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Added by woofskeeper

Charles Mayor Palace Austrasia Martel "The Hammer"

675-741
Born: Heristal, Neustria Near, Liege, Belgium
Died: Quierzy, Aisne, Picardie, France

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Life Story
  • Birth

  • Story: Battle Of Tours

    <p>The&nbsp;battle of Tours&nbsp;earned Charles Martel&nbsp;the nickname tha &#39;Hammer&#39;, for the merciless way he hammered his Moor&nbsp;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.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

  • Death

  • Story: From The Catholic Encyclopedia

    <p>Born about 688; died at <!--k30-->Quierzy<!--k31--> on the <!--k30-->Oise<!--k31-->, 21 October, 741. He was the <!--k30-->natural<!--k31--> son of <!--k30-->Pepin<!--k31--> of <!--k30-->Herstal<!--k31--> and a woman named <!--k30-->Alpa&iuml;de<!--k31--> or <!--k30-->Chalpa&iuml;de<!--k31-->. <!--k30-->Pepin<!--k31-->, who died in 714, had <!--k30-->outlived<!--k31--> his two <!--k30-->legitimate<!--k31--> sons, <!--k30-->Drogon<!--k31--> and <!--k30-->Grimoald<!--k31-->, and to <!--k30-->Theodoald<!--k31-->, a son of the latter and then only six years old, fell the burdensome inheritance of the <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->French<!--</a>--> <!--k30-->monarchy<!--k31-->. <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31-->, who was then <!--k30-->twenty-six<!--k31-->, was not excluded from the <!--k30-->succession<!--k31--> on account of his birth, <!--k30-->Theodoald<!--k31--> himself being the son of a concubine, but through the influence of <!--k30-->Plectrude<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->Theodoald&#39;s<!--k31--> <!--k30-->grandmother<!--k31-->, who wished the power invested in her own descendants exclusively. To prevent any opposition from <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> she had him cast into prison and, having established herself at Cologne, <!--k30-->assumed<!--k31--> the <!--k05-->guardianship of her grandson. But the different nations whom the strong hand of <!--k30-->Pepin<!--k31--> of <!--k30-->Herstal<!--k31--> had held in <!--k30-->subjections<!--k31-->, shook off the yoke of oppression as soon as they saw that it was with a woman they had to deal. <!--k30-->Neustria<!--k31--> gave the signal for revolt (715), <!--k30-->Theodoald<!--k31--> was beaten in the forest of <!--k30-->Cuise<!--k31--> and, led by <!--k30-->Raginfrid<!--k31-->, mayor of the palace, the enemy advanced as far as the <!--k30-->Meuse<!--k31-->. The <!--k30-->Frisians<!--k31--> flew to arms and, <!--k30-->headed<!--k31--> by their <!--k30-->duke<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->Ratbod<!--k31-->, destroyed the Christian mission and entered into a confederacy with the <!--k30-->Neustrians<!--k31-->. The <!--k30-->Saxons<!--k31--> came and devastated the country of the <!--k30-->Hattuarians<!--k31-->, and even in <!--k30-->Austrasia<!--k31--> there was a <!--k30-->certain<!--k31--> <!--k30-->faction<!--k31--> that <!--k30-->chafed<!--k31--> under the government of a woman and child. At this <!--k30-->juncture<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> escaped from prison and put himself at the head of the <!--k30-->national<!--k31--> party of <!--k30-->Austrasia<!--k31-->. At first he was <!--k30-->unfortunate<!--k31-->. He was defeated by <!--k30-->Ratbod<!--k31--> near <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->Cologne<!--</a>--> in 716, and the <!--k30-->Neustrians<!--k31--> forced <!--k30-->Plectrude<!--k31--> to acknowledge as king <!--k30-->Chilperic<!--k31-->, the son of <!--k30-->Childeric<!--k31--> II, having taken this <!--k30-->Merovingian<!--k31--> from the <!--k30-->seclusion<!--k31--> of the cloister, where he lived the name of <!--k02--><!--<a href="../cathen/04620a.htm">-->Daniel<!--</a>-->. But <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> was quick to take revenge. He surprised and conquered the <!--k30-->Neustrians<!--k31--> at <!--k30-->Ambl&egrave;ve<!--k31--> near <!--k30-->Malm&eacute;dy<!--k31--> (716), defeated them a second <!--k30-->time<!--k31--> at <!--k30-->Vincy<!