| Revision as of 21:49, 3 December 2001 editThe_ansible (talk) minor typo← Previous edit | Revision as of 00:08, 22 January 2002 edit undo24.168.199.xxx (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| (]-]), Mayor of the Palace of the Kingdom of the ]. | (]-]), Mayor of the Palace of the Kingdom of the ]. | ||
| '''Charles Martel''' is best remembered for winning the ], which has been romanticized as the salvation of Europe from the Arab menace. |
'''Charles Martel''' is best remembered for winning the ], which has been romanticized as the salvation of Europe from the Arab menace. Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of what is now France and across the ], Martel's Frankish army defeated an Arab army of invasion on French soil, and stopped the invasions that had already conquered what is now Spain and much of Southern France. Martel's victory turned the tide of Islamic advance, and the unification of the Frankish kingdom under Charles Martel, his son ] and his grandson ] put a final end to the Arab threat to Europe. | ||
Revision as of 00:08, 22 January 2002
(688-741), Mayor of the Palace of the Kingdom of the Franks.
Charles Martel is best remembered for winning the Battle of Poitiers, which has been romanticized as the salvation of Europe from the Arab menace. 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, Martel's Frankish army defeated an Arab army of invasion on French soil, and stopped the invasions that had already conquered what is now Spain and much of Southern France. Martel's victory turned the tide of Islamic advance, and the unification of the Frankish kingdom under Charles Martel, his son Pepin the short and his grandson Charlemagne put a final end to the Arab threat to Europe.
Charles Martel (Martel, the Hammer ) was the (most likely) illegitimate son of Pepin II, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia and his concubine Alpaida. On the death of Pepin in 717 the succession was passed to an infant grandson. The faction of Austrasian nobles who supported him were led by his stepmother, Pepin'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, Charles secured his power through a series of victories and by winning the loyalty of several important clerics. This he accomplished in no little way by donating lands and money for the foundations of abbeys such as Echternach.
In the subsequent decade Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern - Bavaria, Alamania - and southern - Aquitaine, Provence - duchies. He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Saxons to his north east with some success, but full subjugation and incorporation of the Saxons into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne.
/Talk