noted when he destroyed an Umayyad army sent to reinforce the invasion forces of the 735 campaigns, "Charles Martel again came to the rescue".It has been noted that Charles Martel could have pursued the wars against the Saxons-but he was determined to prepare for what he thought was a greater danger.

It is also vital to note that the Muslims were not aware, at that time, of the true strength of the Franks, or the fact that they were building a real army instead of the typical barbarian hordes that had infested Europe after Rome's fall. They considered the Germanic tribes, including the Franks, simply barbarians and were not particularly concerned about them. The Arab Chronicles, the history of that age, show that Arab awareness of the Franks as a growing military power came only after the Battle of Tours when the Caliph expressed shock at his army's catastrophic defeat.

Battle of Tours (Poitiers)

Leadup and Importance

"It was under one of their ablest and most renowned commanders, with a veteran army, and with every apparent advantage of time, place, and circumstance, that the Arabs made their great effort at the conquest of Europe north of the Pyrenees."

-Edward Shepherd Creasy, The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World

The Cordoban emirate had previously invaded Gaul and had been stopped in its northward sweep at the Battle of Toulouse, in 721. The hero of that less celebrated event had been Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine, who was not the progenitor of a race of kings and patron of chroniclers. It has previously been explained how Odo defeated the invading Muslims, but when they returned, things were far different. The arrival in the interim of a new emir of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who brought with him a huge force of Arabs and Berber horsemen, triggered a far greater invasion. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had been at Toulouse, and the Arab Chronicles make clear he had strongly opposed the Emir's decision not to secure outer defenses against a relief force, which allowed Odo and his relief force to attack with impunity before the Islamic cavalry could assemble or mount. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had no intention of permitting such a disaster again. This time the Umayyad horsemen were ready for battle, and the results were horrific for the Aquitanians. Odo, hero of Toulouse, was badly defeated in the Muslim invasion of 732 at the battle prior to the Muslim sacking of Bordeaux, and when he gathered a second army, at the Battle of the River Garonne-where the western chroniclers state, "God alone knows the number of the slain"- and the city of Bordeaux was sacked and looted. Odo fled to Charles, seeking help. Charles agreed to come to Odo's rescue, provided Odo acknowledged Charles and his house as his Overlords, which Odo did formally at once. Thus, Odo faded into history while Charles marched into it. It is interesting to note that Charles was pragmatic; while most commanders would never use their enemies in battle, Odo and his remaining Aquitanian nobles formed the right flank of Charles' forces at Tours.

The Battle of Tours earned Charles the cognomen "Martel" ('Hammer'), for the merciless way he hammered his enemies. Many historians, including the great military historian Sir Edward Creasy, believe that had he failed at Tours, Islam would probably have overrun Gaul, and perhaps the remainder of western Christian Europe. Gibbon made clear his belief that the Umayyad armies would have conquered from Rome to the Rhine, and even England, having the English Channel for protection, with ease, had Martel not prevailed. Creasy said "the great victory won by Charles Martel ... gave a decisive check to the career of Arab conquest in Western Europe, rescued Christendom from Islam, [and] preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilization." Gibbon's belief that the fate of Christianity hinged on this battle is echoed by other historians including John B. Bury, and was very popular for most of modern historiography. It fell somewhat out of style in the twentieth century, when historians such as Bernard Lewis contended that Arabs had little intention of occupying northern France. More recently, however, many historians have tended once again to view the Battle of Tours as a very significant event in the history of Europe and Christianity. Equally, many, such as William Watson, still believe this battle was one of macrohistorical world-changing importance, if they do not go so far as Gibbon does rhetorically.

In the modern era, Matthew Bennett and his co-authors of "Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World", published in 2005, argue that "few battles are remembered 1,000 years after they are fought...but the Battle of Poitiers, (Tours) is an exception...Charles Martel turned back a Muslim raid that had it been allowed to continue, might have conquered Gaul." Michael Grant, author of "History of Rome", grants the Battle of Tours such importance that he lists it in the macrohistorical dates of the Roman era.

It is important to note however that modern western historians, military historians, and writers, essentially fall into three camps. The first, those who believe Gibbon was right in his assessment that Martel saved Christianity and western civilization by this Battle are typified by Bennett, Paul Davis, Robert Martin, and educationalist Dexter B. Wakefield who writes in An Islamic Europe
“ A Muslim France? Historically, it nearly happened. But as a result of Martel’s fierce opposition, which ended Muslim advances and set the stage for centuries of war thereafter, Islam moved no farther into Europe. European schoolchildren learn about the Battle of Tours in much the same way that American students learn about Valley Forge and Gettysburg.”

The second camp of contemporary historians believe that a failure by Martel at Tours could have been a disaster, destroying what would become western civilization after the Renaissance. Certainly all historians agree that no power would have remained in Europe able to halt Islamic expansion had the Franks failed. William E. Watson, one of the most respected historians of this era, strongly supports Tours as a macrohistorical event, but distances himself from the rhetoric of Gibbon and Drubeck, writing, for example, of the battle's importance in Frankish, and world, history in 1993:

“ There is clearly some justification for ranking Tours-Poitiers among the most significant events in Frankish history when one considers the result of the battle in light of the remarkable record of the successful establishment by Muslims of Islamic political and cultural dominance along the entire eastern and southern rim of the former Christian, Roman world. The rapid Muslim conquest of Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the North African coast all the way to Morocco in the seventh century resulted in the permanent imposition by force of Islamic culture onto a previously Christian and largely non-Arab base. The Visigothic kingdom fell to Muslim conquerors in a single battle on the Rio Barbate in 711, and the Hispanic Christian population took seven long centuries to regain control of the Iberian Peninsula. The Reconquista, of course, was completed in 1492, only months before Columbus received official backing for his fateful voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Had Charles Martel suffered at Tours-Poitiers the fate of King Roderick at the Rio Barbate, it is doubtful that a "do-nothing" sovereign of the Merovingian realm could have later succeeded where his talented major domus had failed. Indeed, as Charles was the progenitor of the Carolingian line of Frankish rulers and grandfather of Charlemagne, one can even say with a degree of certainty that the subsequent history of the West would have proceeded along vastly different currents had ‘Abd ar-Rahman been victorious at Tours-Poitiers in 732.”

The final camp of western historians believe that Tours was vastly overrated. This view is typified by Alessandro Barbero, who writes, "Today, historians tend to play down the significance of the battle of Poitiers, pointing out that the purpose of the Arab force defeated by Charles Martel was not to conquer the Frankish kingdom, but simply to pillage the wealthy monastery of St-Martin of Tours". Similarly, Tomaž Mastnak writes:

“ Modern historians have constructed a myth presenting this victory as having saved Christian Europe from the Muslims. Edward Gibbon, for example, called Charles Martel the savior of Christendom and the battle near Poitiers an encounter that changed the history of the world... This myth has survived well into our own times... Contemporaries of the battle, however, did not overstate its significance. The continuators of Fredegar's chronicle, who probably wrote in the mid-eighth century, pictured the battle as just one of many military encounters between Christians and Saracens - moreover, as only one in a series of wars fought by Frankish princes for booty and territory... One of Fredegar's continuators presented the battle of Poitiers as what it really was: an episode in the struggle between Christian princes as the Carolingians strove to bring Aquitaine under their rule.”

However, it is vital to note, when assessing Charles Martel's life, that even those historians who dispute the significance of this one Battle as the event that saved Christianity, do not dispute that Martel himself had a huge effect on western history. Modern military historian Victor Davis Hanson acknowledges the debate on this battle, citing historians both for and against its macrohistorical placement:

“ Recent scholars have suggested Poitiers, so poorly recorded in contemporary sources, was a mere raid and thus a construct of western mythmaking or that a Muslim victory might have been preferable to continued Frankish dominance. What is clear is that Poitiers marked a general continuance of the successful defense of Europe, (from the Muslims). Flush from the victory at Tours, Charles Martel went on to clear southern France from Islamic attackers for decades, unify the warring kingdoms into the foundations of the Carolingian Empire, and ensure ready and reliable troops from local estates.". ”

Battle

The Battle of Tours probably took place somewhere between Tours and Poitiers (hence its other name: Battle of Poitiers). The Frankish army, under Charles Martel, consisted mostly of veteran infantry, somewhere between 15,000 and 75,000 men. While Charles had some cavalry, they did not have stirrups, so he had them dismount and reinforce his phalanx. Odo and his Aquitanian nobility were also normally cavalry, but they also dismounted at the Battle's onset, to buttress the phalanx. Responding to the Umayyad invasion, the Franks had avoided the old Roman roads, hoping to take the invaders by surprise. Martel believed it was absolutely essential that he not only take the Umayyads by surprise, but that he be allowed to select the ground on which the battle would be fought, ideally a high, wooded plain where the Islamic horsemen, already tired from carrying armour, would be further exhausted charging uphill. Further, the woods would aid the Franks in their defensive square by partially impeding the ability of the Umayyad horsemen to make a clear charge.

From the Muslim accounts of the battle, they were indeed taken by surprise to find a large force opposing their expected sack of Tours, and they waited for six days, scouting the enemy and summoning all their raiding parties so their full strength was present for the battle. Emir Abdul Rahman was an able general who did not like the unknown at all, and he did not like charging uphill against an unknown number of foes who seemed well-disciplined and well-disposed for battle. But the weather was also a factor. The Germanic Franks, in their wolf and bear pelts, were more used to the cold, better dressed for it, and despite not having tents, which the Muslims did, were prepared to wait as long as needed, the autumn only growing colder.

On the seventh day, the Umayyad army, mostly Berber and Arab horsemen and led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, attacked. During the battle, the Franks defeated the Islamic army and the emir was killed. While Western accounts are sketchy, Arab accounts are fairly detailed in describing how the Franks formed a large square and fought a brilliant defensive battle. Rahman had doubts before the battle that his men were ready for such a struggle, and should have had them abandon the loot which hindered them, but instead decided to trust his horsemen, who had never failed him. Indeed, it was thought impossible for infantry of that age to withstand armoured cavalry.
Martel managed to inspire his men to stand firm against a force which must have seemed invincible to them, huge mailed horsemen, who, in addition, probably vastly outnumbered the Franks. In one of the rare instances where medieval infantry stood up against cavalry charges, the disciplined Frankish soldiers withstood the assaults even though, according to Arab sources, the Umayyad cavalry several times broke into the interior of the Frankish square. The scene is described in Bishop Isidore of Beja's Chronicle (translated passage from Fordham University's Internet Medieval Source Book):

"And in the shock of the battle the men of the North seemed like a sea that cannot be moved. Firmly they stood, one close to another, forming as it were a bulwark of ice; and with great blows of their swords they hewed down the Arabs. Drawn up in a band around their chief, the people of the Austrasians carried all before them. Their tireless hands drove their swords down to the breasts of the foe."

Both accounts agree that the Umayyad forces had broken into the square and were trying to kill Martel, whose liege men had surrounded him and would not be broken, when a trick Charles had planned before the battle bore fruit beyond his wildest dreams. Both Western and Muslim accounts of the battle agree that sometime during the height of the fighting, with the battle still in grave doubt, scouts sent by Martel to the Muslim camp began freeing prisoners. Fearing loss of their plunder, a large portion of the Muslim army abandoned the battle and returned to camp to protect their spoils. In attempting to stop what appeared to be a retreat, Abdul Rahman was surrounded and killed by the Franks, and what started as a ruse ended up a real retreat, as the Umayyad army fled the field that day. The Franks resumed their phalanx, and rested in place through the night, believing the battle would resume at dawn of the following morning.

The next day, when the Umayyad army did not renew the battle, the Franks feared an ambush. Charles at first believed the Muslims were attempting to lure him down the hill and into the open, a tactic he would resist at all costs. Only after extensive reconnaissance by Frankish soldiers of the Umayyad camp-which by both accounts had been so hastily abandoned that even the tents remained, as the Umayyad forces headed back to Iberia with what spoils remained that they could carry-was it discovered that the Muslims had retreated during the night. As the Arab Chronicles would later reveal, the generals from the different parts of the Caliphate, Berbers, Arabs, Persians and many more, had been unable to agree on a leader to take Abd er Rahman's place as Emir, or even to agree on a commander to lead them the following day. Only the Emir, Abd er Rahman, had a Fatwa from the Caliph, and thus absolute authority over the faithful under arms. With his death, and with the varied nationalities and ethnicities present in an army drawn from all over the Caliphate, politics, racial and ethnic bias, and personalities reared their head. The inability of the bickering generals to select anyone to lead resulted in the wholesale withdrawal of an army that might have been able to resume the battle and defeat the Franks.

Martel's ability to have Abd er Rahman killed through a clever ruse he had carefully planned to cause confusion, at the battle's apex, and his years spent rigorously training his men, combined to do what was thought impossible: Martel's Franks, virtually all heavy infantry, withstood both mailed heavy cavalry with 20 foot lances, and bow-wielding light cavalry, without the aid of bows or firearms. This was a feat of war almost unheard of in medieval history, a feat which even the heavily armored Roman legions proved themselves incapable of against the Parthians, and left Martel a unique place in history as the savior of Europe and a brilliant general in an age not known for its generalship.

After Tours

In the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Frisians and Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne, primarily because Martel concentrated the bulk of his efforts against Muslim expansion.
So instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he continued expanding Frankish authority in the west, and denying the Emirate of Córdoba a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus. After his victory at Tours, Martel continued on in campaigns in 736 and 737 to drive other Muslim armies from bases in Gaul after they again attempted to get a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus.

Wars From 732-737

Between his victory of 732 and 735, Charles reorganized the kingdom of Burgundy, replacing the counts and dukes with his loyal supporters, thus strengthening his hold on power. He was forced, by the ventures of Radbod, duke of the Frisians (719-734), son of the Duke Aldegisel who had accepted the missionaries Willibrord and Boniface, to invade independence-minded Frisia again in 734. In that year, he slew the duke, who had expelled the Christian missionaries, in the battle of the Boarn and so wholly subjugated the populace (he destroyed every pagan shrine) that the people were peaceful for twenty years after.

The dynamic changed in 735 because of the death of Odo the Great, who had been forced to acknowledge, albeit reservedly, the suzerainty of Charles in 719. Though Charles wished to unite the duchy directly to himself and went there to elicit the proper homage of the Aquitainians, the nobility proclaimed Odo's son, Hunold, whose dukedom Charles recognised when the Umayyads invaded Provence the next year, and who equally was forced to acknowledge Charles as overlord as he had no hope of holding off the Muslims alone.

This naval Arab invasion was headed by Abdul Rahman's son. It landed in Narbonne in 736 and moved at once to reinforce Arles and move inland. Charles temporarily put the conflict with Hunold on hold, and descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Umayyads. In 736, he retook Montfrin and Avignon, and Arles and Aix-en-Provence with the help of Liutprand, King of the Lombards. Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, held by Islam since 725, fell to him and their fortresses were destroyed. He crushed one Umayyad army at Arles, as that force sallied out of the city, and then took the city itself by a direct and brutal frontal attack, and burned it to the ground to prevent its use again as a stronghold for Umayyad expansion. He then moved swiftly and defeated a mighty host outside of Narbonnea at the River Berre, but failed to take the city. Military historians believe he could have taken it, had he chosen to tie up all his resources to do so-but he believed his life was coming to a close, and he had much work to do to prepare for his sons to take control of the Frankish realm. A direct frontal assault, such as took Arles, using rope ladders and rams, plus a few catapults, simply was not sufficient to take Narbonne without horrific loss of life for the Franks, troops Martel felt he could not lose. Nor could he spare years to starve the city into submission, years he needed to set up the administration of an empire his heirs would reign over. He left Narbonne therefore, isolated and surrounded, and his son would return to liberate it for Christianity.
Notable about these campaigns was Charles' incorporation, for the first time, of heavy cavalry with stirrups to augment his phalanx. His ability to coordinate infantry and cavalry veterans was unequaled in that era and enabled him to face superior numbers of invaders, and to decisively defeat them again and again. Some historians believe the Battle against the main Muslim force at the River Berre, near Narbonne, in particular was as important a victory for Christian Europe as Tours. In Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels, Antonio Santosuosso, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Western Ontario, and considered an expert historian in the era in dispute, puts forth an interesting modern opinion on Martel, Tours, and the subsequent campaigns against Rahman's son in 736-737. Santosuosso presents a compelling case that these later defeats of invading Muslim armies were at least as important as Tours in their defence of Western Christendom and the preservation of Western monasticism, the monasteries of which were the centers of learning which ultimately led Europe out of her Middle Ages. He also makes a compelling argument, after studying the Arab histories of the period, that these were clearly armies of invasion, sent by the Caliph not just to avenge Tours, but to begin the conquest of Christian Europe and bring it into the Caliphate.

Further, unlike his father at Tours, Rahman's son in 736-737 knew that the Franks were a real power, and that Martel personally was a force to be reckoned with. He had no intention of allowing Martel to catch him unawares and dictate the time and place of battle, as his father had, and concentrated instead on seizing a substantial portion of the coastal plains around Narbonne in 736 and heavily reinforced Arles as he advanced inland. They planned from there to move from city to city, fortifying as they went, and if Martel wished to stop them from making a permanent enclave for expansion of the Caliphate, he would have to come to them, in the open, where, he, unlike his father, would dictate the place of battle. All worked as he had planned, until Martel arrived, albeit more swiftly than the Moors believed he could call up his entire army. Unfortunately for Rahman's son, however, he had overestimated the time it would take Martel to develop heavy cavalry equal to that of the Muslims. The Caliphate believed it would take a generation, but Martel managed it in five short years. Prepared to face the Frankish phalanx, the Muslims were totally unprepared to face a mixed force of heavy cavalry and infantry in a phalanx. Thus, Charles again championed Christianity and halted Muslim expansion into Europe, as the window was closing on Islamic ability to do so. These defeats, plus those at the hands of Leo in Anatolia were the last great attempt at expansion by the Umayyad Caliphate before the destruction of the dynasty at the Battle of the Zab, and the rending of the Caliphate forever, especially the utter destruction of the Umayyad army at River Berre near Narbonne in 737.

Interregnum

In 737, at the tail end of his campaigning in Provence and Septimania, the king, Theuderic IV, died. Martel, titling himself maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum, did not appoint a new king and nobody acclaimed one. The throne lay vacant until Martel's death. As the historian Charles Oman says (The Dark Ages, pg 297), "he cared not for name or style so long as the real power was in his hands."

Gibbon has said Martel was "content with the titles of Mayor or Duke of the Franks, but he deserved to become the father of a line of kings," which he did. Gibbon also says of him, "in the public danger, he was summoned by the voice of his country."

The interregnum, the final four years of Charles' life, was more peaceful than most of it had been and much of his time was now spent on administrative and organisational plans to create a more efficient state. Though, in 738, he compelled the Saxons of Westphalia to do him homage and pay tribute, and in 739 checked an uprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus. Charles set about integrating the outlying realms of his empire into the Frankish church. He erected four dioceses in Bavaria (Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau) and gave them Boniface as archbishop and metropolitan over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at Mainz. Boniface had been under his protection from 723 on; indeed the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. It was Boniface who had defended Charles most stoutly for his deeds in seizing ecclesiastical lands to pay his army in the days leading to Tours, as one doing what he must to defend Christianity. In 739, Pope Gregory III begged Charles for his aid against Liutprand, but Charles was loathe to fight his onetime ally and ignored the Papal plea. Nonetheless, the Papal applications for Frankish protection showed how far Martel had come from the days he was tottering on excommunication, and set the stage for his son and grandson to rearrange Italian political boundaries to suit the Papacy, and protect it.

Marriages and Children

Charles Martel married twice:

His first wife was Rotrude of Treves, (690-724) (daughter of St. Leutwinus, Bishop of Treves). They had the following children:
Hiltrud (d. 754), married Odilo I, Duke of Bavaria
Carloman
Landrade (Landres), married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania
Auda, Aldana, or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse
Pippin the Short

His second wife was Swanhild. They had the following child:
Grifo

Relationship and Children

Charles Martel also had a mistress, Ruodhaid. They had the following children:
Bernard (b. before 732-787)
Hieronymus
Remigius, Archbishop of Rouen (d. 771)
Ian (d. 783)

Death

Charles Martel died on October 22, 741, at Quierzy-sur-Oise in what is today the Aisne département in the Picardy region of France. He was buried at Saint Denis Basilica in Paris. His territories were divided among his adult sons a year earlier: to Carloman he gave Austrasia and Alemannia (with Bavaria as a vassal), to Pippin the Younger Neustria and Burgundy (with Aquitaine as a vassal), and to Grifo nothing, though some sources indicate he intended to give him a strip of land between Neustria and Austrasia.

Gibbon called him "the hero of the age" and declared "Christendom ... delivered ... by the genius and good fortune of one man, Charles Martel." A strong argument can be made that Gibbon was correct on both counts.

Legacy

At the beginning of Charles Martel's career, he had many internal opponents and felt the need to appoint his own kingly claimant, Clotaire IV. By his end, however, the dynamics of rulership in Francia had changed, no hallowed Meroving was needed, neither for defence nor legitimacy: Charles divided his realm between his sons without opposition (though he ignored his young son Bernard). In between, he strengthened the Frankish state by consistently defeating, through superior generalship, the host of hostile foreign nations which beset it on all sides, including the heathen Saxons, which his grandson Charlemagne would fully subdue, and Moors, which he halted on a path of continental domination.

Though he never cared about titles, his son Pippin did, and finally asked the Pope "who should be King, he who has the title, or he who has the power?" The Pope, highly dependent on Frankish armies for his independence from Lombard and Byzantine power (the Byzantine Emperor still considered himself to be the only legitimate "Roman Emperor", and thus, ruler of all of the provinces of the ancient empire, whether recognised or not), declared for "he who had the power" and immediately crowned Pippin.

Decades later, in 800, Pippin's son Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the Pope, further extending the principle by delegitimising the nominal authority of the Byzantine Emperor in the Italian peninsula (which had, by then, shrunk to encompass little more than Apulia and Calabria at best) and ancient Roman Gaul, including the Iberian outposts Charlemagne had established in the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees, what today forms Catalonia. In short, though the Byzantine Emperor claimed authority over all the old Roman Empire, as the legitimate "Roman" Emperor, it was simply not reality. The bulk of the Western Roman Empire had come under Carolingian rule, the Byzantine Emperor having had almost no authority in the West since the sixth century, though Charlemagne, a consummate politician, preferred to avoid an open breach with Constantinople. An institution unique in history was being born: the Holy Roman Empire. Though the sardonic Voltaire ridiculed its nomenclature, saying that the Holy Roman Empire was "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire," it constituted an enormous political power for a time, especially under the Saxon and Salian dynasties and, to a lesser, extent, the Hohenstaufen. It lasted until 1806, by then it was a nonentity. Though his grandson became its first emperor, the "empire" such as it was, was largely born during the reign of Charles Martel.

Charles was that rarest of commodities in the Middle Ages: a brilliant strategic general, who also was a tactical commander par excellence, able in the heat of battle to adapt his plans to his foe's forces and movement - and amazingly, to defeat them repeatedly, especially when, as at Tours, they were far superior in men and weaponry, and at Berre and Narbonne, when they were superior in numbers of fighting men. Charles had the last quality which defines genuine greatness in a military commander: he foresaw the dangers of his foes, and prepared for them with care; he used ground, time, place, and fierce loyalty of his troops to offset his foe's superior weaponry and tactics; third, he adapted, again and again, to the enemy on the battlefield, shifting to compensate for the unforeseen and unforeseeable.

Gibbon, whose tribute to Martel has been noted, was not alone among the great mid era historians in fervently praising Martel; Thomas Arnold ranks the victory of Charles Martel even higher than the victory of Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in its impact on all of modern history:
"Charles Martel's victory at Tours was among those signal deliverances which have affected for centuries the happiness of mankind." [History of the later Roman Commonwealth, vol ii. p. 317.]
German historians are especially ardent in their praise of Martel and in their belief that he saved Europe and Christianity from then all-conquering Islam, praising him also for driving back the ferocious Saxon barbarians on his borders. Schlegel speaks of this " mighty victory " in terms of fervent gratitude, and tells how " the arm of Charles Martel saved and delivered the Christian nations of the West from the deadly grasp of all-destroying Islam", and Ranke points out,
"as one of the most important epochs in the history of the world, the commencement of the eighth century, when on the one side Mohammedanism threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other the ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their champion, maintained them with all the energy which the necessity for self-defence calls forth, and finally extended them into new regions."

In 1922 and 1923, Belgian historian Henri Pirenne published a series of papers, known collectively as the "Pirenne Thesis", which remain influential to this day. Pirenne held that the Roman Empire continued, in the Frankish realms, up until the time of the Arab conquests in the 7th century. These conquests disrupted Mediterranean trade routes leading to a decline in the European economy. Such continued disruption would have meant complete disaster except for Charles Martel's halting of Islamic expansion into Europe from 732 on. What he managed to preserve led to the Carolingian Renaissance, named after him.

Professor Santosuosso perhaps sums up Martel best when he talks about his coming to the rescue of his Christian allies in Provence, and driving the Muslims back into the Iberian Peninsula forever in the mid and late 730's:

"After assembling forces at Saragossa the Muslims entered French territory in 735, crossed the River Rhone and captured and looted Arles. From there they struck into the heart of Provence, ending with the capture of Avignon, despite strong resistance. Islamic forces remained in French territory for about four years, carrying raids to Lyon, Burgundy, and Piedmont. Again Charles Martel came to the rescue, reconquering most of the lost territories in two campaigns in 736 and 739, except for the city of Narbonne, which finally fell in 759. The second (Muslim) expedition was probably more dangerous than the first to Poiters. Yet its failure (at Martel's hands) put an end to any serious Muslim expedition across the Pyrenees (forever)."

In the Netherlands, a vital part of the Carolingian Empire, and in the low countries, he is considered a hero. In France and Germany, he is revered as a hero of epic proportions.
Skilled as an administrator and ruler, Martel organized what would become the medieval European government: a system of fiefdoms, loyal to barons, counts, dukes and ultimately the King, or in his case, simply maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum. ("First or Dominant Mayor and Prince of the Franks") His close coordination of church with state began the medieval pattern for such government. He created what would become the first western standing army since the fall of Rome by his maintaining a core of loyal veterans around which he organized the normal feudal levies. In essence, he changed Europe from a horde of barbarians fighting with one another, to an organized state.

Beginning of the Reconquista

Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of Septimania and across the Pyrenees, Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil turned the tide of Islamic advances, and the unification of the Frankish kingdoms under Martel, his son Pippin the Younger, and his grandson Charlemagne created a western power which prevented the Emirate of Córdoba from expanding over the Pyrenees. Martel, who in 732 was on the verge of excommunication, instead was recognised by the Church as its paramount defender. Pope Gregory II wrote him more than once, asking his protection and aid, and he remained, till his death, fixated on stopping the Muslims. Martel's son Pippin the Younger kept his father's promise and returned and took Narbonne by siege in 759, and his grandson, Charlemagne, actually established the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia, reconquering Girona in 785 and Barcelona in 801. This sector of what is now Spain was then called "The Moorish Marches" by the Carolingians, who saw it as not just a check on the Muslims in Hispania, but the beginning of taking the entire country back. This formed a permanent buffer zone against Islam, which became the basis, along with the King of Asturias, named Pelayo (718-737, who started his fight against the Moors in the mountains of Covadonga, 722) and his descendants, for the Reconquista until all of the Muslims were eradicated from the Iberian Peninsula.

Military Legacy

Heavy Infantry and Permanent Army

Victor Davis Hanson argues that Charles Martel launched "the thousand year struggle" between European heavy infantry, and Muslim cavalry. Of course, Martel is also the father of heavy cavalry in Europe, as he integrated heavy armoured cavalry into his forces. This creation of a real army would continue all through his reign, and that of his son, Pepin the Short, until his Grandson, Charlemagne, would possess the world's largest and finest army since the peak of Rome. Equally, the Muslims used infantry - indeed, at the Battle of Toulouse most of their forces were light infantry. It was not till Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi brought a huge force of Arab and Berber cavalry with him when he assumed the emirate of Al-Andulus that the Muslim forces became primarily cavalry.
Martel's army was known primarily for being the first standing permanent army since Rome's fall in 476, and for the core of tough, seasoned heavy infantry who stood so stoutly at Tours. The Frankish infantry wore as much as 70 pounds of armour, including their heavy wooden shields with an iron boss. Standing close together, and well disciplined, they were unbreakable at Tours. Martel had taken the money and property he had seized from the church and paid local nobles to supply trained ready infantry year round. This was the core of veterans who served with him on a permanent basis, and as Hanson says, "provided a steady supply of dependable troops year around." This was the first permanent army since Rome. " While other Germanic cultures, such as the Visigoths or Vandals, had a proud martial tradition, and the Franks themselves had an annual muster of military aged men, such tribes were only able to field armies around planting and harvest. It was Martel's creation of a system whereby he could call on troops year round that gave the Carolingians the first standing and permanent army since Rome's fall in the west.

And, first and foremost, Charles Martel will always be remembered for his victory at Tours. Creasy argues that the Martel victory "preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilizations." Gibbon called those eight days in 732, the week leading up to Tours, and the battle itself, "the events that rescued our ancestors of Britain, and our neighbors of Gaul [France], from the civil and religious yoke of the Koran." Paul Akers, in his editorial on Charles Martel, says for those who value Christianity "you might spare a minute sometime today, and every October, to say a silent 'thank you' to a gang of half-savage Germans and especially to their leader, Charles 'The Hammer' Martel."

In his vision of what would be necessary for him to withstand a larger force and superior technology (the Muslim horsemen had adopted the armour and accoutrements of heavy cavalry from the Sassanid Warrior Class, which made the first knights possible), he, daring not to send his few horsemen against the Islamic cavalry, used his army to fight in a formation used by the ancient Greeks to withstand superior numbers and weapons by discipline, courage, and a willingness to die for their cause: a phalanx. He had trained a core of his men year round, using mostly Church funds, and some had literally been with him since his earliest days after his father's death. It was this hard core of disciplined veterans that won the day for him at Tours. Hanson emphasizes that Martel's greatest accomplishment as a General may have been his ability to keep his troops under control. This absolute iron discipline saved his infantry from the fate of so many infantrymen - such as the Saxons at Hastings - who broke formation and were slaughtered piecemeal. After using this infantry force by itself at Tours, he studied the foe's forces and further adapted to them, initially using stirrups and saddles recovered from the foe's dead horses, and armour from the dead horsemen.

Development of Heavy Cavalry

After 732, he began the integration into his army of heavy cavalry, using the armour and accoutrements of heavy armoured horsemen, training his infantry to fight in conjunction with cavalry, a tactic which stood him in good stead during his campaigns of 736-737, especially at the Battle of Narbonne. His incorporation of heavy armoured cavalry into the western forces created the first "knights" in the west.

Brilliant Generalship

Martel earned his reputation for brilliant generalship, in an age generally bereft of same, by his ability to use what he had and by integrating new ideas and technology. As a consequence, he was undefeated from 716 to his death against a wide range of opponents, including the Muslim cavalry (at that time, the world's best) and the fierce barbarian Saxons on his own borders -- and all this in spite of virtually always being outnumbered. He was the only general in the Middle Ages in Europe to use the eastern battle technique of feigned retreat. His ability to attack where he was least expected and when he was least expected was legendary. The process of the development of the famous chivalry of France continued in the Edict of Pistres of his great-great-grandson and namesake Charles the Bald.

The defeats Martel inflicted on the Muslims were vital in that the split in the Islamic world left the Caliphate unable to mount an all out attack on Europe via its Iberian stronghold after 750. His ability to meet this challenge, until the Muslims self-destructed, is considered by most historians to be of macrohistorical importance, and is why Dante writes of him in Heaven as one of the "Defenders of the Faith." After 750, the door to western Europe, the Iberian emirate, was in the hands of the Umayyads, while most of the remainder of the Muslim world came under the control of the Abbasids, making an invasion of Europe a logistical impossibility while the two Muslim empires battled. This put off Islamic invasion of Europe until the Turkish conquest of the Balkans half a millennium later.

H. G. Wells says of Charles Martel's decisive defeat of the Muslims in his "Short History of the World:

"The Moslim when they crossed the Pyrenees in 720 found this Frankish kingdom under the practical rule of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace of a degenerate descendant of Clovis, and experienced the decisive defeat of Poitiers (732) at his hands. This Charles Martel was practically overlord of Europe north of the Alps from the Pyrenees to Hungary."
John H. Haaren says in “Famous Men of the Middle Ages”

”The battle of Tours, or Poitiers, as it should be called, is regarded as one of the decisive battles of the world. It decided that Christians, and not Moslems, should be the ruling power in Europe. Charles Martel is especially celebrated as the hero of this battle.”

Just as his grandson, Charlemagne, would become famous for his swift and unexpected movements in his campaigns, Charles was legendary for never doing what his enemies forecast he would do. It was this ability to do the unforeseen, and move far faster than his opponents believed he could, that characterized the military career of Charles Martel.

It is notable that the Northmen did not begin their European raids until after the death of Martel's grandson, Charlemagne. They had the naval capacity to begin those raids at least three generations earlier, but chose not to challenge Martel, his son Pippin, or his grandson, Charlemagne. This was probably fortunate for Martel, who despite his enormous gifts, would probably not have been able to repel the Vikings in addition to the Muslims, Saxons, and everyone else he defeated. However, it is notable that again, despite the ability to do so, (the Danes had constructed defenses to defend from counterattacks by land, and had the ability to launch their wholesale sea raids as early as Martel's reign), they chose not to challenge Charles Martel.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martel>

Basic Life Information

Born ca. 688 Died October 22, 741

Charles Martel is primarily famous for his victory at the Battle of Tours, his stopping the Umayyad invasions of Europe during the Muslim Expansion Era, and his laying the foundation for the Carolingian Empire. (oil on canvas, painted by Charles de Steuben from 1834 till 1837)

Charles "The Hammer" Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus, English: Charles "the Hammer") (ca. 688 - 22 October 741) was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a titular King. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks (the last four years of his reign he did not even bother with the façade of a King) and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms. In 739 he was offered an office of Roman consul by the Pope, which he rejectedpossibly not to conflict with Theodatus Ursus who already occupied the office by appointment of the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian. He expanded his rule over all three of the Frankish kingdoms: Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy.

Martel was born in Herstal, in present-day Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida (or Chalpaida). He was described by Gustave Louis Maurice Strauss in his book "Moslem and Frank; or, Charles Martel and the rescue of Europe" as a tall, powerfully built man, who was more agile than his size would lead men to believe.

He is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers) in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as an event that halted the Islamic expansionism in Europe that had conquered Iberia. "Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization."

In addition to being the leader of the army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel was a truly giant figure of the Middle Ages. A brilliant general, he is considered the forefather of western heavy cavalry, chivalry, founder of the Carolingian Empire (which was named after him), and a catalyst for the feudal system, which would see Europe through the Middle Ages. Although some recent scholars have suggested he was more of a beneficiary of the feudal system than a knowing agent for social change, others continue to see him as the primary catalyst for the feudal system.

Birth and Youth

The following tale is told of Charles and of the origins of his name: in 686, Pippin II and his wife Plectrude were talking together in a room when they were intruded upon by a messenger, bringing news that the Mayor's mistress, Alpaida, had given birth to a son at Herstal. The messenger, fearful of arousing the wrath of Plectrude, decided not to announce the news directly. Instead, he said: "Long live the king, it is a carl" ('man'). Pippin, equally cautious of his wife, dismissed the messenger as follows: "A carl, is it? Then let him be called that." This was done, and, so legend claims, the child was named "Carl". Alpaida also bore Pippin another son, Childebrand.

Contesting for Power

In December 714, Pippin the Middle (Pippin II) died. Prior to his death, he had, at his wife Plectrude's urging, designated Theudoald, his grandson by their son Grimoald, his heir in the entire realm. This was immediately opposed by the nobles because Theudoald was a child of only eight years of age. To prevent Charles using this unrest to his own advantage, Plectrude had him gaoled (jailed) in Cologne, the city which was destined to be her capital. This prevented an uprising on his behalf in Austrasia, but not in Neustria.

Civil War of 715-718

In 715, the Neustrian noblesse proclaimed Ragenfrid mayor of their palace on behalf of, and apparently with the support of, Dagobert III, the young king, who in theory had the legal authority to select a mayor, though by this time the Merovingian dynasty had lost most such powers.

The Austrasians were not to be left supporting a woman and her young son for long. Before the end of the year, Charles Martel had escaped from prison and been acclaimed mayor by the nobles of that kingdom. The Neustrians had been attacking Austrasia and the nobles were waiting for a strong man to lead them against their invading countrymen. That year, Dagobert died and the Neustrians proclaimed Chilperic II king without the support of the rest of the Frankish people.

In 716, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia. The Neustrians allied with another invading force under Radbod, King of the Frisians and met Charles in battle near Cologne, which was still held by Plectrude. Charles had little time to gather men, or prepare, and the result was his only defeat. According to Strauss and Gustave, Martel fought a brilliant battle, but realized he could not prevail because he was outnumbered so badly, and retreated. In fact, he fled the field as soon as he realized he did not have the time or the men to prevail, retreating to the mountains of the Eifel to gather men, and train them. The king and his mayor then turned to besiege their other rival in the city and took it and the treasury, and received the recognition of both Chilperic as king and Ragenfrid as mayor. Plectrude surrendered on Theudoald's behalf.

Magnanimous in Victory

At this juncture, however, events turned in favour of Charles. Having made the proper preparations, he fell upon the triumphant army near Malmedy as it was returning to its own province, and, in the ensuing Battle of Amblève, routed it and it fled. Several things were notable about this battle, in which Charles set the pattern for the remainder of his military career: First, he appeared where his enemies least expected him, while they were marching triumphantly home and far outnumbered him. He also attacked when least expected, at midday, when armies of that era traditionally were resting. Finally, he attacked them how they least expected it, by feigning a retreat to draw his opponents into a trap. The feigned retreat, next to unknown in Western Europe at that time-it was a traditionally eastern tactic-required both extraordinary discipline on the part of the troops and exact timing on the part of their commander. Charles, in this battle, had begun demonstrating the military genius that would mark his rule, in that he never attacked his enemies where, when, or how they expected, and the result was an unbroken victory streak that lasted until his death.

In Spring 717, Charles returned to Neustria with an army and confirmed his supremacy with a victory at the Battle of Vincy, near Cambrai. He chased the fleeing king and mayor to Paris, before turning back to deal with Plectrude and Cologne. He took her city and dispersed her adherents. However, he allowed both Plectrude and the young Theudoald to live and treated them with kindness-unusual for those Dark Ages, when mercy to a former jailer, or a potential rival, was rare. On this success, he proclaimed Clotaire IV king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic and deposed the archbishop of Rheims, Rigobert, replacing him with Milo, a lifelong supporter.

Consolidation of Power

After subjugating all Austrasia, he marched against Radbod and pushed him back into his territory, even forcing the concession of West Frisia (later Holland). He also sent the Saxons back over the Weser and thus secured his borders-in the name of the new king Clotaire, of course. In 718, Chilperic responded to Charles' new ascendancy by making an alliance with Odo the Great (or Eudes, as he is sometimes known), the duke of Aquitaine, who had made himself independent during the civil war in 715, but was again defeated, at the Battle of Soissons, by Charles. The king fled with his ducal ally to the land south of the Loire and Ragenfrid fled to Angers. Soon Clotaire IV died and Odo gave up on Chilperic and, in exchange for recognising his dukedom, surrendered the king to Charles, who recognised his kingship over all the Franks in return for legitimate royal affirmation of his mayoralty, likewise over all the kingdoms (718).

Foreign Wars From 718-732

The ensuing years were full of strife. Between 718 and 723, Charles secured his power through a series of victories: he won the loyalty of several important bishops and abbots (by donating lands and money for the foundation of abbeys such as Echternach), he subjugated Bavaria and Alemannia, and he defeated the pagan Saxons.

Having unified the Franks under his banner, Charles was determined to punish the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia. Therefore, late in 718, he laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser, the Lippe, and the Ruhr. He defeated them in the Teutoburg Forest. In 719, Charles seized West Frisia without any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, who had been subjects of the Franks but had seized control upon the death of Pippin. Although Charles did not trust the pagans, their ruler, Aldegisel, accepted Christianity, and Charles sent Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, the famous "Apostle to the Frisians" to convert the people. Charles also did much to support Winfrid, later Saint Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans."

When Chilperic II died the following year (720), Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Theuderic IV, who was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 to 737. Charles was now appointing the kings whom he supposedly served, rois fainéants who were mere puppets in his hands; by the end of his reign they were so useless that he didn't even bother appointing one. At this time, Charles again marched against the Saxons. Then the Neustrians rebelled under Ragenfrid, who had been left the county of Anjou. They were easily defeated (724), but Ragenfrid gave up his sons as hostages in turn for keeping his county. This ended the civil wars of Charles' reign.

The next six years were devoted in their entirety to assuring Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes. Between 720 and 723, Charles was fighting in Bavaria, where the Agilolfing dukes had gradually evolved into independent rulers, recently in alliance with Liutprand the Lombard. He forced the Alemanni to accompany him, and Duke Hugbert submitted to Frankish suzerainty. In 725 and 728, he again entered Bavaria and the ties of lordship seemed strong. From his first campaign, he brought back the Agilolfing princess Swanachild, who apparently became his concubine. In 730, he marched against Lantfrid, duke of Alemannia, who had also become independent, and killed him in battle. He forced the Alemanni capitulation to Frankish suzerainty and did not appoint a successor to Lantfrid. Thus, southern Germany once more became part of the Frankish kingdom, as had northern Germany during the first years of the reign.

But by 730, his own realm secure, Charles began to prepare exclusively for the coming storm from the south and west.

In 721, the emir of Córdoba had built up a strong army from Morocco, Yemen, and Syria to conquer Aquitaine, the large duchy in the southwest of Gaul, nominally under Frankish sovereignty, but in practice almost independent in the hands of the Odo the Great, the Duke of Aquitaine, since the Merovingian kings had lost power. The invading Muslims besieged the city of Toulouse, then Aquitaine's most important city, and Odo (also called Eudes, or Eudo) immediately left to find help. He returned three months later just before the city was about to surrender and defeated the Muslim invaders on June 9, 721, at what is now known as the Battle of Toulouse.

This critical defeat was essentially the result of a classic enveloping movement by Odo's forces. (After Odo originally fled, the Muslims became overconfident and, instead of maintaining strong outer defenses around their siege camp and continuous scouting, they did neither.) Thus, when Odo returned, he was able to launch a near complete surprise attack on the besieging force, scattering it at the first attack, and slaughtering units caught resting or that fled without weapons or armour.

Due to the situation in Iberia, Martel believed he needed a virtually fulltime army --one he could train intensely-- as a core of veteran Franks who would be augmented with the usual conscripts called up in time of war. (During the Early Middle Ages, troops were only available after the crops had been planted and before harvesting time.) To train the kind of infantry that could withstand the Muslim heavy cavalry, Charles needed them year-round, and he needed to pay them so their families could buy the food they would have otherwise grown. To obtain money he seized church lands and property, and used the funds to pay his soldiers. The same Charles who had secured the support of the ecclesia by donating land, seized some of it back between 724 and 732. Of course, Church officials were enraged, and, for a time, it looked as though Charles might even be excommunicated for his actions. But then came a significant invasion.

Eve of Tours

Historian Paul K. Davis said in 100 Decisive Battles "Having defeated Eudes, he turned to the Rhine to strengthen his northeastern borders - but in 725 was diverted south with the activity of the Muslims in Acquitane." Martel then concentrated his attention to the Umayyads, virtually for the remainder of his life. Indeed, 12 years later, when he had thrice rescued Gaul from Umayyad invasions, Antonio Santosuosso noted when he destroyed an Umayyad army sent to reinforce the invasion forces of the 735 campaigns, "Charles Martel again came to the rescue".It has been noted that Charles Martel could have pursued the wars against the Saxons-but he was determined to prepare for what he thought was a greater danger.

It is also vital to note that the Muslims were not aware, at that time, of the true strength of the Franks, or the fact that they were building a real army instead of the typical barbarian hordes that had infested Europe after Rome's fall. They considered the Germanic tribes, including the Franks, simply barbarians and were not particularly concerned about them. The Arab Chronicles, the history of that age, show that Arab awareness of the Franks as a growing military power came only after the Battle of Tours when the Caliph expressed shock at his army's catastrophic defeat.

Battle of Tours (Poitiers)

Leadup and Importance

"It was under one of their ablest and most renowned commanders, with a veteran army, and with every apparent advantage of time, place, and circumstance, that the Arabs made their great effort at the conquest of Europe north of the Pyrenees."

-Edward Shepherd Creasy, The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World

The Cordoban emirate had previously invaded Gaul and had been stopped in its northward sweep at the Battle of Toulouse, in 721. The hero of that less celebrated event had been Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine, who was not the progenitor of a race of kings and patron of chroniclers. It has previously been explained how Odo defeated the invading Muslims, but when they returned, things were far different. The arrival in the interim of a new emir of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who brought with him a huge force of Arabs and Berber horsemen, triggered a far greater invasion. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had been at Toulouse, and the Arab Chronicles make clear he had strongly opposed the Emir's decision not to secure outer defenses against a relief force, which allowed Odo and his relief force to attack with impunity before the Islamic cavalry could assemble or mount. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had no intention of permitting such a disaster again. This time the Umayyad horsemen were ready for battle, and the results were horrific for the Aquitanians. Odo, hero of Toulouse, was badly defeated in the Muslim invasion of 732 at the battle prior to the Muslim sacking of Bordeaux, and when he gathered a second army, at the Battle of the River Garonne-where the western chroniclers state, "God alone knows the number of the slain"- and the city of Bordeaux was sacked and looted. Odo fled to Charles, seeking help. Charles agreed to come to Odo's rescue, provided Odo acknowledged Charles and his house as his Overlords, which Odo did formally at once. Thus, Odo faded into history while Charles marched into it. It is interesting to note that Charles was pragmatic; while most commanders would never use their enemies in battle, Odo and his remaining Aquitanian nobles formed the right flank of Charles' forces at Tours.

The Battle of Tours earned Charles the cognomen "Martel" ('Hammer'), for the merciless way he hammered his enemies. Many historians, including the great military historian Sir Edward Creasy, believe that had he failed at Tours, Islam would probably have overrun Gaul, and perhaps the remainder of western Christian Europe. Gibbon made clear his belief that the Umayyad armies would have conquered from Rome to the Rhine, and even England, having the English Channel for protection, with ease, had Martel not prevailed. Creasy said "the great victory won by Charles Martel ... gave a decisive check to the career of Arab conquest in Western Europe, rescued Christendom from Islam, [and] preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilization." Gibbon's belief that the fate of Christianity hinged on this battle is echoed by other historians including John B. Bury, and was very popular for most of modern historiography. It fell somewhat out of style in the twentieth century, when historians such as Bernard Lewis contended that Arabs had little intention of occupying northern France. More recently, however, many historians have tended once again to view the Battle of Tours as a very significant event in the history of Europe and Christianity. Equally, many, such as William Watson, still believe this battle was one of macrohistorical world-changing importance, if they do not go so far as Gibbon does rhetorically.