--k31--> near <!--k05-->Cambrai (21 March, 717), and pursued them as far as Paris. Then <!--k30-->retracing<!--k31--> his steps, he came to <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->Cologne<!--</a>--> and compelled <!--k30-->Plectrude<!--k31--> to surrender her power and turn over to him the <!--k05-->wealth of his father, <!--k30-->Pepin<!--k31-->. In order to give his recently acquired authority a semblance of <!--k30-->legitimacy<!--k31-->, he proclaimed the <!--k30-->Merovingian<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Clotaire<!--k31--> IV King of <!--k30-->Austrasia<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->reserving<!--k31--> for himself the title of <!--k30-->Mayor<!--k31--> of the <!--k30-->Palace<!--k31-->. It was <!--k30-->about<!--k31--> this time that <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> banished <!--k30-->Rigobert<!--k31-->, the Bishop of Reims, who had opposed him, appointing in his stead the warlike and <!--k30-->unpriestly<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Milon<!--k31-->, who was already Archbishop of Trier. <!--k95--></p><p>The ensuing years were full of strife. <!--k30-->Eager<!--k31--> to chastise the <!--k30-->Saxons<!--k31--> who had <!--k30-->invaded<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Austrasia<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> in the year 718 laid waste their country to the banks of the <!--k30-->Weser<!--k31-->. In 719 <!--k30-->Ratbod<!--k31--> died, and <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> seized <!--k30-->Western<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Friesland<!--k31--> without any great resistance on the part of the <!--k30-->Frisians<!--k31-->, who had taken <!--k30-->possession<!--k31--> of it on the death of <!--k30-->Pepin<!--k31-->. The <!--k30-->Neustrians<!--k31-->, always a <!--k30-->menace<!--k31-->, had joined forces with the people of <!--k30-->Aquitaine<!--k31-->, but <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> <!--k30-->hacked<!--k31--> their army to pieces at Soissons. After this defeat they realized the <!--k05-->necessity of surrendering, and the death of <!--k30-->King<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Clotaire<!--k31--> IV, whom <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> had placed on the <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->throne<!--</a>--> but two years previously, <!--k30-->facilitated<!--k31--> reconciliation of the two great <!--k30-->fractions<!--k31--> of the Frankish <!--k30-->Empire<!--k31-->. <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> acknowledged <!--k30-->Chilperic<!--k31--> as head of the entire <!--k30-->monarchy<!--k31-->, while on their side, the <!--k30-->Neustrians<!--k31--> and <!--k30-->Aquitainians<!--k31--> <!--k30-->endorsed<!--k31--> the authority of <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31-->; but, when <!--k30-->Chilperic<!--k31--> died, the following year (720) <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> appointed as his <!--k30-->successor<!--k31--> the son of <!--k30-->Dagobert<!--k31--> III, <!--k30-->Thierry<!--k31--> IV, who was still a <!--k05-->minor, and who occupied the <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->throne<!--</a>--> from 720 to 737. A second <!--k30-->expedition<!--k31--> against the <!--k30-->Saxons<!--k31--> in 720 and the <!--k30-->definitive<!--k31--> submission of <!--k30-->Raginfrid<!--k31-->, who had been left the <!--k30-->county<!--k31--> of <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->Angers<!--</a>--> (724), <!--k30-->re-established<!--k31--> the Frankish <!--k30-->Monarchy<!--k31--> as it had been under <!--k30-->Pepin<!--k31--> of <!--k30-->Herstal<!--k31-->, and closed the first series of <!--k04-->Charles Martel&#39;s struggles. The next six years were <!--k30-->devoted<!--k31--> almost exclusively to the <!--k30-->confirming<!--k31--> of the Frankish authority over the dependent <!--k30-->Germanic<!--k31--> tribes. In 725 and 728 <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> went into Bavaria, where the <!--k30-->Agilolfing<!--k31--> <!--k30-->dukes<!