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Charles Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus) (c. 688 – 22 October 741), literally 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 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.
Martel was born in Heristal (Herstal in present day Belgium), the illegitimate son of the mayor, duke Pepin II and his concubine Alpaida. In German speaking countries he is known as Karl Martell. Alpaida also bore Pepin another son, Childebrand. 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 imprisoned in Cologne, the city which was destined to be her capital. This prevented an uprising on his behalf in Austrasia, but not in Neustria. 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 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. At
this juncture, however, events turned in favor 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. The few troops who were not killed or captured 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. 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.
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
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 731, 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. 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. 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. 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 — 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. Many historians, including Sir Edward Creasy, believe that had he failed at Tours, Islam would probably have overrun Gaul, and perhaps the remainder of Western 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 20th 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. 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: 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, "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 European history. Modern military historian Victor Davis Hanson acknowledges the debate on this battle, citing historians both for and against its macrohistorical placement: 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. 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, Hunald of Aquitaine,
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 Narbonne 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. 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 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. 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." 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 non-Christian
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 which time 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: 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, 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 730s: In the Netherlands, a vital part of the Carolingian Empire, and elsewhere 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. Although it took another two decades 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. 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. Carolingians called this region of modern day Spain "The Moorish
Marches", and saw it as more than a simple check on the Muslims in
Hispania. It formed a permanent buffer zone against Islam and became the basis, along with the efforts of Pelayo (Latin: Pelagius) and his descendants, for the Reconquista. 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." 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 life and freedom "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 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. 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." H. G. Wells says of Charles Martel's decisive defeat of the Muslims in his "Short History of the World: John H. Haaren says in “Famous Men of the Middle Ages” 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. J.M. Roberts says of Charles Martel in his note on the Carolingians in his 1993 History of the World: 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." |