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Karl Martel "The Hammer"

688-741
Born: Heristal, Liege, Belgium
Died: Quierzy, Aisne, Picardie, France

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Life Story
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  • Story: Family And Children

    <p><span><font size="5"><strong>Family and children</strong></font></span></p><span><p>Charles Martel married twice:</p><p>His first wife was Rotrude of Treves, (690-724) (daughter of Leudwinus, Bishop of Trier). They had the following children:</p><ul><li>Hiltrud (d. 754), married Odilo I, Duke of Bavaria </li><li>Carloman </li><li>Landrade (Landres), married Sigrand, Count of Hesbania </li><li>Auda, Aldana, or Alane, married Thierry IV, Count of Autun and Toulouse </li><li>Pepin the Short </li></ul><p>His second wife was Swanhild. They had the following child:</p><ul><li>Grifo </li></ul><p>Charles Martel also had a mistress, Ruodhaid. They had the following children:</p><ul><li>Bernard (b. before 732-787) </li><li>Hieronymus </li><li>Remigius, archbishop of Rouen (d. 771) </li></ul></span>

  • Story: Charles Martel : A Biography

    <p><font size="4"><strong>Charles Martel</strong></font></p><p><strong>Charles Martel</strong> (Latin: <span><em>Carolus Martellus</em></span>) (ca. 688 &ndash; 22 October 741),<sup><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></sup><sup><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></sup><sup><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></sup><sup><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></sup><sup><span>[</span>5<span>]</span></sup> literally <strong>Charles the Hammer</strong>, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled <em>de facto</em> during an interregnum (737&ndash;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.<sup><span>[</span>6<span>]</span></sup> He is 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.<sup><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></sup></p><p>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.<sup><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></sup><sup><span>[</span>9<span>]</span></sup> He was also the grandfather of Charlemagne.</p><p><span><font size="4"><strong>Birth and youth</strong></font></span></p><p>Martel was born in Heristal (Herstal in present-day Belgium), the illegitimate son of the mayor, duke Pepin II and his concubine Alpaida.<sup><span>[</span>10<span>]</span></sup></p><p>The following tale is told of Charles and the origins of his name:<sup style="white-space: nowrap">[<em>citation needed</em>]</sup> in 676, Pepin and his wife Plectrude were talking together in private when they were intruded upon by a messenger, bringing news that the Mayor&#39;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: &quot;Long live the king, it is a <em>carl</em>&quot; (&#39;man&#39;). Pepin, equally cautious of his wife, dismissed the messenger as follows: &quot;A <em>carl</em>, is it? Then let him be called that.&quot; This was done, and, so legend claims, the child was named &quot;Carl&quot;. In German-speaking countries he is known as <strong>Karl Martell</strong>. Alpaida also bore Pepin another son, Childebrand.</p><span>Contesting for power</span><span><p><font size="2">In December 714, </font><font size="2">Pepin of Heristal</font><font size="2"> died. Prior to his death, he had, at his wife Plectrude&#39;s urging, designated </font><font size="2">Theudoald</font><font size="2">, his grandson by their son </font><font size="2">Grimoald</font><font size="2">, 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 imprisoned in </font><font size="2">Cologne</font><font size="2">, the city which was destined to be her capital. This prevented an uprising on his behalf in </font><font size="2">Austrasia</font><font size="2">, but not in </font><font size="2">Neustria</font><font size="2">.</font></p><span><font size="5">Civil war of 715-718</font></span><p><font size="2">In 715, the Neustrian noblesse proclaimed </font><font size="2">Ragenfrid</font><font size="2"> </font><font size="2">mayor of their palace</font><font size="2"> on behalf of, and apparently with the support of, </font><font size="2">Dagobert III</font><font size="2">, the young king, who in theory had the legal authority to select a mayor, though by this time the </font><font size="2">Merovingian</font><font size="2"> dynasty had lost most such powers.</font></p><p><font size="2">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 </font><font size="2">Chilperic II</font><font size="2"> king without the support of the rest of the Frankish people.</font></p><p><font size="2">In 717, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia. The Neustrians allied with another invading force under </font><font size="2">Radbod, King of the Frisians</font><font size="2"> 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 </font><font size="2">Eifel</font><font size="2"> 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&#39;s behalf.</font></p><span><font size="5">Military genius</font></span><p><font size="2">At this juncture, however, events turned in favor of Charles. Having made the proper preparations, he fell upon the triumphant army near </font><font size="2">Malmedy</font><font size="2"> as it was returning to its own province, and, in the ensuing </font><font size="2">Battle of Ambl&egrave;ve</font><font size="2">, routed it. 