--k31--> had gradually rendered themselves independent, and <!--k30-->re-established<!--k31--> Frankish <!--k30-->suzerainty<!--k31-->. He also brought thence the <!--k30-->Princess<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Suanehilde<!--k31-->, who seems to have become his mistress. In 730 he <!--k30-->marched<!--k31--> against <!--k30-->Lantfrid<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->Duke<!--k31--> of the <!--k30-->Alemanna<!--k31-->, whom he likewise brought into subjection, and thus <!--k30-->Southern<!--k31--> Germany once more became part of the Frankish <!--k30-->Empire<!--k31-->, as had <!--k30-->Northern<!--k31--> 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 <!--k30-->Gaul<!--k31-->. <!--k30-->Banished<!--k31--> thence in 721 by <!--k30-->Duke<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Eudes<!--k31-->, they had returned in 725 and penetrated as far as Burgundy, where they had destroyed <!--k05-->Autun. <!--k30-->Duke<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Eudes<!--k31-->, unable to resist them, at length contented himself by <!--k30-->negotiating<!--k31--> with them, and to <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->Othmar<!--</a>-->, one of their chiefs, he gave the hand of his daughter But this <!--k30-->compromising<!--k31--> alliance brought him into <!--k30-->disfavour<!--k31--> with <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31-->, who defeated him in 731, and the death of <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->Othmar<!--</a>--> that same year again left <!--k30-->Eudes<!--k31--> at the mercy of Moslem <!--k30-->enterprise<!--k31-->. In 732 <!--k30-->Abd-er-Rahman<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->Governor<!--k31--> of Spain, <!--k30-->crossed<!--k31--> the <!--k30-->Pyrenees<!--k31--> at the head of an immense army, overcame <!--k30-->Duke<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Eudes<!--k31-->, and advanced as far as the <!--k30-->Loire<!--k31-->, pillaging and burning as he went. In October, 732, <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> met <!--k30-->Abd-er-Rahman<!--k31--> outside of <!--k05-->Tours and defeated and <!--k30-->slew<!--k31--> him in a battle (the <!--k30-->Battle<!--k31--> of <!--k05-->Poitiers) which must ever remain one of the great events in the <!--k30-->history<!--k31--> 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 <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> his name, <em>Martel</em> (<em>Tudites</em>) &quot;The <!--k30-->Hammer<!--k31-->&quot;, because of the merciless way in which he smote the enemy. <!--k94--></p><p>The remainder of <!--k04-->Charles Martel&#39;s reign was an uninterrupted series of triumphant combats. In 733-734 he suppressed the rebellion instigated by the <!--k30-->Frisian<!--k31--> <!--k30-->duke<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->Bobo<!--k31-->, who was <!--k30-->slain<!--k31--> in battle, and definitively subdued <!--k30-->Friesland<!--k31-->, which finally <!--k30-->adopted<!--k31--> Christianity. In 735, after the death of <!--k30-->Eudes<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> entered <!--k30-->Aquitaine<!--k31-->, quelled the revolt of <!--k30-->Hatto<!--k31--> and <!--k30-->Hunold<!--k31-->, sons of the deceased <!--k30-->duke<!--k31-->, and left the <!--k30-->duchy<!--k31--> to <!--k30-->Hunold<!--k31-->, to be held in <!--k30-->fief<!--k31--> (736). He then banished the Moslems from <!--k30-->Arles<!--k31--> and Avignon, defeated their army on the River <!--k30-->Berre<!--k31--> near <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->Narbonne<!--</a>-->, and in 739 checked an uprising in <!--k30-->Provence<!--k31-->, the rebels being under the leadership of <!--k30-->Maurontus<!--k31-->. So great was <!--k30-->Charles&#39;<!--k31--> power during the last years of his reign that he did not take the trouble to appoint a <!--k30-->successor<!--k31--> to <!--k30-->King<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Thierry<!--k31--> IV, who died in 737, but <!--k30-->assumed<!--k31--> full authority himself, governing without <!--k30-->legal<!--k31--> <!