In the modern era, Matthew Bennett and his co-authors of "Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World", published in 2005, argue that "few battles are remembered 1,000 years after they are fought...but the Battle of Poitiers, (Tours) is an exception...Charles Martel turned back a Muslim raid that had it been allowed to continue, might have conquered Gaul." Michael Grant, author of "History of Rome", grants the Battle of Tours such importance that he lists it in the macrohistorical dates of the Roman era.

It is important to note however that modern western historians, military historians, and writers, essentially fall into three camps. The first, those who believe Gibbon was right in his assessment that Martel saved Christianity and western civilization by this Battle are typified by Bennett, Paul Davis, Robert Martin, and educationalist Dexter B. Wakefield who writes in An Islamic Europe
“ A Muslim France? Historically, it nearly happened. But as a result of Martel’s fierce opposition, which ended Muslim advances and set the stage for centuries of war thereafter, Islam moved no farther into Europe. European schoolchildren learn about the Battle of Tours in much the same way that American students learn about Valley Forge and Gettysburg.”

The second camp of contemporary historians believe that a failure by Martel at Tours could have been a disaster, destroying what would become western civilization after the Renaissance. Certainly all historians agree that no power would have remained in Europe able to halt Islamic expansion had the Franks failed. William E. Watson, one of the most respected historians of this era, strongly supports Tours as a macrohistorical event, but distances himself from the rhetoric of Gibbon and Drubeck, writing, for example, of the battle's importance in Frankish, and world, history in 1993:

“ There is clearly some justification for ranking Tours-Poitiers among the most significant events in Frankish history when one considers the result of the battle in light of the remarkable record of the successful establishment by Muslims of Islamic political and cultural dominance along the entire eastern and southern rim of the former Christian, Roman world. The rapid Muslim conquest of Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the North African coast all the way to Morocco in the seventh century resulted in the permanent imposition by force of Islamic culture onto a previously Christian and largely non-Arab base. The Visigothic kingdom fell to Muslim conquerors in a single battle on the Rio Barbate in 711, and the Hispanic Christian population took seven long centuries to regain control of the Iberian Peninsula. The Reconquista, of course, was completed in 1492, only months before Columbus received official backing for his fateful voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Had Charles Martel suffered at Tours-Poitiers the fate of King Roderick at the Rio Barbate, it is doubtful that a "do-nothing" sovereign of the Merovingian realm could have later succeeded where his talented major domus had failed. Indeed, as Charles was the progenitor of the Carolingian line of Frankish rulers and grandfather of Charlemagne, one can even say with a degree of certainty that the subsequent history of the West would have proceeded along vastly different currents had ‘Abd ar-Rahman been victorious at Tours-Poitiers in 732.”

The final camp of western historians believe that Tours was vastly overrated. This view is typified by Alessandro Barbero, who writes, "Today, historians tend to play down the significance of the battle of Poitiers, pointing out that the purpose of the Arab force defeated by Charles Martel was not to conquer the Frankish kingdom, but simply to pillage the wealthy monastery of St-Martin of Tours". Similarly, Tomaž Mastnak writes:

“ Modern historians have constructed a myth presenting this victory as having saved Christian Europe from the Muslims. Edward Gibbon, for example, called Charles Martel the savior of Christendom and the battle near Poitiers an encounter that changed the history of the world... This myth has survived well into our own times... Contemporaries of the battle, however, did not overstate its significance. The continuators of Fredegar's chronicle, who probably wrote in the mid-eighth century, pictured the battle as just one of many military encounters between Christians and Saracens - moreover, as only one in a series of wars fought by Frankish princes for booty and territory... One of Fredegar's continuators presented the battle of Poitiers as what it really was: an episode in the struggle between Christian princes as the Carolingians strove to bring Aquitaine under their rule.”

However, it is vital to note, when assessing Charles Martel's life, that even those historians who dispute the significance of this one Battle as the event that saved Christianity, do not dispute that Martel himself had a huge effect on western history. Modern military historian Victor Davis Hanson acknowledges the debate on this battle, citing historians both for and against its macrohistorical placement:

“ Recent scholars have suggested Poitiers, so poorly recorded in contemporary sources, was a mere raid and thus a construct of western mythmaking or that a Muslim victory might have been preferable to continued Frankish dominance. What is clear is that Poitiers marked a general continuance of the successful defense of Europe, (from the Muslims). Flush from the victory at Tours, Charles Martel went on to clear southern France from Islamic attackers for decades, unify the warring kingdoms into the foundations of the Carolingian Empire, and ensure ready and reliable troops from local estates.". ”

Battle

The Battle of Tours probably took place somewhere between Tours and Poitiers (hence its other name: Battle of Poitiers). The Frankish army, under Charles Martel, consisted mostly of veteran infantry, somewhere between 15,000 and 75,000 men. While Charles had some cavalry, they did not have stirrups, so he had them dismount and reinforce his phalanx. Odo and his Aquitanian nobility were also normally cavalry, but they also dismounted at the Battle's onset, to buttress the phalanx. Responding to the Umayyad invasion, the Franks had avoided the old Roman roads, hoping to take the invaders by surprise. Martel believed it was absolutely essential that he not only take the Umayyads by surprise, but that he be allowed to select the ground on which the battle would be fought, ideally a high, wooded plain where the Islamic horsemen, already tired from carrying armour, would be further exhausted charging uphill. Further, the woods would aid the Franks in their defensive square by partially impeding the ability of the Umayyad horsemen to make a clear charge.

From the Muslim accounts of the battle, they were indeed taken by surprise to find a large force opposing their expected sack of Tours, and they waited for six days, scouting the enemy and summoning all their raiding parties so their full strength was present for the battle. Emir Abdul Rahman was an able general who did not like the unknown at all, and he did not like charging uphill against an unknown number of foes who seemed well-disciplined and well-disposed for battle. But the weather was also a factor. The Germanic Franks, in their wolf and bear pelts, were more used to the cold, better dressed for it, and despite not having tents, which the Muslims did, were prepared to wait as long as needed, the autumn only growing colder.

On the seventh day, the Umayyad army, mostly Berber and Arab horsemen and led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, attacked. During the battle, the Franks defeated the Islamic army and the emir was killed. While Western accounts are sketchy, Arab accounts are fairly detailed in describing how the Franks formed a large square and fought a brilliant defensive battle. Rahman had doubts before the battle that his men were ready for such a struggle, and should have had them abandon the loot which hindered them, but instead decided to trust his horsemen, who had never failed him. Indeed, it was thought impossible for infantry of that age to withstand armoured cavalry.
Martel managed to inspire his men to stand firm against a force which must have seemed invincible to them, huge mailed horsemen, who, in addition, probably vastly outnumbered the Franks. In one of the rare instances where medieval infantry stood up against cavalry charges, the disciplined Frankish soldiers withstood the assaults even though, according to Arab sources, the Umayyad cavalry several times broke into the interior of the Frankish square. The scene is described in Bishop Isidore of Beja's Chronicle (translated passage from Fordham University's Internet Medieval Source Book):

"And in the shock of the battle the men of the North seemed like a sea that cannot be moved. Firmly they stood, one close to another, forming as it were a bulwark of ice; and with great blows of their swords they hewed down the Arabs. Drawn up in a band around their chief, the people of the Austrasians carried all before them. Their tireless hands drove their swords down to the breasts of the foe."

Both accounts agree that the Umayyad forces had broken into the square and were trying to kill Martel, whose liege men had surrounded him and would not be broken, when a trick Charles had planned before the battle bore fruit beyond his wildest dreams. Both Western and Muslim accounts of the battle agree that sometime during the height of the fighting, with the battle still in grave doubt, scouts sent by Martel to the Muslim camp began freeing prisoners. Fearing loss of their plunder, a large portion of the Muslim army abandoned the battle and returned to camp to protect their spoils. In attempting to stop what appeared to be a retreat, Abdul Rahman was surrounded and killed by the Franks, and what started as a ruse ended up a real retreat, as the Umayyad army fled the field that day. The Franks resumed their phalanx, and rested in place through the night, believing the battle would resume at dawn of the following morning.

The next day, when the Umayyad army did not renew the battle, the Franks feared an ambush. Charles at first believed the Muslims were attempting to lure him down the hill and into the open, a tactic he would resist at all costs. Only after extensive reconnaissance by Frankish soldiers of the Umayyad camp-which by both accounts had been so hastily abandoned that even the tents remained, as the Umayyad forces headed back to Iberia with what spoils remained that they could carry-was it discovered that the Muslims had retreated during the night. As the Arab Chronicles would later reveal, the generals from the different parts of the Caliphate, Berbers, Arabs, Persians and many more, had been unable to agree on a leader to take Abd er Rahman's place as Emir, or even to agree on a commander to lead them the following day. Only the Emir, Abd er Rahman, had a Fatwa from the Caliph, and thus absolute authority over the faithful under arms. With his death, and with the varied nationalities and ethnicities present in an army drawn from all over the Caliphate, politics, racial and ethnic bias, and personalities reared their head. The inability of the bickering generals to select anyone to lead resulted in the wholesale withdrawal of an army that might have been able to resume the battle and defeat the Franks.

Martel's ability to have Abd er Rahman killed through a clever ruse he had carefully planned to cause confusion, at the battle's apex, and his years spent rigorously training his men, combined to do what was thought impossible: Martel's Franks, virtually all heavy infantry, withstood both mailed heavy cavalry with 20 foot lances, and bow-wielding light cavalry, without the aid of bows or firearms. This was a feat of war almost unheard of in medieval history, a feat which even the heavily armored Roman legions proved themselves incapable of against the Parthians, and left Martel a unique place in history as the savior of Europe and a brilliant general in an age not known for its generalship.

After Tours

In the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Frisians and Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne, primarily because Martel concentrated the bulk of his efforts against Muslim expansion.
So instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he continued expanding Frankish authority in the west, and denying the Emirate of Córdoba a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus. After his victory at Tours, Martel continued on in campaigns in 736 and 737 to drive other Muslim armies from bases in Gaul after they again attempted to get a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus.

Wars From 732-737

Between his victory of 732 and 735, Charles reorganized the kingdom of Burgundy, replacing the counts and dukes with his loyal supporters, thus strengthening his hold on power. He was forced, by the ventures of Radbod, duke of the Frisians (719-734), son of the Duke Aldegisel who had accepted the missionaries Willibrord and Boniface, to invade independence-minded Frisia again in 734. In that year, he slew the duke, who had expelled the Christian missionaries, in the battle of the Boarn and so wholly subjugated the populace (he destroyed every pagan shrine) that the people were peaceful for twenty years after.

The dynamic changed in 735 because of the death of Odo the Great, who had been forced to acknowledge, albeit reservedly, the suzerainty of Charles in 719. Though Charles wished to unite the duchy directly to himself and went there to elicit the proper homage of the Aquitainians, the nobility proclaimed Odo's son, Hunold, whose dukedom Charles recognised when the Umayyads invaded Provence the next year, and who equally was forced to acknowledge Charles as overlord as he had no hope of holding off the Muslims alone.

This naval Arab invasion was headed by Abdul Rahman's son. It landed in Narbonne in 736 and moved at once to reinforce Arles and move inland. Charles temporarily put the conflict with Hunold on hold, and descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Umayyads. In 736, he retook Montfrin and Avignon, and Arles and Aix-en-Provence with the help of Liutprand, King of the Lombards. Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, held by Islam since 725, fell to him and their fortresses were destroyed. He crushed one Umayyad army at Arles, as that force sallied out of the city, and then took the city itself by a direct and brutal frontal attack, and burned it to the ground to prevent its use again as a stronghold for Umayyad expansion. He then moved swiftly and defeated a mighty host outside of Narbonnea at the River Berre, but failed to take the city. Military historians believe he could have taken it, had he chosen to tie up all his resources to do so-but he believed his life was coming to a close, and he had much work to do to prepare for his sons to take control of the Frankish realm. A direct frontal assault, such as took Arles, using rope ladders and rams, plus a few catapults, simply was not sufficient to take Narbonne without horrific loss of life for the Franks, troops Martel felt he could not lose. Nor could he spare years to starve the city into submission, years he needed to set up the administration of an empire his heirs would reign over. He left Narbonne therefore, isolated and surrounded, and his son would return to liberate it for Christianity.
Notable about these campaigns was Charles' incorporation, for the first time, of heavy cavalry with stirrups to augment his phalanx. His ability to coordinate infantry and cavalry veterans was unequaled in that era and enabled him to face superior numbers of invaders, and to decisively defeat them again and again. Some historians believe the Battle against the main Muslim force at the River Berre, near Narbonne, in particular was as important a victory for Christian Europe as Tours. In Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels, Antonio Santosuosso, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Western Ontario, and considered an expert historian in the era in dispute, puts forth an interesting modern opinion on Martel, Tours, and the subsequent campaigns against Rahman's son in 736-737. Santosuosso presents a compelling case that these later defeats of invading Muslim armies were at least as important as Tours in their defence of Western Christendom and the preservation of Western monasticism, the monasteries of which were the centers of learning which ultimately led Europe out of her Middle Ages. He also makes a compelling argument, after studying the Arab histories of the period, that these were clearly armies of invasion, sent by the Caliph not just to avenge Tours, but to begin the conquest of Christian Europe and bring it into the Caliphate.

Further, unlike his father at Tours, Rahman's son in 736-737 knew that the Franks were a real power, and that Martel personally was a force to be reckoned with. He had no intention of allowing Martel to catch him unawares and dictate the time and place of battle, as his father had, and concentrated instead on seizing a substantial portion of the coastal plains around Narbonne in 736 and heavily reinforced Arles as he advanced inland. They planned from there to move from city to city, fortifying as they went, and if Martel wished to stop them from making a permanent enclave for expansion of the Caliphate, he would have to come to them, in the open, where, he, unlike his father, would dictate the place of battle. All worked as he had planned, until Martel arrived, albeit more swiftly than the Moors believed he could call up his entire army. Unfortunately for Rahman's son, however, he had overestimated the time it would take Martel to develop heavy cavalry equal to that of the Muslims. The Caliphate believed it would take a generation, but Martel managed it in five short years. Prepared to face the Frankish phalanx, the Muslims were totally unprepared to face a mixed force of heavy cavalry and infantry in a phalanx. Thus, Charles again championed Christianity and halted Muslim expansion into Europe, as the window was closing on Islamic ability to do so. These defeats, plus those at the hands of Leo in Anatolia were the last great attempt at expansion by the Umayyad Caliphate before the destruction of the dynasty at the Battle of the Zab, and the rending of the Caliphate forever, especially the utter destruction of the Umayyad army at River Berre near Narbonne in 737.

Interregnum

In 737, at the tail end of his campaigning in Provence and Septimania, the king, Theuderic IV, died. Martel, titling himself maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum, did not appoint a new king and nobody acclaimed one. The throne lay vacant until Martel's death. As the historian Charles Oman says (The Dark Ages, pg 297), "he cared not for name or style so long as the real power was in his hands."

Gibbon has said Martel was "content with the titles of Mayor or Duke of the Franks, but he deserved to become the father of a line of kings," which he did. Gibbon also says of him, "in the public danger, he was summoned by the voice of his country."

The interregnum, the final four years of Charles' life, was more peaceful than most of it had been and much of his time was now spent on administrative and organisational plans to create a more efficient state. Though, in 738, he compelled the Saxons of Westphalia to do him homage and pay tribute, and in 739 checked an uprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus. Charles set about integrating the outlying realms of his empire into the Frankish church. He erected four dioceses in Bavaria (Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau) and gave them Boniface as archbishop and metropolitan over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at Mainz. Boniface had been under his protection from 723 on; indeed the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. It was Boniface who had defended Charles most stoutly for his deeds in seizing ecclesiastical lands to pay his army in the days leading to Tours, as one doing what he must to defend Christianity. In 739, Pope Gregory III begged Charles for his aid against Liutprand, but Charles was loathe to fight his onetime ally and ignored the Papal plea. Nonetheless, the Papal applications for Frankish protection showed how far Martel had come from the days he was tottering on excommunication, and set the stage for his son and grandson to rearrange Italian political boundaries to suit the Papacy, and protect it.

Marriages and Children

Charles Martel married twice:

His first wife was Rotrude of Treves, (690-724) (daughter of St. Leutwinus, Bishop of Treves). They had the following children:
Hiltrud (d. 754), married Odilo I, Duke of Bavaria
Carloman
Landrade (Landres), married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania
Auda, Aldana, or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse
Pippin the Short

His second wife was Swanhild. They had the following child:
Grifo

Relationship and Children

Charles Martel also had a mistress, Ruodhaid. They had the following children:
Bernard (b. before 732-787)
Hieronymus
Remigius, Archbishop of Rouen (d. 771)
Ian (d. 783)

Death

Charles Martel died on October 22, 741, at Quierzy-sur-Oise in what is today the Aisne département in the Picardy region of France. He was buried at Saint Denis Basilica in Paris. His territories were divided among his adult sons a year earlier: to Carloman he gave Austrasia and Alemannia (with Bavaria as a vassal), to Pippin the Younger Neustria and Burgundy (with Aquitaine as a vassal), and to Grifo nothing, though some sources indicate he intended to give him a strip of land between Neustria and Austrasia.

Gibbon called him "the hero of the age" and declared "Christendom ... delivered ... by the genius and good fortune of one man, Charles Martel." A strong argument can be made that Gibbon was correct on both counts.

Legacy

At the beginning of Charles Martel's career, he had many internal opponents and felt the need to appoint his own kingly claimant, Clotaire IV. By his end, however, the dynamics of rulership in Francia had changed, no hallowed Meroving was needed, neither for defence nor legitimacy: Charles divided his realm between his sons without opposition (though he ignored his young son Bernard). In between, he strengthened the Frankish state by consistently defeating, through superior generalship, the host of hostile foreign nations which beset it on all sides, including the heathen Saxons, which his grandson Charlemagne would fully subdue, and Moors, which he halted on a path of continental domination.

Though he never cared about titles, his son Pippin did, and finally asked the Pope "who should be King, he who has the title, or he who has the power?" The Pope, highly dependent on Frankish armies for his independence from Lombard and Byzantine power (the Byzantine Emperor still considered himself to be the only legitimate "Roman Emperor", and thus, ruler of all of the provinces of the ancient empire, whether recognised or not), declared for "he who had the power" and immediately crowned Pippin.

Decades later, in 800, Pippin's son Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the Pope, further extending the principle by delegitimising the nominal authority of the Byzantine Emperor in the Italian peninsula (which had, by then, shrunk to encompass little more than Apulia and Calabria at best) and ancient Roman Gaul, including the Iberian outposts Charlemagne had established in the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees, what today forms Catalonia. In short, though the Byzantine Emperor claimed authority over all the old Roman Empire, as the legitimate "Roman" Emperor, it was simply not reality. The bulk of the Western Roman Empire had come under Carolingian rule, the Byzantine Emperor having had almost no authority in the West since the sixth century, though Charlemagne, a consummate politician, preferred to avoid an open breach with Constantinople. An institution unique in history was being born: the Holy Roman Empire. Though the sardonic Voltaire ridiculed its nomenclature, saying that the Holy Roman Empire was "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire," it constituted an enormous political power for a time, especially under the Saxon and Salian dynasties and, to a lesser, extent, the Hohenstaufen. It lasted until 1806, by then it was a nonentity. Though his grandson became its first emperor, the "empire" such as it was, was largely born during the reign of Charles Martel.

Charles was that rarest of commodities in the Middle Ages: a brilliant strategic general, who also was a tactical commander par excellence, able in the heat of battle to adapt his plans to his foe's forces and movement - and amazingly, to defeat them repeatedly, especially when, as at Tours, they were far superior in men and weaponry, and at Berre and Narbonne, when they were superior in numbers of fighting men. Charles had the last quality which defines genuine greatness in a military commander: he foresaw the dangers of his foes, and prepared for them with care; he used ground, time, place, and fierce loyalty of his troops to offset his foe's superior weaponry and tactics; third, he adapted, again and again, to the enemy on the battlefield, shifting to compensate for the unforeseen and unforeseeable.

Gibbon, whose tribute to Martel has been noted, was not alone among the great mid era historians in fervently praising Martel; Thomas Arnold ranks the victory of Charles Martel even higher than the victory of Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in its impact on all of modern history:
"Charles Martel's victory at Tours was among those signal deliverances which have affected for centuries the happiness of mankind." [History of the later Roman Commonwealth, vol ii. p. 317.]
German historians are especially ardent in their praise of Martel and in their belief that he saved Europe and Christianity from then all-conquering Islam, praising him also for driving back the ferocious Saxon barbarians on his borders. Schlegel speaks of this " mighty victory " in terms of fervent gratitude, and tells how " the arm of Charles Martel saved and delivered the Christian nations of the West from the deadly grasp of all-destroying Islam", and Ranke points out,
"as one of the most important epochs in the history of the world, the commencement of the eighth century, when on the one side Mohammedanism threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other the ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their champion, maintained them with all the energy which the necessity for self-defence calls forth, and finally extended them into new regions."

In 1922 and 1923, Belgian historian Henri Pirenne published a series of papers, known collectively as the "Pirenne Thesis", which remain influential to this day. Pirenne held that the Roman Empire continued, in the Frankish realms, up until the time of the Arab conquests in the 7th century. These conquests disrupted Mediterranean trade routes leading to a decline in the European economy. Such continued disruption would have meant complete disaster except for Charles Martel's halting of Islamic expansion into Europe from 732 on. What he managed to preserve led to the Carolingian Renaissance, named after him.

Professor Santosuosso perhaps sums up Martel best when he talks about his coming to the rescue of his Christian allies in Provence, and driving the Muslims back into the Iberian Peninsula forever in the mid and late 730's:

"After assembling forces at Saragossa the Muslims entered French territory in 735, crossed the River Rhone and captured and looted Arles. From there they struck into the heart of Provence, ending with the capture of Avignon, despite strong resistance. Islamic forces remained in French territory for about four years, carrying raids to Lyon, Burgundy, and Piedmont. Again Charles Martel came to the rescue, reconquering most of the lost territories in two campaigns in 736 and 739, except for the city of Narbonne, which finally fell in 759. The second (Muslim) expedition was probably more dangerous than the first to Poiters. Yet its failure (at Martel's hands) put an end to any serious Muslim expedition across the Pyrenees (forever)."

In the Netherlands, a vital part of the Carolingian Empire, and in the low countries, he is considered a hero. In France and Germany, he is revered as a hero of epic proportions.
Skilled as an administrator and ruler, Martel organized what would become the medieval European government: a system of fiefdoms, loyal to barons, counts, dukes and ultimately the King, or in his case, simply maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum. ("First or Dominant Mayor and Prince of the Franks") His close coordination of church with state began the medieval pattern for such government. He created what would become the first western standing army since the fall of Rome by his maintaining a core of loyal veterans around which he organized the normal feudal levies. In essence, he changed Europe from a horde of barbarians fighting with one another, to an organized state.

Beginning of the Reconquista

Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of Septimania and across the Pyrenees, Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil turned the tide of Islamic advances, and the unification of the Frankish kingdoms under Martel, his son Pippin the Younger, and his grandson Charlemagne created a western power which prevented the Emirate of Córdoba from expanding over the Pyrenees. Martel, who in 732 was on the verge of excommunication, instead was recognised by the Church as its paramount defender. Pope Gregory II wrote him more than once, asking his protection and aid, and he remained, till his death, fixated on stopping the Muslims. Martel's son Pippin the Younger kept his father's promise and returned and took Narbonne by siege in 759, and his grandson, Charlemagne, actually established the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia, reconquering Girona in 785 and Barcelona in 801. This sector of what is now Spain was then called "The Moorish Marches" by the Carolingians, who saw it as not just a check on the Muslims in Hispania, but the beginning of taking the entire country back. This formed a permanent buffer zone against Islam, which became the basis, along with the King of Asturias, named Pelayo (718-737, who started his fight against the Moors in the mountains of Covadonga, 722) and his descendants, for the Reconquista until all of the Muslims were eradicated from the Iberian Peninsula.

Military Legacy

Heavy Infantry and Permanent Army

Victor Davis Hanson argues that Charles Martel launched "the thousand year struggle" between European heavy infantry, and Muslim cavalry. Of course, Martel is also the father of heavy cavalry in Europe, as he integrated heavy armoured cavalry into his forces. This creation of a real army would continue all through his reign, and that of his son, Pepin the Short, until his Grandson, Charlemagne, would possess the world's largest and finest army since the peak of Rome. Equally, the Muslims used infantry - indeed, at the Battle of Toulouse most of their forces were light infantry. It was not till Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi brought a huge force of Arab and Berber cavalry with him when he assumed the emirate of Al-Andulus that the Muslim forces became primarily cavalry.
Martel's army was known primarily for being the first standing permanent army since Rome's fall in 476, and for the core of tough, seasoned heavy infantry who stood so stoutly at Tours. The Frankish infantry wore as much as 70 pounds of armour, including their heavy wooden shields with an iron boss. Standing close together, and well disciplined, they were unbreakable at Tours. Martel had taken the money and property he had seized from the church and paid local nobles to supply trained ready infantry year round. This was the core of veterans who served with him on a permanent basis, and as Hanson says, "provided a steady supply of dependable troops year around." This was the first permanent army since Rome. " While other Germanic cultures, such as the Visigoths or Vandals, had a proud martial tradition, and the Franks themselves had an annual muster of military aged men, such tribes were only able to field armies around planting and harvest. It was Martel's creation of a system whereby he could call on troops year round that gave the Carolingians the first standing and permanent army since Rome's fall in the west.

And, first and foremost, Charles Martel will always be remembered for his victory at Tours. Creasy argues that the Martel victory "preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilizations." Gibbon called those eight days in 732, the week leading up to Tours, and the battle itself, "the events that rescued our ancestors of Britain, and our neighbors of Gaul [France], from the civil and religious yoke of the Koran." Paul Akers, in his editorial on Charles Martel, says for those who value Christianity "you might spare a minute sometime today, and every October, to say a silent 'thank you' to a gang of half-savage Germans and especially to their leader, Charles 'The Hammer' Martel."

In his vision of what would be necessary for him to withstand a larger force and superior technology (the Muslim horsemen had adopted the armour and accoutrements of heavy cavalry from the Sassanid Warrior Class, which made the first knights possible), he, daring not to send his few horsemen against the Islamic cavalry, used his army to fight in a formation used by the ancient Greeks to withstand superior numbers and weapons by discipline, courage, and a willingness to die for their cause: a phalanx. He had trained a core of his men year round, using mostly Church funds, and some had literally been with him since his earliest days after his father's death. It was this hard core of disciplined veterans that won the day for him at Tours. Hanson emphasizes that Martel's greatest accomplishment as a General may have been his ability to keep his troops under control. This absolute iron discipline saved his infantry from the fate of so many infantrymen - such as the Saxons at Hastings - who broke formation and were slaughtered piecemeal. After using this infantry force by itself at Tours, he studied the foe's forces and further adapted to them, initially using stirrups and saddles recovered from the foe's dead horses, and armour from the dead horsemen.

Development of Heavy Cavalry

After 732, he began the integration into his army of heavy cavalry, using the armour and accoutrements of heavy armoured horsemen, training his infantry to fight in conjunction with cavalry, a tactic which stood him in good stead during his campaigns of 736-737, especially at the Battle of Narbonne. His incorporation of heavy armoured cavalry into the western forces created the first "knights" in the west.

Brilliant Generalship

Martel earned his reputation for brilliant generalship, in an age generally bereft of same, by his ability to use what he had and by integrating new ideas and technology. As a consequence, he was undefeated from 716 to his death against a wide range of opponents, including the Muslim cavalry (at that time, the world's best) and the fierce barbarian Saxons on his own borders -- and all this in spite of virtually always being outnumbered. He was the only general in the Middle Ages in Europe to use the eastern battle technique of feigned retreat. His ability to attack where he was least expected and when he was least expected was legendary. The process of the development of the famous chivalry of France continued in the Edict of Pistres of his great-great-grandson and namesake Charles the Bald.

The defeats Martel inflicted on the Muslims were vital in that the split in the Islamic world left the Caliphate unable to mount an all out attack on Europe via its Iberian stronghold after 750. His ability to meet this challenge, until the Muslims self-destructed, is considered by most historians to be of macrohistorical importance, and is why Dante writes of him in Heaven as one of the "Defenders of the Faith." After 750, the door to western Europe, the Iberian emirate, was in the hands of the Umayyads, while most of the remainder of the Muslim world came under the control of the Abbasids, making an invasion of Europe a logistical impossibility while the two Muslim empires battled. This put off Islamic invasion of Europe until the Turkish conquest of the Balkans half a millennium later.

H. G. Wells says of Charles Martel's decisive defeat of the Muslims in his "Short History of the World:

"The Moslim when they crossed the Pyrenees in 720 found this Frankish kingdom under the practical rule of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace of a degenerate descendant of Clovis, and experienced the decisive defeat of Poitiers (732) at his hands. This Charles Martel was practically overlord of Europe north of the Alps from the Pyrenees to Hungary."
John H. Haaren says in “Famous Men of the Middle Ages”

”The battle of Tours, or Poitiers, as it should be called, is regarded as one of the decisive battles of the world. It decided that Christians, and not Moslems, should be the ruling power in Europe. Charles Martel is especially celebrated as the hero of this battle.”

Just as his grandson, Charlemagne, would become famous for his swift and unexpected movements in his campaigns, Charles was legendary for never doing what his enemies forecast he would do. It was this ability to do the unforeseen, and move far faster than his opponents believed he could, that characterized the military career of Charles Martel.

It is notable that the Northmen did not begin their European raids until after the death of Martel's grandson, Charlemagne. They had the naval capacity to begin those raids at least three generations earlier, but chose not to challenge Martel, his son Pippin, or his grandson, Charlemagne. This was probably fortunate for Martel, who despite his enormous gifts, would probably not have been able to repel the Vikings in addition to the Muslims, Saxons, and everyone else he defeated. However, it is notable that again, despite the ability to do so, (the Danes had constructed defenses to defend from counterattacks by land, and had the ability to launch their wholesale sea raids as early as Martel's reign), they chose not to challenge Charles Martel.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martel>

has daughter? named Hiltrud, Aunt of Charlemagne, who named a duaghter after her
Charles Martel King of the Franks was born in 676 in Heristal, Liege, , Belgium. He died on 22 Oct 741 in Quierzy sur Oise, France.
Parents: Pepin II of (the Middle) HERSTAL and Alpaide de BRUYERES.
Spouse: Rotrude de TREVES.
Charles Martel King of the Franks and Rotrude de TREVES were married in 713 in Moselle, , , Austrasia.
Children were:
Carloman of AUSTRASIA,
Pepin III (the Short/the Younger) King of the Franks,
Hiltrud.
Spouse: Swanahilde of BAVARIA.
Charles Martel King of the Franks and Swanahilde of BAVARIA were married.
Children were:
Landree de HESBAYE,
Grifo MARTEL.
Spouse: Rothilde de GELLONE.
Children were: Bernard,
Heironymus of the FRANKS,
Saint Remigius Archbishop of Rouen,
Jerome,
Aude de GELLONE.

--one source shows last name as Martel

[elen.FTW]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 3, Ed. 1, Tree #4579, Date of Import: Jun 15, 2003]

Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor over the Saracens at Poitiers, 732.

As mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish
kingdom), Charles reunited and ruled the entire realm of the Frankish kingdom
and stemmed the Sacacen invasion at Poitiers in 732. "The Hammer" was a
man of valiant determination, ambition, and ability, striving incessantly to
consolidate his power. In 733, Burgundy yielded to his rule, and in 734, he
subdued the Frisians. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom
between sons Pepin and Carloman, never transferring royal title to himself.

Charles Martel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Martel, Frankish Ruler
August 23, 686 - October 22, 741

Charles Martel is primarily famous for his victory at the Battle of Tours and his campaigns halting the Umayyad invasions of Europe during the Muslim Expansion Era, and his laying the foundation for the Carolingian Empire. (oil on canvas, painted by Charles de Steuben from 1834 till 1837)
Nickname "the Hammer"
Place of birth Herstal (Belgium)
[hide]v • d • eCampaigns of
Charles Martel

Cologne – Amblève – Vincy – Soissons – Tours – Avignon – Narbonne – River Berre – Nîmes
Charles Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus, English: Charles "the Hammer") (23 August 686 – 22 October 741) was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace,and for ruling the Franks in the name of a titular King. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks (the last four years of his reign he did not even bother with the façade of a King) and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms. In 739 he was offered an office of Roman consul, which he rejected [1] He expanded his rule over all three of the Frankish kingdoms: Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy. Martel was born in Herstal, in present-day Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida (or Chalpaida).[2] He was described by Louis Gustave and Charles Strauss in their book "Moslem and Frank; or, Charles Martel and the rescue of Europe" as a tall, powerfully built man, who was more agile than his size would lead men to believe.

He is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as an event that halted the Islamic expansionism in Europe that had conquered Iberia. "Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization." [1]

In addition to being the leader of the army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel was a truly giant figure of the Middle Ages. A brilliant general, he is considered the forefather of western heavy cavalry, chivalry, founder of the Carolingian Empire (which was named after him), and a catalyst for the feudal system, which would see Europe through the Middle Ages. Although some recent scholars have suggested he was more of a beneficiary of the feudal system than a knowing agent for social change, others continue to see him as the primary catalyst for the feudal system.[3]

Contents [hide]
1 Birth and Youth
2 Consolidation of power
2.1 Civil war of 715-718
2.2 Foreign wars from 718-732
2.3 Eve of Tours
3 Battle of Tours
3.1 Leadup and importance
3.2 Battle
4 After Tours
4.1 Wars from 732-737
4.2 Interregnum
5 Death
6 Legacy
6.1 Beginning of the Reconquista
7 Military legacy
7.1 Heavy infantry and first permanent army in West since fall of Rome[citation needed]
7.2 Development of heavy cavalry
7.3 Brilliant generalship
8 Conclusion
9 Family and children
9.1 Ancestors
10 Notes
11 References
12 External links

[edit] Birth and Youth
The following tale is told of Charles, and the origins of his name: in 686, Pippin II and his wife Plectrude were talking together in a room when they were intruded upon by a messenger, bringing news that the Mayor's mistress, Alpaida, had given birth to a son at Herstal.The messenger, fearful of arousing the wrath of Plectrude, decided not to announce the news directly. Instead, he said: "Long live the king, it is a carl" ('man'). Pippin, equally cautious of his wife, dismissed the messenger as follows: "A carl, is it? Then let him be called that." This was done, and, so legend claims, the child was named "Carl". Alpaida also bore Pippin another son, Childebrand.

[edit] Consolidation of power

The Frankish kingdoms at the time of the death of Pepin of Heristal. Note that Aquitaine (yellow) was outside of Arnulfing authority and Neustria and Burgundy (pink) were united in opposition to further Arnulfing dominance of the highest offices. Only Austrasia (green) supported an Arnulfing mayor, first Theudoald then Charles. Note that the German duchies to the east of the Rhine were de facto outside of Frankish suzerainty at this time.In December 714, Pippin the Middle died. Prior to his death, he had, at his wife Plectrude's urging, designated Theudoald, his grandson by their son Grimoald, his heir in the entire realm. This was immediately opposed by the nobles because Theudoald was a child of only eight years of age. To prevent Charles using this unrest to his own advantage, Plectrude had him gaoled in Cologne, the city which was destined to be her capital. This prevented an uprising on his behalf in Austrasia, but not in Neustria.

[edit] Civil war of 715-718
In 715, the Neustrian noblesse proclaimed Ragenfrid mayor of their palace on behalf of, and apparently with the support of, Dagobert III, the young king, who in fact had the legal authority to select a mayor, though by this time the Merovingian dynasty had lost most such regal powers.

The Austrasians were not to be left supporting a woman and her young boy for long. Before the end of the year, Charles Martel had escaped from prison and been acclaimed mayor by the nobles of that kingdom. The Neustrians had been attacking Austrasia and the nobles were waiting for a strong man to lead them against their invading countrymen. That year, Dagobert died and the Neustrians proclaimed Chilperic II king without the support of the rest of the Frankish people.

In 716, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia. The Neustrians allied with another invading force under Radbod, King of the Frisians and met Charles in battle near Cologne, which was still held by Plectrude. Charles had little time to gather men, or prepare, and the result was the only defeat of his life. According to Strauss and Gustave, Martel fought a brilliant battle, but realized he could not prevail because he was outnumbered so badly, and retreated. In effect, he fled the field as soon as he realized he did not have the time or the men to prevail, retreating to the mountains of the Eifel to gather men, and train them. The king and his mayor then turned to besiege their other rival in the city and took it and the treasury, and received the recognition of both Chilperic as king and Ragenfrid as mayor. Plectrude surrendered on Theudoald's behalf.

At this juncture, however, events turned in favour of Charles. Having made the proper preparations, Charles fell upon the triumphant army near Malmedy as it was returning to its own province, and, in the ensuing Battle of Amblève, routed it and it fled. Several things were notable about this battle, in which Charles set the pattern for the remainder of his military career: First, he appeared where his enemies least expected him, while they were marching triumphantly home and far outnumbered him. He also attacked when least expected, at midday, when armies of that era traditionally were resting. Finally, he attacked them how they least expected it, by feigning a retreat to draw his opponents into a trap. The feigned retreat, next to unknown in Western Europe at that time—it was a traditionally eastern tactic—required both extraordinary discipline on the part of the troops and exact timing on the part of their commander. Charles, in this battle, had begun demonstrating the military genius that would mark his rule, in that he never attacked his enemies where, when, or how they expected, and the result was an unbroken victory streak that lasted until his death.

In Spring 717, Charles returned to Neustria with an army and confirmed his supremacy with a victory at Vincy, near Cambrai. He chased the fleeing king and mayor to Paris, before turning back to deal with Plectrude and Cologne. He took the city and dispersed her adherents. He allowed both Plectrude and Theudoald to live and treated them with kindness—unusual for those Dark Ages, when mercy to a former jailer, or a potential rival, was rare. On this success, he proclaimed Clotaire IV king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic and deposed the archbishop of Rheims, Rigobert, replacing him with Milo, a lifelong supporter.

After subjugating all Austrasia, he marched against Radbod and pushed him back into his territory, even forcing the concession of West Frisia (later Holland). He also sent the Saxons back over the Weser and thus secured his borders—in the name of the new king, of course. More than any other prior mayor of the palace, however, absolute power lay with Charles. Though he never cared about titles, his son Pippin did, and finally asked the pope "who should be King, he who has the title, or he who has the power?" The pope, highly dependent on Frankish armies for his independence from Lombard and Byzantine power (the Byzantine emperor, still considered himself to be the only legitimate "Roman" Emperor, and thus, ruler of all of the provinces of the ancient empire, whether recognised or not), declared for "he who had the power" and immediately crowned Pippin. Decades later, in 800, Pippin's son Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the pope, further extending the "he who had the power" principle by delegitimising the nominal authority of the Byzantine emperor in the Italian peninsula (which had, by then, shrunk to little more than Apulia and Calabria at best) and ancient Roman Gaul, including the Iberian outposts Charlemagne had established in the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees, what today forms Catalonia. In short, though the Byzantine Emperor claimed authority over all the old Roman Empire, as the legitimate "Roman" Emperor, and this may have been legally true, it was simply not reality. The bulk of the Western Roman Empire had come under Carolingian rule, the Byzantine Emperor having had almost no authority in the West since the sixth century, though Charlemagne, a consummate politician, preferred to avoid an open breach with Constantinople. What was occurring was the birth of an institution unique in history: the Holy Roman Empire. Though the sardonic Voltaire ridiculed its nomenclature, saying that the Holy Roman Empire was "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire," it constituted an enormous political power for a time, especially under the Saxon and Salian dynasties and, to a lesser, extent, the Hohenstaufen. It lasted until 1806, though it was by then a nonentity. Though his grandson became its first emperor, the "empire" such as it was, was largely born during the reign of Charles Martel.

In 718, Chilperic responded to Charles' new ascendancy by making an alliance with Odo the Great (or Eudes, as he is sometimes known), the duke of Aquitaine, who had made himself independent during the civil war in 715, but was again defeated, at Soissons, by Charles. The king fled with his ducal ally to the land south of the Loire and Ragenfrid fled to Angers. Soon Clotaire IV died and Odo gave up on Chilperic and, in exchange for recognising his dukeship, surrendered the king to Charles, who recognised his kingship over all the Franks in return for legitimate royal affirmation of his mayoralty, likewise over all the kingdoms (718).

[edit] Foreign wars from 718-732
The ensuing years were full of strife. Between 718 and 723, Charles secured his power through a series of victories: he won the loyalty of several important bishops and abbots (by donating lands and money for the foundation of abbeys such as Echternach), he subjugated Bavaria and Alemannia, and he defeated the pagan Saxons.

Having unified the Franks under his banner, Charles was determined to punish the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia. Therefore, late in 718, he laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser, the Lippe, and the Ruhr. He defeated them in the Teutoburg Forest. In 719, Charles seized West Frisia without any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, who had been subjects of the Franks but had seized control upon the death of Pippin. Although Charles did not trust the pagans, their ruler, Aldegisel, accepted Christianity, and Charles sent Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, the famous "Apostle to the Frisians" to convert the people. Charles also did much to support Winfrid, later Saint Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans."

When Chilperic II died the following year (720), Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Theuderic IV, who was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 to 737. Charles was now appointing the kings whom he supposedly served, rois fainéants who were mere puppets in his hands; by the end of his reign they were so useless that he didn't even bother appointing one. At this time, Charles again marched against the Saxons. Then the Neustrians rebelled under Ragenfrid, who had been left the county of Anjou. They were easily defeated (724), but Ragenfrid gave up his sons as hostages in turn for keeping his county. This ended the civil wars of Charles' reign.

The next six years were devoted in their entirety to assuring Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes. Between 720 and 723, Charles was fighting in Bavaria, where the Agilolfing dukes had gradually evolved into independent rulers, recently in alliance with Liutprand the Lombard. He forced the Alemanni to accompany him, and Duke Hugbert submitted to Frankish suzerainty. In 725 and 728, he again entered Bavaria and the ties of lordship seemed strong. From his first campaign, he brought back the Agilolfing princess Swanachild, who apparently became his concubine. In 730, he marched against Lantfrid, duke of Alemannia, who had also become independent, and killed him in battle. He forced the Alemanni capitulation to Frankish suzerainty and did not appoint a successor to Lantfrid. Thus, southern Germany once more became part of the Frankish kingdom, as had northern Germany during the first years of the reign.

But by 730, his own realm secure, Charles began to prepare exclusively for the coming storm from the west.

In 721, the emir of Córdoba had built up a strong army from Morocco, Yemen, and Syria to conquer Aquitaine, the large duchy in the southwest of Gaul, nominally under Frankish sovereignty, but in practice almost independent in the hands of the Odo the Great since the Merovingian kings had lost power. The invading Muslims besieged the city of Toulouse, then Aquitaine's most important city, and Odo immediately left to find help. He returned three months later just before the city was about to surrender and defeated the Muslim invaders on June 9, 721, at what is now known as the Battle of Toulouse. The defeat was essentially the result of a classic enveloping movement on Odo's part. After Odo originally fled, the Muslims became overconfident and, instead of maintaining strong outer defenses around their siege camp and continuing scouting, did neither. Thus, when Odo returned, he was able to launch a near complete surprise attack on the besieging force, scattering it at the first attack, and slaughtering units which were resting, or who fled without weapons or armour.

Because of the situation in Iberia, Martel believed he needed a virtually fulltime army, one he could train, as a core of veterans to add to the usual conscripts the Franks called up in time of war. During the Early Middle Ages, troops were only available after the crops had been planted and before harvesting time. To train the kind of infantry which could withstand the Muslim heavy cavalry, Charles needed them year-round, and he needed to pay them so their families could buy the food they would have otherwise grown. To obtain this money, he seized church lands and property, and used the funds to pay his soldiers. The same Charles who had secured the support of the ecclesia by donating land, seized some of it back between 724 and 732. The Church was enraged, and, for a time, it looked as though Charles might even be excommunicated for his actions. But then came a significant invasion.

[edit] Eve of Tours
Historian Paul K. Davis said in 100 Decisive Battles "Having defeated Eudes, he turned to the Rhine to strengthen his northeastern borders - but in 725 was diverted south with the activity of the Muslims in Acquitane." Martel then concentrated his attention to the Umayyads, virtually for the remainder of his life. [4] Indeed, 12 years later, when he had thrice rescued Gaul from Umayyad invasions, Antonio Santosuosso noted when he destroyed an Umayyad army sent to reinforce the invasion forces of the 735 campaigns, "Charles Martel again came to the rescue." .[5] It has been noted that Charles Martel could have pursued the wars against the Saxons—but he was determined to prepare for what he thought was a greater danger. According to Davis, instead of concentrating on conquest among the Saxons, he secured his borders, and prepared for the storm gathering in the south, and Santosuosso notes how he repeatedly rescued southern Gaul from the Umayyad invasions.

It is also vital to note that the Muslims were not aware, at that time, of the true strength of the Franks, or the fact that they were building a real army instead of the typical barbarian hordes that had infested Europe after Rome's fall. They considered the Germanic tribes, including the Franks, simply barbarians and were not particularly concerned about them. The Arab Chronicles, the history of that age, show that Arab awareness of the Franks as a growing military power came only after the Battle of Tours when the Caliph expressed shock at his army's catastrophic defeat. Further, the Muslims had not bothered to scout their potential foes. If they had, they surely would have noted Charles Martel as the head of a formidable military force. Martel's thorough domination of Europe from 717 on, and his sound defeat of all powers who contested his dominion, should have alerted the Moors that a gifted general with a well-trained army had risen from the ashes of the Western Roman Empire. As a result, when they launched their great invasion of 732, they were not prepared to confront Martel and his Frankish army.

This, in retrospect, was a disastrous mistake. The Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi was a good general but neglected to do two important things: he failed to assess the strength of the Franks in advance of invasion, assuming that they would not come to the aid of their Aquitanian cousins; and he failed to scout the movements of the Frankish army and Charles Martel. Had he done either, he might have curtailed his lighthorse ravaging throughout lower Gaul and marched at once, with his full power, against the Franks. This strategy would have nullified every advantage Charles had at Tours, as the invaders would have not been burdened with booty that played such a huge role in the battle. They would not have lost a single warrior in the battles they fought prior to Tours. (Although they lost relatively few men in subduing Aquitane, the casualties they did suffer may have been significant at Tours).

Finally, the Moors would have bypassed weaker opponents such as Odo, whom they could have picked off at will later, while moving at once to force battle with the real power in Europe, and at least partially picked the battlefield. While some military historians point out that leaving enemies in your rear is generally unwise, the Mongols proved that indirect attack and bypassing weaker foes to eliminate the strongest first is a devastatingly effective mode of invasion. In this case, those enemies posed virtually no danger, given the ease with which the Muslims destroyed them. The real danger was Charles, and the failure to scout Europe adequately proved disastrous. Had Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi realized how thoroughly Martel had dominated Europe for 15 years, and how gifted a commander he was, he might not have allowed Charles Martel to select the time and place the two powers would collide, which historians agree was pivotal to his victory.