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 <em>where</em> his enemies least expected him, while they were marching triumphantly home and far outnumbered him. He also attacked <em>when</em> least expected, at midday, when armies of that era traditionally were resting. Finally, he attacked them <em>how</em> 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&mdash;it was a traditionally eastern tactic&mdash;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. The result was an unbroken victory streak that lasted until his death.</font></p><p><font size="2">In Spring 717, Charles returned to Neustria with an army and confirmed his supremacy with a victory at the </font><font size="2">Battle of Vincy</font><font size="2">, near </font><font size="2">Cambrai</font><font size="2">. He chased the fleeing king and mayor to </font><font size="2">Paris</font><font size="2">, 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&mdash;unusual for those </font><font size="2">Dark Ages</font><font size="2">, when mercy to a former jailer, or a potential rival, was rare. On this success, he proclaimed </font><font size="2">Clotaire IV</font><font size="2"> king of </font><font size="2">Austrasia</font><font size="2"> in opposition to Chilperic and deposed the </font><font size="2">archbishop of Rheims</font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2">Rigobert</font><font size="2">, replacing him with </font><font size="2">Milo</font><font size="2">, a lifelong supporter.</font></p><span>Consolidation of power</span><p><font size="2">After subjugating all </font><font size="2">Austrasia</font><font size="2">, he marched against </font><font size="2">Radbod</font><font size="2"> and pushed him back into his territory, even forcing the concession of </font><font size="2">West Frisia</font><font size="2"> (later </font><font size="2">Holland</font><font size="2">). He also sent the </font><font size="2">Saxons</font><font size="2"> back over the </font><font size="2">Weser</font><font size="2"> and thus secured his borders&mdash;in the name of the new king Clotaire, of course. In 718, Chilperic responded to Charles&#39; new ascendancy by making an alliance with </font><font size="2">Odo the Great</font><font size="2"> (or Eudes, as he is sometimes known), the </font><font size="2">duke of Aquitaine</font><font size="2">, who had made himself independent during the civil war in 715, but was again defeated, at the </font><font size="2">Battle of Soissons</font><font size="2">, by Charles. The king fled with his ducal ally to the land south of the </font><font size="2">Loire</font><font size="2"> and Ragenfrid fled to </font><font size="2">Angers</font><font size="2">. 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).</font></p><p><span>Foreign wars from 718-732</span></p><p><font size="2">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 </font><font size="2">Echternach</font><font size="2">), he subjugated </font><font size="2">Bavaria</font><font size="2"> and </font><font size="2">Alemannia</font><font size="2">, and he defeated the pagan </font><font size="2">Saxons</font><font size="2">.</font></p><p><font size="2">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 </font><font size="2">Weser</font><font size="2">, the </font><font size="2">Lippe</font><font size="2">, and the </font><font size="2">Ruhr</font><font size="2">. He defeated them in the </font><font size="2">Teutoburg Forest</font><font size="2">. In 719, Charles seized </font><font size="2">West Frisia</font><font size="2"> without any great resistance on the part of the </font><font size="2">Frisians</font><font size="2">, 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, </font><font size="2">Aldegisel</font><font size="2">, accepted Christianity, and Charles sent </font><font size="2">Willibrord</font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2">bishop of Utrecht</font><font size="2">, the famous &quot;Apostle to the Frisians&quot; to convert the people. Charles also did much to support Winfrid, later </font><font size="2">Saint Boniface</font><font size="2">, the &quot;Apostle of the Germans.&quot;</font></p><p><font size="2">When Chilperic II died the following year (720), Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, </font><font size="2">Theuderic IV</font><font size="2">, who was still a minor, and who occupied the throne from 720 to 737. Charles was now appointing the kings whom he supposedly served, <em>rois fain&eacute;ants</em> who were mere puppets in his hands; by the end of his reign they were so useless that he didn&#39;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&#39; reign.</font></p><p><font size="2">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 </font><font size="2">Agilolfing</font><font size="2"> dukes had gradually evolved into independent rulers, recently in alliance with </font><font size="2">Liutprand the Lombard</font><font size="2">. He forced the </font><font size="2">Alemanni</font><font size="2"> to accompany him, and Duke </font><font size="2">Hugbert</font><font size="2"> 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 </font><font size="2">Lantfrid</font><font size="2">, 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.