--k05-->right. About a year before <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> died, Pope Gregory III, threatened by <!--k30-->Luitprand<!--k31-->, <!--k30-->King<!--k31--> of Lombardy, asked his help. Now <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> was <!--k30-->Luitprand&#39;s<!--k31--> <!--k30-->ally<!--k31--> because the latter had promised to assist him in the late war against the Moslems of <!--k30-->Provence<!--k31-->, and, moreover, the Frankish king may have already suffered from the malady that was to carry him off&mdash;two <!--k30-->reasons<!--k31--> that are surely sufficient to account for the fact that the pope&#39;s <!--k30-->envoys<!--k31--> departed without gaining the object of their <!--k30-->errand<!--k31-->. However, it would seem that, according to the terms of a public <!--k30-->act<!--k31--> published by Charlemagne, <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> 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 <!--k30-->bloody<!--k31--> conflicts and later of such <!--k30-->incessant<!--k31--> strife, would have been an impossibility had not <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> procured means sufficient to attract and <!--k05-->compensate his <!--k30-->partisans<!--k31-->. For this purpose he conceived the idea of giving them the usufruct of a great many ecclesiastical lands, and this <!--k30-->spoliation<!--k31--> is what is referred to as the <!--k05-->secularization by <!--k04-->Charles Martel. It was an expedient that could be excused without, however, being <!--k30-->justified<!--k31-->, and it was <!--k30-->pardoned<!--k31--> to a <!--k30-->certain<!--k31--> extent by the <!--k30-->amnesty<!--k31--> granted at the <!--k30-->Council<!--k31--> of <!--k30-->Lestines<!--k31-->, held under the sons of <!--k04-->Charles Martel in 743. It must also be <!--k05-->remembered that the Church remained the <!--k30-->legal<!--k31--> owner of the lands thus <!--k30-->alienated<!--k31-->. This <!--k30-->spoliation<!--k31--> 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 <!--k30-->them&mdash;as<!--k31-->, for instance, the assignment of the <!--k30-->episcopal<!--k31--> <!--k30-->Sees<!--k31--> of Reims of Reims and Trier to <!--k30-->Milon&mdash;were<!--k31--> not calculated to <!--k30-->endear<!--k31--> <!--k04-->Charles Martel to the clergy of his <!--k05-->time. <!--k30-->Therefore<!--k31-->, in the ninth century Hincmar of Reims related the story of the <!--k30-->vision<!--k31--> with which <!--k30-->St. Eucher<!--k31--> was said to have been favoured and which showed <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31--> in hell, to which he had been condemned for <!--k30-->robbing<!--k31--> the Church of its property. </p><p>But notwithstanding the almost exclusively warlike <!--k05-->character of his reign, <!--k04-->Charles Martel was not <!--k30-->indifferent<!--k31--> to the superior <!--k30-->interests<!--k31--> of <!--k30-->civilization<!--k31--> and Christianity. Like Napoleon after the French Revolution, upon <!--k30-->emerging<!--k31--> from the years 715-719, <!--k30-->Charles<!--k31-->, who had not only <!--k30-->tolerated<!--k31--> but perpetrated many an <!--k30-->act<!--k31--> of violence against the Church, set about the establishment of <!--k30-->social<!--k31--> order and endeavoured to restore the rights of the Catholic hierarchy. This explains the protection which in 723 he accorded St. Boniface (Winfrid), the great <!--k05-->apostle of Germany, a protection all the more <!--k30-->salutary<!--k31--> as the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without it he could neither administer his <!--k03--><!--<a href="../cathen/xxyyyk.htm">-->church<!--</a>-->, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry. Hence <!--k04-->Charles Martel shares, to a <!--k30-->certain<!--k31--> degree, the <!--k05-->glory and <!--k05-->merit of Boniface&#39;s great work of <!--k30-->civilization<!--k31-->. He died after having divided the Frankish <!--k30-->Empire<!--k31-->, as a patrimony between his two sons, <!--k30-->Carloman<!--k31--> and <!--k30-->Pepin<!--k31-->. <!-- google_ad_section_end--></p>

 
 
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