[edit] Battle of Tours
Main article Battle of Tours.

[edit] Leadup and importance
"It was under one of their ablest and most renowned commanders, with a veteran army, and with every apparent advantage of time, place, and circumstance, that the Arabs made their great effort at the conquest of Europe north of the Pyrenees."[2]

—Edward Shepherd Creasy, The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World
The Cordoban emirate had previously invaded Gaul and had been stopped in its northward sweep at the Battle of Toulouse, in 721. The hero of that less celebrated event had been Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine, who was not the progenitor of a race of kings and patron of chroniclers. It has previously been explained how Odo defeated the invading Muslims, but when they returned, things were far different. The arrival in the interim of a new emir of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who brought with him a huge force of Arabs and Berber horsemen, triggered a far greater invasion. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had been at Toulouse, and the Arab Chronicles make clear he had strongly opposed the Emir's decision not to secure outer defenses against a relief force, which allowed Odo and his relief force to attack with impunity before the Islamic cavalry could assemble or mount. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had no intention of permitting such a disaster again. This time the Umayyad horsemen were ready for battle, and the results were horrific for the Aquitanians. Odo, hero of Toulouse, was badly defeated in the Muslim invasion of 732 at the battle prior to the Muslim sacking of Bordeaux, and when he gathered a second army, at the Battle of the River Garonne—where the western chroniclers state, "God alone knows the number of the slain"— and the city of Bordeaux was sacked and looted. Odo fled to Charles, seeking help. Charles agreed to come to Odo's rescue, provided Odo acknowledged Charles and his house as his Overlords, which Odo did formally at once. Thus, Odo faded into history while Charles marched into it. It is interesting to note that Charles was pragmatic; while most commanders would never use their enemies in battle, Odo and his remaining Aquitanian nobles formed the right flank of Charles' forces at Tours.

The Battle of Tours earned Charles the cognomen "Martel", for the merciless way he hammered his enemies. Many historians, including the great military historian Sir Edward Creasy, believe that had he failed at Tours, Islam would probably have overrun Gaul, and perhaps the remainder of western Christian Europe. Gibbon made clear his belief that the Umayyad armies would have conquered from Rome to the Rhine, and even England, with ease, had Martel not prevailed. Creasy said "the great victory won by Charles Martel ... gave a decisive check to the career of Arab conquest in Western Europe, rescued Christendom from Islam, [and] preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilization." Gibbon's belief that the fate of Christianity hinged on this battle is echoed by other historians including John B. Bury, and was very popular for most of modern historiography. It fell somewhat out of style in the twentieth century, when historians such as Bernard Lewis contended that Arabs had little intention of occupying northern France. More recently, however, many historians have tended once again to view the Battle of Tours as a very significant event in the history of Europe and Christianity. Equally, many, such as William Watson, still believe this battle was one of macrohistorical world-changing importance, if they do not go so far as Gibbon does rhetorically.

In the modern era, Matthew Bennett and his co-authors of "Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World", published in 2005, argue that "few battles are remembered 1,000 years after they are fought...but the Battle of Poitiers, (Tours) is an exception...Charles Martel turned back a Muslim raid that had it been allowed to continue, might have conquered Gaul." Michael Grant, author of "History of Rome", grants the Battle of Tours such importance that he lists it in the macrohistorical dates of the Roman era.

It is important to note however that modern western historians, military historians, and writers, essentially fall into three camps. The first, those who believe Gibbon was right in his assessment that Martel saved Christianity and western civilization by this Battle are typified by Bennett, Paul Davis, Robert Martin, and educationalist Dexter B. Wakefield who writes in An Islamic Europe

“ A Muslim France? Historically, it nearly happened. But as a result of Martel’s fierce opposition, which ended Muslim advances and set the stage for centuries of war thereafter, Islam moved no farther into Europe. European schoolchildren learn about the Battle of Tours in much the same way that American students learn about Valley Forge and Gettysburg."[6] ”

The second camp of contemporary historians believe that a failure by Martel at Tours could have been a disaster, destroying what would become western civilization after the Renaissance. Certainly all historians agree that no power would have remained in Europe able to halt Islamic expansion had the Franks failed. William E. Watson, one of the most respected historians of this era, strongly supports Tours as a macrohistorical event, but distances himself from the rhetoric of Gibbon and Drubeck, writing, for example, of the battle's importance in Frankish, and world, history in 1993:

“ There is clearly some justification for ranking Tours-Poitiers among the most significant events in Frankish history when one considers the result of the battle in light of the remarkable record of the successful establishment by Muslims of Islamic political and cultural dominance along the entire eastern and southern rim of the former Christian, Roman world. The rapid Muslim conquest of Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the North African coast all the way to Morocco in the seventh century resulted in the permanent imposition by force of Islamic culture onto a previously Christian and largely non-Arab base. The Visigothic kingdom fell to Muslim conquerors in a single battle on the Rio Barbate in 711, and the Hispanic Christian population took seven long centuries to regain control of the Iberian peninsula. The Reconquista, of course, was completed in 1492, only months before Columbus received official backing for his fateful voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Had Charles Martel suffered at Tours-Poitiers the fate of King Roderick at the Rio Barbate, it is doubtful that a "do-nothing" sovereign of the Merovingian realm could have later succeeded where his talented major domus had failed. Indeed, as Charles was the progenitor of the Carolingian line of Frankish rulers and grandfather of Charlemagne, one can even say with a degree of certainty that the subsequent history of the West would have proceeded along vastly different currents had ‘Abd ar-Rahman been victorious at Tours-Poitiers in 732.[7] ”

The final camp of western historians believe that Tours was vastly overrated. This view is typified by Alessandro Barbero, who writes, "Today, historians tend to play down the significance of the battle of Poitiers, pointing out that the purpose of the Arab force defeated by Charles Martel was not to conquer the Frankish kingdom, but simply to pillage the wealthy monastery of St-Martin of Tours".[8] Similarly, Tomaž Mastnak writes:

“ Modern historians have constructed a myth presenting this victory as having saved Christian Europe from the Muslims. Edward Gibbon, for example, called Charles Martel the savior of Christendom and the battle near Poitiers an encounter that changed the history of the world... This myth has survived well into our own times... Contemporaries of the battle, however, did not overstate its significance. The continuators of Fredegar's chronicle, who probably wrote in the mid-eighth century, pictured the battle as just one of many military encounters between Christians and Saracens - moreover, as only one in a series of wars fought by Frankish princes for booty and territory... One of Fredegar's continuators presented the battle of Poitiers as what it really was: an episode in the struggle between Christian princes as the Carolingians strove to bring Aquitaine under their rule.[9] ”

However, it is vital to note, when assessing Charles Martel's life, that even those historians who dispute the significance of this one Battle as the event that saved Christianity, do not dispute that Martel himself had a huge effect on western history. Modern military historian Victor Davis Hanson acknowledges the debate on this battle, citing historians both for and against its macrohistorical placement:

“ Recent scholars have suggested Poitiers, so poorly recorded in contemporary sources, was a mere raid and thus a construct of western mythmaking or that a Muslim victory might have been preferable to continued Frankish dominance. What is clear is that Poitiers marked a general continuance of the successful defense of Europe, (from the Muslims). Flush from the victory at Tours, Charles Martel went on to clear southern France from Islamic attackers for decades, unify the warring kingdoms into the foundations of the Carolingian Empire, and ensure ready and reliable troops from local estates.".[10] ”

[edit] Battle
The Battle of Tours probably took place somewhere between Tours and Poitiers (hence its other name: Battle of Poitiers). The Frankish army, under Charles Martel, consisted mostly of veteran infantry, somewhere between 15,000 and 75,000 men. While Charles had some cavalry, they did not have stirrups, so he had them dismount and reinforce his phalanx. Odo and his Aquitanian nobility were also normally cavalry, but they also dismounted at the Battle's onset, to buttress the phalanx. Responding to the Umayyad invasion, the Franks had avoided the old Roman roads, hoping to take the invaders by surprise. Martel believed it was absolutely essential that he not only take the Umayyads by surprise, but that he be allowed to select the ground on which the battle would be fought, ideally a high, wooded plain where the Islamic horsemen, already tired from carrying armour, would be further exhausted charging uphill. Further, the woods would aid the Franks in their defensive square by partially impeding the ability of the Umayyad horsemen to make a clear charge.

From the Muslim accounts of the battle, they were indeed taken by surprise to find a large force opposing their expected sack of Tours, and they waited for six days, scouting the enemy and summoning all their raiding parties so their full strength was present for the battle. Emir Abdul Rahman was an able general who did not like the unknown at all, and he did not like charging uphill against an unknown number of foes who seemed well-disciplined and well-disposed for battle. But the weather was also a factor. The Germanic Franks, in their wolf and bear pelts, were more used to the cold, better dressed for it, and despite not having tents, which the Muslims did, were prepared to wait as long as needed, the autumn only growing colder.

On the seventh day, the Umayyad army, mostly Berber and Arab horsemen and led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, attacked. During the battle, the Franks defeated the Islamic army and the emir was killed. While Western accounts are sketchy, Arab accounts are fairly detailed in describing how the Franks formed a large square and fought a brilliant defensive battle. Rahman had doubts before the battle that his men were ready for such a struggle, and should have had them abandon the loot which hindered them, but instead decided to trust his horsemen, who had never failed him. Indeed, it was thought impossible for infantry of that age to withstand armoured cavalry.

Martel managed to inspire his men to stand firm against a force which must have seemed invincible to them, huge mailed horsemen, who, in addition, probably vastly outnumbered the Franks. In one of the rare instances where medieval infantry stood up against cavalry charges, the disciplined Frankish soldiers withstood the assaults even though, according to Arab sources, the Umayyad cavalry several times broke into the interior of the Frankish square. The scene is described in Bishop Isidore of Beja's Chronicle (translated passage from Fordham University's Internet Medieval Source Book):

"And in the shock of the battle the men of the North seemed like a sea that cannot be moved. Firmly they stood, one close to another, forming as it were a bulwark of ice; and with great blows of their swords they hewed down the Arabs. Drawn up in a band around their chief, the people of the Austrasians carried all before them. Their tireless hands drove their swords down to the breasts of the foe."
Both accounts agree that the Umayyad forces had broken into the square and were trying to kill Martel, whose liege men had surrounded him and would not be broken, when a trick Charles had planned before the battle bore fruit beyond his wildest dreams. Both Western and Muslim accounts of the battle agree that sometime during the height of the fighting, with the battle still in grave doubt, scouts sent by Martel to the Muslim camp began freeing prisoners. Fearing loss of their plunder, a large portion of the Muslim army abandoned the battle and returned to camp to protect their spoils. In attempting to stop what appeared to be a retreat, Abdul Rahman was surrounded and killed by the Franks, and what started as a ruse ended up a real retreat, as the Umayyad army fled the field that day. The Franks resumed their phalanx, and rested in place through the night, believing the battle would resume at dawn of the following morning.

The next day, when the Umayyad army did not renew the battle, the Franks feared an ambush. Charles at first believed the Muslims were attempting to lure him down the hill and into the open, a tactic he would resist at all costs. Only after extensive reconnaissance by Frankish soldiers of the Umayyad camp—which by both accounts had been so hastily abandoned that even the tents remained, as the Umayyad forces headed back to Iberia with what spoils remained that they could carry—was it discovered that the Muslims had retreated during the night. As the Arab Chronicles would later reveal, the generals from the different parts of the Caliphate, Berbers, Arabs, Persians and many more, had been unable to agree on a leader to take Abd er Rahman's place as Emir, or even to agree on a commander to lead them the following day. Only the Emir, Abd er Rahman, had a Fatwa from the Caliph, and thus absolute authority over the faithful under arms. With his death, and with the varied nationalities and ethnicities present in an army drawn from all over the Caliphate, politics, racial and ethnic bias, and personalities reared their head. The inability of the bickering generals to select anyone to lead resulted in the wholesale withdrawal of an army that might have been able to resume the battle and defeat the Franks.

Martel's ability to have Abd er Rahman killed through a clever ruse he had carefully planned to cause confusion, at the battle's apex, and his years spent rigorously training his men, combined to do what was thought impossible: Martel's Franks, virtually all heavy infantry, withstood both mailed heavy cavalry with 20 foot lances, and bow-wielding light cavalry, without the aid of bows or firearms. [3] This was a feat of war almost unheard of in medieval history, a feat which even the heavily armored Roman legions proved themselves incapable of against the Parthians, [4]and left Martel a unique place in history as the savior of Europe [5] and a brilliant general in an age not known for its generalship.

[edit] After Tours
In the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Frisians and Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne, primarily because Martel concentrated the bulk of his efforts against Muslim expansion.

So instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he continued expanding Frankish authority in the west, and denying the Emirate of Córdoba a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus. After his victory at Tours, Martel continued on in campaigns in 736 and 737 to drive other Muslim armies from bases in Gaul after they again attempted to get a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus.

[edit] Wars from 732-737
Between his victory of 732 and 735, Charles reorganized the kingdom of Burgundy, replacing the counts and dukes with his loyal supporters, thus strengthening his hold on power. He was forced, by the ventures of Radbod, duke of the Frisians (719-734), son of the Duke Aldegisel who had accepted the missionaries Willibrord and Boniface, to invade independence-minded Frisia again in 734. In that year, he slew the duke, who had expelled the Christian missionaries, in the battle of the Boarn and so wholly subjugated the populace (he destroyed every pagan shrine) that the people were peaceful for twenty years after.

The dynamic changed in 735 because of the death of Odo the Great, who had been forced to acknowledge, albeit reservedly, the suzerainty of Charles in 719. Though Charles wished to unite the duchy directly to himself and went there to elicit the proper homage of the Aquitainians, the nobility proclaimed Odo's son, Hunold, whose dukeship Charles recognised when the Umayyads invaded Provence the next year, and who equally was forced to acknowledge Charles as overlord as he had no hope of holding off the Muslims alone.

This naval Arab invasion was headed by Abdul Rahman's son. It landed in Narbonne in 736 and moved at once to reinforce Arles and move inland. Charles temporarily put the conflict with Hunold on hold, and descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Umayyads. In 736, he retook Montfrin and Avignon, and Arles and Aix-en-Provence with the help of Liutprand, King of the Lombards. Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, held by Islam since 725, fell to him and their fortresses were destroyed. He crushed one Umayyad army at Arles, as that force sallied out of the city, and then took the city itself by a direct and brutal frontal attack, and burned it to the ground to prevent its use again as a stronghold for Umayyad expansion. He then moved swiftly and defeated a mighty host outside of Narbonnea at the River Berre, but failed to take the city. Military historians believe he could have taken it, had he chosen to tie up all his resources to do so—but he believed his life was coming to a close, and he had much work to do to prepare for his sons to take control of the Frankish realm. A direct frontal assault, such as took Arles, using rope ladders and rams, plus a few catapults, simply was not sufficient to take Narbonne without horrific loss of life for the Franks, troops Martel felt he could not lose. Nor could he spare years to starve the city into submission, years he needed to set up the administration of an empire his heirs would reign over. He left Narbonne therefore, isolated and surrounded, and his son would return to liberate it for Christianity. Provence, however, he successfully rid of its foreign occupiers, and crushed all foreign armies able to advance Islam further.

Notable about these campaigns was Charles' incorporation, for the first time, of heavy cavalry with stirrups to augment his phalanx. His ability to coordinate infantry and cavalry veterans was unequaled in that era and enabled him to face superior numbers of invaders, and to decisively defeat them again and again. Some historians believe the Battle against the main Muslim force at the River Berre, near Narbonne, in particular was as important a victory for Christian Europe as Tours. In Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels, Antonio Santosuosso, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Western Ontario, and considered an expert historian in the era in dispute, puts forth an interesting modern opinion on Martel, Tours, and the subsequent campaigns against Rahman's son in 736-737. Santosuosso presents a compelling case that these later defeats of invading Muslim armies were at least as important as Tours in their defence of Western Christendom and the preservation of Western monasticism, the monasteries of which were the centers of learning which ultimately led Europe out of her Middle Ages. He also makes a compelling argument, after studying the Arab histories of the period, that these were clearly armies of invasion, sent by the Caliph not just to avenge Tours, but to begin the conquest of Christian Europe and bring it into the Caliphate.

Further, unlike his father at Tours, Rahman's son in 736-737 knew that the Franks were a real power, and that Martel personally was a force to be reckoned with. He had no intention of allowing Martel to catch him unawares and dictate the time and place of battle, as his father had, and concentrated instead on seizing a substantial portion of the coastal plains around Narbonne in 736 and heavily reinforced Arles as he advanced inland. They planned from there to move from city to city, fortifying as they went, and if Martel wished to stop them from making a permanent enclave for expansion of the Caliphate, he would have to come to them, in the open, where, he, unlike his father, would dictate the place of battle. All worked as he had planned, until Martel arrived, albeit more swiftly than the Moors believed he could call up his entire army. Unfortunately for Rahman's son, however, he had overestimated the time it would take Martel to develop heavy cavalry equal to that of the Muslims. The Caliphate believed it would take a generation, but Martel managed it in five short years. Prepared to face the Frankish phalanx, the Muslims were totally unprepared to face a mixed force of heavy cavalry and infantry in a phalanx. Thus, Charles again championed Christianity and halted Muslim expansion into Europe, as the window was closing on Islamic ability to do so. These defeats, plus those at the hands of Leo in Anatolia were the last great attempt at expansion by the Umayyad Caliphate before the destruction of the dynasty at the Battle of the Zab, and the rending of the Caliphate forever, especially the utter destruction of the Umayyad army at River Berre near Narbonne in 737.

[edit] Interregnum
In 737, at the tail end of his campaigning in Provence and Septimania, the king, Theuderic IV, died. Martel, titling himself maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum, did not appoint a new king and nobody acclaimed one. The throne lay vacant until Martel's death. As the historian Charles Oman says (The Dark Ages, pg 297), "he cared not for name or style so long as the real power was in his hands."

Gibbon has said Martel was "content with the titles of Mayor or Duke of the Franks, but he deserved to become the father of a line of kings," which he did. Gibbon also says of him, "in the public danger, he was summoned by the voice of his country."

The interregnum, the final four years of Charles' life, was more peaceful than most of it had been and much of his time was now spent on administrative and organisational plans to create a more efficient state. Though, in 738, he compelled the Saxons of Westphalia to do him homage and pay tribute, and in 739 checked an uprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus. Charles set about integrating the outlying realms of his empire into the Frankish church. He erected four dioceses in Bavaria (Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau) and gave them Boniface as archbishop and metropolitan over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at Mainz. Boniface had been under his protection from 723 on; indeed the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. It was Boniface who had defended Charles most stoutly for his deeds in seizing ecclesiastical lands to pay his army in the days leading to Tours, as one doing what he must to defend Christianity. In 739, Pope Gregory III begged Charles for his aid against Liutprand, but Charles was loathe to fight his onetime ally and ignored the Papal plea. Nonetheless, the Papal applications for Frankish protection showed how far Martel had come from the days he was tottering on excommunication, and set the stage for his son and grandson literally to rearrange Italy to suit the Papacy, and protect it.

[edit] Death

Tomb of Charles Martel, Basilique Saint-Denis.Charles Martel died on October 22, 741, at Quierzy-sur-Oise in what is today the Aisne département in the Picardy region of France. He was buried at Saint Denis Basilica in Paris. His territories were divided among his adult sons a year earlier: to Carloman he gave Austrasia and Alemannia (with Bavaria as a vassal), to Pippin the Younger Neustria and Burgundy (with Aquitaine as a vassal), and to Grifo nothing, though some sources indicate he intended to give him a strip of land between Neustria and Austrasia.

Gibbon called him "the hero of the age" and declared "Christendom ... delivered ... by the genius and good fortune of one man, Charles Martel." A strong argument can be made Gibbon was correct on both counts.

[edit] Legacy
At the beginning of Charles Martel's career, he had many internal opponents and felt the need to appoint his own kingly claimant, Clotaire IV. By his end, however, the dynamics of rulership in Francia had changed, no hallowed Meroving was needed, neither for defence nor legitimacy: Charles divided his realm between his sons without opposition (though he ignored his young son Bernard). In between, he strengthened the Frankish state by consistently defeating, through superior generalship, the host of hostile foreign nations which beset it on all sides, including the heathen Saxons, which his grandson Charlemagne would fully subdue, and Moors, which he halted on a path of continental domination.

Though he never cared about titles, his son Pippin did, and finally asked the Pope "who should be King, he who has the title, or he who has the power?" The Pope, highly dependent on Frankish armies for his independence from Lombard and Byzantine power (the Byzantine emperor still considered himself to be the only legitimate "Roman Emperor", and thus, ruler of all of the provinces of the ancient empire, whether recognised or not), declared for "he who had the power" and immediately crowned Pippin.

Decades later, in 800, Pippin's son Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the Pope, further extending the principle by delegitimising the nominal authority of the Byzantine emperor in the Italian peninsula (which had, by then, shrunk to encompass little more than Apulia and Calabria at best) and ancient Roman Gaul, including the Iberian outposts Charlemagne had established in the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees, what today forms Catalonia. In short, though the Byzantine Emperor claimed authority over all the old Roman Empire, as the legitimate "Roman" Emperor, it was simply not reality. The bulk of the Western Roman Empire had come under Carolingian rule, the Byzantine Emperor having had almost no authority in the West since the sixth century, though Charlemagne, a consummate politician, preferred to avoid an open breach with Constantinople. An institution unique in history was being born: the Holy Roman Empire. Though the sardonic Voltaire ridiculed its nomenclature, saying that the Holy Roman Empire was "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire," it constituted an enormous political power for a time, especially under the Saxon and Salian dynasties and, to a lesser, extent, the Hohenstaufen. It lasted until 1806, by then it was a nonentity. Though his grandson became its first emperor, the "empire" such as it was, was largely born during the reign of Charles Martel.

Charles was that rarest of commodities in the Middle Ages: a brilliant strategic general, who also was a tactical commander par excellence, able in the heat of battle to adapt his plans to his foe's forces and movement — and amazingly, to defeat them repeatedly, especially when, as at Tours, they were far superior in men and weaponry, and at Berre and Narbonne, when they were superior in numbers of brave fighting men. Charles had the last quality which defines genuine greatness in a military commander: he foresaw the dangers of his foes, and prepared for them with care; he used ground, time, place, and fierce loyalty of his troops to offset his foe's superior weaponry and tactics; third, he adapted, again and again, to the enemy on the battlefield, cooly shifting to compensate for the unforeseen and unforeseeable.

Gibbon, whose tribute to Martel has been noted, was not alone among the great mid era historians in fervently praising Martel; Thomas Arnold ranks the victory of Charles Martel even higher than the victory of Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in its impact on all of modern history:

"Charles Martel's victory at Tours was among those signal deliverances which have affected for centuries the happiness of mankind." [History of the later Roman Commonwealth, vol ii. p. 317.]
German historians are especially ardent in their praise of Martel and in their belief that he saved Europe and Christianity from then all-conquering Islam, praising him also for driving back the ferocious Saxon barbarians on his borders. Schlegel speaks of this " mighty victory " in terms of fervent gratitude, and tells how " the arm of Charles Martel saved and delivered the Christian nations of the West from the deadly grasp of all-destroying Islam", and Ranke points out,

"as one of the most important epochs in the history of the world, the commencement of the eighth century, when on the one side Mohammedanism threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other the ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their champion, maintained them with all the energy which the necessity for self-defence calls forth, and finally extended them into new regions."
In 1922 and 1923, Belgian historian Henri Pirenne published a series of papers, known collectively as the "Pirenne Thesis", which remain influential to this day. Pirenne held that the Roman Empire continued, in the Frankish realms, up until the time of the Arab conquests in the 7th century. These conquests disrupted Mediterranean trade routes leading to a decline in the European economy. Such continued disruption would have meant complete disaster except for Charles Martel's halting of Islamic expansion into Europe from 732 on. What he managed to preserve led to the Carolingian Renaissance, named after him.

Professor Santosuosso [5] perhaps sums up Martel best when he talks about his coming to the rescue of his Christian allies in Provence, and driving the Muslims back into the Iberian Peninsula forever in the mid and late 730's::

"After assembling forces at Saragossa the Muslims entered French territory in 735, crossed the River Rhone and captured and looted Arles. From there they struck into the heart of Provence, ending with the capture of Avignon, despite strong resistance. Islamic forces remained in French territory for about four years, carrying raids to Lyon, Burgundy, and Piedmont. Again Charles Martel came to the rescue, reconquering most of the lost territories in two campaigns in 736 and 739, except for the city of Narbonne, which finally fell in 759. The second (Muslim) expedition was probably more dangerous than the first to Poiters. Yet its failure (at Martel's hands) put an end to any serious Muslim expedition across the Pyrenees (forever)."
In the Netherlands, a vital part of the Carolingian Empire, and in the low countries, he is considered a hero. In France and Germany, he is revered as a hero of epic proportions.

Skilled as an administrator and ruler, Martel organized what would become the medieval European government: a system of fiefdoms, loyal to barons, counts, dukes and ultimately the King, or in his case, simply maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum. ("First or Dominant Mayor and Prince of the Franks") His close coordination of church with state began the medieval pattern for such government. He created what would become the first western standing army since the fall of Rome by his maintaining a core of loyal veterans around which he organized the normal feudal levies. In essence, he changed Europe from a horde of barbarians fighting with one another, to an organized state.

[edit] Beginning of the Reconquista
Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of Septimania and across the Pyrenees, Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil turned the tide of Islamic advances, and the unification of the Frankish kingdoms under Martel, his son Pippin the Younger, and his grandson Charlemagne created a western power which prevented the Emirate of Córdoba from expanding over the Pyrenees. Martel, who in 732 was on the verge of excommunication, instead was recognised by the Church as its paramount defender. Pope Gregory II wrote him more than once, asking his protection and aid [6], and he remained, till his death, fixated on stopping the Muslims. Martel's son Pippin the Younger kept his father's promise and returned and took Narbonne by siege in 759, and his grandson, Charlemagne, actually established the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia, reconquering Girona in 785 and Barcelona in 801. This sector of what is now Spain was then called "The Moorish Marches" by the Carolingians, who saw it as not just a check on the Muslims in Hispania, but the beginning of taking the entire country back. This formed a permanent buffer zone against Islam, which became the basis, along with the King of Asturias, named Pelayo (718-737, who started his fight against the Moors in the mountains of Covadonga, 722) and his descendants, for the Reconquista until all of the Muslims were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula.

[edit] Military legacy

[edit] Heavy infantry and first permanent army in West since fall of Rome[citation needed]
Victor Davis Hanson argues that Charles Martel launched "the thousand year struggle" between European heavy infantry, and Muslim cavalry. [11] Of course, Martel is also the father of heavy cavalry in Europe, as he integrated heavy armoured cavalry into his forces. This creation of a real army would continue all through his reign, and that of his son, Pepin the Short, until his Grandson, Charlemagne, would possess the world's largest and finest army since the peak of Rome.[12] Equally, the Muslims used infantry - indeed, at the Battle of Toulouse most of their forces were light infantry. It was not till Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi brought a huge force of Arab and Berber cavalry with him when he assumed the emirite of Al-Andulus that the Muslim forces became primarily cavalry.

Martel's army was known primarily for being the first standing permanent army since Rome's fall in 476, and for the core of tough, seasoned heavy infantry who stood so stoutly at Tours. The Frankish infantry wore as much as 70 pounds of armour, including their heavy wooden shields with an iron boss. Standing close together, and well disciplined, they were unbreakable at Tours.[13] Martel had taken the money and property he had seized from the church and paid local nobles to supply trained ready infantry year round. This was the core of veterans who served with him on a permanent basis, and as Hanson says, "provided a steady supply of dependable troops year around." This was the first permanent army since Rome. "[12] While other Germanic cultures, such as the Visigoths or Vandals, had a proud martial tradition, and the Franks themselves had an annual muster of military aged men, such tribes were only able to field armies around planting and harvest. It was Martel's creation of a system whereby he could call on troops year round that gave the Carolingians the first standing and permanent army since Rome's fall in the west.

And, first and foremost, Charles Martel will always be remembered for his victory at Tours. Creasy argues that the Martel victory "preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilizations." Gibbon called those eight days in 732, the week leading up to Tours, and the battle itself, "the events that rescued our ancestors of Britain, and our neighbors of Gaul [France], from the civil and religious yoke of the Koran." Paul Akers, in his editorial on Charles Martel, says for those who value Christianity "you might spare a minute sometime today, and every October, to say a silent 'thank you' to a gang of half-savage Germans and especially to their leader, Charles 'The Hammer' Martel." [7].

In his vision of what would be necessary for him to withstand a larger force and superior technology (the Muslim horsemen had adopted the armour and accutraments of heavy cavalry from the Sassanid Warrior Class, which made the first knights possible), he, daring not to send his few horsemen against the Islamic cavalry, used his army to fight in a formation used by the ancient Greeks to withstand superior numbers and weapons by discipline, courage, and a willingness to die for their cause: a phalanx. He had trained a core of his men year round, using mostly Church funds, and some had literally been with him since his earliest days after his father's death. It was this hard core of disciplined veterans that won the day for him at Tours. Hanson emphasizes that Martel's greatest accomplishment as a General may have been his ability to keep his troops under control. This absolute iron discipline saved his infantry from the fate of so many infantrymen - such as the Saxons at Hastings - who broke formation and were slaughtered piecemeal. After using this infantry force by itself at Tours, he studied the foe's forces and further adapted to them, initially using stirrups and saddles recovered from the foe's dead horses, and armour from the dead horsemen.

[edit] Development of heavy cavalry
After 732, he began the integration into his army of heavy cavalry, using the armour and accoutrements of heavy armoured horsemen, training his infantry to fight in conjunction with cavalry, a tactic which stood him in good stead during his campaigns of 736-7, especially at the Battle of Narbonne. His incorporation of heavy armoured cavalry into the western forces created the first "knights" in the west.

[edit] Brilliant generalship
Martel earned his reputation for brilliant generalship, in an age generally bereft of same, by his ability to use what he had and by integrating new ideas and technology. As a consequence, he was undefeated from 716 to his death against a wide range of opponents, including the Muslim cavalry (at that time, the world's best) and the fierce barbarian Saxons on his own borders -- and all this in spite of virtually always being outnumbered. He was the only general in the Middle Ages in Europe to use the eastern battle technique of feigned retreat. His ability to attack where he was least expected, when he was least expected, and how he was least expected, were legendary. The process of the development of the famous chivalry of France continued in the Edict of Pistres of his great-great-grandson and namesake Charles the Bald.

The defeats Martel inflicted on the Muslims were vital in that the split in the Islamic world left the Caliphate unable to mount an all out attack on Europe via its Iberian stronghold after 750. His ability to meet this challenge, until the Muslims self-destructed, is considered by most historians to be of macrohistorical importance, and is why Dante writes of him in Heaven as one of the "Defenders of the Faith." After 750, the door to western Europe, the Iberian emirate, was in the hands of the Umayyads, while most of the remainder of the Muslim world came under the control of the Abbasids, making an invasion of Europe a logistical impossibility while the two Muslim empires battled. This put off Islamic invasion of Europe until the Turkish conquest of the Balkans half a millennium later.

H. G. Wells says of Charles Martel's decisive defeat of the Muslims in his "Short History of the World:

"The Moslim when they crossed the Pyrenees in 720 found this Frankish kingdom under the practical rule of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace of a degenerate descendant of Clovis, and experienced the decisive defeat of Poitiers (732) at his hands. This Charles Martel was practically overlord of Europe north of the Alps from the Pyrenees to Hungary." [8]
John H. Haaren says in “Famous Men of the Middle Ages”

”The battle of Tours, or Poitiers, as it should be called, is regarded as one of the decisive battles of the world. It decided that Christians, and not Moslems, should be the ruling power in Europe. Charles Martel is especially celebrated as the hero of this battle.”
Just as his grandson, Charlemagne, would become famous for his swift and unexpected movements in his campaigns, Charles was legendary for never doing what his enemies forecast he would do. It was this ability to do the unforeseen, and move far faster than his opponents believed he could, that characterized the military career of Charles Martel.

It is notable that the Northmen did not begin their European raids until after the death of Martel's grandson, Charlemagne. They had the naval capacity to begin those raids at least three generations earlier, but chose not to challenge Martel, his son Pippin, or his grandson, Charlemagne. This was probably fortunate for Martel, who despite his enormous gifts, would probably not have been able to beat off the Vikings in addition to the Muslims, Saxons, and everyone else he defeated. However, it is notable that again, despite the ability to do so, (the Danes had constructed defenses to defend from counterattacks by land, and had the ability to launch their wholesale sea raids as early as Martel's reign), they chose not to challenge Charles Martel.

[edit] Conclusion
J.M. Roberts says of Charles Martel in his note on the Carolingians on page 315 of his 1993 History of the World:

It (the Carolingian line) produced Charles Martel, the soldier who turned the Arabs back at Tours, and the supporter of Saint Boniface, the Evangelizer of Germany. This is a considerable double mark to have left on the history of Europe."
Gibbon perhaps summarized Charles Martel's legacy most eloquently: "in a laborious administration of 24 years he had restored and supported the dignity of the throne..by the activity of a warrior who in the same campaign could display his banner on the Elbe, the Rhone, and shores of the ocean."

[edit] Family and children
Charles Martel married twice:

His first wife was Rotrude of Treves, (690-724) (daughter of St. Leutwinus, Bishop of Treves). They had the following children:

Hiltrud (d. 754), married Odilo I, Duke of Bavaria
Carloman
Landrade (Landres), married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania
Auda, Aldana, or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse
Pippin the Short
His second wife was Swanhild. They had the following child:

Grifo
Charles Martel also had a mistress, Ruodhaid. They had the following children:

Bernard (b. before 732-787)
Hieronymus
Remigius, archbishop of Rouen (d. 771)
Ian (d. 783)

[edit] Ancestors


Arnulf of Metz


Ansegisel


Saint Doda


Pepin of Herstal

Carloman

Pepin of Landen


Begga


Itta


Charles Martel









Alpaida









Charles Martel
Carolingian Dynasty
Born: 686 Died: 741
Preceded by
Pepin II the Middle Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
714–741 Succeeded by
Carloman
Preceded by
Ragenfrid Mayor of the Palace of Neustria
717–741 Succeeded by
Pepin the Short

[edit] Notes
^ http://www.bartleby.com/67/407.html
^ "Charles Martel". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^ Fouracre, John. “The Age of Charles Martel
^ Davis1999, p. 104.
^ a b Santosuosso, Anthony . Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels2004
^ An Islamic Europe?, Tomorrow's World, Volume 8, No 3. ; An Islamic Europe?
^ Watson, William, E. (1993). The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited. Providence: Studies in Western Civilization v.2 n.1.
^ Barbero, 2004, p. 10.
^ Mastnak, 2002, pp. 99-100.
^ Hanson, Victor Davis, 2001, p. 167.
^ Hanson, 2001, p. 141-166.
^ a b Bennett, Michael. Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World
^ Hanson, 2001, p. 154.

[edit] References
Watson, William E., "The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited", Providence: Studies in Western Civilization, 2 (1993)
Poke,The Battle of Tours, from Sir Edward Creasy, MA, Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World From Marathon to Waterloo
Edward Gibbon, The Battle of Tours, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Micheal Grant "History of Rome"

[edit] External links
Ian Meadows, "The Arabs in Occitania": A sketch giving the context of the conflict from the Arab point of view.
http://www.standin.se/fifteen07a.htm Poke's edition of Creasy's "15 Most Important Battles Ever Fought According to Edward Shepherd Creasy" Chapter VII. The Battle of Tours, A.D. 732.
Richard Hooker, "Civil War and the Umayyads"
The Battle of Tours 732, from the "Jewish Virtual Library" website: A division of the American-Israeli Cooperative.
Tours,Poiters, from "Leaders and Battles Database" online.
Robert W. Martin, "The Battle of Tours is still felt today", from about.com
Santosuosso, Anthony, Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels ISBN 0-8133-9153-9
Medieval Sourcebook: Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732
Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732: Three Accounts from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Medieval Sourcebook: Gregory II to Charles Martel, 739
Bennett, Bradsbury, Devries, Dickie and Jestice, Fighting Tehniques of the Medieval World
Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

As mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish
kingdom), Charles reunited and ruled the entire realm of the Frankish kingdom
and stemmed the Sacacen invasion at Poitiers in 732. "The Hammer" was a
man of valiant determination, ambition, and ability, striving incessantly to
consolidate his power. In 733, Burgundy yielded to his rule, and in 734, he
subdued the Frisians. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom
between sons Pepin and Carloman, never transferring royal title to himself.

As mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish
kingdom), Charles reunited and ruled the entire realm of the Frankish kingdom
and stemmed the Sacacen invasion at Poitiers in 732. "The Hammer" was a
man of valiant determination, ambition, and ability, striving incessantly to
consolidate his power. In 733, Burgundy yielded to his rule, and in 734, he
subdued the Frisians. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom
between sons Pepin and Carloman, never transferring royal title to himself.

Charles was also victor over the Saracens at Tours, 732.
He was of Heristol, Leige, Belgium; Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, King of the Franks, 724; victor at the Battle of Poitiers, 676.
***************************************************************************************
Charles Martel
Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. He was the natural son of Pepin of Herstal and a woman named Alpaïde or Chalpaïde. Pepin, who in 714, had outlived his two legitimate sons, Drogon and Grimoald, and to Theodoald, a son of the latter and then only six years old, fell the burdensome inheritance of the French monarchy. Charles, who was then twenty-six, was not excluded from the succession on account of his birth, Theodoald himself being the son of a concubine, but through the influence of Plectrude, Theodoald's grandmother, who wished the power invested in her own descendants exclusively. To prevent any opposition from Charles she had him cast into prison and, having established herself at Cologne, assumed the guardianship of her grandson. But the different nations whom the strong hand of Pepin of Herstal had held in subjections, shook off the yoke of oppression as soon as they saw that it was with a woman they had to deal. Neustria gave the signal for revolt (715), Theodoald was beaten in the forest of Cuise and, led by Raginfrid, mayor of the palace, the enemy advanced as far as the Meuse. The Frisians flew to arms and, headed by their duke, Ratbod, destroyed the Christian mission and entered into a confederacy with the Neustrians. The Saxons came and devastated the country of the Hattuarians, and even in Austrasia there was a certain faction that chafed under the government of a woman and child. At this juncture Charles escaped from prison and put himself at the head of the national party of Austrasia. At first he was unfortunate. He was defeated by Ratbod near Cologne in 716, and the Neustrians forced Plectrude to acknowledge as king Chilperic, the son of Childeric II, having taken this Merovingian from the seclusion of the cloister, where he lived the name of Daniel. But Charles was quick to take revenge. He surprised and conquered the Neustrians at Amblève near Malmédy (716), defeated them a second time at Vincy near Cambrai (21 March, 717), and pursued them as far as Paris. Then retracing his steps, he came to Cologne and compelled Plectrude to surrender her power and turn over to him the wealth of his father, Pepin. In order to give his recently acquired authority a semblance of legitimacy, he proclaimed the Merovingian Clotaire IV King of Austrasia, reserving for himself the title of Mayor of the Palace. It was about this time that Charles banished Rigobert, the Bishop of Reims, who had opposed him, appointing in his stead the warlike and unpriestly Milon, who was already Archbishop of Trier.
The ensuing years were full of strife. Eager to chastise the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia, Charles in the year 718 laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser. In 719 Ratbod died, and Charles seized Western Friesland without any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, who had taken possession of it on the death of Pepin. The Neustrians, always a menace, had joined forces with the people of Aquitaine, but Charles hacked their army to pieces at Soissons. After this defeat they realized the necessity of surrendering, and the death of King Clotaire IV, whom Charles had placed on the throne but two years previously, facilitated reconciliation of the two great fractions of the Frankish Empire. Charles acknowledged Chilperic as head of the entire monarchy, while on their side, the Neustrians and Aquitainians endorsed the authority of Charles; but, when Chilperic died, the following year (720) Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Thierry IV, who was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 to 737. A second expedition against the Saxons in 720 and the definitive submission of Raginfrid, who had been left the county of Angers (724), re-established the Frankish Monarchy as it had been under Pepin of Herstal, and closed the first series of Charles Martel's struggles. The next six years were devoted almost exclusively to the confirming of the Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes. In 725 and 728 Charles went into Bavaria, where the Agilolfing dukes had gradually rendered themselves independent, and re-established Frankish suzerainty. He also brought thence the Princess Suanehilde, who seems to have become his mistress. In 730 he marched against Lantfrid, Duke of the Alemanna, whom he likewise brought into subjection, and thus Southern Germany once more became part of the Frankish Empire, as had Northern Germany during the first years of the reign. But at the extremity of the empire a dreadful storm was gathering. For several years the Moslems of Spain had been threatening Gaul. Banished thence in 721 by Duke Eudes, they had returned in 725 and penetrated as far as Burgundy, where they had destroyed Autun. Duke Eudes, unable to resist them, at length contented himself by negotiating with them, and to Othmar, one of their chiefs, he gave the hand of his daughter But this compromising alliance brought him into disfavour with Charles, who defeated him in 731, and the death of Othmar that same year again left Eudes at the mercy of Moslem enterprise. In 732 Abd-er-Rahman, Governor of Spain, crossed the Pyrenees at the head of an immense army, overcame Duke Eudes, and advanced as far as the Loire, pillaging and burning as he went. In October, 732, Charles met Abd-er-Rahman outside of Tours and defeated and slew him in a battle (the Battle of Poitiers) which must ever remain one of the great events in the history of the world, as upon its issue depended whether Christian Civilization should continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe. It was this battle, it is said, that gave Charles his name, Martel (Tudites) "The Hammer", because of the merciless way in which he smote the enemy.
The remainder of Charles Martel's reign was an uninterrupted series of triumphant combats. In 733-734 he suppressed the rebellion instigated by the Frisian duke, Bobo, who was slain in battle, and definitively subdued Friesland, which finally adopted Christianity. In 735, after the death of Eudes, Charles entered Aquitaine, quelled the revolt of Hatto and Hunold, sons of the deceased duke, and left the duchy to Hunold, to be held in fief (736). He then banished the Moslems from Arles and Avignon, defeated their army on the River Berre near Narbonne, and in 739 checked an uprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus. So great was Charles' power during the last years of his reign that he did not take the trouble to appoint a successor to King Thierry IV, who died in 737, but assumed full authority himself, governing without legal right. About a year before Charles died, Pope Gregory III, threatened by Luitprand, King of Lombardy, asked his help. Now Charles was Luitprand's ally because the latter had promised to assist him in the late war against the Moslems of Provence, and, moreover, the Frankish king may have already suffered from the malady that was to carry him off—two reasons that are surely sufficient to account for the fact that the pope's envoys departed without gaining the object of their errand. However, it would seem that, according to the terms of a public act published by Charlemagne, Charles had, at least in principle, agreed to defend the Roman Church, and death alone must have prevented him from fulfilling this agreement. The reign, which in the beginning was so full of bloody conflicts and later of such incessant strife, would have been an impossibility had not Charles procured means sufficient to attract and compensate his partisans. For this purpose he conceived the idea of giving them the usufruct of a great many ecclesiastical lands, and this spoliation is what is referred to as the secularization by Charles Martel. It was an expedient that could be excused without, however, being justified, and it was pardoned to a certain extent by the amnesty granted at the Council of Lestines, held under the sons of Charles Martel in 743. It must also be remembered that the Church remained the legal owner of the lands thus alienated. This spoliation and the conferring of the principal ecclesiastical dignities upon those who were either totally unworthy or else had naught but their military qualifications to recommend them—as, for instance, the assignment of the episcopal Sees of Reims of Reims and Trier to Milon—were not calculated to endear Charles Martel to the clergy of his time. Therefore, in the ninth century Hincmar of Reims related the story of the vision with which St. Eucher was said to have been favoured and which showed Charles in hell, to which he had been condemned for robbing the Church of its property.
But notwithstanding the almost exclusively warlike character of his reign, Charles Martel was not indifferent to the superior interests of civilization and Christianity. Like Napoleon after the French Revolution, upon emerging from the years 715-719, Charles, who had not only tolerated but perpetrated many an act of violence against the Church, set about the establishment of social order and endeavoured to restore the rights of the Catholic hierarchy. This explains the protection which in 723 he accorded St. Boniface <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02656a.htm> (Winfrid), the great apostle of Germany, a protection all the more salutary as the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. Hence Charles Martel shares, to a certain degree, the glory and merit of Boniface's <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02656a.htm> great work of civilization. He died after having divided the Frankish Empire, as a patrimony between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin.

Source:Catholic Encyclopedia <../cathen>

Charles MARTEL, Latin CAROLUS MARTELLUS, German KARL MARTELL (b. c. 688--d. Oct. 22, 741, Quierzy-sur-Oise, France), mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom) from 715 to 741. He reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Muslim invasion at Poitiers in 732. His byname, Martel, means "the hammer." Charles was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace of Austrasia. By this period the Merovingian kings of the Frankish realm were rulers in name only. The burden of rule lay upon the mayors of the palace, who governed Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom, and Neustria, its western portion. Neustria bitterly resented its conquest and annexation in 687 by Pepin, who, acting in the name of the king, had reorganized and reunified the Frankish realm. The assassination of Pepin's only surviving legitimate son in 714 was followed a few months later by the death of Pepin himself. Pepin left as heirs three grandsons, and until they came of age, Plectrude, Pepin's widow, was to hold power. As an illegitimate son, Charles Martel was entirely neglected in the will. But he was young, strong, and determined, and an intense struggle for power at once broke out in the Frankish kingdom. Both Charles and Plectrude faced rebellion throughout the Frankish kingdom when Pepin's will was made known. The king, Chilperic II, was in the power of Ragenfrid, mayor of the palace of Neustria, who joined forces with the Frisians in Holland in order to eliminate Charles. Plectrude imprisoned Charles and tried to govern in the name of her grandchildren, but Charles escaped, gathered an army, and defeated the Neustrians in battles at Amblève near Liège (716) and at Vincy near Cambrai (717). His success made resistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; they submitted, and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor. Assured of Austrasia, Charles now attacked Neustria itself, finally subduing it in 724. This freed Charles to deal with hostile elements elsewhere. He attacked Aquitaine, whose ruler, Eudes (Odo), had been an ally of Ragenfrid, but Charles did not gain effective control of southern France until late in his reign. He also conducted long campaigns, some as late as the 730s, against the Frisians, Saxons, and Bavarians, whose brigandage endangered the eastern frontiers of his kingdom. In order to consolidate his military gains, Charles supported St. Boniface and other missionaries in their efforts to convert the German tribes on the eastern frontier to Christianity. Ever since their arrival in Spain from Africa in 711, the Muslims had raided Frankish territory, threatening Gaul and on one occasion (725) reaching Burgundy and sacking Autun. In 732 'Abd ar-Rahman, the governor of Córdoba, marched into Bordeaux and defeated Eudes. The Muslims then proceeded north across Aquitaine to the city of Poitiers. Eudes appealed to Charles for assistance, and Charles' cavalry managed to turn back the Muslim onslaught at the Battle of Poitiers. The battle itself may have been only a series of small engagements, but after it there were no more great Muslim invasions of Frankish territory. In 733 Charles began his campaigns to force Burgundy to yield to his rule. In 735 word arrived that Eudes was dead, and Charles marched rapidly across the Loire River in order to make his power felt around Bordeaux. By 739 he had completely subdued the petty chieftains of Burgundy, and he continued to fend off Muslim advances into Gaul during the decade. Charles' health began to fail in the late 730s, and in 741 he retired to his palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise, where he died soon after. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two legitimate sons, Pepin and Carloman. He continued to maintain the fiction of Merovingian rule, refraining from transferring the royal title to his own dynasty. Source: "Charles MARTEL" Britannica Online. [Accessed 10 February 1998].