</font></p><p><font size="2">But by 731, his own realm secure, Charles began to prepare exclusively for the coming storm from the south and west.</font></p><p><font size="2">In 721, the </font><font size="2">emir of C&oacute;rdoba</font><font size="2"> had built up a strong army from </font><font size="2">Morocco</font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2">Yemen</font><font size="2">, and </font><font size="2">Syria</font><font size="2"> 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&#39;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 </font><font size="2">Battle of Toulouse</font><font size="2">. This critical defeat was essentially the result of a classic enveloping movement by Odo&#39;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.</font></p><p><font size="2">Due to the situation in Iberia, Martel believed he needed a virtually fulltime army&mdash;one he could train intensely&mdash;as a core of veteran Franks who would be augmented with the usual conscripts called up in time of war. (During the </font><font size="2">Early Middle Ages</font><font size="2">, 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 <em>ecclesia</em> 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.</font></p><span><font size="5">Eve of Tours</font></span><p><font size="2">Historian </font><font size="2">Paul K. Davis</font><font size="2"> said in <em>100 Decisive Battles</em> &quot;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.&quot; Martel then concentrated his attention to the Umayyads, virtually for the remainder of his life.<sup><span>[</span>11<span>]</span></sup> Indeed, 12 years later, when he had thrice rescued Gaul from Umayyad invasions, </font><font size="2">Antonio Santosuosso</font><font size="2"> noted when he destroyed an Umayyad army sent to reinforce the invasion forces of the 735 campaigns, &quot;Charles Martel again came to the rescue&quot;.<sup><span>[</span>12<span>]</span></sup> It has been noted that Charles Martel could have pursued the wars against the Saxons&mdash;but he was determined to prepare for what he thought was a greater danger.</font></p><p><font size="2">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&#39;s fall. They considered the Germanic tribes,arly 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&#39;s catastrophic defeat.</font></p><span>Battle of Tours</span><span><span>Leadup and importance</span> <blockquote><div><font size="2">&quot;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.&quot;<sup><span>[</span>13<span>]</span></sup></font></div><div><font size="2">&mdash;</font><font size="2">Edward Shepherd Creasy</font><font size="2">,&nbsp;<em>The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World</em></font></div></blockquote><p><font size="2">The </font><font size="2">Cordoban</font><font size="2"> </font><font size="2">emirate</font><font size="2"> had previously invaded </font><font size="2">Gaul</font><font size="2"> and had been stopped in its northward sweep at the </font><font size="2">Battle of Toulouse</font><font size="2">, in 721. The hero of that less celebrated event had been </font><font size="2">Odo the Great</font><font size="2">, 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 </font><font size="2">emir of Cordoba</font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2">Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi</font><font size="2">, who brought with him a huge force of Arabs and </font><font size="2">Berber</font><font size="2"> 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&#39;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 </font><font size="2">Battle of the River Garonne</font><font size="2">&mdash;Western chroniclers state, &quot;God alone knows the number of the slain&quot;&mdash; and the city of Bordeaux was sacked and looted. Odo fled to Charles, seeking help. Charles agreed to come to Odo&#39;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&#39;s forces at Tours.</font></p><p><font size="2">The </font><font size="2">Battle of Tours</font><font size="2"> earned Charles the </font><font size="2">cognomen</font><font size="2"> &quot;Martel&quot; (&#39;Hammer&#39;), for the merciless way he hammered his enemies. Many historians, including </font><font size="2">Sir Edward Creasy</font><font size="2">, believe that had he failed at Tours, </font><font size="2">Islam</font><font size="2"> would probably have overrun </font><font size="2">Gaul</font><font size="2">, and perhaps the remainder of Western Europe. </font><font size="2">Gibbon</font><font size="2"> 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 &quot;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&quot; (bearing in mind that Arab-Islamic invaders had already forcibly converted most of the population of North Africa and the Middle East, which had been the cradle of Christianity, almost completely eliminated the Zoroastrians from Persia and destroyed the Royal Zoroastrian libraries, and that Muslim invaders would later demolish or destroy thousands of Buddhist and Hindu places of worship and learning within the Indian subcontinent). Gibbon&#39;s belief that the fate of Christianity hinged on this battle is echoed by other historians including </font><font size="2">John B. Bury</font><font size="2">, and was very popular for most of modern historiography. It fell somewhat out of style in the twentieth century, when historians such as </font><font size="2">Bernard Lewis</font><font size="2"> 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 </font><font size="2">William Watson</font><font size="2">, still believe this battle was one of macrohistorical world-changing importance, if they do not go so far as Gibbon does rhetorically.