Charles MARTEL, Latin CAROLUS MARTELLUS, German KARL MARTELL (b. c. 688--d. Oct. 22, 741, Quierzy-sur-Oise, France), mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom) from 715 to 741. He reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Muslim invasion at Poitiers in 732. His byname, Martel, means "the hammer." Charles was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace of Austrasia. By this period the Merovingian kings of the Frankish realm were rulers in name only. The burden of rule lay upon the mayors of the palace, who governed Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom, and Neustria, its western portion. Neustria bitterly resented its conquest and annexation in 687 by Pepin, who, acting in the name of the king, had reorganized and reunified the Frankish realm. The assassination of Pepin's only surviving legitimate son in 714 was followed a few months later by the death of Pepin himself. Pepin left as heirs three grandsons, and until they came of age, Plectrude, Pepin's widow, was to hold power. As an illegitimate son, Charles Martel was entirely neglected in the will. But he was young, strong, and determined, and an intense struggle for power at once broke out in the Frankish kingdom. Both Charles and Plectrude faced rebellion throughout the Frankish kingdom when Pepin's will was made known. The king, Chilperic II, was in the power of Ragenfrid, mayor of the palace of Neustria, who joined forces with the Frisians in Holland in order to eliminate Charles. Plectrude imprisoned Charles and tried to govern in the name of her grandchildren, but Charles escaped, gathered an army, and defeated the Neustrians in battles at Amblève near Liège (716) and at Vincy near Cambrai (717). His success made resistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; they submitted, and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor. Assured of Austrasia, Charles now attacked Neustria itself, finally subduing it in 724. This freed Charles to deal with hostile elements elsewhere. He attacked Aquitaine, whose ruler, Eudes (Odo), had been an ally of Ragenfrid, but Charles did not gain effective control of southern France until late in his reign. He also conducted long campaigns, some as late as the 730s, against the Frisians, Saxons, and Bavarians, whose brigandage endangered the eastern frontiers of his kingdom. In order to consolidate his military gains, Charles supported St. Boniface and other missionaries in their efforts to convert the German tribes on the eastern frontier to Christianity. Ever since their arrival in Spain from Africa in 711, the Muslims had raided Frankish territory, threatening Gaul and on one occasion (725) reaching Burgundy and sacking Autun. In 732 'Abd ar-Rahman, the governor of Córdoba, marched into Bordeaux and defeated Eudes. The Muslims then proceeded north across Aquitaine to the city of Poitiers. Eudes appealed to Charles for assistance, and Charles' cavalry managed to turn back the Muslim onslaught at the Battle of Poitiers. The battle itself may have been only a series of small engagements, but after it there were no more great Muslim invasions of Frankish territory. In 733 Charles began his campaigns to force Burgundy to yield to his rule. In 735 word arrived that Eudes was dead, and Charles marched rapidly across the Loire River in order to make his power felt around Bordeaux. By 739 he had completely subdued the petty chieftains of Burgundy, and he continued to fend off Muslim advances into Gaul during the decade. Charles' health began to fail in the late 730s, and in 741 he retired to his palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise, where he died soon after. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two legitimate sons, Pepin and Carloman. He continued to maintain the fiction of Merovingian rule, refraining from transferring the royal title to his own dynasty. Source: "Charles MARTEL" Britannica Online. [Accessed 10 February 1998].

Charles MARTEL, Latin CAROLUS MARTELLUS, German KARL MARTELL (b. c. 688--d. Oct. 22, 741, Quierzy-sur-Oise, France), mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom) from 715 to 741. He reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Muslim invasion at Poitiers in 732. His byname, Martel, means "the hammer." Charles was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace of Austrasia. By this period the Merovingian kings of the Frankish realm were rulers in name only. The burden of rule lay upon the mayors of the palace, who governed Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom, and Neustria, its western portion. Neustria bitterly resented its conquest and annexation in 687 by Pepin, who, acting in the name of the king, had reorganized and reunified the Frankish realm. The assassination of Pepin's only surviving legitimate son in 714 was followed a few months later by the death of Pepin himself. Pepin left as heirs three grandsons, and until they came of age, Plectrude, Pepin's widow, was to hold power. As an illegitimate son, Charles Martel was entirely neglected in the will. But he was young, strong, and determined, and an intense struggle for power at once broke out in the Frankish kingdom. Both Charles and Plectrude faced rebellion throughout the Frankish kingdom when Pepin's will was made known. The king, Chilperic II, was in the power of Ragenfrid, mayor of the palace of Neustria, who joined forces with the Frisians in Holland in order to eliminate Charles. Plectrude imprisoned Charles and tried to govern in the name of her grandchildren, but Charles escaped, gathered an army, and defeated the Neustrians in battles at Amblève near Liège (716) and at Vincy near Cambrai (717). His success made resistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; they submitted, and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor. Assured of Austrasia, Charles now attacked Neustria itself, finally subduing it in 724. This freed Charles to deal with hostile elements elsewhere. He attacked Aquitaine, whose ruler, Eudes (Odo), had been an ally of Ragenfrid, but Charles did not gain effective control of southern France until late in his reign. He also conducted long campaigns, some as late as the 730s, against the Frisians, Saxons, and Bavarians, whose brigandage endangered the eastern frontiers of his kingdom. In order to consolidate his military gains, Charles supported St. Boniface and other missionaries in their efforts to convert the German tribes on the eastern frontier to Christianity. Ever since their arrival in Spain from Africa in 711, the Muslims had raided Frankish territory, threatening Gaul and on one occasion (725) reaching Burgundy and sacking Autun. In 732 'Abd ar-Rahman, the governor of Córdoba, marched into Bordeaux and defeated Eudes. The Muslims then proceeded north across Aquitaine to the city of Poitiers. Eudes appealed to Charles for assistance, and Charles' cavalry managed to turn back the Muslim onslaught at the Battle of Poitiers. The battle itself may have been only a series of small engagements, but after it there were no more great Muslim invasions of Frankish territory. In 733 Charles began his campaigns to force Burgundy to yield to his rule. In 735 word arrived that Eudes was dead, and Charles marched rapidly across the Loire River in order to make his power felt around Bordeaux. By 739 he had completely subdued the petty chieftains of Burgundy, and he continued to fend off Muslim advances into Gaul during the decade. Charles' health began to fail in the late 730s, and in 741 he retired to his palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise, where he died soon after. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two legitimate sons, Pepin and Carloman. He continued to maintain the fiction of Merovingian rule, refraining from transferring the royal title to his own dynasty. Source: "Charles MARTEL" Britannica Online. [Accessed 10 February 1998].

As mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish
kingdom), Charles reunited and ruled the entire realm of the Frankish kingdom
and stemmed the Sacacen invasion at Poitiers in 732. "The Hammer" was a
man of valiant determination, ambition, and ability, striving incessantly to
consolidate his power. In 733, Burgundy yielded to his rule, and in 734, he
subdued the Frisians. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom
between sons Pepin and Carloman, never transferring royal title to himself.

!DESCENT: Frederick Lewis Weis and Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., Ancestral Roots
of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700, 7th ed., at 163
(1992). Line 190-11.

He was baptised by St. Rigobert, Bishop of Reims.
He was Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia but he ruled the Franksthrough Clothaire IV whom he made king of the Franks in name. He consolidated his power in what is now France and laid the basis for the feudal system.
Charles began the greatness of Austrasia...Frankish unity was re-established. He then defended Gaul against the Frisians, the Alamanniand the Bohemians.Charles proved himself another soldier of the cross by repelling the Moorish invasion at Poitiers stopping the Saracen invasion of Europe, thereby insuring our western Christian civilization in 732.
He stopping the Saracen invasion of Europe, thereby insuring our western Christian civilization.
He administered 714-741 and is buried at St. Denis. What is courious is that he never took the throne or the title. He seems to have regarded the throne with superstitious awe and a as a specifically Merovingian perogative.

[Weis 50] Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor over the Saracens at Tours, 732.

Ruler of the Franks
Corolingian ruler of the Frankish Kingdom of Austrasi (in presentnorth easter France adn southwestern Germany). Charles, whose surnamemeans h ammer, was the son of Pepin of Herstal and the grandfather ofCharlemag ne. Pepin was mayor of the palace under the last kings of theMerovingi an dynasty. When he died in 714, Charles, and illegitimate son,was imp risoned by his father's widow, but escaped in 715 and wasproclaimed ma yor of the palace by the Austrasians. A war betweenAustrasia and the F rankish Kingdom of Neustria (now part of France)followed, and at the e nd of it Charles became the undisputed ruler of allthe Franks. Althoug h he was engaged in wars against Alamanni, Bavarians,and Saxsons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims fromSpain, who invaded Frande in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers ina freat battle i n which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the emir ofSpain, was killed . The progress of the Islam, which had filled allChritendom with alarm , was thus checked for a time. Charles drove theMuslims out of the Rho me Valley in 739, when they had again advanced intoFrance as far as Ly on, leaving them nothing of their possessions north ofthe Pyrenees bey ond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy on the OiseRiver, leaving the kingdom divided between his two sons, Carloman (circa715-754) and Pepin the Short.

Saved Europe from the Saracens at Tours 732

Charles "The Hammer" Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus, English: Charles "the Hammer") (ca. 688[citation needed] - 22 October 741) was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a titular King. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks (the last four years of his reign he did not even bother with the façade of a King) and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms. In 739 he was offered an office of Roman consul by the Pope, which he rejected[1] possibly not to conflict with Theodatus Ursus who already occupied the office by appointment of the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian. He expanded his rule over all three of the Frankish kingdoms: Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy.

Martel was born in Herstal, in present-day Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida (or Chalpaida).[2] He was described by Gustave Louis Maurice Strauss in his book "Moslem and Frank; or, Charles Martel and the rescue of Europe" as a tall, powerfully built man, who was more agile than his size would lead men to believe.

He is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers) in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as an event that halted the Islamic expansionism in Europe that had conquered Iberia.[3] "Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization."[4]

In addition to being the leader of the army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel was a truly giant figure of the Middle Ages. A brilliant general, he is considered the forefather of western heavy cavalry, chivalry, founder of the Carolingian Empire (which was NOT named after him, but after Charlemagne), and a catalyst for the feudal system, which would see Europe through the Middle Ages. Although some recent scholars have suggested he was more of a beneficiary of the feudal system than a knowing agent for social change, others continue to see him as the primary catalyst for the feudal system.[5]

Charles Martel
Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. He was th e natural son of Pepin of Herstal and a woman named Alpaïde or Chalpaïde . Pepin, who died in 714, had outlived his two legitimate sons, Drogon an d Grimoald, and to Theodoald, a son of the latter and then only six year s old, fell the burdensome inheritance of the French monarchy. Charles, w ho was then twenty-six, was not excluded from the succession on account o f his birth, Theodoald himself being the son of a concubine, but throug h the influence of Plectrude, Theodoald's grandmother, who wished the pow er invested in her own descendants exclusively. To prevent any oppositio n from Charles she had him cast into prison and, having established herse lf at Cologne, assumed the guardianship of her grandson. But the differen t nations whom the strong hand of Pepin of Herstal had held in subjection s, shook off the yoke of oppression as soon as they saw that it was wit h a woman they had to deal. Neustria gave the signal for revolt (715), Th eodoald was beaten in the forest of Cuise and, led by Raginfrid, mayor o f the palace, the enemy advanced as far as the Meuse. The Frisians flew t o arms and, headed by their duke, Ratbod, destroyed the Christian missio n and entered into a confederacy with the Neustrians. The Saxons came an d devastated the country of the Hattuarians, and even in Austrasia ther e was a certain faction that chafed under the government of a woman and c hild. At this juncture Charles escaped from prison and put himself at th e head of the national party of Austrasia. At first he was unfortunate. H e was defeated by Ratbod near Cologne in 716, and the Neustrians forced P lectrude to acknowledge as king Chilperic, the son of Childeric II, havin g taken this Merovingian from the seclusion of the cloister, where he liv ed the name of Daniel. But Charles was quick to take revenge. He surprise d and conquered the Neustrians at Amblève near Malmédy (716), defeated th em a second time at Vincy near Cambrai (21 March, 717), and pursued the m as far as Paris. Then retracing his steps, he came to Cologne and compe lled Plectrude to surrender her power and turn over to him the wealth o f his father, Pepin. In order to give his recently acquired authority a s emblance of legitimacy, he proclaimed the Merovingian Clotaire IV King o f Austrasia, reserving for himself the title of Mayor of the Palace. It w as about this time that Charles banished Rigobert, the Bishop of Reims, w ho had opposed him, appointing in his stead the warlike and unpriestly Mi lon, who was already Archbishop of Trier.
The ensuing years were full of strife. Eager to chastise the Saxons who h ad invaded Austrasia, Charles in the year 718 laid waste their country t o the banks of the Weser. In 719 Ratbod died, and Charles seized Wester n Friesland without any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, wh o had taken possession of it on the death of Pepin. The Neustrians, alway s a menace, had joined forces with the people of Aquitaine, but Charles h acked their army to pieces at Soissons. After this defeat they realized t he necessity of surrendering, and the death of King Clotaire IV, whom Cha rles had placed on the throne but two years previously, facilitated recon ciliation of the two great fractions of the Frankish Empire. Charles ackn owledged Chilperic as head of the entire monarchy, while on their side, t he Neustrians and Aquitainians endorsed the authority of Charles; but, wh en Chilperic died, the following year (720) Charles appointed as his succ essor the son of Dagobert III, Thierry IV, who was still a minor, and wh o occupied the throne from 720 to 737. A second expedition against the Sa xons in 720 and the definitive submission of Raginfrid, who had been lef t the county of Angers (724), re-established the Frankish Monarchy as i t had been under Pepin of Herstal, and closed the first series of Charle s Martel's struggles. The next six years were devoted almost exclusivel y to the confirming of the Frankish authority over the dependent Germani c tribes. In 725 and 728 Charles went into Bavaria, where the Agilolfin g dukes had gradually rendered themselves independent, and re-establishe d Frankish suzerainty. He also brought thence the Princess Suanehilde, wh o seems to have become his mistress. In 730 he marched against Lantfrid , Duke of the Alemanna, whom he likewise brought into subjection, and thu s Southern Germany once more became part of the Frankish Empire, as had N orthern Germany during the first years of the reign. But at the extremit y of the empire a dreadful storm was gathering. For several years the Mos lems of Spain had been threatening Gaul. Banished thence in 721 by Duke E udes, they had returned in 725 and penetrated as far as Burgundy, where t hey had destroyed Autun. Duke Eudes, unable to resist them, at length con tented himself by negotiating with them, and to Othmar, one of their chie fs, he gave the hand of his daughter But this compromising alliance broug ht him into disfavour with Charles, who defeated him in 731, and the deat h of Othmar that same year again left Eudes at the mercy of Moslem enterp rise. In 732 Abd-er-Rahman, Governor of Spain, crossed the Pyrenees at th e head of an immense army, overcame Duke Eudes, and advanced as far as th e Loire, pillaging and burning as he went. In October, 732, Charles met A bd-er-Rahman outside of Tours and defeated and slew him in a battle (th e Battle of Poitiers) which must ever remain one of the great events in t he history of the world, as upon its issue depended whether Christian Civ ilization should continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe. It was thi s battle, it is said, that gave Charles his name, Martel (Tudites) "The H ammer", because of the merciless way in which he smote the enemy.
The remainder of Charles Martel's reign was an uninterrupted series of tr iumphant combats. In 733-734 he suppressed the rebellion instigated by th e Frisian duke, Bobo, who was slain in battle, and definitively subdued F riesland, which finally adopted Christianity . In 735, after the death o f Eudes, Charles entered Aquitaine, quelled the revolt of Hatto and Hunol d, sons of the deceased duke, and left the duchy to Hunold, to be held i n fief (736). He then banished the Moslems from Arles and Avignon , defea ted their army on the River Berre near Narbonne, and in 739 checked an up rising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus. S o great was Charles' power during the last years of his reign that he di d not take the trouble to appoint a successor to King Thierry IV, who die d in 737, but assumed full authority himself, governing without legal rig ht. About a year before Charles died, Pope Gregory III , threatened by Lu itprand, King of Lombardy, asked his help. Now Charles was Luitprand's al ly because the latter had promised to assist him in the late war agains t the Moslems of Provence, and, moreover, the Frankish king may have alre ady suffered from the malady that was to carry him off-two reasons that a re surely sufficient to account for the fact that the pope's envoys depar ted without gaining the object of their errand. However, it would seem th at, according to the terms of a public act published by Charlemagne, Char les had, at least in principle, agreed to defend the Roman Church, and de ath alone must have prevented him from fulfilling this agreement. The rei gn, which in the beginning was so full of bloody conflicts and later of s uch incessant strife, would have been an impossibility had not Charles pr ocured means sufficient to attract and compensate his partisans. For thi s purpose he conceived the idea of giving them the usufruct of a great ma ny ecclesiastical lands, and this spoliation is what is referred to as th e secularization by Charles Martel. It was an expedient that could be exc used without, however, being justified, and it was pardoned to a certai n extent by the amnesty granted at the Council of Lestines, held under th e sons of Charles Martel in 743. It must also be remembered that the Chur ch remained the legal owner of the lands thus alienated. This spoliatio n and the conferring of the principal ecclesiastical dignities upon thos e who were either totally unworthy or else had naught but their militar y qualifications to recommend them-as, for instance, the assignment of th e episcopal Sees of Reims of Reims and Trier to Milon-were not calculate d to endear Charles Martel to the clergy of his time. Therefore, in the n inth century Hincmar of Reims related the story of the vision with whic h St. Eucher was said to have been favoured and which showed Charles in h ell , to which he had been condemned for robbing the Church of its proper ty.
But notwithstanding the almost exclusively warlike character of his reign , Charles Martel was not indifferent to the superior interests of civiliz ation and Christianity . Like Napoleon after the French Revolution , upo n emerging from the years 715-719, Charles, who had not only tolerated bu t perpetrated many an act of violence against the Church, set about the e stablishment of social order and endeavoured to restore the rights of th e Catholic hierarchy. This explains the protection which in 723 he accord ed St. Boniface (Winfrid), the great apostle of Germany, a protection al l the more salutary as the saint himself explained to his old friend, Dan iel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his church , defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. Hence Charles Martel shares, t o a certain degree, the glory and merit of Boniface's great work of civil ization. He died after having divided the Frankish Empire, as a patrimon y between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin. Pope Gregory II - Appeal to Charles Martel, 739
For some time after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, the pap acy remained within the Byzantine political sphere. Two developments chan ged this. The first was the long Iconclastic controversy in the East, i n which the popes sided with the iconodules. The other was the inabilit y of the Byzantines to protect the popes. As a result, the popes tunred i ncreasingly in the 8th century towards the Franks and made a series of al liances, in particular, with the Carolingian majors of the palace. Here i s a letter of 739 in which Pope Gregory III (731 - 741) appeals to the Fr ankish ruler Charles Martel for help against the Lombards in Italy.
Pope Gregory to His Most Excellent Son, Karl, Sub-King
In our great affliction we have thought it necessary to write to you a se cond time, believing that you are a loving son of St. Peter, the prince o f apostles, and of ourselves, and that out of reverence for him you woul d obey our commands to defend the church of God and his chosen people. W e can now no longer endure the persecution of the Lombards, for they hav e taken from St. Peter all his possessions, even those which were given h im by you and your fathers. These Lombards hate and oppress us because w e sought protection from you; for the same reason also the church of St . Peter is despoiled and desolated by them. But we have intrusted a mor e complete account of all our woes to your faithful subject, our presen t messenger, and he will relate them to you. You, oh son, will receive fa vor from the same prince of apostles here and in the future life in the p resence of God, according as you render speedy aid to his church and to u s, that all peoples may recognize the faith and love and singleness of pu rpose which you display in defending St. Peter and us and his chosen peop le. For by doing this you will attain lasting fame on earth and eternal l ife in heaven.
from Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Book fo r Medieval History, (New York: Scribners, 1905), p. 102 Pope Gregory II Commends Boniface to Charles Martel (December 722)
To the glorious Lord, our son, Duke Charles.
Having learned, beloved son in Christ, that you are a man of deeply relig ious feeling, we make known to you that our brother Boniface, who now sta nds before you, a man of sterling faith and character, has been consecrat ed bishop by us, and after being instructed in the teachings of the Hol y Apostolic See, over which by God's grace we preside, is being sent to p reach the faith to the peoples of Germany who dwell on the eastern bank o f the Rhine, some of whom are still steeped in the efforts of paganism, w hile many more are plunged in the darkness of ignorance.
For this reason we commend him without more ado to your kindness and good will, begging you to help him in all his needs and to grant him your cons tant protection against any who may stand in his way. Know for certain th at any favour bestowed on him is done for God, who on sending His holy Ap ostles to convert the Gentiles said that any man who received them receiv ed Him.
Instructed by us in the teachings of these Apostles, the bishop aforesai d is now on his way to take up the work assigned to him.
(Tangl, 20)
Charles Martel Takes Boniface Under His Protection (723)
Charles Martel (688-741) was the natural [i.e. born out of wedlock] son o f Pippin of Heristal. He received the appellation Martel (the Hammer) fro m his victory over the Saracens at Tours, upon the issue of which depende d the fate of Christendom.
To the holy lords and apostolic fathers, bishops, dukes, counts, regents , servants, lesser officials and friends, Charles, Mayor of the Palace, h earty greetings.
Let it be known that the apostolic father Bishop Boniface has come into o ur presence and begged us to take him under our protection. Know then tha t it has been our pleasure to do this.
Furthermore, we have seen fit to issue and seal with our own hand an orde r that wheresoever he goes, no matter where it shall be., he shall with o ur love and protection remain unmolested and undisturbed, on the understa nding that he shall maintain justice and receive justice in like manner.
And if any question or eventuality arise which is not covered by our law , he shall remain unmolested and undisturbed until he reach our presence , both he and those who put their trust in him, so that as long as he rem ains under our protection no man shall oppose or do him harm.
And in order to give greater authority to this our command, we have signe d it with our own hand and sealed it below with our ring.
(Tangl, 22)

WFT5404 WFT6064 aka Karl
1 NAME "The /Hammer"/ 1 UPDA 2 PLAC Mayor of all Kingdoms
Mayor Of Palace
King of the Franks
CHARLES MARTEL (688?-741) ruled northern Gaul from 719 to 741. Gaul was a region in Europe that included what are now France, Germany west of the Rhine River, and Belgium. Charles was not a king but ruled as "mayor of the palace" in the name of several weak kings from the Merovingian dynasty (family of rulers). From 714 to 719, Charles fought to establish his rule in northern Gaul. Later, he brought Burgundy, the southeastern part of present-day France, under his control. He also conquered Frisia in what is now the Netherlands. He helped convert Germany to Christianity by sponsoring the missionary work of Saint Boniface. In 732, Charles defeated an invading Muslim army at the Battle of Poitiers, also called the Battle of Tours. The fighting began near Tours, France, and ended near Poitiers. Charles was later called Martel, meaning the Hammer, because of his victory over the Muslims.
Charles's son Pepin the Short was the first king in the Carolingian dynasty. Charles's grandson Charlemagne conquered a vast empire.
They had the following children: MiJerome. MiiCarloman. MiiiPepin III "The SHORT" King of Italy was born 715 and died 24 Sep 768.

[Eldad_Grannis.FTW]

[SPARKMAN DATABASE.FTW]

Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, Victor over the Saracens at Tours.

Charles Martel
Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. He was thenatural son of Pepi n of Herstal and a woman named Alpaïde or Chalpaïde.Pepin, who in 714, had outlived his two l egitimate sons, Drogon andGrimoald, and to Theodoald, a son of the latter and then only six y earsold, fell the burdensome inheritance of the French monarchy. Charles, whowas then twenty- six, was not excluded from the succession on account ofhis birth, Theodoald himself being th e son of a concubine, but throughthe influence of Plectrude, Theodoald's grandmother, who wis hed the powerinvested in her own descendants exclusively. To prevent any oppositionfrom Charl es she had him cast into prison and, having established herselfat Cologne, assumed the guardi anship of her grandson. But the differentnations whom the strong hand of Pepin of Herstal ha d held in subjections,shook off the yoke of oppression as soon as they saw that it was with a woman they had to deal. Neustria gave the signal for revolt (715),Theodoald was beaten in th e forest of Cuise and, led by Raginfrid, mayorof the palace, the enemy advanced as far as th e Meuse. The Frisians flewto arms and, headed by their duke, Ratbod, destroyed the Christianm ission and entered into a confederacy with the Neustrians. The Saxonscame and devastated th e country of the Hattuarians, and even in Austrasiathere was a certain faction that chafed un der the government of a womanand child. At this juncture Charles escaped from prison and pu t himselfat the head of the national party of Austrasia. At first he wasunfortunate. He was d efeated by Ratbod near Cologne in 716, and theNeustrians forced Plectrude to acknowledge as k ing Chilperic, the son ofChilderic II, having taken this Merovingian from the seclusion of th ecloister, where he lived the name of Daniel. But Charles was quick totake revenge. He surpri sed and conquered the Neustrians at Amblève nearMalmédy (716), defeated them a second time a t Vincy near Cambrai (21March, 717), and pursued them as far as Paris. Then retracing his ste ps,he came to Cologne and compelled Plectrude to surrender her power andturn over to him th e wealth of his father, Pepin. In order to give hisrecently acquired authority a semblance o f legitimacy, he proclaimed theMerovingian Clotaire IV King of Austrasia, reserving for himse lf thetitle of Mayor of the Palace. It was about this time that Charlesbanished Rigobert, th e Bishop of Reims, who had opposed him, appointingin his stead the warlike and unpriestly Mil on, who was already Archbishopof Trier.

The ensuing years were full of strife. Eager to chastise the Saxons whohad invaded Austrasia , Charles in the year 718 laid waste their countryto the banks of the Weser. In 719 Ratbod di ed, and Charles seized WesternFriesland without any great resistance on the part of the Frisi ans, whohad taken possession of it on the death of Pepin. The Neustrians, alwaysa menace, ha d joined forces with the people of Aquitaine, but Charleshacked their army to pieces at Soiss ons. After this defeat they realizedthe necessity of surrendering, and the death of King Clot aire IV, whomCharles had placed on the throne but two years previously, facilitatedreconcilia tion of the two great fractions of the Frankish Empire. Charlesacknowledged Chilperic as hea d of the entire monarchy, while on theirside, the Neustrians and Aquitainians endorsed the au thority of Charles;but, when Chilperic died, the following year (720) Charles appointed ashi s successor the son of Dagobert III, Thierry IV, who was still a minor,and who occupied the t hrone from 720 to 737. A second expedition againstthe Saxons in 720 and the definitive submis sion of Raginfrid, who hadbeen left the county of Angers (724), re-established the FrankishMo narchy as it had been under Pepin of Herstal, and closed the firstseries of Charles Martel' s struggles. The next six years were devotedalmost exclusively to the confirming of the Frank ish authority over thedependent Germanic tribes. In 725 and 728 Charles went into Bavaria,whe re the Agilolfing dukes had gradually rendered themselves independent,and re-established Fran kish suzerainty. He also brought thence thePrincess Suanehilde, who seems to have become hi s mistress. In 730 hemarched against Lantfrid, Duke of the Alemanna, whom he likewise brought into subjection, and thus Southern Germany once more became part of theFrankish Empire, as ha d Northern Germany during the first years of thereign. But at the extremity of the empire a d readful storm was gathering.For several years the Moslems of Spain had been threatening Gaul. Banished thence in 721 by Duke Eudes, they had returned in 725 andpenetrated as far as Burgun dy, where they had destroyed Autun. DukeEudes, unable to resist them, at length contented him self by negotiatingwith them, and to Othmar, one of their chiefs, he gave the hand of hisdaug hter But this compromising alliance brought him into disfavour withCharles, who defeated hi m in 731, and the death of Othmar that same yearagain left Eudes at the mercy of Moslem enter prise. In 732 Abd-er-Rahman,Governor of Spain, crossed the Pyrenees at the head of an immens e army,overcame Duke Eudes, and advanced as far as the Loire, pillaging andburning as he went . In October, 732, Charles met Abd-er-Rahman outside ofTours and defeated and slew him in a b attle (the Battle of Poitiers)which must ever remain one of the great events in the history o f theworld, as upon its issue depended whether Christian Civilization shouldcontinue or Isla m prevail throughout Europe. It was this battle, it issaid, that gave Charles his name, Marte l (Tudites) "The Hammer", becauseof the merciless way in which he smote the enemy.

The remainder of Charles Martel's reign was an uninterrupted series oftriumphant combats. I n 733-734 he suppressed the rebellion instigated bythe Frisian duke, Bobo, who was slain in b attle, and definitively subduedFriesland, which finally adopted Christianity. In 735, after t he death ofEudes, Charles entered Aquitaine, quelled the revolt of Hatto and Hunold,sons of t he deceased duke, and left the duchy to Hunold, to be held infief (736). He then banished th e Moslems from Arles and Avignon, defeatedtheir army on the River Berre near Narbonne, and i n 739 checked anuprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus.So g reat was Charles' power during the last years of his reign that hedid not take the trouble t o appoint a successor to King Thierry IV, whodied in 737, but assumed full authority himself , governing without legalright. About a year before Charles died, Pope Gregory III, threatene d byLuitprand, King of Lombardy, asked his help. Now Charles was Luitprand'sally because th e latter had promised to assist him in the late waragainst the Moslems of Provence, and, more over, the Frankish king mayhave already suffered from the malady that was to carry him offvtw oreasons that are surely sufficient to account for the fact that thepope's envoys departed wi thout gaining the object of their errand.However, it would seem that, according to the term s of a public actpublished by Charlemagne, Charles had, at least in principle, agreed todefen d the Roman Church, and death alone must have prevented him fromfulfilling this agreement. Th e reign, which in the beginning was so fullof bloody conflicts and later of such incessant st rife, would have beenan impossibility had not Charles procured means sufficient to attract an dcompensate his partisans. For this purpose he conceived the idea ofgiving them the usufruc t of a great many ecclesiastical lands, and thisspoliation is what is referred to as the secu larization by CharlesMartel. It was an expedient that could be excused without, however, bein gjustified, and it was pardoned to a certain extent by the amnesty grantedat the Council of L estines, held under the sons of Charles Martel in 743.It must also be remembered that the Chu rch remained the legal owner ofthe lands thus alienated. This spoliation and the conferring o f theprincipal ecclesiastical dignities upon those who were either totallyunworthy or else ha d naught but their military qualifications torecommend themvas, for instance, the assignmen t of the episcopal Sees ofReims of Reims and Trier to Milonvwere not calculated to endear Cha rlesMartel to the clergy of his time. Therefore, in the ninth century Hincmarof Reims relate d the story of the vision with which St. Eucher was saidto have been favoured and which showe d Charles in hell, to which he hadbeen condemned for robbing the Church of its property.

But notwithstanding the almost exclusively warlike character of hisreign, Charles Martel wa s not indifferent to the superior interests ofcivilization and Christianity. Like Napoleon af ter the French Revolution,upon emerging from the years 715-719, Charles, who had not only tol eratedbut perpetrated many an act of violence against the Church, set about theestablishmen t of social order and endeavoured to restore the rights ofthe Catholic hierarchy. This explai ns the protection which in 723 heaccorded St. Boniface (Winfrid), the great apostle of German y, aprotection all the more salutary as the saint himself explained to hisold friend, Danie l of Winchester, that without it he could neitheradminister his church, defend his clergy, no r prevent idolatry. HenceCharles Martel shares, to a certain degree, the glory and merit ofBo niface's great work of civilization. He died after having divided theFrankish Empire, as a pa trimony between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin.[1]

Medieval Sourcebook:
Pope Gregory II - Appeal to Charles Martel, 739

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For some time after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, thepapacy remained within t he Byzantine political sphere. Two developmentschanged this. The first was the long Iconclast ic controversy in the East,in which the popes sided with the iconodules. The other was the in abilityof the Byzantines to protect the popes. As a result, the popes tunredincreasingly in t he 8th century towards the Franks and made a series ofalliances, in particular, with the Caro lingian majors of the palace. Hereis a letter of 739 in which Pope Gregory III (731 - 741) ap peals to theFrankish ruler Charles Martel for help against the Lombards in Italy.

Pope Gregory to His Most Excellent Son, Karl, Sub-King

In our great affliction we have thought it necessary to write to you asecond time, believin g that you are a loving son of St. Peter, the princeof apostles, and of ourselves, and that o ut of reverence for him youwould obey our commands to defend the church of God and his chosen people. We can now no longer endure the persecution of the Lombards, forthey have taken fro m St. Peter all his possessions, even those which weregiven him by you and your fathers. Thes e Lombards hate and oppress usbecause we sought protection from you; for the same reason als o thechurch of St. Peter is despoiled and desolated by them. But we haveintrusted a more comp lete account of all our woes to your faithfulsubject, our present messenger, and he will rela te them to you. You, ohson, will receive favor from the same prince of apostles here and in t hefuture life in the presence of God, according as you render speedy aid tohis church and t o us, that all peoples may recognize the faith and loveand singleness of purpose which you di splay in defending St. Peter and usand his chosen people. For by doing this you will attain l asting fame onearth and eternal life in heaven. [2]
=============================================================
[1] GODEFROID KURTH Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler The CatholicEncyclopedia, Volume III C opyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight Nihil Obstat, November 1,1908. Remy Lafort, S .T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
[2] from Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Bookfor Medieval History , (New York: Scribners, 1905), p. 102

"Charles The Hammer"
Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia.

• Born: 676, Heristal, Liege, Belgium
• Marriage (1): Clotrude Rotrou Of TREVES
• Marriage (2): Sunnichild BAVARIA
• Died: 22 Oct 741, Quirzy, Aisne, France at age 65

Fearless and able leader.

732--Expanded Christianity against Saracen incursions. Divided his lands between his two sons shortly before his death. Preserver of western civilization.

Charles married Clotrude Rotrou Of TREVES, daughter of Bishop Of Troyes St. Leutwinus DE TREVES and ? NEUSTRASIA. (Clotrude Rotrou Of TREVES was born in 690 in Austrasia and died in 732.)

Charles next married Sunnichild BAVARIA, daughter of Duke Theodebert BAVARIA and ? DE FOLCHEID. (Sunnichild BAVARIA was born about 700 and died in 741.)

Charles Martel (or, in English, Charles the Hammer) (August 23, 686 – October 22, 741) was Mayor of the Palace of the three kingdoms of the Franks. He is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as saving Europe from the Emirate of Cordoba's expansion beyond the Iberian Peninsula. Martel's Frankish army defeated an Arab army that had crushed all resistance before it.

Martel was born in Herstal, in what is now Wallonia, Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle (635 or 640 – December 16, 714) and his concubine Alpaida (or Chalpaida).
Though primarily remembered as the leader of the Christian army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel is a truly giant figure in the Dark Ages. An absolutely brilliant general in an age generally bereft of same, he is the first forefather of western heavy cavalry (chivalry), the founder of what would become the Carolingian Empire, and an instigator of the feudal system that would see Europe through the Dark Ages.

Family and children
Charles Martel married twice:
1. Chrotrud or Rotrude (690-724), with children:
1. Hiltrude (d. 754), married Odilo I of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria.
2. Carloman
3. Landres of Hesbaye, married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania.
4. Auda or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse.
5. Pippin the Younger
2. Swanachild, with child:
1. Grifo
2. Bernard (b. ca. 700)

External links
• Ian Meadows, "The Arabs in Occitania": A sketch giving the context of the conflict from the Arab point of view.
• http://www.standin.se/fifteen07a.htm Poke's edition of Creasy's 15 Most Important Battles Ever Fought ACCORDING TO EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY Chapter VII. THE BATTLE OF TOURS, A.D. 732.
[edit]

References
• Watson, William E., "The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited", Providence: Studies in Western Civilization, 2 (1993)
• Poke,The Battle of Tours, from Sir Edward Creasy, MA, Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World From Marathon to Waterloo
• Edward Gibbon, The Battle of Tours, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
• Richard Hooker, "Civil War and the Umayyads"
• The Battle of Tours 732, from the "Jewish Virtual Library" website: A division of the American-Israeli Cooperative.
• Tours,Poiters, from "Leaders and Battles Database" online.
• Robert W. Martin, "The Battle of Tours is still felt today", from about.com
• Santosuosso, Anthony, Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels ISBN 0-8133-9153-9
• Medieval Sourcebook: Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732
• Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732: Three Accounts from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
• Medieval Sourcebook: Gregory II to Charles Martel, 739
• Bennett, Bradsbury, Devries, Dickie and Jestice, Fighting Tehniques of the Medieval World

[Eldad_Grannis.FTW]

[SPARKMAN DATABASE.FTW]

Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, Victor over the Saracens at Tours.

Charles Martel
Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. He was thenatural son of Pepi n of Herstal and a woman named Alpaïde or Chalpaïde.Pepin, who in 714, had outlived his two l egitimate sons, Drogon andGrimoald, and to Theodoald, a son of the latter and then only six y earsold, fell the burdensome inheritance of the French monarchy. Charles, whowas then twenty- six, was not excluded from the succession on account ofhis birth, Theodoald himself being th e son of a concubine, but throughthe influence of Plectrude, Theodoald's grandmother, who wis hed the powerinvested in her own descendants exclusively. To prevent any oppositionfrom Charl es she had him cast into prison and, having established herselfat Cologne, assumed the guardi anship of her grandson. But the differentnations whom the strong hand of Pepin of Herstal ha d held in subjections,shook off the yoke of oppression as soon as they saw that it was with a woman they had to deal. Neustria gave the signal for revolt (715),Theodoald was beaten in th e forest of Cuise and, led by Raginfrid, mayorof the palace, the enemy advanced as far as th e Meuse. The Frisians flewto arms and, headed by their duke, Ratbod, destroyed the Christianm ission and entered into a confederacy with the Neustrians. The Saxonscame and devastated th e country of the Hattuarians, and even in Austrasiathere was a certain faction that chafed un der the government of a womanand child. At this juncture Charles escaped from prison and pu t himselfat the head of the national party of Austrasia. At first he wasunfortunate. He was d efeated by Ratbod near Cologne in 716, and theNeustrians forced Plectrude to acknowledge as k ing Chilperic, the son ofChilderic II, having taken this Merovingian from the seclusion of th ecloister, where he lived the name of Daniel. But Charles was quick totake revenge. He surpri sed and conquered the Neustrians at Amblève nearMalmédy (716), defeated them a second time a t Vincy near Cambrai (21March, 717), and pursued them as far as Paris. Then retracing his ste ps,he came to Cologne and compelled Plectrude to surrender her power andturn over to him th e wealth of his father, Pepin. In order to give hisrecently acquired authority a semblance o f legitimacy, he proclaimed theMerovingian Clotaire IV King of Austrasia, reserving for himse lf thetitle of Mayor of the Palace. It was about this time that Charlesbanished Rigobert, th e Bishop of Reims, who had opposed him, appointingin his stead the warlike and unpriestly Mil on, who was already Archbishopof Trier.

The ensuing years were full of strife. Eager to chastise the Saxons whohad invaded Austrasia , Charles in the year 718 laid waste their countryto the banks of the Weser. In 719 Ratbod di ed, and Charles seized WesternFriesland without any great resistance on the part of the Frisi ans, whohad taken possession of it on the death of Pepin. The Neustrians, alwaysa menace, ha d joined forces with the people of Aquitaine, but Charleshacked their army to pieces at Soiss ons. After this defeat they realizedthe necessity of surrendering, and the death of King Clot aire IV, whomCharles had placed on the throne but two years previously, facilitatedreconcilia tion of the two great fractions of the Frankish Empire. Charlesacknowledged Chilperic as hea d of the entire monarchy, while on theirside, the Neustrians and Aquitainians endorsed the au thority of Charles;but, when Chilperic died, the following year (720) Charles appointed ashi s successor the son of Dagobert III, Thierry IV, who was still a minor,and who occupied the t hrone from 720 to 737. A second expedition againstthe Saxons in 720 and the definitive submis sion of Raginfrid, who hadbeen left the county of Angers (724), re-established the FrankishMo narchy as it had been under Pepin of Herstal, and closed the firstseries of Charles Martel' s struggles. The next six years were devotedalmost exclusively to the confirming of the Frank ish authority over thedependent Germanic tribes. In 725 and 728 Charles went into Bavaria,whe re the Agilolfing dukes had gradually rendered themselves independent,and re-established Fran kish suzerainty. He also brought thence thePrincess Suanehilde, who seems to have become hi s mistress. In 730 hemarched against Lantfrid, Duke of the Alemanna, whom he likewise brought into subjection, and thus Southern Germany once more became part of theFrankish Empire, as ha d Northern Germany during the first years of thereign. But at the extremity of the empire a d readful storm was gathering.For several years the Moslems of Spain had been threatening Gaul. Banished thence in 721 by Duke Eudes, they had returned in 725 andpenetrated as far as Burgun dy, where they had destroyed Autun. DukeEudes, unable to resist them, at length contented him self by negotiatingwith them, and to Othmar, one of their chiefs, he gave the hand of hisdaug hter But this compromising alliance brought him into disfavour withCharles, who defeated hi m in 731, and the death of Othmar that same yearagain left Eudes at the mercy of Moslem enter prise. In 732 Abd-er-Rahman,Governor of Spain, crossed the Pyrenees at the head of an immens e army,overcame Duke Eudes, and advanced as far as the Loire, pillaging andburning as he went . In October, 732, Charles met Abd-er-Rahman outside ofTours and defeated and slew him in a b attle (the Battle of Poitiers)which must ever remain one of the great events in the history o f theworld, as upon its issue depended whether Christian Civilization shouldcontinue or Isla m prevail throughout Europe. It was this battle, it issaid, that gave Charles his name, Marte l (Tudites) "The Hammer", becauseof the merciless way in which he smote the enemy.

The remainder of Charles Martel's reign was an uninterrupted series oftriumphant combats. I n 733-734 he suppressed the rebellion instigated bythe Frisian duke, Bobo, who was slain in b attle, and definitively subduedFriesland, which finally adopted Christianity. In 735, after t he death ofEudes, Charles entered Aquitaine, quelled the revolt of Hatto and Hunold,sons of t he deceased duke, and left the duchy to Hunold, to be held infief (736). He then banished th e Moslems from Arles and Avignon, defeatedtheir army on the River Berre near Narbonne, and i n 739 checked anuprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus.So g reat was Charles' power during the last years of his reign that hedid not take the trouble t o appoint a successor to King Thierry IV, whodied in 737, but assumed full authority himself , governing without legalright. About a year before Charles died, Pope Gregory III, threatene d byLuitprand, King of Lombardy, asked his help. Now Charles was Luitprand'sally because th e latter had promised to assist him in the late waragainst the Moslems of Provence, and, more over, the Frankish king mayhave already suffered from the malady that was to carry him offvtw oreasons that are surely sufficient to account for the fact that thepope's envoys departed wi thout gaining the object of their errand.However, it would seem that, according to the term s of a public actpublished by Charlemagne, Charles had, at least in principle, agreed todefen d the Roman Church, and death alone must have prevented him fromfulfilling this agreement. Th e reign, which in the beginning was so fullof bloody conflicts and later of such incessant st rife, would have beenan impossibility had not Charles procured means sufficient to attract an dcompensate his partisans. For this purpose he conceived the idea ofgiving them the usufruc t of a great many ecclesiastical lands, and thisspoliation is what is referred to as the secu larization by CharlesMartel. It was an expedient that could be excused without, however, bein gjustified, and it was pardoned to a certain extent by the amnesty grantedat the Council of L estines, held under the sons of Charles Martel in 743.It must also be remembered that the Chu rch remained the legal owner ofthe lands thus alienated. This spoliation and the conferring o f theprincipal ecclesiastical dignities upon those who were either totallyunworthy or else ha d naught but their military qualifications torecommend themvas, for instance, the assignmen t of the episcopal Sees ofReims of Reims and Trier to Milonvwere not calculated to endear Cha rlesMartel to the clergy of his time. Therefore, in the ninth century Hincmarof Reims relate d the story of the vision with which St. Eucher was saidto have been favoured and which showe d Charles in hell, to which he hadbeen condemned for robbing the Church of its property.

But notwithstanding the almost exclusively warlike character of hisreign, Charles Martel wa s not indifferent to the superior interests ofcivilization and Christianity. Like Napoleon af ter the French Revolution,upon emerging from the years 715-719, Charles, who had not only tol eratedbut perpetrated many an act of violence against the Church, set about theestablishmen t of social order and endeavoured to restore the rights ofthe Catholic hierarchy. This explai ns the protection which in 723 heaccorded St. Boniface (Winfrid), the great apostle of German y, aprotection all the more salutary as the saint himself explained to hisold friend, Danie l of Winchester, that without it he could neitheradminister his church, defend his clergy, no r prevent idolatry. HenceCharles Martel shares, to a certain degree, the glory and merit ofBo niface's great work of civilization. He died after having divided theFrankish Empire, as a pa trimony between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin.[1]

Medieval Sourcebook:
Pope Gregory II - Appeal to Charles Martel, 739

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For some time after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, thepapacy remained within t he Byzantine political sphere. Two developmentschanged this. The first was the long Iconclast ic controversy in the East,in which the popes sided with the iconodules. The other was the in abilityof the Byzantines to protect the popes. As a result, the popes tunredincreasingly in t he 8th century towards the Franks and made a series ofalliances, in particular, with the Caro lingian majors of the palace. Hereis a letter of 739 in which Pope Gregory III (731 - 741) ap peals to theFrankish ruler Charles Martel for help against the Lombards in Italy.

Pope Gregory to His Most Excellent Son, Karl, Sub-King

In our great affliction we have thought it necessary to write to you asecond time, believin g that you are a loving son of St. Peter, the princeof apostles, and of ourselves, and that o ut of reverence for him youwould obey our commands to defend the church of God and his chosen people. We can now no longer endure the persecution of the Lombards, forthey have taken fro m St. Peter all his possessions, even those which weregiven him by you and your fathers. Thes e Lombards hate and oppress usbecause we sought protection from you; for the same reason als o thechurch of St. Peter is despoiled and desolated by them. But we haveintrusted a more comp lete account of all our woes to your faithfulsubject, our present messenger, and he will rela te them to you. You, ohson, will receive favor from the same prince of apostles here and in t hefuture life in the presence of God, according as you render speedy aid tohis church and t o us, that all peoples may recognize the faith and loveand singleness of purpose which you di splay in defending St. Peter and usand his chosen people. For by doing this you will attain l asting fame onearth and eternal life in heaven. [2]
=============================================================
[1] GODEFROID KURTH Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler The CatholicEncyclopedia, Volume III C opyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight Nihil Obstat, November 1,1908. Remy Lafort, S .T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
[2] from Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Bookfor Medieval History , (New York: Scribners, 1905), p. 102

[2846] COLVER31.TXT file, b abt 686

BJOHNSN.GED file

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia:
Charles Martel (circa 688-741), Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwestern Germany). Pepin was mayor of the palace under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. When he died in 714, Charles, an illegitimate son, was imprisoned by his father's widow, but he escaped in 715 and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasians.

"Ancestral Roots of 60 Colonists..." Line 190, b 689, d 741/4

WSHNGT.ASC file (Geo Wash Ah'tafel) # 2233684016 = 117719584 = 58859814, b abt 676 & place

New Advent Catholic Enclyclopedia (http://www.knight.org/advent/) Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. ... n October, 732, Charles met Abd-er-Rahman outside of Tours and defeated and slew him in a battle (the Battle of Poitiers) which must ever remain one of the great events in the history of the world, as upon its issue depended whether Christian Civilization should continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe. It was this battle, it is said, that gave Charles his name, Martel (Tudites) "The Hammer", because of the merciless way in which he smote the enemy.

IGI=bd 676
Stuart p. 85, 129, 231: NAME Charles (Karl) Martel "the Hammer", of Heristol, Leige, Belgium; Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, King of the Franks, 724; victor at the Battle of Poitiers, 676

[Clodius II - Charlemagne.FTW]

[E ANSBERT.FTW]

"The Hammer King"
Charles Martel (688?-741) ruled northern Gaul from 719 to 7 41. Gaul was a region in Europe that included what are no w France, Germany west of the Rhine River, and Belgium. Ch arles was not a king but ruled as "mayor of the palace" i n the name of several weak kings from the Merovingian dynas ty (family of rulers). From 714 to 719, Charles fought to e stablish his rule in northern Gaul. Later, he brought Burg undy, the southeastern part of present-day France, under hi s control. He also conquered Frisia in what is now the Net herlands. He helped convert Germany to Christianity by spo nsoring the missionary work of Saint Boniface. In 732, Cha rles defeated an invading Muslim army at the Battle of Poit iers, also called the Battle of Tours. The fighting bega n near Tours, France, and ended near Poitiers. Charles wa s later called Martel, meaning the Hammer, because of his v ictory over the Muslims.

Charles's son Pepin the Short was the first king in the Car olingian dynasty. Charles's grandson Charlemagne conquere d a vast empire.

Contributor: Bernard S. Bachrach, Ph.D., Prof. of Medieva l History,

Charles Martel, the Hammer, born in 689, Mayor of the Palac e, King Of France, was still famous, because, in the decisi ve battle of Tours in 732, he utterly routed the Moors wh o had conquered Spain and the south of France.

He fought King Chilperic II, the Merovingian King. He die d in 741. He married (1) Rotrude (Rotrudis), who died in 72 4.

Charles Martel married (2) Suanhilde, daughter of Grimaldo II and his wife Viletrude. They had a daughter, Landrade , who married Sigramine, Count of Hasbania. Their great gra nddaughter was Ermengarde, who married Louis I the Debonair e.

("The Genealogy of Homer Beers James", V1, JANDA Consultant s)

Charles Martel ruled the Merovingian Franks from 719 to 741 . In 732, Charles defeated the invading Saracens in the Bat tle of Poitiers, also called the Battle of Tours. The fight ing began near Tours and ended near Poitiers. For repeatedl y attacking the Muslims, Charles later received the title o f Martle, meaning "the Hammer". This Battle is regarded a s one of the decisive battles of the world's history. He ra ised an army by giving his troops land he has seized from t he Church. Charles supported St Boniface in his conversio n of pagans and his reform of the Frankish church.

Charles Martel
Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 74 1. He was the natural son of Pepin of Herstal and a woman n amed Alpa‹de or Chalpa‹de. Pepin, who in 714, had outlive d his two legitimate sons, Drogon and Grimoald, and to Theo doald, a son of the latter and then only six years old, fel l the burdensome inheritance of the French monarchy. Charle s, who was then twenty-six, was not excluded from the succe ssion on account of his birth, Theodoald himself being th e son of a concubine, but through the influence of Plectrud e, Theodoald's grandmother, who wished the power invested i n her own descendants exclusively. To prevent any oppositio n from Charles she had him cast into prison and, having est ablished herself at Cologne, assumed the guardianship of he r grandson. But the different nations whom the strong han d of Pepin of Herstal had held in subjections, shook off th e yoke of oppression as soon as they saw that it was wit h a woman they had to deal. Neustria gave the signal for re volt (715), Theodoald was beaten in the forest of Cuise and , led by Raginfrid, mayor of the palace, the enemy advance d as far as the Meuse. The Frisians flew to arms and, heade d by their duke, Ratbod, destroyed the Christian mission an d entered into a confederacy with the Neustrians. The Saxon s came and devastated the country of the Hattuarians, and e ven in Austrasia there was a certain faction that chafed un der the government of a woman and child. At this juncture C harles escaped from prison and put himself at the head of t he national party of Austrasia. At first he was unfortunate . He was defeated by Ratbod near Cologne in 716, and the Ne ustrians forced Plectrude to acknowledge as king Chilperic , the son of Childeric II, having taken this Merovingian fr om the seclusion of the cloister, where he lived the name o f Daniel. But Charles was quick to take revenge. He surpris ed and conquered the Neustrians at AmblŠve near Malm‚dy (71 6), defeated them a second time at Vincy near Cambrai (21 M arch, 717), and pursued them as far as Paris. Then retracin g his steps, he came to Cologne and compelled Plectrude t o surrender her power and turn over to him the wealth of hi s father, Pepin. In order to give his recently acquired aut hority a semblance of legitimacy, he proclaimed the Merovin gian Clotaire IV King of Austrasia, reserving for himself t he title of Mayor of the Palace. It was about this time tha t Charles banished Rigobert, the Bishop of Reims, who had o pposed him, appointing in his stead the warlike and unpries tly Milon, who was already Archbishop of Trier.
The ensuing years were full of strife. Eager to chastise th e Saxons who had invaded Austrasia, Charles in the year 71 8 laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser. In 71 9 Ratbod died, and Charles seized Western Friesland withou t any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, who ha d taken possession of it on the death of Pepin. The Neustri ans, always a menace, had joined forces with the people o f Aquitaine, but Charles hacked their army to pieces at Soi ssons. After this defeat they realized the necessity of sur rendering, and the death of King Clotaire IV, whom Charle s had placed on the throne but two years previously, facili tated reconciliation of the two great fractions of the Fran kish Empire. Charles acknowledged Chilperic as head of th e entire monarchy, while on their side, the Neustrians an d Aquitainians endorsed the authority of Charles; but, whe n Chilperic died, the following year (720) Charles appointe d as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Thierry IV, wh o was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 t o 737. A second expedition against the Saxons in 720 and th e definitive submission of Raginfrid, who had been left th e county of Angers (724), re-established the Frankish Monar chy as it had been under Pepin of Herstal, and closed the f irst series of Charles Martel's struggles. The next six yea rs were devoted almost exclusively to the confirming of th e Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes. I n 725 and 728 Charles went into Bavaria, where the Agilolfi ng dukes had gradually rendered themselves independent, an d re-established Frankish suzerainty. He also brought thenc e the Princess Suanehilde, who seems to have become his mis tress. In 730 he marched against Lantfrid, Duke of the Alem anna, whom he likewise brought into subjection, and thus So uthern Germany once more became part of the Frankish Empire , as had Northern Germany during the first years of the rei gn. But at the extremity of the empire a dreadful storm wa s gathering. For several years the Moslems of Spain had bee n threatening Gaul. Banished thence in 721 by Duke Eudes, t hey had returned in 725 and penetrated as far as Burgundy , where they had destroyed Autun. Duke Eudes, unable to res ist them, at length contented himself by negotiating with t hem, and to Othmar, one of their chiefs, he gave the hand o f his daughter But this compromising alliance brought him i nto disfavour with Charles, who defeated him in 731, and th e death of Othmar that same year again left Eudes at the me rcy of Moslem enterprise. In 732 Abd-er-Rahman, Governor o f Spain, crossed the Pyrenees at the head of an immense arm y, overcame Duke Eudes, and advanced as far as the Loire, p illaging and burning as he went. In October, 732, Charles m et Abd-er-Rahman outside of Tours and defeated and slew hi m in a battle (the Battle of Poitiers) which must ever rema in one of the great events in the history of the world, a s upon its issue depended whether Christian Civilization sh ould continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe. It was th is battle, it is said, that gave Charles his name, Martel ( Tudites) "The Hammer", because of the merciless way in whic h he smote the enemy.
The remainder of Charles Martel's reign was an uninterrupte d series of triumphant combats. In 733-734 he suppressed th e rebellion instigated by the Frisian duke, Bobo, who was s lain in battle, and definitively subdued Friesland, which f inally adopted Christianity. In 735, after the death of Eud es, Charles entered Aquitaine, quelled the revolt of Hatt o and Hunold, sons of the deceased duke, and left the duch y to Hunold, to be held in fief (736). He then banished th e Moslems from Arles and Avignon, defeated their army on th e River Berre near Narbonne, and in 739 checked an uprisin g in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Mau rontus. So great was Charles' power during the last years o f his reign that he did not take the trouble to appoint a s uccessor to King Thierry IV, who died in 737, but assumed f ull authority himself, governing without legal right. Abou t a year before Charles died, Pope Gregory III, threatene d by Luitprand, King of Lombardy, asked his help. Now Charl es was Luitprand's ally because the latter had promised t o assist him in the late war against the Moslems of Provenc e, and, moreover, the Frankish king may have already suffer ed from the malady that was to carry him off-two reasons th at are surely sufficient to account for the fact that the p ope's envoys departed without gaining the object of their e rrand. However, it would seem that, according to the term s of a public act published by Charlemagne, Charles had, a t least in principle, agreed to defend the Roman Church, an d death alone must have prevented him from fulfilling thi s agreement. The reign, which in the beginning was so ful l of bloody conflicts and later of such incessant strife, w ould have been an impossibility had not Charles procured me ans sufficient to attract and compensate his partisans. Fo r this purpose he conceived the idea of giving them the usu fruct of a great many ecclesiastical lands, and this spolia tion is what is referred to as the secularization by Charle s Martel. It was an expedient that could be excused without , however, being justified, and it was pardoned to a certai n extent by the amnesty granted at the Council of Lestines , held under the sons of Charles Martel in 743. It must als o be remembered that the Church remained the legal owner o f the lands thus alienated. This spoliation and the conferr ing of the principal ecclesiastical dignities upon those wh o were either totally unworthy or else had naught but thei r military qualifications to recommend them-as, for instanc e, the assignment of the episcopal Sees of Reims of Reims a nd Trier to Milon-were not calculated to endear Charles Mar tel to the clergy of his time. Therefore, in the ninth cent ury Hincmar of Reims related the story of the vision with w hich St. Eucher was said to have been favoured and which sh owed Charles in hell, to which he had been condemned for ro bbing the Church of its property.
But notwithstanding the almost exclusively warlike characte r of his reign, Charles Martel was not indifferent to the s uperior interests of civilization and Christianity. Like Na poleon after the French Revolution, upon emerging from th e years 715-719, Charles, who had not only tolerated but pe rpetrated many an act of violence against the Church, set a bout the establishment of social order and endeavoured to r estore the rights of the Catholic hierarchy. This explain s the protection which in 723 he accorded St. Boniface (Win frid), the great apostle of Germany, a protection all the m ore salutary as the saint himself explained to his old frie nd, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neithe r administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent ido latry. Hence Charles Martel shares, to a certain degree, th e glory and merit of Boniface's great work of civilization . He died after having divided the Frankish Empire, as a pa trimony between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin.
GODEFROID KURTH
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright c 1913 by the Enc yclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright c 1996 b y New Advent, Inc.

St. Boniface
(WINFRID, WYNFRITH).
Apostle of Germany, date of birth unknown; martyred 5 June , 755 (754); emblems: the oak, axe, book, fox, scourge, fou ntain, raven, sword. He was a native of England, though som e authorities have claimed him for Ireland or Scotland. Th e place of his birth is not known, though it was probably t he south-western part of Wessex. Crediton (Kirton) in Devon shire is given by more modern authors. The same uncertaint y exists in regard to the year of his birth. It seems, howe ver, safe to say that he was not born before 672 or 675, o r as late as 680. Descended from a noble family, from his e arliest years he showed great ability and received a religi ous education. His parents intended him for secular pursuit s, but, inspired with higher ideals by missionary monks wh o visited his home, Winfrid felt himself called to a religi ous state. After much difficulty he obtained his father's p ermission and went to the monastery of Adescancastre on th e site of the present city of Exeter, where, under the dire ction of Abbot Wolfhard, he was trained in piety and learni ng. About seven years later he went to the Abbey of Nhutsce lle (Nutshalling) between Winchester and Southampton. Here , leading an austere and studious life under Abbot Winbert , he rapidly advanced in sanctity and knowledge, excellin g especially in the profound understanding of scriptures, o f which he gives evidence in his letters. He was also wel l educated in history, grammar, rhetoric, and poetry. He ma de his profession as a member of the Benedictine Order an d was placed in charge of the monastic school. At the age o f thirty he was ordained priest. Through his abbot the fam e of Winfrid's learning soon reached high civil and ecclesi astical circles. He also had great success as a preacher. W ith every prospect of a great career and the highest dignit ies in his own country, he had no desire for human glory, f or the thought of bringing the light of the Gospel to his k indred, the Old Saxons, in Germany, had taken possession o f his mind. After many requests Winfrid at last obtained th e permission of his abbot.
In 716 he set out for the mission in Friesland. Since the F aith had already been preached there by Wigbert, Willibrord , and others, Winfrid expected to find a good soil for hi s missionary work, but political disturbances caused him t o return temporarily to England. Towards the end of 717 Abb ot Winbert died, and Winfrid was elected to succeed him, bu t declined and induced Daniel, Bishop of Winchester, to inf luence the monks to elect another. Winfrid was left free t o follow out his intentions, but before going back to his a postolic work he wished to visit Rome and to obtain from th e pope the apostolic mission and the necessary faculties. B ishop Daniel gave him an open letter of recommendation to k ings, princes, bishops, abbots, and priests, and a privat e letter to the pope. On Winfrid s arrival in Rome, in th e fall of 718, Pope Gregory II received him kindly, praise d his resolutions, and having satisfied himself in variou s conferences as to the orthodoxy of Winfrid, his morals, a nd the purity of his motives, on 15 May, 719, he gave him f ull authority to preach the Gospel to the heathens in Germa ny to the right of the Rhine, ordering him at the same tim e to adhere to the Roman practice in the administration o f the Sacrament of Baptism, and to consult with the Holy Se e in case of difficulties.
Having received instructions to make to make his first jour ney through the country, only a tour of inspection, he trav elled through Bavaria and found the Church flourishing, wit h a number of churches and monasteries. In Alamannia, whic h he crossed on his way to Thuringia, he found similar cond itions. Thuringia was considered by Rome as Christian, an d the mission of Winfrid was supposed to be that of an auth orized reformer. He found the country, however, in a bad co ndition, St. Kilian had laboured with energy, but without s uccess. Duke Gotzbert and some years later his son, Hetha n II, both converts of St. Kilian had been murdered, perhap s on account of their injudicious zeal in trying to sprea d Christianity. Great numbers of their rebellious subject s had lapsed into heathenism, or a mixture of Christianit y and idolatry. Winfrid tried to enkindle a missionary spir it in the priests and to make the people live up to the pur e precepts of the Christian religion. Though he converted s ome of the heathens, he did not meet with the success whic h he had anticipated. On his way to the court of Charles Ma rtel, <../cathen/03629a.htm> possibly to interest that prin ce in the matter, he received news of the death of the Fris ian King Radbod, and went to Friesland. Here he spent thre e years under the aged St. Willibrord, travelling about wit h tireless energy and preaching fearlessly as he went. Mult itudes of Christians who had fallen away during the persecu tion of Radbod were brought to repentance and thousands o f pagans accepted the Faith. Many of the converts were brou ght together to lead a religious life under the Rule of St . Benedict. <../cathen/02436a.htm> St. Willibrord, feelin g the weight of his years, wished to make Winfrid his assis tant and successor in the See of Utrecht. Winfrid refused , giving as his main reason that the pope had sent him fo r missionary work. He therefore left and followed in the wa ke of the army of Charles Martel as far as Trier. Near thi s city was the Abbey of Pfalzel (Palatiolum). From there h e took with him as a disciple and companion Gregory, a bo y of about fourteen or fifteen, afterwards abbot in Utrecht , and continued his journey to Thuringia, where he converte d many. He then went into Hessia, where many more were brou ght into the fold of Christ. With the assistance of two chi efs whom he had converted he established a monastic cell a t Am”neburg at the River Ohm (then called Amana) in Upper H essia, as a kind of missionary centre in which native clerg y were to be educated.
While Winfrid was under the jurisdiction of St. Willibror d he had no special reason for reporting to the Holy See, b ut, now working independently, he considered it his duty t o do so. He therefore sent Bynnan, one of his disciples, wi th a letter to Gregory recounting his labours of the past y ears and asking for further directions. Bynnan promptly exe cuted his commission and soon returned with the pope's answ er, expressing satisfaction with what had been done and a d esire to confer with Winfrid personally. Winfrid accordingl y set out for Rome, taking his course through France and Bu rgundy. He was warmly welcomed by the pope, who questione d him carefully, made him take the usual oath of allegiance , received from him a profession of faith, and on 30 Novemb er, 722 (723), consecrated him a regional bishop, with th e name Boniface. Some say that Winfrid had taken this nam e at the time of his religious profession; others, that h e received it on his first visit to Rome. The same discrepa ncy of opinion exists in derivation from bonum facere or bo num fatum; perhaps it is only an approximate Latinization o f Wyn-frith. Pope Gregory then sent Boniface back with lett ers to his diocesans in Thuringia and Hessia demanding obed ience for their new bishop. A letter was also addressed t o Charles Martel asking his protection. Boniface himself ha d received a set of ecclesiastical canons for his guidance.
Boniface returned to Upper Hessia and repaired the losses w hich occurred during his absence, many having drifted bac k into paganism; he also administered everywhere the Sacram ent of Confirmation. He continued his work in Lower Hessia . To show the heathens how utterly powerless were the god s in whom they placed their confidence, Boniface felled th e oak sacred to the thunder-god Thor, at Geismar, near Frit zlar. He had a chapel built out of the wood and dedicated i t to the prince of the Apostles. The heathens were astonish ed that no thunderbolt from the hand of Thor destroyed th e offender, and many were converted. The fall of this oak m arked the fall of heathenism. Tradition tells us that Bonif ace now passed on to the River Werra and there erected a Ch urch of St. Vitus, around which sprang up a town which to t he present day bears the name of Wannfried. At Eschwege h e is said to have destroyed the statue of the idol Stuffo . Thence he went into Thuringia.
The difficulties that confronted him here were very great C hristianity had indeed made great progress, but it had beco me mixed up with heretical tenets and pagan customs. This w as due to a great extent to some Celtic missionaries, sever al of whom had never been ordained, while others had been r aised to the priesthood by non-Catholic bishops, though al l performed priestly functions. These taught doctrines an d made use of ceremonies at variance with the teaching an d use of the Roman Church, especially in regard to the cele bration of Easter, the conferring of baptism, celibacy, th e papal and episcopal authority. Besides, many were wantin g in education, some scarcely able to read or write, and eq ually ready to hold services for the Christians and to offe r sacrifices to the idols for the heathens. A neighbourin g bishop (probably of Cologne) also gave trouble, by layin g claim to a part of the district under Boniface's jurisdic tion and treating his authority as an intrusion, thereby in directly strengthening the party of the heretics. All thi s caused him great anxiety and suffering as may be seen fro m his letters to England. He overcame all, thanks to his ep iscopal dignity and to his own personality, full of courag e and zeal in the cause which he defended, and supported b y the authority of the pope and of Charles Martel. His frie nds helped him not only by their prayers, but also by mater ial aid. Many valuable books, ecclesiastical articles and t he like were sent to him with words of encouragement. Numbe rs of men and women went to Germany at different times to b e his helpers. Among them were Lullus, Denehard, Burchard , Wigbert, Sola, Witta (called also Wizo and Albinus), Wuni bald, Willibald and the pious women Lioba, Chunihild, Chuni trude, Berthgit, Walburga, and Thecla. With these, and othe rs recruited in Thuringia and elsewhere in Germany, he cont inued his labours. The number of the faithful increased won derfully, including many of the nobility and the educated o f the country. These assisted him in the building of church es and chapels. Boniface took care to have institutions i n which religious life would be fostered. In Thuringia he b uilt the first monastery Ohrdruf on the River Ohrn near Alt enberga. He appointed Thecla Abbess of Kitzingen, Lioba o f Bischofsheim, and Walburga of Heidenheim.
Pope Gregory II died 11 February, 731, and was succeeded o n 18 March by Gregory III. Boniface hastened to send a dele gation to the new pontiff, to pay his respects and to assur e him of his fidelity. The answer to this seems to be lost . In 732 Boniface wrote again and stated among other thing s that the work was becoming too much for one man. Gregor y III congratulated him on his success and praised his zeal , in recognition sending him the pallium, and making him a n archbishop, but still without a fixed see. He gave him in structions to appoint bishops wherever he thought it necess ary. Boniface now enlarged the monastery of Am”neburg and b uilt a church, dedicating it to St. Michael. Another monast ery he founded at Fritzlar near the River Eder, which was c ompleted in 734. The church, a more magnificent structure , was not finished before 740. In 738 Boniface made his thi rd journey to Rome, intending to resign his office and devo te himself exclusively to the mission among the Saxons. H e was accompanied by a number of his disciples, who were t o see true Christian life in the centre of Christianity. Gr egory III received him graciously and was rejoiced at the r esult of Boniface's labour, but would not allow him to resi gn. Boniface remained in Rome for about year and then ret urned to his mission invested with the authority of a legat e of the Holy See. His first care on his return was the Chu rch in Bavaria.
In 715 (716) Duke Theodo had come to Rome out of devotion , but probably also to secure ecclesiastical order in his p rovinces. Gregory II sent three ecclesiastics with instruct ions to do away with abuses. Their work, however, was rende red futile by the death of Theodo in 717 and the subsequen t political quarrels. Boniface had twice passed through th e country. Now with the help of Duke Odilo and of the noble s he began the work of reorganization acting entirely accor ding to the instructions of Gregory II. He examined the ord ers of the clergy, deposed the obstinate, reordained thos e whose ordination he found invalid, provided they had erre d through ignorance and were willing to submit to authority . He made a new circumscription of the dioceses and appoint ed bishops for the vacant sees, viz., the Abbot John to th e See of Salzburg, vacant since the death of St. Rupert i n 718; Erembert to Freising, vacant since the death of hi s brother, St. Corbinian, in 730; Gaubald for Ratisbon. Pas sau had been established and provided for by the pope himse lf through the nomination of Vivilo. About this time Bonifa ce founded the new Diocese of Buraburg, and named Witta a s its bishop. This diocese existed for only a short time, d uring the administration of two bishops, and was then joine d to Augsburg. Somewhat later the dioceses of Eichst„tt an d Erfurt (Erphesfurt) were formed, and Willibald was consec rated bishop for the former about October, 741; for the lat ter Boniface appointed as first (and last) bishop Adalar, w ho, it seems, never received episcopal consecration, as h e is continually spoken of as a priest. Burchard was chose n for Wrzburg.
Charles Martel had died 22 October, 741, at Quiercy on th e Oise and was succeeded by his sons Carloman and Pepin.I n Rome Pope Gregory III died 28 November, 741, and was foll owed by Zachary. Carloman asked Boniface, his former precep tor, to a consultation. The result of this was a letter t o the pope in which Boniface reported his actions in Bavari a and asked advice in various matters. He also stated the w ish of Carloman that a synod be held. In answer Pope Zachar y, 1 April, 742, confirmed the erection of the dioceses, sa nctioned the holding of the synod, and gave the requested i nformation. The synod, partly ecclesiastical and partly sec ular, was held 21 April, 742, but the place cannot be ascer tained. The bishops appointed by Boniface were present an d several others, but it was mainly the authority of Bonifa ce and the power of Carloman that gave weight to the firs t German synod. Among its decrees the most noteworthy are t hose ordaining the subjection of the clergy to the bishop o f the diocese and forbidding them to take any active part i n wars, to carry arms, or to hunt. Very strict regulation s were made against carnal sins on the part of priests an d religious. The Rule of St. Benedict was made a norm for r eligious. Laws were also enacted concerning marriage withi n the forbidden degrees of kindred. A second national syno d was held 1 March, 743, at Liptina in Hainault, and anothe r at Soissons, 2 March, 744. In this synod a sentence of co ndemnation was passed against two heretics, Adalbert and Cl ement, the former a native of Gaul, the latter of Ireland . They were strain condemned in 745 and also at a synod hel d in Rome. Several other synods were held in Germany to str engthen faith and discipline. At the request of Carloman an d Pepin the authority of Boniface over Bavaria was confirme d and extended over Gaul.
In 744 St. Willibrord, Bishop of Utrecht, died, and Bonifac e took the diocese under his charge, appointed an assistan t or chor-episcopus. About the same time the See of Cologn e became vacant through the death of Ragenfried, and it wa s the intention of Boniface as well as the wish of Pope Zac hary to make this his archiepiscopal see, but the clergy op posed. Before the project could be carried out the Dioces e of Mainz lost its bishop through the deposition of Gewili eb who led a very irregular life and had killed the slaye r of his father, who was his predecessor in the episcopal o ffice. Pope Zachary, 1 May, 748 (747), appointed Boniface A rchbishop of Mainz and Primate of Germany. The new archdioc ese comprised the dioceses of Tongem, Cologne, Worms, Speye r, Utrecht, and the dioceses erected by Boniface himself: B uraburg, Eichst„tt, Erfurt, and Wrzburg. Of Augsburg, Coir e, and Constance the decree does not speak, but they are sh ortly afterwards mentioned as belonging to the province. Af ter a few years Boniface was able to reconcile his enemie s with the Holy See, so that the supremacy of the pope wa s acknowledged in Great Britain, Germany, and Gaul, as wel l as in Italy.
In 747 Carloman resigned his share of the government to hi s brother Pepin and left to spend the remainder of his day s as a monk. He built a monastery in honour of St. Silveste r at Soracte near Rome, and later retired to Monte Cassino . His motives for this are not known, but perhaps he was fr ightened at the severity of the measures he had felt himsel f obliged to use in order to obtain a union among the Germa n tribes. Pepin, now the sole ruler, became the founder o f the Carlovingian dynasty. That Boniface

[Geoffrey De Normandie, Gedcom BSJTK Smith Family Tree.ged]

GIVN Charles "Martel", Mayor
SURN Austrasia
AFN 9GC9-KK
EVEN Mayor of Austrasia
TYPE Elected
DATE BET 714 AND 741
PLAC Frankish Kingdom
EVEN Merovingia
TYPE Ruled
DATE BET 714 AND 741
EVEN of the House of Carlings
TYPE Founder
DATE BET 714 AND 741
PLAC Frankish Kingdom
EVEN Tours
TYPE Battle of
DATE 732
PLAC Tours,France
DATE 9 SEP 2000
TIME 18:33:22

Would you like a CD with all of the current information on my family. If so, send me an email and I will give you my address where you can send $10.00 to cover my expense of sending you a CD with all of the information here and pictures.

If you have information relating to our tree, then please email me at (XXXXX@XXXX.XXX) I will be very interested in what you have and adding it to my tree.

I have had several request to remove some individuals, unfortunatly, I have lost those request due to a computer crash. If you will please send my those request again, I will remove them on my next update. For now please accept my appologies.

Thanks,

John Crunk

NSFX Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, France
TYPE Book
AUTH Å or c:Weis, Frederick Lewis
PERI Ancestral Roots
EDTN 7th
PUBL Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD (1999)
TEXT 50-11; 190-11
TYPE Book
AUTH Stuart, Roderick W.
PERI Royalty for Commoners
EDTN 3d
PUBL Genealogical Publishing co., Inc, Baltimore, MD (1998)
ISB 0-8063-1561-X
TEXT 171-43; 269-44; 352-45
TYPE E-Mail Message
AUTH Ed Mann ((XXXXX@XXXX.XXX))
TITL Re: early Plantagenets
DATE 29 Oct 1998
LOCA (XXXXX@XXXX.XXX)/PowerMac 6500>Applications>Reunion>Documents-source
DATE 29 APR 2000

OCCU King of the Franks, 724..
SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots) says 688; FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve) says 689;
www.public.asu.edu/bgertz/family/d0000 says 676,HERISTAL, L, BELGIUM;
COLLINS.ROY (Compuserve) says 686;BAIL3.GED (Compuserve),#153 says 685
SOUR Anglo-Saxon England, Sir Frank Stenton, p. 169 says 741;
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129;
CHARLEMAG.ZIP (GS)
SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots), p. 4;
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129;
http://misc.traveller.com/genealo gy/gedhtml/kmilburn/d0001/g0000043.htm#I1341;
CHARLES MARTEL, son of PEPIN II and ALPAIDA DE SAXONIE, was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal and grandfather of Charlemagne. Although never king he ruled as mayor of the palace (714-741).
He united all Merovingian kingdoms under his rule and
halted the European invasion of the Moors. His sons, Pepin the Short and Carloman, divided the Frankish lands at his death. - Encyclopedia, p. 158
Mayor of the Palce 714-741, Carl of the Hammer - FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve)
Charles (Karl) Martel "the Hammer", of Heristol, Liege, Belgium; Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia; victor at the Battle of Poitiers, 676 - Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129
b. 676, d. 22 Oct 741, Quierzy,Aisne,France - http://www.teleport.com/~ddonahue/donahue/d0001/s0000027.htm#I2222
Frankish King, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor at the Battle of Tours in Oct 732, stopping the Saracen invasion of Europe ensuring our Western Christian civilization; described as being
descended from the ancient
Burgundian Kings. The second source lists his DOB as 685 He was know as the "King Maker". He may have been born as late as 690. Mayor of the Palace; the First King of France. Major Domus in
Austrasia.:
Source: Pedigrees of ... Descendants of Charlemagne, p cvi; Royal.zip (Compuserve); Genealogy of the Kings of France; Charlemagne's Ancestors Charlemagne's 40 Generation Ahnentafel Chart by Tom
Peterson, 24 Oct 1992; Ahnentafel of Edward III, King of
England -http://al7fl.abts.net/gr een-page/greenged.html/notes/not0017.html#NI34015
Charles Major Domus en Austrasia Martel, Ruler of France - COMYNI.GED (Compu-
serve), #1507;Karl Martel ---> the Carolingians - VERGY.TXT (Compuserve);Major
domo Austrasia Ruler France - PROVEN.TAF (Compuserve); Mayor of the Palace -
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 85

OCCU King of the Franks, 724..
SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots) says 688; FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve) says 689;
www.public.asu.edu/bgertz/family/d0000 says 676,HERISTAL, L, BELGIUM;
COLLINS.ROY (Compuserve) says 686;BAIL3.GED (Compuserve),#153 says 685
SOUR Anglo-Saxon England, Sir Frank Stenton, p. 169 says 741;
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129;
CHARLEMAG.ZIP (GS)
SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots), p. 4;
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129;
http://misc.traveller.com/genealo gy/gedhtml/kmilburn/d0001/g0000043.htm#I1341;
CHARLES MARTEL, son of PEPIN II and ALPAIDA DE SAXONIE, was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal and grandfather of Charlemagne. Although never king he ruled as mayor of the palace (714-741).
He united all Merovingian kingdoms under his rule and
halted the European invasion of the Moors. His sons, Pepin the Short and Carloman, divided the Frankish lands at his death. - Encyclopedia, p. 158
Mayor of the Palce 714-741, Carl of the Hammer - FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve)
Charles (Karl) Martel "the Hammer", of Heristol, Liege, Belgium; Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia; victor at the Battle of Poitiers, 676 - Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129
b. 676, d. 22 Oct 741, Quierzy,Aisne,France - http://www.teleport.com/~ddonahue/donahue/d0001/s0000027.htm#I2222
Frankish King, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor at the Battle of Tours in Oct 732, stopping the Saracen invasion of Europe ensuring our Western Christian civilization; described as being
descended from the ancient
Burgundian Kings. The second source lists his DOB as 685 He was know as the "King Maker". He may have been born as late as 690. Mayor of the Palace; the First King of France. Major Domus in
Austrasia.:
Source: Pedigrees of ... Descendants of Charlemagne, p cvi; Royal.zip (Compuserve); Genealogy of the Kings of France; Charlemagne's Ancestors Charlemagne's 40 Generation Ahnentafel Chart by Tom
Peterson, 24 Oct 1992; Ahnentafel of Edward III, King of
England -http://al7fl.abts.net/gr een-page/greenged.html/notes/not0017.html#NI34015
Charles Major Domus en Austrasia Martel, Ruler of France - COMYNI.GED (Compu-
serve), #1507;Karl Martel ---> the Carolingians - VERGY.TXT (Compuserve);Major
domo Austrasia Ruler France - PROVEN.TAF (Compuserve); Mayor of the Palace -
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 85

OCCU King of the Franks, 724..
SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots) says 688; FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve) says 689;
www.public.asu.edu/bgertz/family/d0000 says 676,HERISTAL, L, BELGIUM;
COLLINS.ROY (Compuserve) says 686;BAIL3.GED (Compuserve),#153 says 685
SOUR Anglo-Saxon England, Sir Frank Stenton, p. 169 says 741;
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129;
CHARLEMAG.ZIP (GS)
SOUR COMYNR.TAF (Compuserve Roots), p. 4;
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129;
http://misc.traveller.com/genealo gy/gedhtml/kmilburn/d0001/g0000043.htm#I1341;
CHARLES MARTEL, son of PEPIN II and ALPAIDA DE SAXONIE, was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal and grandfather of Charlemagne. Although never king he ruled as mayor of the palace (714-741).
He united all Merovingian kingdoms under his rule and
halted the European invasion of the Moors. His sons, Pepin the Short and Carloman, divided the Frankish lands at his death. - Encyclopedia, p. 158
Mayor of the Palce 714-741, Carl of the Hammer - FRANCE.SOV (Compuserve)
Charles (Karl) Martel "the Hammer", of Heristol, Liege, Belgium; Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia; victor at the Battle of Poitiers, 676 - Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 129
b. 676, d. 22 Oct 741, Quierzy,Aisne,France - http://www.teleport.com/~ddonahue/donahue/d0001/s0000027.htm#I2222
Frankish King, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor at the Battle of Tours in Oct 732, stopping the Saracen invasion of Europe ensuring our Western Christian civilization; described as being
descended from the ancient
Burgundian Kings. The second source lists his DOB as 685 He was know as the "King Maker". He may have been born as late as 690. Mayor of the Palace; the First King of France. Major Domus in
Austrasia.:
Source: Pedigrees of ... Descendants of Charlemagne, p cvi; Royal.zip (Compuserve); Genealogy of the Kings of France; Charlemagne's Ancestors Charlemagne's 40 Generation Ahnentafel Chart by Tom
Peterson, 24 Oct 1992; Ahnentafel of Edward III, King of
England -http://al7fl.abts.net/gr een-page/greenged.html/notes/not0017.html#NI34015
Charles Major Domus en Austrasia Martel, Ruler of France - COMYNI.GED (Compu-
serve), #1507;Karl Martel ---> the Carolingians - VERGY.TXT (Compuserve);Major
domo Austrasia Ruler France - PROVEN.TAF (Compuserve); Mayor of the Palace -
Royalty for Commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p. 85

Charles Martel (circa 688-741), Carolingian ruler of theFrankish kingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern Franceand southwestern Germany). Charles, whose surname means thehammer, was the son of
Pepin of Herstal and the grandfather ofCharlemagne. Pepin was mayor of the palace under the last kingsof the Merovingian dynasty. When he died in 714, Charles, anillegitimate son, was imprisoned by
his father's widow, but heescaped in 715 and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by theAustrasians. A war between Austrasia and the Frankish kingdom ofNeustria (now part of France) followed, and at
the end of itCharles became the undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Althoughhe was engaged in wars against the Alamanni, Bavarians, andSaxons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims
fromSpain, who invaded France in 732. Charles defeated them nearPoitiers in a great battle in which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the emir of Spain, was killed. The progress ofIslam, which had
filled all Christendom with alarm, was thuschecked for a time. Charles drove the Muslims out of the Rhonevalley in 739, when they had again advanced into France as faras Lyon, leaving them nothing
of their possessions north of thePyrenees beyond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy, on theOise River, leaving the kingdom divided between his two sons,Carloman (circa 715-54) and Pepin the
Short. Merged GeneralNote: Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia (inpresent northeastern France and southwestern Germany). Charles,whose surname means the hammer, was the son of
Pepin of Herstaland the grandfather of Charlemagne. Pepin was mayor of thepalace under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. When hedied in 714, Charles, an illegitimate son, was imprisoned by
hisfather's widow, but he escaped in 715 and was proclaimed mayorof the palace by the Austrasians. A war between Austrasia andthe Frankish kingdom of Neustria (now part of France) followed,and at
the end of it Charles became the undisputed ruler of allthe Franks.--Other FieldsRef Number: +
FRNK Y
FREN Y
ROYL Y
DATE 12 NOV 1997

OCCU Mayor of the Palace

GIVN Charles
SURN Martel
NSFX [Mayor/Palace]
!Colonial and Revolutionary Lineages of America (973 D2ah) Vol. 2
After the death of his father there was a period of anarchy. Hisnephews,
grandchildren of Plectrude, were proclaimed rulers and Charles wasthrown into
prison. Austrasia (eastern portion of France) and Neustria (westernFrance)
were still separate. He escaped and defeated the Neustrians atAmbleve in 716
and at Vincy the following year. He also took the title of mayor ofthe palace
of Austrasia, thus uniting the northern part of the country. In 719he forced
Duke Odo of Aquitaine to recognize his suzerainty. He also becamerenowned for
his victories over the Moors. They had conquered Spain in 711 andlater crosse
the Pyrenees and advanced on Gaul as far as Tours. His brilliantvictory, in
Oct 732, over the Moors ended the last of the Arab invasion and led tohis bein
called Martel (the Hammer). He then took the offensive against themin souther
France. His victories over the Germans resulted in the annexation ofFrisia,
the end of the duchy of Bavaria, intervention in Bavaria and thepayment of
tribute by the Saxons. Pope Gregory III attempted to gain his aidagainst the
Lombards but was unsuccessful. For a few years before his death therewas no
king of the Merovingian line, and in 741 he divided the kingdombetween his two
sons as though he were master of the realm.
!Md. 2) Swanhilda or Sunhilde or Sonichilde, princess anddutchess of
Franks in 725; 3) concubine; 4) Chunehild; 5) Piltrude; 6) Galiana; 7)
concubine; 8) concubine.
Keiser und Koenig Hist Ahen zu Karl der Grossen, Germ FH G94, p.28.
Royal Ancestors of Some LDS Families, by Michael L. Call, Chart 601, 602,....
!Royal Ancestors of Some LDS Families by Michel L. Call, F.G.sheet #413 and
105.
Ancestry and Progeny of Captain James Blount - Inmigrant. by RobertFfafman
p. E- 30, # 28.
Frist married Rotrou of Treves, daughter of Leutwinus, St Lievin, Bishop of
Treves, who was the son of Cout Warimus and wife Kunga, sister ofBogin, Bishop
of Treves. "Martel" was actuallu an apt nickname meaning "Hammer".

GIVN Charles Mayor Of The Palace Of
SURN AUSTRASIA
NICK Martel
AFN 9GC9-KK
REPO @REPO1097@
TITL Ancestral File (R)
AUTH The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
PUBL Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998
ABBR Ancestral File (R)
_MASTER Y
REPO @REPO1097@
TITL Ancestral File (R)
AUTH The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
PUBL Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998
ABBR Ancestral File (R)
_MASTER Y
REPO @REPO1097@
TITL Ancestral File (R)
AUTH The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
PUBL Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998
ABBR Ancestral File (R)
_MASTER Y
DATE 22 OCT 2000
TIME 20:07:27

GIVN Charles "Martel" Mayor
SURN Austrasia
NSFX **
! HISTORY: Grolier Encyclopedia, 1995 Edition, "The Frankish ruler Charles
Martel, b.688, d.Oct.22, 741, was the first CAROLINGIAN to bring most of what is today France under his control. He was the illegimate son of Pepin of Heristal, Mayor of the palace in AUSTRASIA. When
his father died (714) Charles fought for five years against Pepin's widow, Plectrude; ... When Charles died he was succeeded as mayor of the palace by his sons PEPIN THE SHORT and Carloman.
! SEALED TO SPOUSE: IGI 1994 Edition, Film # 1760752.
! RELATIONSHIP: Patron, H. Reed Black, is 34th & 35th G G Son.

TITL Final.ged
REPO
CALN
MEDI Other
DATA
TEXT Date of Import: Feb 1, 1999
TITL Final.ged
REPO
CALN
MEDI Other
DATA
TEXT Date of Import: Feb 1, 1999
TITL Final.ged
REPO
CALN
MEDI Other
DATA
TEXT Date of Import: Feb 1, 1999
TITL Final.ged
REPO
CALN
MEDI Other
DATA
TEXT Date of Import: Feb 1, 1999

Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwestern Germany). Charles, whose surname means the hammer, was the son of Pepin of Herstal and the grandfather of Charlemagne. Pepin was mayor of the palace under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. When he died in 714, Charles, an illegitimate son, was imprisoned by his father's widow, but he escaped in 715 and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasians. A war between Austrasia and the Frankish kingdom of Neustria (now part of France) followed, and at the end of it Charles became the undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Although he was engaged in wars against the Alamanni, Bavarians, and Saxons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims from Spain, who invaded France in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers in a great battle in which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the emir of Spain, was killed. The progress of Islam, which had filled all Christendom with alarm, was thus checked for a time. Charles drove the Muslims out of the Rhone valley in 739, when they had again advanced into France as far as Lyon, leaving them nothing of their possessions north of the Pyrenees beyond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy, on the Oise River, leaving the kingdom divided between his two sons, Carloman (circa 715-54) and Pepin the Short.

[mylogsdon.FTW]

[db021301.FTW]

[strayhorn.GED]

[rw1015.FTW]

After the rebellion, a new Mayor of the Neustrian Palace was named. He was Ragenfred. He set out to remove all of those who had been loyal to Pippin. Not satisfied with Neustria, Ragenfred moved into Austrasia and seize Colone and forced Plectrude to withdraw. He then sieze parts of the fortunes of Pippin. This was enough to bring Charles into the fray. This seems odd that he would help Plectrude, who had imprisoned him after his fathers death. Charles managed to escape Plectrudes captivity and formed a small army to fight the Frisians, who were once again up to their old tricks, but proved no match for them and retired in defeat to the Ardennes. But that was then and it was now 716 and the Neustrians were returning from Cologne through Ambleve he attacked and inflicted hevey losses on the Neustrians. On March 21 717 he finally routed the Neustrians at Vinchy, and forced them back to Paris.

After this he returned to Austrasia and proclaimed himself Mayor of the Palace and installed a son of Theuderic III, Chlotar IV as King of the Merovingians. Plectrude lived out the rest of her days in Cologne and was buried at Notre Dame, which she had founded.

Frankish Monarch. The grandfather of Charlemagne, he is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which prevented Moslem advance from getting any farther into Europe than Spain. His Frankish army defeated an Arab and Berber army fighting to spread Islam, which had swept through southern Asia and north Africa, before conquering most of the Iberian peninsula and much of southern France. Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of what is now France and across the Pyrenees, Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil turned the tide of Islamic advance, and the unification of the Frankish kingdom under him, his son Pippin the Short, and his grandson Charlemagne prevented the Ummayad kingdom from expanding over the Pyrenees. He was the son of Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, and his concubine Alpaida. On Pippin's death in 714, the succession passed to an infant grandson, Theodoald. The faction of Austrasian nobles who supported Theodoald was led by his stepmother, Pippin's widow, Plectrude. Charles, who was already an adult, led a rival faction and prevailed in a series of battles against both invading Neustrian Franks and the forces of Plectrude. Between 718 and 723, he secured his power through a series of victories and by winning the loyalty of several important clerics. This he accomplished in part by donating lands and money for the foundations of abbeys such as Echternach. In the subsequent decade, he led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would have to wait for his grandson Charlemagne. (bio by: Mongoose)

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=41&GScid=1974848&GRid=8183688&

http://masseyfamgenealogy.tripod.com/a41.htm#i8982

1099511628800. Charles "Martel" Of The Franks Martel [Mayor Of The Palace] , son of Pepin II De Heristal Duc De Austrasia & Brabant Mayor Of The Palace In Austrasia and Alpaide/Alpais/Chalpaida (De Heristal) Concubine Of, was born in 688-690 in Heristal, Liege, Belgium died on 22 Oct 741 in Quierzy, Aisne, France, at age 53, and was buried in Monastery, St. Denis, Seine, France. Other names for Charles were Charles Martel Austrasia Mayor Of The Palace Of, and Charles Martel The Hammer Duc De Antrim.

General Notes: Ruler of the Franks. Victor over the Saracens at Tours in 732.