</font></p><p><font size="2">In the modern era, </font><font size="2">Matthew Bennett</font><font size="2"> and his co-authors of <em>&quot;Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World&quot;</em>, published in 2005, argue that &quot;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.&quot; Michael Grant, author of &quot;<em>History of Rome</em>&quot;, grants the Battle of Tours such importance that he lists it in the macrohistorical dates of the Roman era.</font></p><p><font size="2">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 </font><font size="2">Dexter B. Wakefield</font><font size="2"> who writes in <em>An Islamic Europe</em></font></p>&ldquo;A Muslim France? Historically, it nearly happened. But as a result of Martel&rsquo;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.&quot;<sup><span>[</span>14<span>]</span></sup>&rdquo;<p><font size="2">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 </font><font size="2">Renaissance</font><font size="2">. Certainly all historians agree that no power would have remained in Europe able to halt Islamic expansion had the Franks failed. </font><font size="2">William E. Watson</font><font size="2">, 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&#39;s importance in Frankish, and world, history in 1993:</font></p>&ldquo;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 &quot;do-nothing&quot; 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 &lsquo;Abd ar-Rahman been victorious at Tours-Poitiers in 732.<sup><span>[</span>15<span>]</span></sup>&rdquo;<p><font size="2">The final camp of Western historians believe that the importance of the battle is dramatically overstated. This view is typified by Alessandro Barbero, who writes, &quot;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&quot;.<sup><span>[</span>16<span>]</span></sup> Similarly, Tomaž Mastnak writes:</font></p>&ldquo;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&#39;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&#39;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.<sup><span>[</span>17<span>]</span></sup>&rdquo;<p><font size="2">However, it is vital to note, when assessing Charles Martel&#39;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 European history. Modern military historian </font><font size="2">Victor Davis Hanson</font><font size="2"> acknowledges the debate on this battle, citing historians both for and against its macrohistorical placement:</font></p>&ldquo;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.&quot;.<sup><span>[</span>18<span>]</span></sup>&rdquo;<span>After Tours</span><p><font size="4">In </font><font size="2">the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, </font><font size="2">Aquitaine</font><font size="2"> and </font><font size="2">Provence</font><font size="2">. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the </font><font size="2">Frisians</font><font size="2"> and </font><font size="2">Saxons</font><font size="2"> 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.</font></p><p><font size="2">So instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he continued expanding Frankish authority in the west, and denying the Emirate of C&oacute;rdoba 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.</font></p><span>Wars from 732-737</span><p><font size="2">Between his victory of 732 and 735, Charles reorganized the kingdom of </font><font size="2">Burgundy</font><font size="2">, replacing the counts and dukes with his loyal supporters, thus strengthening his hold on power. He was forced, by the ventures of </font><font size="2">Radbod</font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2">duke of the Frisians</font><font size="2"> (719-734), son of the Duke Aldegisel who had accepted the </font><font size="2">missionaries</font><font size="2"> 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 </font><font size="2">battle of the Boarn</font><font size="2"> and so wholly subjugated the populace (he destroyed every pagan shrine) that the people were peaceful for twenty years after.</font></p><p><font size="2">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&#39;s son, </font><font size="2">Hunald of Aquitaine</font><font size="2">, 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.