Charles Martel was the Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwestern Germany). Charles, whose surname (Martel) means "the hammer", was the grandfather of Charlemagne. When his father, Pepin, died in 714, Charles was imprisoned by his father's widow, but he escaped in 715 and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasians. A war between Austrasia and the Frankish kingdom of Neustria (now part of France) followed, and at the end of it Charles became the undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Although he was engaged in wars against the Alamanni, Bavarians, and Saxons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims from Spain, who invaded France in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers in a great battle in which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the emir of Spain, was killed. The progress of Islam, which had filled all Christendom with alarm, was thus checked for a time*. Charles drove the Muslims out of the Rhone valley in 739, when they had again advanced into France as far as Lyon, leaving them nothing of their possessions north of the Pyrenees beyond the Aude River. When Charles died, he left the kingdom divided between his 2 sons, Carloman and Pepin the Short. (Internet)

*He was the man who fought the Moslems to a standstill at the battle of Tours in 732 and saved France from Arab conquest. (Ancient and Medieval History, by Carlton Hayes and Parker Moon; 1929)

After the death of his father there was a period of anarchy. His nephews, grandchildren of Plectrude, were proclaimed rulers and Charles was thrown into prison. Austrasia (eastern portion of France) and Neustria (western France) were still separate. He escaped and defeated the Neustrians at Ambleve in 716 and at Vincy the following year. He also took the title of mayor of the palace of Austrasia, thus uniting the northern part of the country. In 719 he forced Duke Odo of Aquitaine to recognize his suzerainty. He also became renowned for his victories over the Moors. They had conquered Spain in 711 and later crossed the Pyrenees and advanced on Gaul as far as Tours. His brilliant victory, in Oct 732, over the Moors ended the last of the Arab invasion and led to his being called Martel (the Hammer). He then took the offensive against them in southern France. His victories over the Germans resulted in the annexation of Frisia, the end of the duchy of Bavaria, intervention in Bavaria and the payment of tribute by the Saxons. Pope Gregory III attempted to gain his aid against the Lombards but was unsuccessful. For a few years before his death there was no king of the Merovingian line, and in 741 he divided the kingdom between his two sons as though he were master of the realm.
Alt Birth: 635 Heristal, Austrasia
Alt Birth Notes: 26. Charles Martel, the Hammer, born in 689, Mayor of the Palace, King of France, was still famous, because, in the decisive battle of Tours in 732, he utterly routed the Moors who had conquered Spain and the south of France. He fought King Chilperic II., the Merovingian King. He died in 741. He married (1) Rotrude (Rotrudis), who died in 724.
Alt Death: 16 Dec 714 Junille, France
The illegitimate son of Pepin II, the Younger. Was Mayor of the Palace and
Duke of Austrasia under Clotaire IV. he repeleld invasions of France by
the Frisians and Saxons and defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours in
732 saving Europe from Islam. He supported St. Boniface and other
missionaries in Germany. At the end of his rule, he confiscated church
lands.

Noted events in his life were:

1. Fact 1: "Savior Of Christiandom". Bastard. Succeded His Father Via Winning A Civil War.

2. Fact 2: Mayor Of The Palace & Chief Minister To The Merovingian King Of The Franks.

3. Fact 3: 732, Halted The Advance Of The Moors At Poitiers/Tours & Drove Them Back To Iberia.

4. Fact 4: Provided Army For Boniface To Convert The Saxons In Germany.

5. Fact 5: Advanced Christiandom Eastward To The Elbe River.

6. Fact 6: Leader Of The Tall Frankish Swordsmen. "Savior Of The West".

7. Fact 7: The Defeat Of The Saracens At Tours In 732 Saved Europe.

8. Fact 8: Buried: Monastery, St Denis, Seine, France.

9. Fact 9: Ruled The Merovingian Franks From A.D. 719 To 741.

10. Fact 10: Used Only The Title Of Mayor Of The Palace, But Had The Power Of A King.

11. Fact 11: For Repeatedly Attacking The Moslems He Recd The Title Of Martel, Meaning Hammer.

12. Fact 12: Built An Army Of Mounted Men By Seizing Church Estates.

13. Fact 13: Supported Saint Boniface In His Reform Of The Frankish Church.

Charles married Chrotrudis (Rotrou/Rotrude) De Alemania Dss Of Austrasia [Duchesaustrasia about 713.

Children from this marriage were:

i. Jerome Of The Franks ()
ii. Carloman Prince Of Franks Mayor Of The Palace (born in 713 Austrasia, France - died on 4 Dec 755 in Cassini Monastery)
iii. Auda Martel ()
iv. Bernard Duke Of Franks [Duke] (born about 730 - died about 784)
549755814400 v. Pepin (Pippin) III "The Short", King Of The Franks King Of Franks Duke Of Austrasia (born in 714 Austrasia - died on 24 Sep 768 in St. Denis, Paris, Seine, France)
vi. Childtrude (Hiltrude) , Duchess Of Bavaria (born about 716 Austrasia, France - died about 754)
vii. Landree ()
viii. Aude/Aldana (died before 805)
ix. Childebrand I De Perracy (died in 751)

Charles next married Sonichilde (Sunihilde) (Swanhilde) Of Nanks [Duchess]. Sonichilde was born in 691.

Noted events in her life were:

1. Fact 1: She Was A Bavarian.

Children from this marriage were:

i. Grifo Of Austrasia (died)
ii. Chiltrud Of Austrasia (died)

Charles next married Galiana Of The Saracens. Galiana was born in 712 in Austrasia and died.

Charles next married Sonichilde Bavaria Of, daughter of Grimaldo II Bavaria and Unknown.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
See also: Charles Martel d'Anjou (1271-1295).
Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer, German: Karl Martell) (August 23,686- October 22, 741) was born in Herstal, in what is now Wallonia,Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pepin II (635 or 640 - December 16,714) and his concubine Alpaida or Chalpaida.

Although he was Mayor of the Palace of the kingdom of the Franks,Martel (Martel means "the Hammer") is best remembered for winning theBattle of Tours (more correctly the Battle of Poitiers) in 732, whichhas been characterized as the salvation of Europe from the Arabsspreading their empire further than the Iberian Peninsula. Martel'sFrankish army defeated an Arab army , which had swept through southernAsia and north Africa, before conquering most of the Iberian peninsulaand much of southern France. It is instructive to remember that onlyonce, in all of history, did infantry without bows and arrows, orfirearms, withstand mounted and amoured cavalry. Martel achievedlasting greatness by inspiring his Franks to do what was thought to beimpossible.

It was this battle that earned Charles the surname "Martel," or thehammer, for the merciless way he smote his enemies. Most historiansbelieve that had he failed at Tours, Islam would probably have overunEurope.

Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive allthe Arab garrisons out of what is now France and across the Pyrenees,Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil turned the tideof Islamic advance, and the unification of the Frankish kingdom underCharles Martel, his son Pepin the Short, and his grandson Charlemagneprevented the Umayyad kingdom from expanding over the Pyrenees.

On Pepin II's death in 714, the succession passed to an infantgrandson, Theodoald. The faction of Austrasian nobles who supportedTheodoald was led by his stepmother, Pepin's widow, Plectrude.Charles, who was already an adult, led a rival faction and prevailedin a series of battles against both invading Neustrian Franks and theforces of Plectrude. Between 718 and 723, Charles secured his powerthrough a series of victories and by winning the loyalty of severalimportant clerics. This he accomplished in part by donating lands andmoney for the foundations of abbeys such as Echternach.

In the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against theeastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies,Aquitaine and Provence (in Avignon, Nîmes, Montfrin (736), ...). Hedealt with the ongoing conflict with the Saxons to his northeast withsome success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporationinto the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne.

Charles Martel's married:
Chrotrud or Rotrude (690-724), with children:

Pepin the Short
Carloman
Swanachild
Grifo
Charles Martel died on October 22, 741 at Quierzy in what is today theAisne département in the Picardy region of France. He was buried atSaint Denis Basilica in Paris. He was succeeded by his sons, Carloman,Pepin the Short, and Grifo.

Moins d'un siècle après la mort de Mahomet, ses disciples ont atteint l'Espagne et le Languedoc actuel (cette province s'appelle alors Septimanie, d'après ses sept villes principales).

Les musulmans ont été arrêtés dans leur progression vers le nord par le duc d'Aquitaine, Eudes, à Toulouse, en 721.

Eudes ne s'en tient pas là. Fort de sa victoire, il veut prévenir le retour des musulmans d'Espagne au nord des Pyrénées et pour cela, s'allie au gouverneur berbère de la Septimanie.

Le dénommé Munuza, comme souvent les Berbères, est en révolte contre ses coreligionnaires d'Espagne.

Eudes lui donne sa fille en mariage.

Mais l'alliance tourne court. Munuza est tué en affrontant le gouverneur d'Espagne Abd el-Rahmann et ce dernier, dans la foulée, lance une expédition punitive contre les Aquitains.

A la tête de ses troupes, il tente de remonter jusqu'au riche sanctuaire de Saint-Martin de Tours. Il a l'intention de s'en approprier les richesses avant de s'en retourner au sud des Pyrénées.

Eudes, alors, appelle à son secours les Francs qui vivent au nord de la Loire. Leur chef accourt.

Celui-ci, du nom de Charles Martel, est issu d'une puissante famille franque d'Austrasie (l'est de la France).

Il exerce les fonctions de maire du palais (ou «majordome ») à la cour du roi mérovingien, de la vieille dynastie de Clovis. A lui revient la réalité du pouvoir dans la société franque d'Austrasie.

Bataille indécise

L'armée d'Abd el-Rahmann arrête sa progression devant les armées de Charles Martel et Eudes, pour une fois unies. Le face à face a lieu à Moussais, sur la commune de Vouneuil-sur-Vienne, entre Poitiers et Tours.

Pendant six jours, les cavaliers musulmans et les fantassins chrétiens s'observent et se livrent quelques escarmouches.

Le 25 octobre 732, qui est aussi le premier jour du mois de Ramadan, les musulmans se décident à engager la bataille. Mais Abd el-Rahmann meurt au combat et la nuit suivante, découragés, ses hommes plient bagage et se retirent.

La bataille dite de Poitiers met un point final aux incursions musulmanes au nord des Pyrénées.

Charles Martel ne s'en tient pas là. Profitant de l'affaiblissement du duc Eudes, il s'empare des évêchés de la Loire puis descend dans le Midi qu'il saccage consciencieusement. C'est peut-être à cette occasion qu'il aurait gagné le surnom de Martel («celui qui frappe comme un marteau»).

Plus tard, les chroniqueurs français exalteront le souvenir de la bataille de Poitiers pour mettre en valeur Charles Martel, grand-père du futur Charlemagne et mythique fondateur de la France.

Emergence d'une nouvelle dynastie

Pépin, fils cadet de Charles Martel, va succéder à ce dernier comme maire du palais des derniers rois mérovingiens.

Las de ces rois fainéants, lointains descendants de Clovis, les principaux seigneurs de Francie occidentale (la France du nord) offriront plus tard la couronne à Pépin.

Ils le proclameront roi des Francs au champ de mai de Soissons, en 751, sous le nom de Pépin III. Le nouveau roi sera plus connu sous le nom de Pépin le Bref.

Les évêques du royaume confirmeront aussitôt son élection par un sacre, avant que le pape en personne ne renouvelle ce rituel inédit.

http://www.herodote.net

Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia Charles Martel - was born about 0676, lived in Heristal,Liege,Belgium and died on 22 Oct 0741 in Quierzy,Aisne,France . He was the son of Mayor Pepin "The Younger" D`Heristal and Concubine Aupais Heristal Alpaide. Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia Charles married Swanhilde Carolingian. . Then Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia Charles married Duchess Rotrude of Austrasia. Duchess Rotrude was born about 0690 in Moselle, Austrasia, France. She was the daughter of Bishop Leutwinus of Treves. She died in 0724 . Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia Charles - became Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia when his father, Pepin II, died in 714. That year he was imprisoned by his step-mother Plectudis, but escaped later in the year to lead the Austrasian and Neustrian nobles. The next year, the new King Chilperic II refused to act as a puppet to the nobles, and was backed by the Aquitaine duke Eudo, who was by then semi-independent from Frankish s

Charles Martel
Encyclopædia Britannica Article

born c. 688
died Oct. 22, 741, Quierzy-sur-Oise [France]

Latin Carolus Martellus , German Karl Martell mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom) from 715 to 741. He reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Muslim invasion at Poitiers in 732. His byname, Martel, means “the hammer.”

Charles was the illegitimate son of Pippin II of Herstal, the mayor of the palace of Austrasia. By this period the Merovingian kings of the Frankish realm were rulers in name only. The burden of rule lay upon the mayors of the palace, who governed Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom, and Neustria, its western portion. Neustria bitterly resented its conquest and annexation in 687 by Pippin, who, acting in the name of the king, had reorganized and reunified the Frankish realm.

The assassination of Pippin's only surviving legitimate son in 714 was followed a few months later by the death of Pippin himself. Pippin left as heirs three grandsons, and, until they came of age, Plectrude, Pippin's widow, was to hold power. As an illegitimate son, Charles Martel was entirely neglected in the will. But he was young, strong, and determined, and an intense struggle for power at once broke out in the Frankish kingdom.

Both Charles and Plectrude faced rebellion throughout the Frankish kingdom when Pippin's will was made known. The king, Chilperic II, was in the power of Ragenfrid, mayor of the palace of Neustria, who joined forces with the Frisians in Holland in order to eliminate Charles. Plectrude imprisoned Charles and tried to govern in the name of her grandchildren, but Charles escaped, gathered an army, and defeated the Neustrians in battles at Amblève near Liège (716) and at Vincy near Cambrai (717). His success made resistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; they submitted, and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor.

Assured of Austrasia, Charles now attacked Neustria itself, finally subduing it in 724. This freed Charles to deal with hostile elements elsewhere. He attacked Aquitaine, whose ruler, Eudes (Odo), had been an ally of Ragenfrid, but Charles did not gain effective control of southern France until late in his reign. He also conducted long campaigns, some as late as the 730s, against the Frisians, Saxons, and Bavarians, whose brigandage endangered the eastern frontiers of his kingdom. In order to consolidate his military gains, Charles supported St. Boniface and other missionaries in their efforts to convert the German tribes on the eastern frontier to Christianity.

Ever since their arrival in Spain from Africa in 711, the Muslims had raided Frankish territory, threatening Gaul and on one occasion (725) reaching Burgundy and sacking Autun. In 732 'Abd ar-Rahman, the governor of Córdoba, marched into Bordeaux and defeated Eudes. The Muslims then proceeded north across Aquitaine to the city of Poitiers. Eudes appealed to Charles for assistance, and Charles's cavalry managed to turn back the Muslim onslaught at the Battle of Tours. The battle itself may have been only a series of small engagements, but after it there were no more great Muslim invasions of Frankish territory.

In 733 Charles began his campaigns to force Burgundy to yield to his rule. In 735 word arrived that Eudes was dead, and Charles marched rapidly across the Loire River in order to make his power felt around Bordeaux. By 739 he had completely subdued the petty chieftains of Burgundy, and he continued to fend off Muslim advances into Gaul during the decade.

Charles's health began to fail in the late 730s, and in 741 he retired to his palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise, where he died soon after. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two legitimate sons, Pippin III and Carloman. He continued to maintain the fiction of Merovingian rule, refraining from transferring the royal title to his own dynasty.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Birth: Aug. 23, 676 Death: Oct. 22, 741
Frankish Monarch. The grandfather of Charlemagne, he is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which prevented Moslem advance from getting any farther into Europe than Spain. His Frankish armydefeated an Arab and Berber army fighting to spread Islam, which had swept through southern Asia and north Africa, before conquering most ofthe Iberian peninsula and much of southern France. Although it tookanother two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of what is now France and across the Pyrenees, Charles Martel'shaltof the invasion of French soil turned the tide of Islamic advance, and the unification of the Frankish kingdom under him, his son Pippin the Short, and his grandson Charlemagne prevented the Ummayad kingdom from expanding over the Pyrenees. He was the son of Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, and his concubine Alpaida. On Pippin's death in 714, the succession passed to an infant grandson, Theodoald. The faction of Austrasian nobles who supported Theodoald was led byhis stepmother, Pippin's widow, Plectrude. Charles, who was already an adult, led a rival faction and prevailed in a series of battlesagainst both invading Neustrian Franks and the forces of Plectrude. Between 718 and 723, he secured his power through a series of victoriesand by winning the loyalty of several important clerics. This he accomplished in part by donating lands and money for the foundations of abbeys such as Echternach. In the subsequent decade, he led the Frankisharmy against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest ofthe Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would have to wait for his grandson Charlemagne.

[Descent from the Saints, Kenneth J. Hart]: Charles MARTEL, Mayor of
Austrasia, 717 and all the Kingdoms 720, d. 741.
[Ancestral Safari, Wm. G. Cook, Parke's Newsletter 1991 #3]: Charles
Martel, Mayor of Austrasia and Neustria. (c. 688-741). Married Rotrou
(d. 724).
[Ahnentafel by Philippe Houdry, from various sources, ver. 3 (Aug. 31,
1994) posted by Tom Camfield]: b. ca 676/8, Quierzy; d. 741. Mayor of
the Palace (Neustrie and Austrasie), Frankish Duke 717-741.
Kilde: Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists, 6th
Edition, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co, 1988.
Kilde: Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia [Ref: Weis AR #50]
Kilde: 732: victor over the Saracens at Tours [Ref: Weis AR #50]
Kilde: date: [Ref: Weis AR #190], parents: [Ref: Weis AR #190]
Kilde: names: [Ref: Weis AR #50] Kilde: date: [Ref: Wurts p430] Kilde:
date: [Ref: Weis AR #190]

Mayor of the Palace 721

[Jeremiah Brown.FTW]

Charles "The Hammer" Martel is famous for the decisive battle of Tours in 732, in which he utterly routed the Moors who had conquered Spain and the south of France.

#Générale##Générale#Profession : Maire.du.Palais d'Austrasie,
Maire du Palais de Neustrie, Duc des Francs

{geni:occupation} Mayor of the Palaces of Austrasia & Neustria 714-741, Duke of the Franks 717, Commander of the Franks at the Battle of Tours 732, Duke and Prince of the Franks, fränkischer Hausmeier, Herzog der Franken

{geni:about_me} Charles "The Hammer" Martel was the defacto King of the Franks from 737-741 (Officially he was Duke and Prince of the Franks). He was also known as a great general, and is most famous for his victory at the Battle of Tours, in which he defeated an invading Muslim army and halted northward Islamic expansion in western Europe.

'''Martel was the son of Pepin II and his concubine, Alpaida'''.

>Around 670, Pepin had married Plectrude, who had inherited substantial estates in the Moselle region. She was the mother of Drogo of Champagne and Grimoald, both of whom died before their father. However, Pepin also had '''a mistress named Alpaida (or Chalpaida) who bore him two more sons: Charles''' and Childebrand. Charles had gained favor among the Austrasians, primarily for his military prowess and ability to keep them well supplied with booty from his conquests. Despite the efforts of Plectrude to silence her rival's child by imprisoning him, he became the sole mayor of the palace --and de facto ruler of Francia-- after a civil war which lasted for more than three years after Pepin's death.

'''Martel was also grandfather to Charlemagne.'''

Charles Martel married twice:

'''His first wife was Rotrude of Treves''', (690-724) (daughter of St. Leutwinus, Bishop of Treves). They had the following children:

* Hiltrud (d. 754), married Odilo I, Duke of Bavaria

* Carloman

* Landrade (Landres), married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania

* Auda, Aldana, or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse

* Pippin the Short

His second wife was Swanhild. They had the following child:

* Grifo

Charles Martel also had a mistress, Ruodhaid. They had the following children:

* Bernard (b. before 732-787)

* Hieronymus

* Remigius, archbishop of Rouen (d. 771)

* Ian (d. 783)

notes or source:

The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James

http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/f/o/n/Emmett-W-Fontaine/GENE20-0004.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martel

------------------

Maire du Palais D'Austrasie, Duc Des Francs

Carlos Martel (*Heristal, Bélgica, 23 de agosto de 686 – 22 de octubre de 741) fue Mayordomo de palacio del reino de Austrasia desde el año 715 hasta su muerte. Era hijo no matrimonial de Pipino de Heristal (llamado el Joven o Pipino II) y de su concubina Alpaïde de Bruyères.

--------------------

CHARLES MARTEL

[O.Fr.,=Charles the Hammer], 688?–741, Frankish ruler, illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal and grandfather of Charlemagne. After the death of his father (714) he seized power in Austrasia from Pepin's widow, who was ruling as regent for her grandsons, and became mayor of the palace. He subsequently subdued the W Frankish kingdom of Neustria and began the reconquest of Burgundy, Aquitaine, and Provence. Charles Martel defeated the Spanish Muslims at the battle of Tours (732–33) and began the military campaigns that reestablished the Franks as the rulers of Gaul. Although he never assumed the title of king, he divided the Frankish lands, like a king, between his sons Pepin the Short and Carloman.

See F. Lot, The End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the Middle Ages (1927, tr. 1961); E. James, The Origins of France: Clovis and the Capetians, a.d. 500–1000 (1982).

____________________

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

--------------------

Charles "The Hammer" Martel (, ) (ca. 688688

Events...

– 22 October 741741 Summary

Sorry, no overview for this topic

) was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a titular King. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the FranksFacts About Duke of the Franks

The title dux et princeps Francorum, or duke and prince of the Franks, was the title adopted by Pepin of Heristal ...

(the last four years of his reign he did not even bother with the façade of a King) and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms. In 739739

Events...

he was offered an office of Roman consulRoman consul

Consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic and the Empire....

by the Pope, which he rejected possibly not to conflict with Theodatus Ursus who already occupied the office by appointment of the Byzantine emperor Leo III the IsaurianLeo III the Isaurian

Leo III the Isaurian or the Syrian , was Byzantine emperor from 717 until his death in 741....

. He expanded his rule over all three of the FrankishFranks

The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic federations....

kingdoms: AustrasiaAustrasia

Austrasia formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of pr...

, NeustriaNeustria

The territory of Neustria originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating mos...

and BurgundyFacts About Burgundy

Burgundy is a historic region of France, inhabited in turn by Pre-Indo-European people, Celts , Romans , and various German...

. Martel was born in HerstalHerstal

Herstal is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Lige....

, in present-day BelgiumBelgium

The Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France and is...

, the illegitimate son of Pippin the MiddlePippin of Herstal

Pippin of Herstal , also known as Pippin the Middle, Pippin the Younger , or Pippin II, was the grandson ...

and his concubine AlpaidaAlpaida

Alpaida was also known as Chalpaida....

(or Chalpaida). He was described by Louis Gustave and Charles Strauss in their book "Moslem and Frank; or, Charles Martel and the rescue of Europe" as a tall, powerfully built man, who was more agile than his size would lead men to believe.

He is best remembered for winning the Battle of ToursBattle of Tours

The Battle of Tours , often called Battle of Poitiers and also called in Arabic The Court of Martyrs was fought n...

in 732732

732 is also an area code in the state of New Jersey....

, which has traditionally been characterized as an event that halted the Islamic expansionism in EuropeEurope Overview

Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth....

that had conquered IberiaIberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe....

. "Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization."

In addition to being the leader of the army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel was a truly giant figure of the Middle AgesMiddle Ages

The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the clas...

. A brilliant general, he is considered the forefather of western heavy cavalryHeavy cavalry

Heavy cavalry refers to heavily armed and armoured mounted troops, as opposed to light cavalry, in which the riders are rela...

, chivalryChivalry

Chivalry refers to the medieval institution of knighthood and, most especially, the ideals that were associated with it....

, founder of the Carolingian EmpireFacts About Carolingian Empire

The term Carolingian Empire is sometimes used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the dynasty of the Carolingians....

(which was named after him), and a catalyst for the feudal systemFeudalism

Feudalism refers to a general set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during t...

, which would see Europe through the Middle Ages. Although some recent scholars have suggested he was more of a beneficiary of the feudal system than a knowing agent for social change, others continue to see him as the primary catalyst for the feudal systemFeudalism Summary

Feudalism refers to a general set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during t...

.

Birth and Youth

The following tale is told of Charles, and the origins of his name: in 686, Pippin II and his wife Plectrude were talking together in a room when they were intruded upon by a messenger, bringing news that the Mayor's mistress, AlpaidaAlpaida

Alpaida was also known as Chalpaida....

, had given birth to a son at Herstal.The messenger, fearful of arousing the wrath of Plectrude, decided not to announce the news directly. Instead, he said: "Long live the king, it is a carl" ('man'). Pippin, equally cautious of his wife, dismissed the messenger as follows: "A carl, is it? Then let him be called that." This was done, and, so legend claims, the child was named "Carl". Alpaida also bore Pippin another son, Childebrand.

Contesting for power

In December 714, Pippin the Middle died. Prior to his death, he had, at his wife PlectrudePlectrude

Plectrude or Plectrudis was the wife of Pepin of Heristal, the mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, from about ...

's urging, designated TheudoaldTheudoald

Theudoald or Theodald was the mayor of the palace, briefly unopposed in 714 until Ragenfrid was acclaimed in Neustria ...

, his grandson by their son Grimoald, his heir in the entire realm. This was immediately opposed by the nobles because Theudoald was a child of only eight years of age. To prevent Charles using this unrest to his own advantage, Plectrude had him gaoled (jailed) in CologneCologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, and is the largest city both in the German Feder...

, the city which was destined to be her capital. This prevented an uprising on his behalf in AustrasiaAustrasia

Austrasia formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of pr...

, but not in NeustriaNeustria

The territory of Neustria originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating mos...

.

Civil war of 715-718

In 715715

Events...

, the Neustrian noblesse proclaimed RagenfridRagenfrid

Ragenfrid was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy from 715, when he filled the vacuum in Neustria caused by the...

mayor of their palace on behalf of, and apparently with the support of, Dagobert IIIDagobert III

Dagobert III was Merovingian king of the Franks....

, the young king, who in theory had the legal authority to select a mayor, though by this time the MerovingianMerovingian

The Merovingians were a dynasty of Frankish kings who ruled a frequently fluctuating area in parts of present-day France and...

dynasty had lost most such powers.

The Austrasians were not to be left supporting a woman and her young son for long. Before the end of the year, Charles Martel had escaped from prison and been acclaimed mayor by the nobles of that kingdom. The Neustrians had been attacking Austrasia and the nobles were waiting for a strong man to lead them against their invading countrymen. That year, Dagobert died and the Neustrians proclaimed Chilperic IIChilperic II

Chilperic II, born Daniel, the youngest son of Childeric II, was king of Neustria from 715 and sole king of the Franks...

king without the support of the rest of the Frankish people.

In 716716

For the area code see Area code 716 ...

, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia. The Neustrians allied with another invading force under Radbod, King of the FrisiansRadbod, King of the Frisians

Radbod was the duke of Frisia from 680 to 719....

and met Charles in battle near Cologne, which was still held by Plectrude. Charles had little time to gather men, or prepare, and the result was his only defeat. According to Strauss and Gustave, Martel fought a brilliant battle, but realized he could not prevail because he was outnumbered so badly, and retreated. In fact, he fled the field as soon as he realized he did not have the time or the men to prevail, retreating to the mountains of the EifelFacts About Eifel

The Eifel is a hilly region in Germany....

to gather men, and train them. The king and his mayor then turned to besiege their other rival in the city and took it and the treasury, and received the recognition of both Chilperic as king and Ragenfrid as mayor. Plectrude surrendered on Theudoald's behalf.

Magnanimous in victory

At this juncture, however, events turned in favour of Charles. Having made the proper preparations, he fell upon the triumphant army near MalmedyMalmedy

Malmedy is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Lige....

as it was returning to its own province, and, in the ensuing Battle of AmblèveBattle of Amblève

The Battle of Ambl?ve took place in 716 near Amel....

, routed it and it fled. Several things were notable about this battle, in which Charles set the pattern for the remainder of his military career: First, he appeared where his enemies least expected him, while they were marching triumphantly home and far outnumbered him. He also attacked when least expected, at midday, when armies of that era traditionally were resting. Finally, he attacked them how they least expected it, by feigning a retreat to draw his opponents into a trap. The feigned retreat, next to unknown in Western Europe at that time—it was a traditionally eastern tactic—required both extraordinary discipline on the part of the troops and exact timing on the part of their commander. Charles, in this battle, had begun demonstrating the military genius that would mark his rule, in that he never attacked his enemies where, when, or how they expected, and the result was an unbroken victory streak that lasted until his death.

In Spring 717717

Events*March 21 - Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid....

, Charles returned to Neustria with an army and confirmed his supremacy with a victory at the Battle of VincyBattle of Vincy

The Battle of Vincy was fought at Vincy, near Cambrai, in the modern dpartement of Aisne....

, near CambraiCambrai

Cambrai also written Cambray is a French town and commune, in the Nord dpartement, of which it is a sous-prfectu...

. He chased the fleeing king and mayor to ParisParis

native_name = Ville de Paris|common_name = Paris...

, before turning back to deal with Plectrude and Cologne. He took her city and dispersed her adherents. However, he allowed both Plectrude and the young Theudoald to live and treated them with kindness—unusual for those Dark AgesDark Ages

In historiography the phrase the Dark Ages is most commonly known in relation to the European Early Middle Ages....

, when mercy to a former jailer, or a potential rival, was rare. On this success, he proclaimed Clotaire IVClotaire IV

Clotaire IV, king of Austrasia, was installed by the mayor of the palace, Charles Martel, as an ally during the civil war th...

king of AustrasiaAustrasia Summary

Austrasia formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of pr...

in opposition to Chilperic and deposed the archbishop of Rheims, Rigobert, replacing him with Milo, a lifelong supporter.

Consolidation of power

After subjugating all Austrasia, he marched against Radbod and pushed him back into his territory, even forcing the concession of West Frisia (later HollandHolland

Holland is a region in the central-western part of the Netherlands....

). He also sent the SaxonsSaxons Summary

The Saxons or Saxon people are part of the German people with its main areas of settlements in the German States of S...

back over the Weser and thus secured his borders—in the name of the new king Clotaire, of course.

In 718718 Summary

Events...

, Chilperic responded to Charles' new ascendancy by making an alliance with Odo the Great (or Eudes, as he is sometimes known), the duke of AquitaineFacts About Duke of Aquitaine

The persons who held the title of Duke of Aquitaine ...

, who had made himself independent during the civil war in 715, but was again defeated, at the Battle of SoissonsBattle of Soissons (718)

The Battle of Soissons of 718 was the last of the great pitched battles of the civil war between the heirs of Pepin of Heris...

, by Charles. The king fled with his ducal ally to the land south of the LoireLoire

See also Loire Valley.Loire is a dpartement in the east-central part of France occupying the Loire River's upper r...

and Ragenfrid fled to AngersAngers Overview

Angers is a city in France in the dpartement of Maine-et-Loire, 191 miles south-west of Paris....

. Soon Clotaire IV died and Odo gave up on Chilperic and, in exchange for recognising his dukedom, surrendered the king to Charles, who recognised his kingship over all the Franks in return for legitimate royal affirmation of his mayoralty, likewise over all the kingdoms (718).

Foreign wars from 718-732

The ensuing years were full of strife. Between 718 and 723, Charles secured his power through a series of victories: he won the loyalty of several important bishops and abbots (by donating lands and money for the foundation of abbeys such as EchternachEchternach

Echternach is a commune with city status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in east...

), he subjugated BavariaBavaria

The Free State of Bavaria , with an area of 70,553 km and 12.4 million inhabitants, forms the southernmost state...

and Alemannia, and he defeated the pagan SaxonsSaxons

The Saxons or Saxon people are part of the German people with its main areas of settlements in the German States of S...

.

Having unified the Franks under his banner, Charles was determined to punish the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia. Therefore, late in 718, he laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser, the LippeLippe

ame=Lippe|state=North Rhine-Westphalia|...

, and the RuhrFacts About Ruhr

The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany having its source at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet near the to...

. He defeated them in the Teutoburg ForestTeutoburg Forest

The Teutoburg Forest is a range of low, forested mountains in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

. In 719719

Events...

, Charles seized West Frisia without any great resistance on the part of the FrisiansFrisians

The Frisians are an ethnic group of northwestern Europe, inhabiting an area known as Frisia. ...

, who had been subjects of the Franks but had seized control upon the death of Pippin. Although Charles did not trust the pagans, their ruler, Aldegisel, accepted Christianity, and Charles sent WillibrordWillibrord

Saint Willibrord was a Northumbrian missionary, known as the Apostle to the Frisians in modern Netherlands....

, bishop of Utrecht, the famous "Apostle to the Frisians" to convert the people. Charles also did much to support Winfrid, later Saint BonifaceFacts About Saint Boniface

Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid or Wynfrith at Crediton in Devon, England, was a...

, the "Apostle of the Germans."

When Chilperic II died the following year, Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Theuderic IVTheuderic IV

Theuderic IV was the Merovingian King of the Franks from 721 until his death in 737....

, who was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 to 737. Charles was now appointing the kings whom he supposedly served, rois fainéants who were mere puppets in his hands; by the end of his reign they were so useless that he didn't even bother appointing one. At this time, Charles again marched against the Saxons. Then the Neustrians rebelled under Ragenfrid, who had been left the county of Anjou. They were easily defeated, but Ragenfrid gave up his sons as hostages in turn for keeping his county. This ended the civil wars of Charles' reign.

The next six years were devoted in their entirety to assuring Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes. Between 720 and 723723

Events* Saint Boniface fells Thor's Oak near Fritzlar, marking the decisive event in the Christianization of the northern Germani...

, Charles was fighting in Bavaria, where the Agilolfing dukes had gradually evolved into independent rulers, recently in alliance with Liutprand the Lombard. He forced the Alemanni to accompany him, and Duke HugbertHugbert of Bavaria

Hugbert ' of the Agilolfings was 724 - 736 duke of Bavaria....

submitted to Frankish suzerainty. In 725725

Events...

and 728728 Summary

Events*Liutprand, King of the Lombards occupies all of the exarchate....

, he again entered Bavaria and the ties of lordship seemed strong. From his first campaign, he brought back the Agilolfing princess Swanachild, who apparently became his concubine. In 730730

Events...

, he marched against LantfridLantfrid

Lantfrid was duke of Alamannia under Frankish sovereignty from 709 until his death....

, duke of Alemannia, who had also become independent, and killed him in battle. He forced the Alemanni capitulation to Frankish suzerainty and did not appoint a successor to Lantfrid. Thus, southern Germany once more became part of the Frankish kingdom, as had northern Germany during the first years of the reign.

But by 730, his own realm secure, Charles began to prepare exclusively for the coming storm from the south and west.

In 721721

Events...

, the emir of Córdoba had built up a strong army from MoroccoMorocco

The Kingdom of Morocco is a country in North Africa....

, YemenYemen

Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a Middle Eastern country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asi...

, and SyriaSyria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in the Middle East....

to conquer Aquitaine, the large duchy in the southwest of Gaul, nominally under Frankish sovereignty, but in practice almost independent in the hands of the Odo the Great, the Duke of Aquitaine, since the Merovingian kings had lost power. The invading Muslims besieged the city of Toulouse, then Aquitaine's most important city, and Odo (also called Eudes, or Eudo) immediately left to find help. He returned three months later just before the city was about to surrender and defeated the Muslim invaders on June 9, 721721

Events...

, at what is now known as the Battle of ToulouseBattle of Toulouse (721)

The Battle of Tolouse was a victory of a Frankish army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine over an Umayyad army besieging the city ...

. This critical defeat was essentially the result of a classic enveloping movement by Odo's forces. (After Odo originally fled, the Muslims became overconfident and, instead of maintaining strong outer defenses around their siege camp and continuous scouting, they did neither.) Thus, when Odo returned, he was able to launch a near complete surprise attack on the besieging force, scattering it at the first attack, and slaughtering units caught resting or that fled without weapons or armour.

Due to the situation in Iberia, Martel believed he needed a virtually fulltime army --one he could train intensely-- as a core of veteran Franks who would be augmented with the usual conscripts called up in time of war. (During the Early Middle AgesEarly Middle Ages

The Early Middle Ages are a period in the history of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, spanning roughly...

, troops were only available after the crops had been planted and before harvesting time.) To train the kind of infantry that could withstand the Muslim heavy cavalry, Charles needed them year-round, and he needed to pay them so their families could buy the food they would have otherwise grown. To obtain money he seized church lands and property, and used the funds to pay his soldiers. The same Charles who had secured the support of the ecclesia by donating land, seized some of it back between 724 and 732. Of course, Church officials were enraged, and, for a time, it looked as though Charles might even be excommunicated for his actions. But then came a significant invasion.

Eve of Tours

Historian Paul K. DavisPaul K. Davis

Paul K. Davis is an historian specializing in military history....

said in 100 Decisive Battles "Having defeated Eudes, he turned to the Rhine to strengthen his northeastern borders - but in 725 was diverted south with the activity of the Muslims in Acquitane." Martel then concentrated his attention to the Umayyads, virtually for the remainder of his life. Indeed, 12 years later, when he had thrice rescued Gaul from Umayyad invasions, Antonio SantosuossoAntonio Santosuosso Summary

Antonio Santosuosso is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario....

noted when he destroyed an Umayyad army sent to reinforce the invasion forces of the 735 campaigns, "Charles Martel again came to the rescue". It has been noted that Charles Martel could have pursued the wars against the Saxons—but he was determined to prepare for what he thought was a greater danger.

It is also vital to note that the Muslims were not aware, at that time, of the true strength of the Franks, or the fact that they were building a real army instead of the typical barbarian hordes that had infested Europe after Rome's fall. They considered the Germanic tribes, including the Franks, simply barbarians and were not particularly concerned about them. The Arab Chronicles, the history of that age, show that Arab awareness of the Franks as a growing military power came only after the Battle of Tours when the Caliph expressed shock at his army's catastrophic defeat.

Battle of Tours

Main article Battle of ToursBattle of Tours

The Battle of Tours , often called Battle of Poitiers and also called in Arabic The Court of Martyrs was fought n...

.

Leadup and importance

The CordobaCórdoba, Spain Overview

Crdoba, also called Crdova, is a city in Andaluca, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Crdoba....

n emirateEmirate

Etymologically an emirate or amirate is the quality, dignity, office or territorial competence of any Emir....

had previously invaded GaulGaul

Gaul was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, B...

and had been stopped in its northward sweep at the Battle of ToulouseBattle of Toulouse (721)

The Battle of Tolouse was a victory of a Frankish army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine over an Umayyad army besieging the city ...

, in 721. The hero of that less celebrated event had been Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine, who was not the progenitor of a race of kings and patron of chroniclers. It has previously been explained how Odo defeated the invading Muslims, but when they returned, things were far different. The arrival in the interim of a new emir of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al GhafiqiAbdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi

Abu Said Abdul Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Bishr ibn Al Sarem Al 'Aki Al Ghafiqi, variously known as Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi'...

, who brought with him a huge force of Arabs and BerberBerber people

The Berbers are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family....

horsemen, triggered a far greater invasion. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had been at Toulouse, and the Arab Chronicles make clear he had strongly opposed the Emir's decision not to secure outer defenses against a relief force, which allowed Odo and his relief force to attack with impunity before the Islamic cavalry could assemble or mount. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had no intention of permitting such a disaster again. This time the Umayyad horsemen were ready for battle, and the results were horrific for the Aquitanians. Odo, hero of Toulouse, was badly defeated in the Muslim invasion of 732732

732 is also an area code in the state of New Jersey....

at the battle prior to the Muslim sacking of Bordeaux, and when he gathered a second army, at the Battle of the River GaronneBattle of the River Garonne

The Battle of the River Garonne was fought in 732 between an Umayyad army led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, governor of Al-And...

—where the western chroniclers state, "God alone knows the number of the slain"— and the city of Bordeaux was sacked and looted. Odo fled to Charles, seeking help. Charles agreed to come to Odo's rescue, provided Odo acknowledged Charles and his house as his Overlords, which Odo did formally at once. Thus, Odo faded into history while Charles marched into it. It is interesting to note that Charles was pragmatic; while most commanders would never use their enemies in battle, Odo and his remaining Aquitanian nobles formed the right flank of Charles' forces at Tours.

The Battle of ToursBattle of Tours

The Battle of Tours , often called Battle of Poitiers and also called in Arabic The Court of Martyrs was fought n...

earned Charles the cognomenCognomen

The cognomen was originally the third name of a Roman in the Roman naming convention....

"Martel", for the merciless way he hammered his enemies. Many historians, including the great military historian Sir Edward CreasyEdward Shepherd Creasy

Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy, historian, was educated at Eton College and Cambridge University and called to the Bar in 1837....

, believe that had he failed at Tours, IslamIslam

Islam is a monotheistic religion based upon the Qur'an, which adherents believe was sent by God through Muhammad....

would probably have overrun GaulGaul

Gaul was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, B...

, and perhaps the remainder of western Christian Europe. GibbonEdward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament....

made clear his belief that the Umayyad armies would have conquered from Rome to the Rhine, and even England, with ease, had Martel not prevailed. Creasy said "the great victory won by Charles Martel ... gave a decisive check to the career of Arab conquest in Western Europe, rescued Christendom from Islam, [and] preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilization." Gibbon's belief that the fate of Christianity hinged on this battle is echoed by other historians including John B. Bury, and was very popular for most of modern historiography. It fell somewhat out of style in the twentieth century, when historians such as Bernard Lewis contended that Arabs had little intention of occupying northern France. More recently, however, many historians have tended once again to view the Battle of Tours as a very significant event in the history of Europe and Christianity. Equally, many, such as William Watson, still believe this battle was one of macrohistorical world-changing importance, if they do not go so far as Gibbon does rhetorically.

In the modern era, Matthew Bennett and his co-authors of "Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World", published in 2005, argue that "few battles are remembered 1,000 years after they are fought...but the Battle of Poitiers, (Tours) is an exception...Charles Martel turned back a Muslim raid that had it been allowed to continue, might have conquered Gaul." Michael Grant, author of "History of Rome", grants the Battle of Tours such importance that he lists it in the macrohistorical dates of the Roman era.

It is important to note however that modern western historians, military historians, and writers, essentially fall into three camps. The first, those who believe Gibbon was right in his assessment that Martel saved Christianity and western civilization by this Battle are typified by Bennett, Paul Davis, Robert Martin, and educationalist Dexter B. WakefieldDexter B. Wakefield

Dr. Dexter B. Wakefield is an assistant professor and 1st Vice-President at the Southern Illinois University....

who writes in An Islamic Europe

The second camp of contemporary historians believe that a failure by Martel at Tours could have been a disaster, destroying what would become western civilization after the RenaissanceRenaissance

In the traditional view, the Renaissance was understood as a historical age in Europe that followed the Middle Ages and ...

. Certainly all historians agree that no power would have remained in Europe able to halt Islamic expansion had the Franks failed. William E. WatsonWilliam E. Watson

William E. Watson is a historian who works for the nonprofit organization De Re Militari....

, one of the most respected historians of this era, strongly supports Tours as a macrohistorical event, but distances himself from the rhetoric of Gibbon and Drubeck, writing, for example, of the battle's importance in Frankish, and world, history in 1993:

The final camp of western historians believe that Tours was vastly overrated. This view is typified by Alessandro Barbero, who writes, "Today, historians tend to play down the significance of the battle of Poitiers, pointing out that the purpose of the Arab force defeated by Charles Martel was not to conquer the Frankish kingdom, but simply to pillage the wealthy monastery of St-Martin of Tours". Similarly, Tomaž Mastnak writes:

However, it is vital to note, when assessing Charles Martel's life, that even those historians who dispute the significance of this one Battle as the event that saved Christianity, do not dispute that Martel himself had a huge effect on western history. Modern military historian Victor Davis HansonVictor Davis Hanson

Victor Davis Hanson is a military historian, columnist, political essayist and former Classics professor, best known as a s...

acknowledges the debate on this battle, citing historians both for and against its macrohistorical placement:

Battle

The Battle of Tours probably took place somewhere between Tours and PoitiersPoitiers

Poitiers is a town located in west central France....

(hence its other name: Battle of Poitiers). The Frankish army, under Charles Martel, consisted mostly of veteran infantryInfantry

Infantry is a term for soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units....

, somewhere between 15,000 and 75,000 men. While Charles had some cavalry, they did not have stirrups, so he had them dismount and reinforce his phalanx. Odo and his Aquitanian nobility were also normally cavalry, but they also dismounted at the Battle's onset, to buttress the phalanx. Responding to the Umayyad invasion, the Franks had avoided the old Roman roads, hoping to take the invaders by surprise. Martel believed it was absolutely essential that he not only take the Umayyads by surprise, but that he be allowed to select the ground on which the battle would be fought, ideally a high, wooded plain where the Islamic horsemen, already tired from carrying armour, would be further exhausted charging uphill. Further, the woods would aid the Franks in their defensive square by partially impeding the ability of the Umayyad horsemen to make a clear charge.

From the Muslim accounts of the battle, they were indeed taken by surprise to find a large force opposing their expected sack of Tours, and they waited for six days, scouting the enemy and summoning all their raiding parties so their full strength was present for the battle. Emir Abdul Rahman was an able general who did not like the unknown at all, and he did not like charging uphill against an unknown number of foes who seemed well-disciplined and well-disposed for battle. But the weather was also a factor. The Germanic Franks, in their wolf and bear pelts, were more used to the cold, better dressed for it, and despite not having tents, which the Muslims did, were prepared to wait as long as needed, the autumn only growing colder.

On the seventh day, the Umayyad army, mostly Berber and Arab horsemen and led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, attacked. During the battle, the Franks defeated the Islamic army and the emir was killed. While Western accounts are sketchy, Arab accounts are fairly detailed in describing how the Franks formed a large square and fought a brilliant defensive battle. Rahman had doubts before the battle that his men were ready for such a struggle, and should have had them abandon the loot which hindered them, but instead decided to trust his horsemen, who had never failed him. Indeed, it was thought impossible for infantry of that age to withstand armoured cavalry.

Martel managed to inspire his men to stand firm against a force which must have seemed invincible to them, huge mailed horsemen, who, in addition, probably vastly outnumbered the Franks. In one of the rare instances where medieval infantry stood up against cavalry charges, the disciplined Frankish soldiers withstood the assaults even though, according to Arab sources, the Umayyad cavalry several times broke into the interior of the Frankish square. The scene is described in Bishop Isidore of Beja's Chronicle (translated passage from Fordham University's Internet Medieval Source Book):

"And in the shock of the battle the men of the North seemed like a sea that cannot be moved. Firmly they stood, one close to another, forming as it were a bulwark of ice; and with great blows of their swords they hewed down the Arabs. Drawn up in a band around their chief, the people of the Austrasians carried all before them. Their tireless hands drove their swords down to the breasts of the foe."

Both accounts agree that the Umayyad forces had broken into the square and were trying to kill Martel, whose liege men had surrounded him and would not be broken, when a trick Charles had planned before the battle bore fruit beyond his wildest dreams. Both Western and Muslim accounts of the battle agree that sometime during the height of the fighting, with the battle still in grave doubt, scouts sent by Martel to the Muslim camp began freeing prisoners. Fearing loss of their plunder, a large portion of the Muslim army abandoned the battle and returned to camp to protect their spoils. In attempting to stop what appeared to be a retreat, Abdul Rahman was surrounded and killed by the Franks, and what started as a ruse ended up a real retreat, as the Umayyad army fled the field that day. The Franks resumed their phalanx, and rested in place through the night, believing the battle would resume at dawn of the following morning.

The next day, when the Umayyad army did not renew the battle, the Franks feared an ambush. Charles at first believed the Muslims were attempting to lure him down the hill and into the open, a tactic he would resist at all costs. Only after extensive reconnaissance by Frankish soldiers of the Umayyad camp—which by both accounts had been so hastily abandoned that even the tents remained, as the Umayyad forces headed back to Iberia with what spoils remained that they could carry—was it discovered that the Muslims had retreated during the night. As the Arab Chronicles would later reveal, the generals from the different parts of the Caliphate, Berbers, Arabs, Persians and many more, had been unable to agree on a leader to take Abd er Rahman's place as Emir, or even to agree on a commander to lead them the following day. Only the Emir, Abd er Rahman, had a FatwaFatwa

Definition A fatwa plural fatawa , is a legal pronouncement in Islam, done by a law specialist on an issue....

from the Caliph, and thus absolute authority over the faithful under arms. With his death, and with the varied nationalities and ethnicities present in an army drawn from all over the Caliphate, politics, racial and ethnic bias, and personalities reared their head. The inability of the bickering generals to select anyone to lead resulted in the wholesale withdrawal of an army that might have been able to resume the battle and defeat the Franks.

Martel's ability to have Abd er Rahman killed through a clever ruse he had carefully planned to cause confusion, at the battle's apex, and his years spent rigorously training his men, combined to do what was thought impossible: Martel's Franks, virtually all heavy infantry, withstood both mailed heavy cavalry with 20 foot lances, and bow-wielding light cavalry, without the aid of bows or firearms. This was a feat of war almost unheard of in medieval history, a feat which even the heavily armored Roman legions proved themselves incapable of against the Parthians, and left Martel a unique place in history as the savior of Europe

and a brilliant general in an age not known for its generalship.

After Tours

In the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, AquitaineAquitaine

Aquitaine now forms a rgion in south-western France along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the bo...

and ProvenceProvence

Provence is a former Roman province and is now a region of southeastern France, located on the Mediterranean Sea adjacent t...

. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the FrisiaFrisia

Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea....

ns and SaxonsSaxons

The Saxons or Saxon people are part of the German people with its main areas of settlements in the German States of S...

to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne, primarily because Martel concentrated the bulk of his efforts against Muslim expansion.

So instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he continued expanding Frankish authority in the west, and denying the Emirate of Córdoba a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus. After his victory at Tours, Martel continued on in campaigns in 736736

Events...

and 737737

Events...

to drive other Muslim armies from bases in Gaul after they again attempted to get a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus.

Wars from 732-737

Between his victory of 732 and 735735

EventsBirths*Alcuin, missionary and bishop...

, Charles reorganized the kingdom of BurgundyBurgundy

Burgundy is a historic region of France, inhabited in turn by Pre-Indo-European people, Celts , Romans , and various German...

, replacing the counts and dukes with his loyal supporters, thus strengthening his hold on power. He was forced, by the ventures of RadbodRadbod, King of the Frisians

Radbod was the duke of Frisia from 680 to 719....

, duke of the FrisiansRulers of Frisia

Of the first historically verifiable rulers of Frisia, whether they are called dukes or kings, the dynasty below is establis...

(719-734), son of the Duke Aldegisel who had accepted the missionariesMissionary Summary

A missionary is traditionally defined as a propagator of religion who works to convert those outside that community; someone...

Willibrord and Boniface, to invade independence-minded Frisia again in 734734

Events...

. In that year, he slew the duke, who had expelled the Christian missionaries, in the battle of the BoarnBattle of the Boarn

The Battle of the Boarn was an eighth century battle between the Franks and the Frisians near the mouth of the river Boarn ...

and so wholly subjugated the populace (he destroyed every pagan shrine) that the people were peaceful for twenty years after.

The dynamic changed in 735 because of the death of Odo the Great, who had been forced to acknowledge, albeit reservedly, the suzerainty of Charles in 719. Though Charles wished to unite the duchy directly to himself and went there to elicit the proper homage of the Aquitainians, the nobility proclaimed Odo's son, Hunold, whose dukedom Charles recognised when the Umayyads invaded Provence the next year, and who equally was forced to acknowledge Charles as overlord as he had no hope of holding off the Muslims alone.

This naval Arab invasion was headed by Abdul Rahman's son. It landed in NarbonneNarbonne Overview

Narbonne is a town and commune of southwestern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon rgion....

in 736 and moved at once to reinforce ArlesArles

Arles is a city in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhne dpartement, of which it is a sous-prfecture, in the f...

and move inland. Charles temporarily put the conflict with Hunold on hold, and descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Umayyads. In 736, he retook MontfrinMontfrin

Montfrin is a village of the Gard dpartement, in southern France....

and AvignonAvignon

Avignon is a commune in southern France with an estimated mid-2004 population of 89,300 in the city itself and a popul...

, and Arles and Aix-en-ProvenceAix-en-Provence

Aix, or, to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, Aix-en-Provence is a city in southern France, som...

with the help of Liutprand, King of the LombardsFacts About Liutprand, King of the Lombards

Liutprand was the king of the Lombards from 712 to 744 and is chiefly remembered for his Donation of Sutri, in 728, and his ...

. NîmesNîmes

Nmes is a city and commune of southern France, prfecture of the Gard dpartement. ...

, AgdeAgde

Agde is a commune of the Hrault dpartement, in southern France....

, and BéziersBéziers

Bziers is a town in Languedoc, in the southwest of France....

, held by Islam since 725725

Events...

, fell to him and their fortresses were destroyed. He crushed one Umayyad army at Arles, as that force sallied out of the city, and then took the city itself by a direct and brutal frontal attack, and burned it to the ground to prevent its use again as a stronghold for Umayyad expansion. He then moved swiftly and defeated a mighty host outside of Narbonnea at the River Berre, but failed to take the city. Military historians believe he could have taken it, had he chosen to tie up all his resources to do so—but he believed his life was coming to a close, and he had much work to do to prepare for his sons to take control of the Frankish realm. A direct frontal assault, such as took Arles, using rope ladders and rams, plus a few catapults, simply was not sufficient to take Narbonne without horrific loss of life for the Franks, troops Martel felt he could not lose. Nor could he spare years to starve the city into submission, years he needed to set up the administration of an empire his heirs would reign over. He left Narbonne therefore, isolated and surrounded, and his son would return to liberate it for Christianity. Provence, however, he successfully rid of its foreign occupiers, and crushed all foreign armies able to advance Islam further.

Notable about these campaigns was Charles' incorporation, for the first time, of heavy cavalry with stirrups to augment his phalanxPhalanx formation

A phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, or...

. His ability to coordinate infantry and cavalry veterans was unequaled in that era and enabled him to face superior numbers of invaders, and to decisively defeat them again and again. Some historians believe the Battle against the main Muslim force at the River Berre, near Narbonne, in particular was as important a victory for Christian Europe as Tours. In Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels, Antonio SantosuossoAntonio Santosuosso

Antonio Santosuosso is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario....

, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Western OntarioUniversity of Western Ontario

The University of Western Ontario is a coeducational, non-denominational, research-intensive university located in London, O...

, and considered an expert historian in the era in dispute, puts forth an interesting modern opinion on Martel, Tours, and the subsequent campaigns against Rahman's son in 736-737. Santosuosso presents a compelling case that these later defeats of invading Muslim armies were at least as important as Tours in their defence of Western Christendom and the preservation of Western monasticismChristian monasticism

Monasticism in Christianity is a family of similar traditions that began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, ...

, the monasteries of which were the centers of learning which ultimately led Europe out of her Middle AgesMiddle Ages

The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the clas...

. He also makes a compelling argument, after studying the Arab histories of the period, that these were clearly armies of invasion, sent by the Caliph not just to avenge Tours, but to begin the conquest of Christian Europe and bring it into the Caliphate.

Further, unlike his father at Tours, Rahman's son in 736-737 knew that the Franks were a real power, and that Martel personally was a force to be reckoned with. He had no intention of allowing Martel to catch him unawares and dictate the time and place of battle, as his father had, and concentrated instead on seizing a substantial portion of the coastal plains around NarbonneNarbonne

Narbonne is a town and commune of southwestern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon rgion....

in 736 and heavily reinforced ArlesArles

Arles is a city in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhne dpartement, of which it is a sous-prfecture, in the f...

as he advanced inland. They planned from there to move from city to city, fortifying as they went, and if Martel wished to stop them from making a permanent enclave for expansion of the Caliphate, he would have to come to them, in the open, where, he, unlike his father, would dictate the place of battle. All worked as he had planned, until Martel arrived, albeit more swiftly than the Moors believed he could call up his entire army. Unfortunately for Rahman's son, however, he had overestimated the time it would take Martel to develop heavy cavalry equal to that of the Muslims. The Caliphate believed it would take a generation, but Martel managed it in five short years. Prepared to face the Frankish phalanx, the Muslims were totally unprepared to face a mixed force of heavy cavalry and infantry in a phalanx. Thus, Charles again championed Christianity and halted Muslim expansion into Europe, as the window was closing on Islamic ability to do so. These defeats, plus those at the hands of Leo in Anatolia were the last great attempt at expansion by the Umayyad Caliphate before the destruction of the dynasty at the Battle of the ZabBattle of the Zab

The Battle of the Zab took place on the banks of the Great Zab river in what is now Iraq on January 25, 750....

, and the rending of the Caliphate forever, especially the utter destruction of the Umayyad army at River Berre near Narbonne in 737.

Interregnum

In 737, at the tail end of his campaigning in Provence and SeptimaniaSeptimania

*Charlemagne found Septimania and the borderlands so devastated and depopulated by warfare, with the inhabitants hiding among the ...

, the king, Theuderic IV, died. Martel, titling himself maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum, did not appoint a new king and nobody acclaimed one. The throne lay vacant until Martel's death. As the historian Charles OmanCharles Oman

Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman was a notable British military historian of the early 20th century....

says (The Dark Ages, pg 297), "he cared not for name or style so long as the real power was in his hands."

Gibbon has said Martel was "content with the titles of Mayor or Duke of the Franks, but he deserved to become the father of a line of kings," which he did. Gibbon also says of him, "in the public danger, he was summoned by the voice of his country."

The interregnum, the final four years of Charles' life, was more peaceful than most of it had been and much of his time was now spent on administrative and organisational plans to create a more efficient state. Though, in 738Facts About 738

Events...

, he compelled the Saxons of WestphaliaWestphalia Overview

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Bielefeld, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Mnster, and Osnabrck a...

to do him homage and pay tribute, and in 739 checked an uprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus. Charles set about integrating the outlying realms of his empire into the Frankish church. He erected four dioceses in Bavaria and gave them Boniface as archbishopArchbishop

In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop....

and metropolitanMetropolitan bishop

In hierarchical Christian churches, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan ...

over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at MainzMainz Summary

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate....

. Boniface had been under his protection from 723 on; indeed the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. It was Boniface who had defended Charles most stoutly for his deeds in seizing ecclesiastical lands to pay his army in the days leading to Tours, as one doing what he must to defend Christianity. In 739739

Events...

, Pope Gregory IIIPope Gregory III

Pope Gregory III, pope , a Syrian by birth, succeeded Gregory II in March 731....

begged Charles for his aid against Liutprand, but Charles was loathe to fight his onetime ally and ignored the Papal plea. Nonetheless, the Papal applications for Frankish protection showed how far Martel had come from the days he was tottering on excommunication, and set the stage for his son and grandson literally to rearrange Italy to suit the Papacy, and protect it.

Death

Charles Martel died on October 22, 741741

Sorry, no overview for this topic

, at Quierzy-sur-OiseFacts About Quierzy-sur-Oise

Quierzy-sur-Oise is a French commune in the dpartement of Aisne, in the rgion of Picardie, straddling the Oise River...

in what is today the AisneAisne

Aisne is a dpartement in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River. ...

départementDépartements of France

The dpartements are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English counties....

in the PicardyPicardy

Picardy is an historical province of France, in the north of France....

region of France. He was buried at Saint Denis BasilicaSaint Denis Basilica

The Basilica of Saint Denis is the famous burial site of the French monarchs, comparable to Westminster Abbey in England....

in ParisParis

native_name = Ville de Paris|common_name = Paris...

. His territories were divided among his adult sons a year earlier: to CarlomanCarloman, son of Charles Martel

Carloman was the son of Charles Martel, major domo or mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, and his wife Chrotrud....

he gave Austrasia and Alemannia (with Bavaria as a vassal), to Pippin the YoungerPippin the Younger

Pippin the YoungerPippin's name can be very confusing....

Neustria and Burgundy (with Aquitaine as a vassal), and to GrifoGrifo

Grifo was the son of the Frankish major domo Charles Martel and his second wife Swanahild....

nothing, though some sources indicate he intended to give him a strip of land between Neustria and Austrasia.

Gibbon called him "the hero of the age" and declared "Christendom ... delivered ... by the genius and good fortune of one man, Charles Martel." A strong argument can be made that Gibbon was correct on both counts.

Legacy

At the beginning of Charles Martel's career, he had many internal opponents and felt the need to appoint his own kingly claimant, Clotaire IV. By his end, however, the dynamics of rulership in Francia had changed, no hallowed Meroving was needed, neither for defence nor legitimacy: Charles divided his realm between his sons without opposition (though he ignored his young son Bernard). In between, he strengthened the Frankish state by consistently defeating, through superior generalship, the host of hostile foreign nations which beset it on all sides, including the heathen Saxons, which his grandson Charlemagne would fully subdue, and Moors, which he halted on a path of continental domination.

Though he never cared about titles, his son PippinPippin the Younger

Pippin the YoungerPippin's name can be very confusing....

did, and finally asked the PopePope Overview

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, and, as Successor of Saint Peter, is the head of the Catholic Church....

"who should be King, he who has the title, or he who has the power?" The Pope, highly dependent on Frankish armies for his independence from Lombard and ByzantineByzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the...

power (the Byzantine emperor still considered himself to be the only legitimate "Roman EmperorRoman Emperor

"Roman Emperor" is the term historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the ...

", and thus, ruler of all of the provinces of the ancient empireRoman Empire Summary

The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government....

, whether recognised or not), declared for "he who had the power" and immediately crowned Pippin.

Decades later, in 800800

Events...

, Pippin's son CharlemagneCharlemagne

Charlemagne was the King of the Franks who conquered Italy and took the Iron Crown of Lombardy in 774 and, on a visit to ...

was crowned emperor by the Pope, further extending the principle by delegitimising the nominal authority of the Byzantine emperor in the Italian peninsula (which had, by then, shrunk to encompass little more than ApuliaApulia

Apulia is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the S...

and CalabriaCalabria

Calabria , is a region in southern Italy which occupies the "toe" of the Italian peninsula south of Naples....

at best) and ancient Roman Gaul, including the Iberian outposts Charlemagne had established in the Marca HispanicaMarca Hispanica

The Marca Hispanica was a buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, first set up by Charlemagne in 795 as a defensive b...

across the PyreneesPyrenees

[Image:Pic de Bugatet.jpg|thumb|250px|Pic de Bugatet in the Nouvielle Natural Reserve....

, what today forms CataloniaCatalonia

The Autonomous Community of Catalonia , known throughout history simply as Catalonia, is today one of the 17 autonomou...

. In short, though the Byzantine Emperor claimed authority over all the old Roman EmpireRoman Empire

The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government....

, as the legitimate "Roman" Emperor, it was simply not reality. The bulk of the Western Roman EmpireWestern Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire is the name given to the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 286....

had come under Carolingian rule, the Byzantine Emperor having had almost no authority in the West since the sixth century, though Charlemagne, a consummate politician, preferred to avoid an open breach with Constantinople. An institution unique in history was being born: the Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a mainly Central European conglomeration of lands in the Middle Ages and the early modern period, ...

. Though the sardonic VoltaireVoltaire

Franois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and p...

ridiculed its nomenclature, saying that the Holy Roman Empire was "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire," it constituted an enormous political power for a time, especially under the Saxon and Salian dynastiesSalian dynasty

The Salian dynasty was a dynasty of germanic kings, also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and r...

and, to a lesser, extent, the Hohenstaufen. It lasted until 1806, by then it was a nonentity. Though his grandson became its first emperor, the "empire" such as it was, was largely born during the reign of Charles Martel.

Charles was that rarest of commodities in the Middle Ages: a brilliant strategic general, who also was a tactical commander par excellence, able in the heat of battle to adapt his plans to his foe's forces and movement — and amazingly, to defeat them repeatedly, especially when, as at Tours, they were far superior in men and weaponry, and at Berre and Narbonne, when they were superior in numbers of fighting men. Charles had the last quality which defines genuine greatness in a military commander: he foresaw the dangers of his foes, and prepared for them with care; he used ground, time, place, and fierce loyalty of his troops to offset his foe's superior weaponry and tactics; third, he adapted, again and again, to the enemy on the battlefield, shifting to compensate for the unforeseen and unforeseeable.

Gibbon, whose tribute to Martel has been noted, was not alone among the great mid era historians in fervently praising Martel; Thomas Arnold ranks the victory of Charles Martel even higher than the victory of ArminiusFacts About Arminius

Arminius was a war chief of the Germanic tribe of the Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Fore...

in the Battle of the Teutoburg ForestBattle of the Teutoburg Forest

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in the year 9 when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius , the son o...

in its impact on all of modern history:

"Charles Martel's victory at Tours was among those signal deliverances which have affected for centuries the happiness of mankind." [History of the later Roman Commonwealth, vol ii. p. 317.]

German historians are especially ardent in their praise of Martel and in their belief that he saved Europe and Christianity from then all-conquering Islam, praising him also for driving back the ferocious Saxon barbarians on his borders. Schlegel speaks of this " mighty victory " in terms of fervent gratitude, and tells how " the arm of Charles Martel saved and delivered the Christian nations of the West from the deadly grasp of all-destroying Islam", and Ranke points out,

"as one of the most important epochs in the history of the world, the commencement of the eighth century, when on the one side Mohammedanism threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other the ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their champion, maintained them with all the energy which the necessity for self-defence calls forth, and finally extended them into new regions."

In 1922 and 1923, Belgian historian Henri PirenneHenri Pirenne

Henri Pirenne was a leading Belgian historian....

published a series of papers, known collectively as the "Pirenne Thesis", which remain influential to this day. Pirenne held that the Roman Empire continued, in the Frankish realms, up until the time of the Arab conquests in the 7th century7th century

The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era....

. These conquests disrupted Mediterranean trade routes leading to a decline in the European economy. Such continued disruption would have meant complete disaster except for Charles Martel's halting of Islamic expansion into Europe from 732 on. What he managed to preserve led to the Carolingian RenaissanceCarolingian Renaissance Overview

The Carolingian Renaissance was a period of intellectual and cultural revival occurring in the late 8th and 9th century, wit...

, named after him.

Professor Santosuosso perhaps sums up Martel best when he talks about his coming to the rescue of his Christian allies in Provence, and driving the Muslims back into the Iberian Peninsula forever in the mid and late 730's

"After assembling forces at Saragossa the Muslims entered French territory in 735, crossed the River Rhone and captured and looted Arles. From there they struck into the heart of Provence, ending with the capture of Avignon, despite strong resistance. Islamic forces remained in French territory for about four years, carrying raids to Lyon, Burgundy, and Piedmont. Again Charles Martel came to the rescue, reconquering most of the lost territories in two campaigns in 736 and 739, except for the city of Narbonne, which finally fell in 759. The second (Muslim) expedition was probably more dangerous than the first to Poiters. Yet its failure (at Martel's hands) put an end to any serious Muslim expedition across the Pyrenees (forever)."

In the Netherlands, a vital part of the Carolingian Empire, and in the low countries, he is considered a hero. In France and Germany, he is revered as a hero of epic proportions.

Skilled as an administrator and ruler, Martel organized what would become the medieval European government: a system of fiefdoms, loyal to barons, counts, dukes and ultimately the King, or in his case, simply maior domus and princeps et dux Francorum. ("First or Dominant Mayor and Prince of the Franks") His close coordination of church with state began the medieval pattern for such government. He created what would become the first western standing army since the fall of Rome by his maintaining a core of loyal veterans around which he organized the normal feudal levies. In essence, he changed Europe from a horde of barbarians fighting with one another, to an organized state.

Beginning of the Reconquista

Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of SeptimaniaSeptimania

*Charlemagne found Septimania and the borderlands so devastated and depopulated by warfare, with the inhabitants hiding among the ...

and across the PyreneesPyrenees

[Image:Pic de Bugatet.jpg|thumb|250px|Pic de Bugatet in the Nouvielle Natural Reserve....

, Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil turned the tide of Islamic advances, and the unification of the Frankish kingdoms under Martel, his son Pippin the Younger, and his grandson Charlemagne created a western power which prevented the Emirate of Córdoba from expanding over the Pyrenees. Martel, who in 732 was on the verge of excommunication, instead was recognised by the Church as its paramount defender. Pope Gregory IIFacts About Pope Gregory II

Pope Gregory II, pope from 715 or 716 to February 11, 731, succeeded Pope Constantine, his election being variously dated Ma...

wrote him more than once, asking his protection and aid, and he remained, till his death, fixated on stopping the Muslims. Martel's son Pippin the YoungerPippin the Younger

Pippin the YoungerPippin's name can be very confusing....

kept his father's promise and returned and took Narbonne by siege in 759759

Events...

, and his grandson, CharlemagneCharlemagne

Charlemagne was the King of the Franks who conquered Italy and took the Iron Crown of Lombardy in 774 and, on a visit to ...

, actually established the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia, reconquering Girona in 785785

Events*Widukind and many other Saxons are baptized....

and Barcelona in 801801 Overview

Sorry, no overview for this topic

. This sector of what is now Spain was then called "The Moorish Marches" by the Carolingians, who saw it as not just a check on the Muslims in Hispania, but the beginning of taking the entire country back. This formed a permanent buffer zone against Islam, which became the basis, along with the King of Asturias, named Pelayo (718-737, who started his fight against the Moors in the mountains of CovadongaCovadonga

Covadonga, from Latin Cova dominica, "Cavern of the Lady", is a village in Asturias, northwestern Spain, among the Picos...

, 722) and his descendants, for the Reconquista until all of the Muslims were eradicated from the Iberian Peninsula.

Military legacy

Heavy infantry and permanent army

Victor Davis Hanson argues that Charles Martel launched "the thousand year struggle" between European heavy infantry, and Muslim cavalry. Of course, Martel is also the father of heavy cavalry in Europe, as he integrated heavy armoured cavalry into his forces. This creation of a real army would continue all through his reign, and that of his son, Pepin the Short, until his Grandson, Charlemagne, would possess the world's largest and finest army since the peak of Rome. Equally, the Muslims used infantry - indeed, at the Battle of Toulouse most of their forces were light infantry. It was not till Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi brought a huge force of Arab and Berber cavalry with him when he assumed the emirite of Al-Andulus that the Muslim forces became primarily cavalry.

Martel's army was known primarily for being the first standing permanent army since Rome's fall in 476, and for the core of tough, seasoned heavy infantry who stood so stoutly at Tours. The Frankish infantry wore as much as 70 pounds of armour, including their heavy wooden shields with an iron boss. Standing close together, and well disciplined, they were unbreakable at Tours. Martel had taken the money and property he had seized from the church and paid local nobles to supply trained ready infantry year round. This was the core of veterans who served with him on a permanent basis, and as Hanson says, "provided a steady supply of dependable troops year around." This was the first permanent army since Rome. " While other Germanic cultures, such as the Visigoths or Vandals, had a proud martial tradition, and the Franks themselves had an annual muster of military aged men, such tribes were only able to field armies around planting and harvest. It was Martel's creation of a system whereby he could call on troops year round that gave the Carolingians the first standing and permanent army since Rome's fall in the west.

And, first and foremost, Charles Martel will always be remembered for his victory at Tours. Creasy argues that the Martel victory "preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of modern civilizations." Gibbon called those eight days in 732, the week leading up to Tours, and the battle itself, "the events that rescued our ancestors of Britain, and our neighbors of Gaul [France], from the civil and religious yoke of the Koran." Paul Akers, in his editorial on Charles Martel, says for those who value Christianity "you might spare a minute sometime today, and every October, to say a silent 'thank you' to a gang of half-savage Germans and especially to their leader, Charles 'The Hammer' Martel."

In his vision of what would be necessary for him to withstand a larger force and superior technology (the Muslim horsemen had adopted the armour and accutraments of heavy cavalry from the Sassanid Warrior Class, which made the first knights possible), he, daring not to send his few horsemen against the Islamic cavalry, used his army to fight in a formation used by the ancient GreeksAncient Greece

Ancient Greece is the period in Greek history which lasted for around one thousand years and ended with the rise of Christia...

to withstand superior numbers and weapons by discipline, courage, and a willingness to die for their cause: a phalanx. He had trained a core of his men year round, using mostly Church funds, and some had literally been with him since his earliest days after his father's death. It was this hard core of disciplined veterans that won the day for him at Tours. Hanson emphasizes that Martel's greatest accomplishment as a General may have been his ability to keep his troops under control. This absolute iron discipline saved his infantry from the fate of so many infantrymen - such as the Saxons at Hastings - who broke formation and were slaughtered piecemeal. After using this infantry force by itself at Tours, he studied the foe's forces and further adapted to them, initially using stirrups and saddles recovered from the foe's dead horses, and armour from the dead horsemen.

Development of heavy cavalry

After 732, he began the integration into his army of heavy cavalry, using the armour and accoutrements of heavy armoured horsemen, training his infantry to fight in conjunction with cavalry, a tactic which stood him in good stead during his campaigns of 736-737, especially at the Battle of Narbonne. His incorporation of heavy armoured cavalry into the western forces created the first "knights" in the west.

Brilliant generalship

Martel earned his reputation for brilliant generalship, in an age generally bereft of same, by his ability to use what he had and by integrating new ideas and technology. As a consequence, he was undefeated from 716 to his death against a wide range of opponents, including the Muslim cavalry (at that time, the world's best) and the fierce barbarian Saxons on his own borders -- and all this in spite of virtually always being outnumbered. He was the only general in the Middle Ages in Europe to use the eastern battle technique of feigned retreat. His ability to attack where he was least expected and when he was least expected was legendary. The process of the development of the famous chivalry of France continued in the Edict of PistresEdict of Pistres

The Edict of Pistres is often held up as one of the few examples, if not the sole example, of good government from Charles t...

of his great-great-grandson and namesake Charles the BaldCharles the Bald

Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and king of West Francia , was the youngest son of Emperor Louis the Pious, by his ...

.

The defeats Martel inflicted on the Muslims were vital in that the split in the Islamic world left the CaliphateCaliphate

A caliphate, , is the Islamic form of government representing the political unity and leadership of the Muslim world....

unable to mount an all out attack on Europe via its Iberian stronghold after 750750

Events...

. His ability to meet this challenge, until the Muslims self-destructed, is considered by most historians to be of macrohistorical importance, and is why DanteDANTE

DANTE is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the var...

writes of him in Heaven as one of the "Defenders of the Faith." After 750, the door to western Europe, the Iberian emirate, was in the hands of the Umayyads, while most of the remainder of the Muslim world came under the control of the Abbasids, making an invasion of Europe a logistical impossibility while the two Muslim empires battled. This put off Islamic invasion of Europe until the TurkishOttoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , is also sometimes known in the West as the Turkish Empire....

conquest of the BalkansBalkans

The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe a region of southeastern Europe....

half a millennium later.

H. G. WellsH. G. Wells

Herbert George Wells was a British writer best known for his science fiction novels such as The Time Machine, The War...

says of Charles Martel's decisive defeat of the Muslims in his "Short History of the World:

"The Moslim when they crossed the Pyrenees in 720 found this Frankish kingdom under the practical rule of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace of a degenerate descendant of Clovis, and experienced the decisive defeat of Poitiers (732) at his hands. This Charles Martel was practically overlord of Europe north of the Alps from the Pyrenees to Hungary."

John H. Haaren says in “Famous Men of the Middle Ages”

”The battle of Tours, or Poitiers, as it should be called, is regarded as one of the decisive battles of the world. It decided that Christians, and not Moslems, should be the ruling power in Europe. Charles Martel is especially celebrated as the hero of this battle.”

Just as his grandson, Charlemagne, would become famous for his swift and unexpected movements in his campaigns, Charles was legendary for never doing what his enemies forecast he would do. It was this ability to do the unforeseen, and move far faster than his opponents believed he could, that characterized the military career of Charles Martel.

It is notable that the Northmen did not begin their European raids until after the death of Martel's grandson, Charlemagne. They had the naval capacity to begin those raids at least three generations earlier, but chose not to challenge Martel, his son Pippin, or his grandson, Charlemagne. This was probably fortunate for Martel, who despite his enormous gifts, would probably not have been able to repel the Vikings in addition to the Muslims, Saxons, and everyone else he defeated. However, it is notable that again, despite the ability to do so, (the Danes had constructed defenses to defend from counterattacks by land, and had the ability to launch their wholesale sea raids as early as Martel's reign), they chose not to challenge Charles Martel.

Conclusion

J.M. Roberts says of Charles Martel in his note on the Carolingians on page 315 of his 1993 History of the World:

It (the Carolingian line) produced Charles Martel, the soldier who turned the Arabs back at Tours, and the supporter of Saint Boniface, the Evangelizer of Germany. This is a considerable double mark to have left on the history of Europe."

Gibbon perhaps summarized Charles Martel's legacy most eloquently: "in a laborious administration of 24 years he had restored and supported the dignity of the throne..by the activity of a warrior who in the same campaign could display his banner on the Elbe, the Rhone, and shores of the ocean."

Family and children

Charles Martel married twice:

His first wife was Rotrude of Treves, (daughter of St. Leutwinus, Bishop of Treves). They had the following children:

HiltrudHiltrud

Hiltrud is a daughter of Charles Martel and Rotrude of Treves....

(d. 754), married Odilo IOdilo of Bavaria

Odilo, of the house of Agilolfing, ruled Bavaria from 736 until his death in 748, succeeding Duke Hugbert of Bavaria....

, Duke of Bavaria

CarlomanCarloman, son of Charles Martel

Carloman was the son of Charles Martel, major domo or mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, and his wife Chrotrud....

Landrade (Landres), married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania

Auda, Aldana, or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse

Pippin the Short

His second wife was SwanhildSwanachild

Swanachild was the second wife of Charles Martel, who brought her back from his first campaign in Bavaria in 725, along with...

. They had the following child:

GrifoGrifo

Grifo was the son of the Frankish major domo Charles Martel and his second wife Swanahild....

Charles Martel also had a mistress, RuodhaidRuodhaid

Ruodhaid was a concubine or mistress of Charles Martel with whom she had the following children:...

. They had the following children:

Bernard (b. before 732-787)

Hieronymus

RemigiusRemigius of Rouen

Remigius or Remedius was the illegitimate son of Charles Martel and probably Ruodhaid....

, archbishop of RouenArchbishop of Rouen

The Archbishop of Rouen is Primate of Normandy and one of the fifteen Archbishops of France....

(d. 771)

IanIan

"Ian" is the Scottish Gaelic version of John....

(d. 783)

Ancestors

External links

Ian Meadows, 'The Arabs in Occitania': A sketch giving the context of the conflict from the Arab point of view.

http://www.standin.se/fifteen07a.htm Poke's edition of Creasy's "15 Most Important Battles Ever Fought According to Edward Shepherd Creasy" Chapter VII. The Battle of Tours, A.D. 732.

Richard Hooker, 'Civil War and the Umayyads'

The Battle of Tours 732, from the "Jewish Virtual LibraryJewish Virtual Library

The Jewish Virtual Library is an online encyclopedia published by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise....

" website: A division of the American-Israeli Cooperative.

Tours,Poiters, from "Leaders and Battles Database" online.

Robert W. Martin, 'The Battle of Tours is still felt today', from about.comAbout.com

About.com is a network of sites on about 540 topics that relies on paid human "Guides" to cover a specific topic by providin...

Medieval Sourcebook: Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732

Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732: Three Accounts from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook

Medieval Sourcebook: Gregory II to Charles Martel, 739

Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

--------------------

Charles Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus) (ca. 688 – 22 October 741),

Martel was born in Herstal, in present-day Belgium, the illegitimate son of the mayor and duke Pippin II and his concubine Alpaida.

Family and children

Charles Martel married twice:

His first wife was Rotrude of Treves, (690-724) (daughter of St. Leutwinus, Bishop of Treves). They had the following children:

* Hiltrud (d. 754), married Odilo I, Duke of Bavaria

* Carloman

* Landrade (Landres), married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania

* Auda, Aldana, or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse

* Pippin the Short

His second wife was Swanhild. They had the following child:

* Grifo

Charles Martel also had a mistress, Ruodhaid. They had the following children:

* Bernard (b. before 732-787)

* Hieronymus

* Remigius, archbishop of Rouen (d. 771)

* Ian (d. 783)

Called Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum (737–43) at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks.

In 739 he was offered the title of Consul by the Pope, but he refused.[6] He is perhaps best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, in which he defeated an invading Muslim army and halted northward Islamic expansion in western Europe.

A brilliant general—he lost only one battle in his career (the Battle of Cologne)

Painting:

Charles Martel is primarily famous for his victory at the Battle of Tours, his stopping the Umayyad invasions of Europe during the Muslim Expansion Era, and his laying the foundation for the Carolingian Empire. (oil on canvas, painted by Charles de Steuben from 1834 till 1837)

--------------------

Charles Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus)

(ca. 688 – 22 October 741), called Charles the Hammer,

was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum (737–43)

at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks.

In 739 he was offered the title of Consul by the Pope, but he refused.

He is perhaps best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, in which he defeated an invading Muslim army and halted northward Islamic expansion in western Europe.

A brilliant general—he lost only one battle in his career (the Battle of Cologne)—he is a founding figure of the Middle Ages, often credited with a seminal role

in the development of feudalism and knighthood, and laying the groundwork for the Carolingian Empire.

He was also the grandfather of Charlemagne.

BIRTH AND YOUTH

Martel was born in Herstal, in present-day Belgium,

the illegitimate son of the mayor and duke Pippin II and his concubine Alpaida.

The following tale is told of Charles and of the origins of his name: in 676, Pepin of Herstal and his wife

Plectrude were talking together in a room when they were intruded upon by a messenger, bringing news

that the Mayor's mistress, Alpaida,had given birth to a son at Herstal.

The messenger, fearful of arousing the wrath of Plectrude,

decided not to announce the news directly.

Instead, he said: "Long live the king, it is a carl" ('man').

Pepin, equally cautious of his wife, dismissed the messenger as follows: "A carl, is it? Then let him be called that."

This was done, and, so legend claims, the child was named "Carl". In German-speaking countries he is known as Karl Martell.

Alpaida also bore Pepin another son, Childebrand.

CONTESTING FOR POWER

THE FRANKISH KINGDOMS

At the time of the death of Pepin of Heristal.

Note that Aquitaine (yellow) was outside of Arnulfing authority and Neustria and Burgundy (pink)

were united in opposition to further

Arnulfing dominance of the highest offices.

Only Austrasia (green) supported an Arnulfing mayor,

first Theudoald then Charles.

Note that the German duchies to the east of the Rhine

were de facto outside of Frankish suzerainty at this time.

In December 714, Pepin of Heristal died.

Prior to his death, he had, at his wife Plectrude's urging,

designated Theudoald, his grandson by their son Grimoald, his heir in the entire realm.

This was immediately opposed by the nobles because Theudoald was a child of only eight years of age.

To prevent Charles using this unrest to his own advantage, Plectrude had him gaoled in Cologne,

the city which was destined to be her capital.

This prevented an uprising on his behalf in Austrasia, but not in Neustria.Civil war of 715-718

In 715, the Neustrian noblesse proclaimed Ragenfrid mayor of their palace on behalf of, and apparently with the support of Dagobert III, the young king, who in theory had the legal authority to select a mayor, though by this time the Merovingian dynasty had lost most such powers.

The Austrasians were not to be left supporting a woman and her young son for long.

Before the end of the year, Charles Martel had escaped from prison and been acclaimed mayor by the nobles of that kingdom.

The Neustrians had been attacking Austrasia and the nobles were waiting for a strong man to lead them against their invading countrymen.

That year, Dagobert died and the Neustrians proclaimed Chilperic II king without the support of the rest of the Frankish people.

In 717, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia.

The Neustrians allied with another invading force under Radbod, King of the Frisians and met Charles in battle

near Cologne, which was still held by Plectrude.

Charles had little time to gather men, or prepare, and the result was the only defeat of his life.

According to Strauss and Gustave, Martel fought a brilliant battle, but realized he could not prevail because he was outnumbered so badly, and retreated. In fact, he fled the field as soon as he realized he did not have the time or the men to prevail, retreating to the mountains

of the Eifel to gather men, and train them.

The king and his mayor then turned to besiege their other rival in the city and took it and the treasury,

and received the recognition of both Chilperic as king and Ragenfrid as mayor.

Plectrude surrendered on Theudoald's behalf.

Magnanimous in victory

At this juncture, however, events turned in favour of Charles.

Having made the proper preparations, he fell upon the triumphant army near Malmedy as it was returning to its own province, and, in the ensuing Battle of Amblève,

routed it and the few troops who were not killed or surrendered, fled.

Several things were notable about this battle, in which Charles set the pattern for the remainder of his military career:

First, he appeared where his enemies least expected him, while they were marching triumphantly home and far outnumbered him.

He also attacked when least expected, at midday, when armies of that era traditionally were resting.

Finally, he attacked them how they least expected it, by feigning a retreat to draw his opponents into a trap.

The feigned retreat, next to unknown in Western Europe at that time—it was a traditionally eastern tactic—required both extraordinary discipline on the part of the troops and exact timing on the part of their commander.

Charles, in this battle, had begun demonstrating the military genius that would mark his rule, in that he never attacked his enemies where, when, or how they expected, and the result was an unbroken victory streak

that lasted until his death.

In Spring 717, Charles returned to Neustria with an army and confirmed his supremacy with a victory at the Battle of Vincy, near Cambrai.

He chased the fleeing king and mayor to Paris, before turning back to deal with Plectrude and Cologne.

He took her city and dispersed her adherents.

However, he allowed both Plectrude and the young Theudoald to live and treated them with kindness

—unusual for those Dark Ages, when mercy to a former jailer, or a potential rival, was rare.

On this success, he proclaimed Clotaire IV king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic and deposed the archbishop of Rheims, Rigobert, replacing him with Milo,

a lifelong supporter.

CONSOLIDATION OF POWER

After subjugating all Austrasia, he marched against Radbod and pushed him back into his territory,

even forcing the concession of West Frisia (later Holland).

He also sent the Saxons back over the Weser and thus secured his borders—in the name of the new king Clotaire, of course.

In 718, Chilperic responded to Charles' new ascendancy by making an alliance with Odo the Great (or Eudes, as he is sometimes known), the duke of Aquitaine, who had made himself independent during the civil war in 715,

but was again defeated, at the Battle of Soissons, by Charles.

The king fled with his ducal ally to the land south of the Loire and Ragenfrid fled to Angers.

Soon Clotaire IV died and Odo gave up on Chilperic and, in exchange for recognising his dukedom, surrendered the king to Charles, who recognised his kingship over all the Franks in return for legitimate royal affirmation of his mayoralty, likewise over all the kingdoms (718).

The Saracen Army outside Paris, 730-32 AD

Foreign wars from 718-732

The ensuing years were full of strife. between 718 and 723, Charles secured his power through a series of victories: he won the loyalty of several important bishops

and abbots (by donating lands and money for the foundation of abbeys such as Echternach),he subjugated Bavaria and Alemannia, and he defeated the pagan Saxons.

Having unified the Franks under his banner, Charles was determined to punish the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia.

Therefore, late in 718, he laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser, the Lippe, and the Ruhr.

He defeated them in the Teutoburg Forest.

In 719, Charles seized West Frisia without any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, who had been subjects of the Franks but had seized control upon the death of Pippin.

Although Charles did not trust the pagans, their ruler, Aldegisel, accepted Christianity, and Charles sent Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, the famous "Apostle to the Frisians" to convert the people.

Charles also did much to support Winfrid, later Saint Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans."

When Chilperic II died the following year (720),

Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Theuderic IV, who was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 to 737.

Charles was now appointing the kings whom he supposedly served, rois fainéants who were mere puppets in his hands; by the end of his reign they were so useless

that he didn't even bother appointing one.

At this time, Charles again marched against the Saxons. Then the Neustrians rebelled under Ragenfrid, who had left the county of Anjou.

They were easily defeated (724), but Ragenfrid gave up his sons as hostages in turn for keeping his county.

This ended the civil wars of Charles' reign.

The next six years were devoted in their entirety to assuring Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes.

Between 720 and 723, Charles was fighting in Bavaria,

where the Agilolfing dukes had gradually evolved into independent rulers, recently in alliance with Liutprand the Lombard.

He forced the Alemanni to accompany him, and Duke Hugbert submitted to Frankish suzerainty.

In 725 and 728, he again entered Bavaria and the ties of lordship seemed strong.

From his first campaign, he brought back the Agilolfing princess Swanachild, who apparently became his concubine.

In 730, he marched against Lantfrid, duke of Alemannia,

who had also become independent, and killed him in battle.

He forced the Alemanni capitulation to Frankish suzerainty and did not appoint a successor to Lantfrid.

Thus, southern Germany once more became part of the Frankish kingdom, as had northern Germany during the first years of the reign.

But by 730, his own realm secure, Charles began to prepare exclusively for the coming storm from the south and west.

In 721, the emir of Córdoba had built up a strong army from Morocco, Yemen, and Syria to conquer Aquitaine,

the large duchy in the southwest of Gaul, nominally under Frankish sovereignty, but in practice almost independent

in the hands of the Odo the Great, the Duke of Aquitaine,

since the Merovingian kings had lost power.

The invading Muslims besieged the city of Toulouse,

then Aquitaine's most important city, and Odo (also called Eudes, or Eudo) immediately left to find help.

He returned three months later just before the city was about to surrender and defeated the Muslim invaders on June 9, 721, at what is now known as the Battle of Toulouse.

This critical defeat was essentially the result of a classic enveloping movement by Odo's forces.

(After Odo originally fled, the Muslims became overconfident and, instead of maintaining strong outer defenses around their siege camp and continuous scouting, they did neither.)

Thus, when Odo returned, he was able to launch a near complete surprise attack on the besieging force,

scattering it at the first attack, and slaughtering units caught resting or that fled without weapons or armour.

Due to the situation in Iberia, Martel believed he needed a virtually fulltime army—one he could train intensely

—as a core of veteran Franks who would be augmented with the usual conscripts called up in time of war.

(During the Early Middle Ages, troops were only available after the crops had been planted and before harvesting time.)

To train the kind of infantry that could withstand the Muslim heavy cavalry, Charles needed them year-round,

and he needed to pay them so their families could buy the food they would have otherwise grown.

To obtain money he seized church lands and property, and used the funds to pay his soldiers.

The same Charles who had secured the support of the ecclesia by donating land, seized some of it back between 724 and 732.

Of course, Church officials were enraged, and, for a time, it looked as though Charles might even be excommunicated for his actions.

But then came a significant invasion.

EVE OF TOURS

Historian Paul K. Davis said in 100 Decisive Battles "Having defeated Eudes, he turned to the Rhine to strengthen his northeastern borders - but in 725 was diverted south with the activity of the Muslims in Acquitane."

Martel then concentrated his attention to the Umayyads, virtually for the remainder of his life.

Indeed, 12 years later, when he had thrice rescued Gaul from Umayyad invasions, Antonio Santosuosso noted

when he destroyed an Umayyad army sent to reinforce the invasion forces of the 735 campaigns, "Charles Martel

again came to the rescue".

It has been noted that Charles Martel could have pursued the wars against the Saxons—but he was determined to prepare for what he thought was a greater danger.

It is also vital to note that the Muslims were not aware,

at that time, of the true strength of the Franks,or the fact that they were building a real army instead of the typical barbarian hordes that had dominated Europe after Rome's fall.

They considered the Germanic tribes, including the Franks, simply barbarians and were not particularly concerned about them.

The Arab Chronicles, the history of that age, show that Arab awareness of the Franks as a growing military power came only after the Battle of Tours when the Caliph expressed shock at his army's catastrophic defeat.

BATTLE OF TOURS

Leadup and importance"It was under one of their ablest

and most renowned commanders, with a veteran army,

and with every apparent advantage of time, place,

and circumstance, that the Arabs made their great effort

at the conquest of Europe north of the Pyrenees."

—Edward Shepherd Creasy , The Fifteen Decisive

BATTLES OF THE WORLD

The Cordoban emirate had previously invaded Gaul

and had been stopped in its northward sweep at the Battle of Toulouse, in 721.

The hero of that less celebrated event had been Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine, who was not the progenitor of a race of kings and patron of chroniclers.

It has previously been explained how Odo defeated the invading Muslims, but when they returned,

things were far different.

The arrival in the interim of a new emir of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who brought with him a huge force

of Arabs and Berber horsemen, triggered a far greater invasion.

Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had been at Toulouse, and the Arab Chronicles make clear he had strongly opposed

the Emir's decision not to secure outer defenses against a relief force, which allowed Odo and his relief force to attack with impunity before the Islamic cavalry could assemble or mount.

Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi had no intention of permitting such a disaster again.

This time the Umayyad horsemen were ready for battle,

and the results were horrific for the Aquitanians.

Odo the hero of Toulouse was badly defeated in the Muslim invasion of 732 at the battle prior to the Muslim sacking of Bordeaux, and when he gathered a second army, at the Battle of the River Garonne

—Western chroniclers state, "God alone knows the number of the slain"— and the city of Bordeaux was sacked and looted.

Odo fled to Charles, seeking help.

Charles agreed to come to Odo's rescue, provided Odo acknowledged Charles and his house as his overlords,

which Odo did formally at once.

Charles was pragmatic; while most commanders

would never use their enemies in battle, Odo and his remaining Aquitanian nobles formed the right flank of Charles's forces at Tours.

The Battle of Tours earned Charles the cognomen "Martel" ('Hammer'), for the merciless way he hammered his enemies.

After Tours in the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence.

He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Frisians and Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne, primarily because Martel concentrated

the bulk of his efforts against Muslim expansion.

So instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he continued expanding Frankish authority in the west, and denying the Emirate of Córdoba a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus.

After his victory at Tours, Martel continued on in campaigns in 736 and 737 to drive other Muslim armies

from bases in Gaul after they again attempted to get a foothold in Europe beyond Al-Andalus.

WARS FROM 732-737

Between his victory of 732 and 735, Charles reorganized the kingdom of Burgundy, replacing the counts and dukes

with his loyal supporters, thus strengthening his hold on power.

He was forced, by the ventures of Radbod, duke of the Frisians (719-734), son of the Duke Aldegisel who had accepted the missionaries Willibrord and Boniface, to invade independence-minded Frisia again in 734.

In that year, he slew the duke, who had expelled the Christian missionaries, in the battle of the Boarn and so wholly subjugated the populace (he destroyed every agan shrine) that the people were peaceful for twenty years after.

The dynamic changed in 735 because of the death of Odo the Great, who had been forced to acknowledge, albeit reservedly, the suzerainty of Charles in 719.

Though Charles wished to unite the duchy directly to himself and went there to elicit the proper homage of the Aquitainians, the nobility proclaimed Odo's son, Hunold, whose dukedom Charles recognised when the Umayyads invaded Provence the next year, and who equally was forced to acknowledge Charles as overlord as he had no hope of holding off the Muslims alone.

This naval Arab invasion was headed by Abdul Rahman's son.

It landed in Narbonne in 736 and moved at once to reinforce Arles and move inland.