</font></p><p><font size="2">This naval Arab invasion was headed by Abdul Rahman&#39;s son. It landed in </font><font size="2">Narbonne</font><font size="2"> in 736 and moved at once to reinforce </font><font size="2">Arles</font><font size="2"> and move inland. Charles temporarily put the conflict with Hunold on hold, and descended on the Proven&ccedil;al strongholds of the Umayyads. In 736, he retook </font><font size="2">Montfrin</font><font size="2"> and </font><font size="2">Avignon</font><font size="2">, and Arles and </font><font size="2">Aix-en-Provence</font><font size="2"> with the help of </font><font size="2">Liutprand, King of the Lombards</font><font size="2">. </font><font size="2">N&icirc;mes</font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2">Agde</font><font size="2">, and </font><font size="2">B&eacute;ziers</font><font size="2">, 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&mdash;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.</font></p><p><font size="2">Notable about these campaigns was Charles&#39; incorporation, for the first time, of heavy cavalry with stirrups to augment his </font><font size="2">phalanx</font><font size="2">. 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 <em>Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels</em>, </font><font size="2">Antonio Santosuosso</font><font size="2">, Professor Emeritus of History at the </font><font size="2">University of Western Ontario</font><font size="2">, 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&#39;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 </font><font size="2">Western monasticism</font><font size="2">, the monasteries of which were the centers of learning which ultimately led Europe out of her </font><font size="2">Middle Ages</font><font size="2">. 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.</font></p><p><font size="2">Further, unlike his father at Tours, Rahman&#39;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 </font><font size="2">Narbonne</font><font size="2"> in 736 and heavily reinforced </font><font size="2">Arles</font><font size="2"> 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&#39;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 </font><font size="2">Battle of the Zab</font><font size="2">, and the rending of the Caliphate forever, especially the utter destruction of the Umayyad army at River Berre near Narbonne in 737.</font></p><span><font size="5">Interregnum</font></span><p><font size="2">In 737, at the tail end of his campaigning in Provence and </font><font size="2">Septimania</font><font size="2">, the king, Theuderic IV, died. Martel, titling himself <em>maior domus</em> and <em>princeps et dux Francorum</em>, did not appoint a new king and nobody acclaimed one. The throne lay vacant until Martel&#39;s death. As the historian </font><font size="2">Charles Oman</font><font size="2"> says (<em>The Dark Ages</em>, pg 297), &quot;he cared not for name or style so long as the real power was in his hands.&quot;</font></p><p><font size="2">Gibbon has said Martel was &quot;content with the titles of Mayor or Duke of the Franks, but he deserved to become the father of a line of kings,&quot; which he did. Gibbon also says of him, &quot;in the public danger, he was summoned by the voice of his country.&quot;</font></p><p><font size="2">The interregnum, the final four years of Charles&#39; 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 </font><font size="2">Westphalia</font><font size="2"> 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 (</font><font size="2">Salzburg</font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2">Regensburg</font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2">Freising</font><font size="2">, and </font><font size="2">Passau</font><font size="2">) and gave them Boniface as </font><font size="2">archbishop</font><font size="2"> and </font><font size="2">metropolitan</font><font size="2"> over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at </font><font size="2">Mainz</font><font size="2">. 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, </font><font size="2">Pope Gregory III</font><font size="2"> begged Charles for his aid against Liutprand, but Charles was loath 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.</font></p><p><span>Death</span></p><span><p><font size="2">Charles Martel died on October 22, 741, at </font><font size="2">Quierzy-sur-Oise</font><font size="2"> in what is today the </font><font size="2">Aisne</font><font size="2"> <em>d&eacute;partement</em> in the </font><font size="2">Picardy</font><font size="2"> region of France. He was buried at </font><font size="2">Saint Denis Basilica</font><font size="2"> in </font><font size="2">Paris</font><font size="2">. His territories were divided among his adult sons a year earlier: to </font><font size="2">Carloman</font><font size="2"> he gave Austrasia and Alemannia (with Bavaria as a vassal), to </font><font size="2">Pippin the Younger</font><font size="2"> Neustria and Burgundy (with Aquitaine as a vassal), and to </font><font size="2">Grifo</font><font size="2"> nothing, though some sources indicate he intended to give him a strip of land between Neustria and Austrasia.</font></p><p><font size="2">Gibbon called him &quot;the hero of the age&quot; and declared &quot;Christendom ... delivered ... by the genius and good fortune of one man, Charles Martel.&quot;</font></p></span></span></span>

 
 
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