Charles temporarily put the conflict with Hunold on hold, and descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Umayyads. In 736, he retook Montfrin and Avignon,

and Arles and Aix-en-Provence with the help of Liutprand, King of t
---

Victor over the Saracens at Tours, 0732.

LDS-FHC (AFN: GS51-N7) Birth, Place

From THE RUFUS PARKS PEDIGREE by Brian J.L. Berry, chart on page 61.

Page 63:

11. CHARLES MARTEL the Hammer, c.688-22 Oct 741. On the death of PÉPIN II of Heristal, his grandsons would have been his heirs, but the Neustrians were quick to revolt and appoint their own Mayor of the Palace, while the Austrasians also rebelled, choosing CHARLES MARTEL, PÉPIN's natural son. The new appointee was at that time a prisoner of his stepmother Plectruda in the
fortress of Cologne. He was rescued by his Austrasian followers and served as their Mayor of the Palace from 717, and undisputed master of the whole Frankish kingdom 725-41. He repulsed Neustria's attempt to overcome Austrasia, subdued that western kingdom and conducted long campaigns against the Frisians, Saxons and Bavarians; provided his army with a strong cavalry to oppose mounted adversaries from Western Europe and Africa; supported St. Boniface in his mission to the Rhineland; saved Europe from the Muslims at the decisive Battle of Tours, 732; annexed Aquitaine and subdued the petty chieftians in Burgundy; occupied Provence and Septimania (a strip along the Mediterranean), maintaining a friendly neutrality with the Lombards. He did not try to transfer the Merovingian crown to his own dynasty until 741, when he divided the kingdom between his two legitmate sons, PÉPIN III and Carloman. He d. at Quirzy-sur-Oise and was bur. at St. Denis. A few years after his death when his tomb was opened, his body had been replaced by a "great serpent,' others say a black dragon. He is described as "very handsome, very tall and strong." He m. (1) ROTROU, dau. of St. LIÉVIN, Bishop of Tréves; (2) SWANHILDE, a Bavarian.

Source: "Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists" by Frederick Lewis Weis.

Page 159 line (190-11):

11. Charles Martel, b. 689, d. 741, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia; victor ofer the Saracens at Poitiers, 732; m. (1) Rotrou, d. 724, sister of a Wido, identified without proof by the Abbè Chaume as son of St. Lièvin, Bishop of Trèves.

Martell KarlHan segrade 732 vid Tours och Poitiers över en mäktig arabisk ryttarhär, som invaderat Västerlandet, vars räddare han blev. Han förenade Austrasien medNeustrien i väster med Burgund till ett enhetligt frankiskt välde.Erik v. Born:"Ett uråldrikt stamträd"

* REMARKS: In 732 defeated the Arabs at Poitiers * BIOGRAPHY Son of Pippin by his mistress Alpais, Charles was chosen Duke of Austrasia in 714. In 720 he became mayor of the palace of King Clothaire IV and was the true ruler of the Franks. His first battles were with the Saxons, Alemanni and Bavarians. However, his importance was established when he rolled back the Saracens in a desperate battle between Tours and Poitiers in 732. Prior to this battle, Abdul Rahman, the Arab governor of Spain, had won a great battle near Bordeaux. This Moslem threat united the Burgundians and the Gauls of Provence, who then acknowledged the sovereignty of Charles Martel, recognising hi m as their saviour from the Moslem conquests. The battle at Poitiers is important because it halted the Moslem conquest of Europe. Charles finished his work by driving the Saracens out of Burgundy and the Languedoc in 737. Charles never aspired to be more than 'mayor of the palace' and duke of Austrasia. When he died in 741, his sons Carloman and Pippin, still joint mayors of the palace, shared power over the kingdom of the Franks with Merovingian King Childeri c III of the Franks.

1 NAME the Hammer //
2 GIVN the Hammer
2 SURN
2 NICK the Hammer

1 NAME Charles Martel of /Austrasia/ 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001 1 BIRT 2 DATE 689 2 PLAC of, Heristal, Liege, Belgium 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001 1 DEAT 2 DATE 22 OCT 741 2 PLAC Quierzy, Aisne, France 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001

[De La Pole.FTW]
Sources: RC 114, 171, 269, 352; A. Roots 50, 190, 191; Collins; Carolingian Ancestry; AF.
RC: Charles (Karl) Martel "the Hammer" of Heristol, Leige, Belgium. Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia. King of the Franks, 724. Victor at the Battle of Poitiers. Roots: Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor over the Saracens at Tours, 732. Born 689, died 741.
Collins: Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia 719-741,
Carolingian: Charles Martel, King of the Franks, died 741. No wife listed.

1 NAME the Hammer //
2 GIVN the Hammer
2 SURN
2 NICK the Hammer

1 NAME Charles Martel of /Austrasia/ 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001 1 BIRT 2 DATE 689 2 PLAC of, Heristal, Liege, Belgium 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001 1 DEAT 2 DATE 22 OCT 741 2 PLAC Quierzy, Aisne, France 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001

[De La Pole.FTW]
Sources: RC 114, 171, 269, 352; A. Roots 50, 190, 191; Collins; Carolingian Ancestry; AF.
RC: Charles (Karl) Martel "the Hammer" of Heristol, Leige, Belgium. Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia. King of the Franks, 724. Victor at the Battle of Poitiers. Roots: Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor over the Saracens at Tours, 732. Born 689, died 741.
Collins: Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia 719-741,
Carolingian: Charles Martel, King of the Franks, died 741. No wife listed.

1 NAME the Hammer //
2 GIVN the Hammer
2 SURN
2 NICK the Hammer

1 NAME Charles Martel of /Austrasia/ 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001 1 BIRT 2 DATE 689 2 PLAC of, Heristal, Liege, Belgium 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001 1 DEAT 2 DATE 22 OCT 741 2 PLAC Quierzy, Aisne, France 2 SOUR S033320 3 DATA 4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001

[De La Pole.FTW]
Sources: RC 114, 171, 269, 352; A. Roots 50, 190, 191; Collins; Carolingian Ancestry; AF.
RC: Charles (Karl) Martel "the Hammer" of Heristol, Leige, Belgium. Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia. King of the Franks, 724. Victor at the Battle of Poitiers. Roots: Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia, victor over the Saracens at Tours, 732. Born 689, died 741.
Collins: Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia 719-741,
Carolingian: Charles Martel, King of the Franks, died 741. No wife listed.

_P_CCINFO 1-2782

_P_CCINFO 1-7369

Karl MartelCharles Martel The Frankish ruler Charles Martel, b. c.688, d. Oct. 22, 741, was the first CAROLINGIAN to bring most of what is today France under his control. He was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal, mayor of the palace in AUSTRASIA. When his father died (714) Charles fought for five years against Pepin's widow, Plectrude; Ragemfred, mayor of the palace in NEUSTRIA; and Radbod, duke of the Frisians, to secure his position as mayor. From 719 until his death, Charles worked to expand Carolingian domination. In 732 or 733 he stopped the Muslim Arab advance northward from Spain in a celebrated battle between Poitiers and Tours. He conquered (733) Burgundy and thereafter fought steadily in the south of France. Although Charles supported the Christian mission of St. BONIFACE in Germany, he declined to help Pope Gregory III against the LOMBARDS in Italy. When Charles died he was succeeded as mayor of the palace by his sons PEPIN THE SHORT and Carloman. Bernard S. Bachrach Bibliography: Lot, Ferdinand, The End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the Middle Ages (1931); Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., The Barbarian West, 400-1000, 3d ed. (1967)

Steuben_-_Bataille_de_Poitiers
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=b05b0f9d-e098-470f-84d7-58c525d20b78&tid=6650027&pid=-1119520112

Född utom äktenskapet men besegrade Pippins änka och andra medtävlare om makten.
Lade grunden till det karolingiska imperiet

Mayor de Neustria y Austrasia
A la muerte de su padre (714), Carlos, que ya tenía 29 años, pasa a ocupar la plaza de mayordomo de palacio del reino de Austrasia, hasta su muerte. Pero como era ilegítimo, Plectrude, esposa de Pipino, instigó para echarle del poder a fin de que lo detentara su hijo Thiaud, que contaba entonces seis años y era el heredero legítimo. Carlos fue encarcelado.

Sin embargo, diversas provincias del reino no aceptaban que una mujer las gobernara y las revueltas empezaron a estallar, primero Neustria en 715, cuando Rainfroi —mayordomo del palacio de Neustria— venció a Thiaud en el bosque de Cuise y condujo a sus tropas hasta las cercanías de Meuse. El norte de Italia se subleva después y se adhiere a Neustria; le siguen Sajonia y Austrasia.

En ese momento Carlos se evade de la cárcel (715) y se pone al frente de las revueltas de Austrasia. En primer lugar tiene que enfrentarse a los neustrianos y saldrá victorioso en dos batallas: Amblève (716) y Vichy (21 de marzo de 717). Entonces se dirige a Colonia, donde reside Plectrude con su hijo, a quien no le queda más remedio que reconocer la derrota y dejar el poder de Austrasia en manos de Carlos.

Una vez en el poder, Carlos instala en el trono a Clotario IV, destronando a Chilperico II, y repudia al obispo de Reims, Rigoberto, favorable a Plectrude. Poco a poco retoma el control de todo el reino franco, venciendo primero a Rainfroi, el mayordomo de palacio de Neustria, después a Eudes, duque de Aquitania. Para reunificar el reino franco deberá combatir de nuevo con Neustria hasta someterla definitivamente tras la derrota en la batalla de Soissons. Quiere, asimismo, reconquistar la frontera este del reino; de 720 a 738 conquista Austria y el sur de Alemania. De esta manera quedará restablecido el reino franco como lo estaba bajo el reinado de Pipino de Heristal.

Tras la muerte de Clotario IV, se verá obligado a reponer en el trono a Chilperico II. Cuando este fallece en 721, Carlos va a buscar, entonces, al monasterio de Chilles al hijo de Dagoberto III, Thierry IV, y le instala en el trono.

En 732 Martel tiene que hacer frente a los ejércitos musulmanes del gobernador de Al-Andalus, Abderramán. La Península Ibérica estaba ocupada por los árabes y sus aliados los bereberes desde el 711, que continuaban su avance hacia el norte cruzando los Pirineos. En 725 habían conquistado ya el Languedoc y gran parte de la Borgoña actual e intentaban llegar al centro del territorio franco. La intervención del duque de Aquitania, Eudes, pudo detener en 721 el primer embate en Toulouse y, aliándose con el gobernador berebere de Septimania, Munuza, consiguió que los musulmanes se retiraran a España. Eudes le ofrece a su hija en matrimonio a Munuza, pero éste muere en un enfrentamiento con el gobernador de España, Abderramán, que, enfurecido, lanza una expedición punitiva contra Aquitania. En 732 comienza una importante ofensiva a través de la frontera, con el fin, entre otros, de tomar el santuario de San Martín de Tours.

El duque Eudes no puede hacer frente él solo a esta acometida y solicita la ayuda de Martel. El 19 de octubre de 732 ambas fuerzas se reunen en Moussais (actual departamento de Vouneuil-su-Vienne), entre Tours y Poitiers. El ejército franco comandado por Carlos Martel contaba con una infantería veterana de entre 15.000 y 75.000 hombres. En respuesta a la invasión musulmana, los francos habían evitado las antiguas vías romanas, esperando coger desprevenidos a los invasores. Según las crónicas musulmanas de la batalla, los árabes fueron sorprendidos al encontrarse con unas fuerzas tan importantes que se oponían al saqueo previsto de Tours y esperaron seis días mientras vigilaban al enemigo. El séptimo día el ejército musulmán de 60.000 a 400.000 hombres, a cuyo frente iba Abderramán, se lanzó al ataque. Los francos derrotaron al ejército islámico y el emir murió. Tras la muerte de Abderramán, surgieron los conflictos entre los generales supervivientes y los árabes abandonaron el campo de batalla al día siguiente, emprendiendo el camino de retorno. Según algunos autores, tras esta victoria Carlos fue apodado Carlos Martillo, dado que había machacado a las tropas mahometanas, cual un martillo (el martillo era un arma de combate). Según otros autores, aprovechando la debilidad del duque Eudes, se amparó en los obispados del Loira y descendió hasta el Midi, saqueándolo concienzudamente y matando a todos los jefes musulmanes que residían allí desde hacía tiempo. Se supone que es entonces cuando le dan el sobrenombre de Martillo. En todo caso, es un apelativo que le da prestigio y atempera a posibles enemigos, y que contribuyó, en gran medida, a la creación del mito de Carlos Martel.

Las tropas musulmanas no son vencidas en todos los frentes. Toman Aviñón y Arles, y en 735 atacan la Borgoña. Muchos señores borgoñones pactan con los árabes. Carlos Martel les obliga a retirarse al valle del Ródano en 736. conquista Aviñón en 737 con su hermano Childebrand, pero no consigue Narbona. Se alía con los lombardos para reconquistar la Provenza. Todos los señores que habían colaborado con los árabes son castigados y sus bienes repartidos entre los guerreros francos. A los árabes ya sólo les queda Narbona. Estas batallas contribuyeron a unificar el reino franco en torno a Carlos Martel.

A la muerte de Thierry IV (737), Carlos, afianzado en su gran poder, decide no escoger sucesor alguno, asume todo el poder del reino franco y reina, ilegalmente, hasta su muerte.

A su muerte, su poder es repartido entre sus dos hijos:

* Carlomán, que obtiene Austrasia, Alemania y Turingia
* Pipino el Breve, que hereda Neustrasia, Borgoña y Provenza.

Carlos Martel murió el 22 de octubre de 741 en Quierzy. Fue enterrado en la basílica de San Denis.

Aunque no obtuvo jamás el título de rey, pese a tener más poder que los soberanos francos de la época, la dinastía merovingia estaba en ese momento en plena decadencia. Su poder marcó las primeras bases de la línea carolingia, confirmada por la consagración de Pipino el Breve el 28 de julio de 754.

!SOURCES:
1. Tab. Gen. Souv., France 22, Tab. III
2. Keiser und Koenig Hist., Gen. Hist. 25, pt 1, p. 5
3. Americana Am. Pub. F, v. 32, p. 582
4. plan 128. Ancest., Eng. 116. p. 171
5. Ahen Zu Karl der Grossen, Germ. FH G94, p. 28

became Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia when his father, Pepin II, died in 714. That year he was imprisoned byhis step-mother Plectudis, but escaped later in the year to lead the Austrasian and Neustrian nobles. The next year,the new King Chilperic II refused to act as a puppet to the nobles, and was backed by the Aquitaine duke Eudo, who wasby then semi-independent from Frankish sovergnty. In 719, Charles defeated Eudo and took Chilperic hostage. Eudo'sterms for mercy were that Chilperic would be recognized as sole ruler of the Franks, and the Charles would control allroyal offices (i.e. as Mayor). Eudo had no other choice but to accept. In 720, Chilperic II died, Theuderic IV becameking, Charles was stripped of his positions, Eudo was able to attain full independence, and Charles was preoccupiedwith pushing back Saxon invaders across the Rhine.   CHARLES MARTEL (688?-741). In 732 Charles Martel and his barbarian Frankish army fought a battle near Tours,France, that affected the history of Europe. Their foes were inspired Muslim, or Saracen, troops who were bent onworld conquest for the religion of Islam. In a hundred years the Saracens had established a vast empire that stretchedfrom Persia (now Iran) westward across northern Africa. They had gained a foothold in Europe by taking Spain. As theyadvanced into the region that is now France, the fate of Christian Europe hung in the balance. Charles met the Muslimforces between Poitiers and Tours. In a fierce and bloody battle the Muslims were defeated and their leader killed. Inlater campaigns Charles drove them back into Spain. His vigorous blows earned him the nickname Martel, from a Frenchword meaning "hammer." This forceful leader never became king of the Franks. As mayor of the palace under ineffectualMerovingian kings, however, he was the true ruler. He increased the influence of the Frankish kingdom in wars againstthe Alemanni, Bavarians, and Saxons. These and other Germanic tribes had overrun Europe when the Roman Empirecrumbled. Only the Franks established a permanent kingdom. Charles aided St. Boniface and other missionaries inspreading Christianity and civilization among the barbarians. He strengthened the hold of the kingdom over thepowerful nobles and bishops who sought to set up independent rule in their districts. He distributed land to hisnobles to gain their loyalty and service as warriors. Charles prepared the way for his son, Pepin the Short, to gainthe Frankish throne. Together they laid the foundation for the reign of Pepin's son Charlemagne.

For more information see the Our Folk - Hart family Web Site

from "Our Folk" by Albert D Hart, Jr.

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=cf352f72-40b5-4a10-a1a6-9daeeb434d8d&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

charles-martel-1
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=31354175-0676-4a0a-be90-1ac66ae0d157&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=fa893b41-c9cf-4d9f-9042-256039afbab9&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

The Battle of Tours
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=a73b43a6-089e-4830-a3ad-6bcca15c6c86&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Battle of Tours
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=ee506da4-09d4-4379-bf9e-d1abf6e19ae9&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=c493dbb1-52bc-4c3f-92f3-59cfa8e7ae05&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=fb9c6fcb-5687-410d-9e71-87707be7b4b9&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=6903d84a-6756-4ebf-8582-2d8193d0f2b4&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=b58feb5e-a83b-4e79-a06d-03fee14e97ea&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Tomb of Charles The Hammer Martel, At Saint Denis
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=fceab57e-a28c-4e69-96fc-f77cde168938&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

The Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=f9bd154a-de8b-4247-a489-0acbb4de5131&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

charles_martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=d64feee6-d9b3-46cd-a0d5-8ee5ca77a09d&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

Charles "The Hammer" Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=ca71b709-9575-4e3f-a994-23d1c1103289&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

Charles Martel (Hammer)
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=c7c26e1b-b727-4765-9816-28e55b89bd07&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

aka Karl Martell. Succeeded his father, Pepin of Herstal

--Other Fields

Ref Number: 255

Carlos Martel ou Carlos Martelo (? c. 688, Herstal— † 15 de Outubro de 741, Quierzy-sur-Oise) foi prefeito do palácio e duque dos francos (seja quais forem os títulos, ele governou os reinos francos). Ele expandiu seu domínio sobre os três reinos francos: Austrásia, Nêustria e Borgonha. Carlos Martel era filho ilegítimo de Pepino de Herstal com sua concubina Alpaida e nasceu em Herstal, no que agora é a Valônia, na Bélgica.

Ele é melhor lembrado por ter vencido a Batalha de Poitiers (ou batalha de Tours) em 732, que tem sido tradicionalmente considerada com a ação que salvou a Europa do expansionismo muçulmano que já havia conquistado a Península Ibérica. "Não houve mais invasões muçulmanas nos territórios francos, e a vitória de Carlos é considerada decisiva para a história mundial, visto que ela preservou a Europa ocidental da conquista muçulmana e da islamização." [1]

Embora inicialmente lembrado simplesmente como o líder do exército cristão que prevaleceu em Tours, Carlos Martel foi um verdadeiro gigante do início da Idade Média. Um general brilhante numa época privada desse talento, ele é considerado o pai da cavalaria pesada ocidental, das ordens de cavalaria e fundador do Império Carolíngio (nomeado a partir de seu nome), e um catalisador para o sistema feudal que acompanharia a Europa através da Escuridão da Idade Média. (Embora descobertas acadêmicas recentes sugiram que ele era mais um dos beneficiários do sistema feudal que um agente causador das mudanças sociais).

Foi prefeito do palácio (ou seja, governante) do Reino Franco do Oriente, a partir de 717. Em 731 tomou as rédeas da totalidade do Reino. Recebeu do Papa Gregório III o título de Herói da Cristandade.

[large-G675.FTW]

Charles 'Martel', Mayor Of The Palace Of Austrasia ruled the MerovingianFranks from A.D. 719 to 741. He used only the title of Mayor of thePalace, but he actually had the power of a king. Most of the lawfulFrankish kings of this period were weak. In 732, Charles defeated theinvading Moslems in the famous Battle of Tours near Poitiers. Forrepeatedly attacking the Moslems, Charles later received the title ofMartel, meaning the Hammer. He built an army of mounted men by seizingchurch
estates. Charles supported Saint Boniface in his reform of the Frankishchurch.

Source: 'The World Book Encyclopedia', 1968, C295. 'Royalty forCommoners', Roderick W. Stuart, 1993, p 129, 196.
'Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants', Langston &Buck, 1986, p cvi.

RESEARCH NOTES:
Major domo; King of Austrasia

SOURCE NOTES:
http://www.american-pictures.com/genealogy/persons/per01968.htm#0

711 Repousse les attaques des Saxons; "Win-fam"

Han var en illegitim sønn av Pépin de Herstal.

!SOURCES:
1. Tab. Gen. Souv., France 22, Tab. III
2. Keiser und Koenig Hist., Gen. Hist. 25, pt 1, p. 5
3. Americana Am. Pub. F, v. 32, p. 582
4. plan 128. Ancest., Eng. 116. p. 171
5. Ahen Zu Karl der Grossen, Germ. FH G94, p. 28

Karl Martel , Mayor of Palace Austrasia

VITAL: "Martel" is an appellation, not a surname. It means "hammer."

BIOGRAPHY: Illegitimate son of Peppin II; when Peppin died, his widow imprisoned him in 713, but he escaped in 715 and was proclaimed ruler by Austrasians. Expanded kingdom, became undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Greatest achievements: defeat of Muslims near Poitiers in 732 when they invaded France from Spain, and final expulsion of Muslims from north of the Pyrenees in 739, when they had advanced as far as Lyons.

Charles Martel was illegitimate.

AFN:9GC9-KK

Hij is een bastaard. Volgens sommige bronnen is het geboortejaar van Karel Martel ca. 688; koning der Franken.
Frankisch hertog (717-741); gouverneur van Austrasië en Neustrië; hofmeier van Austrasië (714) en Neustrië (719); hofmeier van het gehele Frankische rijk (vanaf 719). Alleenheerser van het Frankische Rijk na de dood van de laatste Merovingische koning Theodorik IV. Romeins beschermheer 739/740. Verslaat in 734 de Friezen bij de rivier Boorne. Versloeg in 732 (Slag bij Poitiers) de in midden Europa oprukkende Arabieren en voorkwam daarmee de islamitisering van Europa

Also knowb as Charles the Hammer.

Mayor Of The Palace Of Austrasia

Major Domus i frankiska riket. Slog araberna vid Poiters 732.
Karl utomäktenskaplig son till Pippin II.

!SOURCES:
1. Tab. Gen. Souv., France 22, Tab. III
2. Keiser und Koenig Hist., Gen. Hist. 25, pt 1, p. 5
3. Americana Am. Pub. F, v. 32, p. 582
4. plan 128. Ancest., Eng. 116. p. 171
5. Ahen Zu Karl der Grossen, Germ. FH G94, p. 28

Charles Martel (circa 688-741), Carolingian ruler of the Frankish kingdom
of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwestern Germany).
Charles, whose surname means the hammer, was the son of Pepin of Herstal
and the grandfather of Charlemagne. Pepin was mayor of the palace under
the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. When he died in 714, Charles,
an illegitimate son, was imprisoned by his father's widow, but he escaped
in 715 and was proclaimed mayor of the palace by the Austrasians. A war
between Austrasia and the Frankish kingdom of Neustria (now part of
France) followed, and at the end of it Charles became the undisputed ruler
of all the Franks. Although he was engaged in wars against the Alamanni,
Bavarians, and Saxons, his greatest achievements were against the Muslims
from Spain, who invaded France in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers
in a great battle in which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the emir of
Spain, was killed. The progress of Islam, which had filled all Christendom
with alarm, was thus checked for a time. Charles drove the Muslims out of
the Rhone valley in 739, when they had again advanced into France as far
as Lyon, leaving them nothing of their possessions north of the Pyrenees
beyond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy, on the Oise River, leaving
the kingdom divided between his two sons, Carloman (circa 715-54) and
Pepin the Short.

Charles Martel sketch
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=06a4b4d6-3538-4859-88e6-3a0926e5372c&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Martel at the Battle of Tours 732
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=69d0f0bb-1c73-48a1-a73f-93cf0be8a15a&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

MARTEL THE HAMMER
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=e66d16d4-88f2-4fa1-8a9a-16aaaeb8e260&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=43b86471-b0eb-4b3d-8202-2f0c00dac943&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Martel:Mart COA
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=4daedb3e-d2ba-41a9-954e-2bec8f7f9112&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Martel in the Battle of Poitiers
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=faabebb5-0558-4ea5-8ea9-b34f374e96c0&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

martel map
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=6b846986-4ec1-4d11-9af7-a8c112efae51&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Martel receiving a messenger
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=a0c2715f-bf98-45a4-a2ef-c6ba4bbc8334&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Martel- wood carving from 16th cent
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=519d106d-bc71-475a-9666-5401a34c7679&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Martel portrait
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=b48e4a90-e206-4960-8344-3d108c49b4bb&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=f5f070c6-5889-4341-90e2-737395ae16ce&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

THE HAMMER
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=521ef91e-92d8-4ad1-bad3-0bcdb14eb05b&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Charles Martel (circa 688-741), Carolingian ruler of the Frankishkingdom of Austrasia (in present northeastern France and southwesternGermany). Charles, whose surname means the hammer, was the son ofPepin of Herstal and the grandfather of Charlemagne. Pepin was mayorof the palace under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. When hedied in 714, Charles, an illegitimate son, was imprisoned by hisfather's widow, but he escaped in 715 and was proclaimed mayor of thepalace by the Austrasians. A war between Austrasia and the Frankishkingdom of Neustria (now part of France) followed, and at the end ofit Charles became the undisputed ruler of all the Franks. Although hewas engaged in wars against the Alamanni, Bavarians, and Saxons, hisgreatest achievements were against the Muslims from Spain, who invadedFrance in 732. Charles defeated them near Poitiers in a great battlein which the Muslim leader, Abd-ar-Rahman, the emir of Spain, waskilled. The progress of Islam, which had filled all Christendom withalarm, was thus checked for a time. Charles drove the Muslims out ofthe Rhone valley in 739, when they had again advanced into France asfar as Lyon, leaving them nothing of their possessions north of thePyrenees beyond the Aude River. Charles died in Quierzy, on the OiseRiver, leaving the kingdom divided between his two sons, Carloman(circa 715-54) and Pepin the Short.

Charles Martel (Rotrude)
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=eb9af261-390c-4861-9007-86ced6f39528&tid=10524335&pid=-605665121

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=aea8776d-2295-4769-92f4-978301ac8fd1&tid=6959821&pid=-1149702195

_P_CCINFO 2-2438

_P_CCINFO 2-2438

_P_CCINFO 2-2438

Original individual @P3959769290@ (@MS_TREE2.GED0_15GM2@) merged with @P3960149041@ (@MS_TREE2.GED0_15GM2@)

JFB : AUR et FOU donnent Rotrude comme mère de Pépin le Bref.

BIOGRAPHY: The Frankish ruler Charles Martel, b. c.688, d. Oct. 22, 741, was the first Carolingian to bring most of what is today France under his control. He was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal, mayor of the palace in Austrasia. When his father died (714), Charles fought for five years against Pepin's widow, Plectrude; Ragemfred, mayor of the palace in Neustria; and Radbod, duke of the Frisians, to secure his position as mayor.

From 719 until his death, Charles worked to expand Carolingian domination. In 732 he stopped the Muslim Arab advance northward from Spain in a celebrated battle between Poitiers and Tours. He conquered (733) Burgundy and thereafter fought steadily in the south of France. Although Charles supported the Christian mission of Saint Boniface in Germany, he declined to help Pope Gregory III against the Lombards in Italy. When Charles died, he was succeeded as mayor of the palace by his sons Pepin the Short and Carloman.

-- Bernard S. Bachrach, Grolier Online

charles martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=35a1924b-c056-4105-8da2-b76dc96d14d1&tid=9784512&pid=-642026878

charles martel6
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=9932b0ac-93f3-411b-9423-efd48b7a2644&tid=9784512&pid=-642026878

charles martel5
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=67fa659c-6f5a-4b12-8578-53152dd7e9f6&tid=9784512&pid=-642026878

charles martel4
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=c6ba4e59-17d3-4398-9cda-43e77fcfd0dc&tid=9784512&pid=-642026878

charles martel3
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=8b3e9503-25ae-479b-aaf7-6251dd1ffcbb&tid=9784512&pid=-642026878

KING OF FRANCE 689-741; MAJOR DOMO OF AUSTRASIA; VICTORIOUS OVER A LARGE ARMY OF
SARACENS AT THE BATTLE OF TOURS, AND WAS THUS SURNAMED "MARTEL" (THE HAMMER)

AT MONTE CASSINO 747

Natural son of King Pepin II of Heristal, Mayor of the Palace, King of Austrasia and Neustria serving one of the last of the Merovingian Kings, who died in 714. {Encyclopedia of Military History} [GADD.GED]

Charles Martel
Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. He was the natural son of Pepin of Herstal and a woman named Alpaïde or Chalpaïde. Pepin, who in 714, had outlived his two legitimate sons, Drogon and Grimoald, and to Theodoald, a son of the latter and then only six years old, fell the burdensome inheritance of the Frenchmonarchy. Charles, who was then twenty-six, was not excluded from the succession on account of his birth,Theodoald himself being the son of a concubine, but through the influence of Plectrude, Theodoald's grandmother,who wished the power invested in her own descendants exclusively. To prevent any opposition from Charles she hadhim cast into prison and, having established herself at Cologne, assumed the guardianship of her grandson. But thedifferent nations whom the strong hand of Pepin of Herstal had held in subjections, shook off the yoke of oppressionas soon as they saw that it was with a woman they had to deal. Neustria gave the signal for revolt (715), Theodoaldwas beaten in the forest of Cuise and, led by Raginfrid, mayor of the palace, the enemy advanced as far as theMeuse. The Frisians flew to arms and, headed by their duke, Ratbod, destroyed the Christian mission and enteredinto a confederacy with the Neustrians. The Saxons came and devastated the country of the Hattuarians, and even inAustrasia there was a certain faction that chafed under the government of a woman and child. At this junctureCharles escaped from prison and put himself at the head of the national party of Austrasia. At first he wasunfortunate. He was defeated by Ratbod near Cologne in 716, and the Neustrians forced Plectrude to acknowledgeas king Chilperic, the son of Childeric II, having taken this Merovingian from the seclusion of the cloister, where helived the name of Daniel. But Charles was quick to take revenge. He surprised and conquered the Neustrians atAmblève near Malmédy (716), defeated them a second time at Vincy near Cambrai (21 March, 717), and pursuedthem as far as Paris. Then retracing his steps, he came to Cologne and compelled Plectrude to surrender her powerand turn over to him the wealth of his father, Pepin. In order to give his recently acquired authority a semblance oflegitimacy, he proclaimed the Merovingian Clotaire IV King of Austrasia, reserving for himself the title of Mayor ofthe Palace. It was about this time that Charles banished Rigobert, the Bishop of Reims, who had opposed him,appointing in his stead the warlike and unpriestly Milon, who was already Archbishop of Trier.
The ensuing years were full of strife. Eager to chastise the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia, Charles in the year718 laid waste their country to the banks of the Weser. In 719 Ratbod died, and Charles seized Western Frieslandwithout any great resistance on the part of the Frisians, who had taken possession of it on the death of Pepin. TheNeustrians, always a menace, had joined forces with the people of Aquitaine, but Charles hacked their army topieces at Soissons. After this defeat they realized the necessity of surrendering, and the death of King Clotaire IV,whom Charles had placed on the throne but two years previously, facilitated reconciliation of the two great fractionsof the Frankish Empire. Charles acknowledged Chilperic as head of the entire monarchy, while on their side, theNeustrians and Aquitainians endorsed the authority of Charles; but, when Chilperic died, the following year (720)Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, Thierry IV, who was still a minor, and who occupied thethrone from 720 to 737. A second expedition against the Saxons in 720 and the definitive submission of Raginfrid,who had been left the county of Angers (724), re-established the Frankish Monarchy as it had been under Pepin ofHerstal, and closed the first series of Charles Martel's struggles. The next six years were devoted almost exclusivelyto the confirming of the Frankish authority over the dependent Germanic tribes. In 725 and 728 Charles went intoBavaria, where the Agilolfing dukes had gradually rendered themselves independent, and re-established Frankishsuzerainty. He also brought thence the Princess Suanehilde, who seems to have become his mistress. In 730 hemarched against Lantfrid, Duke of the Alemanna, whom he likewise brought into subjection, and thus SouthernGermany once more became part of the Frankish Empire, as had Northern Germany during the first years of thereign. But at the extremity of the empire a dreadful storm was gathering. For several years the Moslems of Spain hadbeen threatening Gaul. Banished thence in 721 by Duke Eudes, they had returned in 725 and penetrated as far asBurgundy, where they had destroyed Autun. Duke Eudes, unable to resist them, at length contented himself bynegotiating with them, and to Othmar, one of their chiefs, he gave the hand of his daughter But this compromisingalliance brought him into disfavour with Charles, who defeated him in 731, and the death of Othmar that same yearagain left Eudes at the mercy of Moslem enterprise. In 732 Abd-er-Rahman, Governor of Spain, crossed thePyrenees at the head of an immense army, overcame Duke Eudes, and advanced as far as the Loire, pillaging andburning as he went. In October, 732, Charles met Abd-er-Rahman outside of Tours and defeated and slew him in abattle (the Battle of Poitiers) which must ever remain one of the great events in the history of the world, as upon itsissue depended whether Christian Civilization should continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe. It was this battle, itis said, that gave Charles his name, Martel (Tudites) "The Hammer", because of the merciless way in which hesmote the enemy.
The remainder of Charles Martel's reign was an uninterrupted series of triumphant combats. In 733-734 hesuppressed the rebellion instigated by the Frisian duke, Bobo, who was slain in battle, and definitively subduedFriesland, which finally adopted Christianity. In 735, after the death of Eudes, Charles entered Aquitaine, quelled therevolt of Hatto and Hunold, sons of the deceased duke, and left the duchy to Hunold, to be held in fief (736). Hethen banished the Moslems from Arles and Avignon, defeated their army on the River Berre near Narbonne, and in739 checked an uprising in Provence, the rebels being under the leadership of Maurontus. So great was Charles'power during the last years of his reign that he did not take the trouble to appoint a successor to King Thierry IV,who died in 737, but assumed full authority himself, governing without legal right. About a year before Charles died,Pope Gregory III, threatened by Luitprand, King of Lombardy, asked his help. Now Charles was Luitprand's allybecause the latter had promised to assist him in the late war against the Moslems of Provence, and, moreover, theFrankish king may have already suffered from the malady that was to carry him off—two reasons that are surelysufficient to account for the fact that the pope's envoys departed without gaining the object of their errand. However,it would seem that, according to the terms of a public act published by Charlemagne, Charles had, at least inprinciple, agreed to defend the Roman Church, and death alone must have prevented him from fulfilling thisagreement. The reign, which in the beginning was so full of bloody conflicts and later of such incessant strife, wouldhave been an impossibility had not Charles procured means sufficient to attract and compensate his partisans. Forthis purpose he conceived the idea of giving them the usufruct of a great many ecclesiastical lands, and this spoliationis what is referred to as the secularization by Charles Martel. It was an expedient that could be excused without,however, being justified, and it was pardoned to a certain extent by the amnesty granted at the Council of Lestines,held under the sons of Charles Martel in 743. It must also be remembered that the Church remained the legal ownerof the lands thus alienated. This spoliation and the conferring of the principal ecclesiastical dignities upon those whowere either totally unworthy or else had naught but their military qualifications to recommend them—as, for instance,the assignment of the episcopal Sees of Reims of Reims and Trier to Milon—were not calculated to endear CharlesMartel to the clergy of his time. Therefore, in the ninth century Hincmar of Reims related the story of the vision withwhich St. Eucher was said to have been favoured and which showed Charles in hell, to which he had beencondemned for robbing the Church of its property.
But notwithstanding the almost exclusively warlike character of his reign, Charles Martel was not indifferent to thesuperior interests of civilization and Christianity. Like Napoleon after the French Revolution, upon emerging from theyears 715-719, Charles, who had not only tolerated but perpetrated many an act of violence against the Church, setabout the establishment of social order and endeavoured to restore the rights of the Catholic hierarchy. This explainsthe protection which in 723 he accorded St. Boniface (Winfrid), the great apostle of Germany, a protection all themore salutary as the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neitheradminister his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. Hence Charles Martel shares, to a certain degree, theglory and merit of Boniface's great work of civilization. He died after having divided the Frankish Empire, as apatrimony between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin.
GODEFROID KURTH Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler

Karl var en stor kriger, stanset maurerne i Spania, og samlet Frankrike til ett rike gjennom sine kriger i årene 717 til 719.

!SOURCES:
1. Tab. Gen. Souv., France 22, Tab. III
2. Keiser und Koenig Hist., Gen. Hist. 25, pt 1, p. 5
3. Americana Am. Pub. F, v. 32, p. 582
4. plan 128. Ancest., Eng. 116. p. 171
5. Ahen Zu Karl der Grossen, Germ. FH G94, p. 28

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=e9ba4234-4257-4a7e-bc9d-77c8e7eba415&tid=10145763&pid=-677190838

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=e9ba4234-4257-4a7e-bc9d-77c8e7eba415&tid=10145763&pid=-677190838

from Wikipedia
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=768a3158-e671-474f-b550-7be7630bee96&tid=6650027&pid=-1119520112

Charles Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus) (ca. 688 – 22 October 741),[1][2][3][4][5] called Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum (737–43) at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the title of Consul by the Pope, but he refused.[6] He is perhaps best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, in which he defeated an invading Muslim army and halted northward Islamic expansion in western Europe.[7]

A brilliant general—he lost only one battle in his career (the Battle of Cologne)—he is a founding figure of the Middle Ages, often credited with a seminal role in the development of feudalism and knighthood, and laying the groundwork for the Carolingian

Charles Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus) (ca. 688 – 22 October 741),[1][2][3][4][5] called Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum (737–43) at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the title of Consul by the Pope, but he refused.[6] He is perhaps best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, in which he defeated an invading Muslim army and halted northward Islamic expansion in western Europe.[7]

A brilliant general—he lost only one battle in his career (the Battle of Cologne)—he is a founding figure of the Middle Ages, often credited with a seminal role in the development of feudalism and knighthood, and laying the groundwork for the Carolingian

Charles "The Hammer" Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=24d236a8-8bfb-4290-a293-402550478237&tid=6959821&pid=-1149702195

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=aea8776d-2295-4769-92f4-978301ac8fd1&tid=6959821&pid=-1149702195

History
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=b62bb407-decd-4b79-8a4e-b81b3142b7f0&tid=6959821&pid=-1149702195

Charles "The Hammer" Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=24d236a8-8bfb-4290-a293-402550478237&tid=6959821&pid=-1149702195

History
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=b62bb407-decd-4b79-8a4e-b81b3142b7f0&tid=6959821&pid=-1149702195

Tomb of Charles The Hammer Martel, At Saint Denis
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=e9b567bd-26a4-423b-b6c9-d9b3f0c655ff&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=684ad751-ad58-47cf-9248-1bece02ce226&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

Battle of Tours
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=92dde9c4-8087-4646-a067-e9c983b56288&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=df28b4d0-194e-4e7e-892f-1eda82034bf1&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=803db301-e3c2-4e8d-aed8-818efc834ba2&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

The Battle of Tours
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=3347028e-d6c2-4aca-bbdc-da2568113414&tid=9115328&pid=-839098430

Charles Martel
Frankish ruler (Mayor of the Palace) of the eastern Frankish kingdom from 717 and the whole kingdom from 731. His victory against the Moors at Moussais-la-Bataille near Tours in 732 earned him his nickname of Martel, ‘the Hammer’, because he halted the Islamic advance by the Moors into Europe.
An illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal (Pepin II, Mayor of the Palace c. 640–714), he was a grandfather of Charlemagne.

Charles Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus) (ca. 688 – 22 October 741),[1][2][3][4][5] called Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum (737–43) at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the title of Consul by the Pope, but he refused.[6] He is perhaps best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, in which he defeated an invading Muslim army and halted northward Islamic expansion in western Europe.[7]

A brilliant general—he lost only one battle in his career (the Battle of Cologne)—he is a founding figure of the Middle Ages, often credited with a seminal role in the development of feudalism and knighthood, and laying the groundwork for the Carolingian

He was Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia from 719 to 741. He stopped the Moor incursion into Western Europe in the 730s.

AFN:9GC9-KK

Replace la Provence sous la domination Française

maretel1
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=8511fedc-ec0c-47b1-94be-d1bce067d8a6&tid=1173601&pid=-1493664598

The Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=06fe6992-9080-4052-a9ff-7090bf641d3d&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles "The Hammer" Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=93805ceb-1af4-4330-a5b7-533c91b31a77&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

maretel1
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=8511fedc-ec0c-47b1-94be-d1bce067d8a6&tid=1173601&pid=-1493664598

* REMARKS:
In 732 defeated the Arabs at Poitiers

* BIOGRAPHY
Son of Pippin by his mistress Alpais, Charles was chosen Duke of Austrasia in 714. In 720 he became mayor of the palace of King Clothaire IV and was the true ruler of the Franks. His first battles were with the Saxons, Alemanni and Bavarians. However, his importance was established when he rolled back the Saracens in a desperate battle between Tours and Poitiers in 732.

Prior to this battle, Abdul Rahman, the Arab governor of Spain, had won a great battle near Bordeaux. This Moslem threat united the Burgundians and the Gauls of Provence, who then acknowledged the sovereignty of Charles Martel, recognising him as their saviour from the Moslem conquests.

The battle at Poitiers is important because it halted the Moslem conquest of Europe. Charles finished his work by driving the Saracens out of Burgundy and the Languedoc in 737.

Charles never aspired to be more than 'mayor of the palace' and duke of Austrasia. When he died in 741, his sons Carloman and Pippin, still joint mayors of the palace, shared power over the kingdom of the Franks with Merovingian King Childeric III of the Franks.

Carlo, detto Martello ma anche Marcello (685 circa - Quierzy-sur-Oise, 21 o 22 ottobre 741). Maggiordomo di palazzo di Neustria e Austrasia dei re merovingi, dà nome alla dinastia dei carolingi, resa più famosa forse dall'imperatore Carlo Magno, suo nipote.

Karl Martell [Martell = hammeren] (født 23. august 686 i Herstal - i dag i Belgia, død 22. oktober 741 i Quierzy-sur-Oise - i dag i Frankrike) var rikshovmester og reell konge over de tre frankiske kongedømmene. Han er mest kjent for at han vant slaget ved Poitiers i 732, hvor han stoppet et muslimsk plyndringstokt ledet av guvernøren av al-Andalus. Med denne seieren satte han en stopper for videre muslimsk plyndring i Frankrike.

Martell var født i Herstal i det som nå er Wallonia, Belgia, og var den uekte sønnen av Pipin av Herstal og hans konkubine Alpaida.

Selv om han først og fremst huskes som lederen for den kristne hæren som vant ved Tours, er Karl Martell virkelig en gigantisk personlighet i tidlig middelalder. Han var en svært dyktig general i en tidsepoke som manglet andre store generaler, han er den første forfaderen til vestlig tungt kavaleri (ridderskap), grunnleggeren av det som skulle bli Frankerriket og satte i gang føydalsystemet som preget Europa i middelalderen.

He was Mayor of the Palace in Austrasia from 719 to 741. He stopped the Moor incursion into Western Europe in the 730s.

Adapted from the Encyclopedia Brittanica Online, article entitledCharles Martel:

After the death of Pepin I, Plectrude (widow of Pepin I) imprisonedCharles (the son of Pepin I via Aupais, his concubine) and tried togovern in the name of her grandchildren, but Charles escaped,gathered an army, and defeated the Neustrians in battles at Ambláevenear Liáege (716) and at Vincy near Cambrai (717). His success maderesistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; they submitted,and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor.

His impact was in stopping the Muslim invasions of Frankish territory.From EB: "Ever since their arrival in Spain from Africa in 711, theMuslims had raided Frankish territory, threatening Gaul and on oneoccasion (725) reaching Burgundy and sacking Autun. In 732 'Abdar-Rahman, the governor of Câordoba, marched into Bordeaux anddefeated Eudes. The Muslims then proceeded north across Aquitaine tothe city of Poitiers. Eudes appealed to Charles for assistance, andCharles' cavalry managed to turn back the Muslim onslaught at theBattle of Poitiers. The battle itself may have been only a series ofsmall engagements, but after it there were no more great Musliminvasions of Frankish territory."

CHARLES MARTEL TOMB
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=fc884ffc-fd76-42fe-97a0-a2a64669c270&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Charles Martel coa
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=a0c2d289-4781-4b8a-b439-d32c6084d4c2&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

charles martel the hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=fe42f5a4-3839-4a80-a30e-78f7b87a6415&tid=9692367&pid=-498504125

Original individual @P3959769290@ (@MS_TREE2.GED0_15GM2@) merged with @P3959699239@ (@MS_TREE2.GED0_15GM2@)

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=b58feb5e-a83b-4e79-a06d-03fee14e97ea&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Tomb of Charles The Hammer Martel, At Saint Denis
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=fceab57e-a28c-4e69-96fc-f77cde168938&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

The Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=06fe6992-9080-4052-a9ff-7090bf641d3d&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=fb9c6fcb-5687-410d-9e71-87707be7b4b9&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=6903d84a-6756-4ebf-8582-2d8193d0f2b4&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles "The Hammer" Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=93805ceb-1af4-4330-a5b7-533c91b31a77&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=cf352f72-40b5-4a10-a1a6-9daeeb434d8d&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

charles-martel-1
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=31354175-0676-4a0a-be90-1ac66ae0d157&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=fa893b41-c9cf-4d9f-9042-256039afbab9&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

The Battle of Tours
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=a73b43a6-089e-4830-a3ad-6bcca15c6c86&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Battle of Tours
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=ee506da4-09d4-4379-bf9e-d1abf6e19ae9&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles the Hammer
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=c493dbb1-52bc-4c3f-92f3-59cfa8e7ae05&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=b4bc7182-1c3b-4e3e-8f8d-ea85e139cd2e&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles Martel
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=246d11ff-50f2-4da8-8476-a7442d549c48&tid=8764362&pid=-863100841

Charles Martel, or Charles the Hammer held the position as Mayor of the palace. In the year 732, exactly 100 years after the death of Mohammed Charles beat back the threat of the Mohammedans.
This battle is considered one of the most important struggles in all of history. It stopped the wave of Islamic advance into Europe. It was in this way that Europe became Christian rather than Mohammedan. The Mayors of the Palace were powerful, more so than the Kings.

charles martel2
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=2e9bb10d-59fd-46b0-b4df-dd0bc3635899&tid=9784512&pid=-642026878

Heeft u aanvullingen, correcties of vragen met betrekking tot Charles "Martel" (the Hammer) (Charles "Martel" (the Hammer)) "Charles Martel" de France?
De auteur van deze publicatie hoort het graag van u!

Tijdbalk Charles "Martel" (the Hammer) (Charles "Martel" (the Hammer)) "Charles Martel" de France

Klik op de namen voor meer informatie. Gebruikte symbolen:  grootouders    ouders    broers/zussen    kinderen