• General Notes

  Burial: Monastery,St Denis,Seine,France
  Charles 'Martel', Mayor Of The Palace Of Austrasia ruled the Merovingian Franks from A.D. 719 to 741. He used only the title of Mayor of the Palace, but he actually had the power of a king. Most of the lawful Frankish kings of this period were weak. In 732, Charles defeated the invading Moslems in the famous Battle of Tours near Poitiers. For repeatedly attacking the Moslems, Charles later received the title of Martel, meaning the Hammer. He built an army of mounted men by seizing church
  estates. Charles supported Saint Boniface in his reform of the Frankish church
  Charles reigned ca 715 - 741. Defeated at first, but soon victorious over all his enemies, Charles reduced nearly all the rebellious tribes to obedience, not only those just named, but also the Bavarians and Alamanni. His greatest service to civilization was the glorious victory over the Arabs between Tours and Poitiers (732), which earned him the name of Martel, the hammer. This conquest saved Christianity and preserved Europe from the power of the Mussulmans. It was not, however, Charles's last encounter with the Arabs; he banished them from Provence and in 739 defeated them again on the banks of the Berre near Narbonne. This sovereign, whose exclusively military career consisted in restoring, by dint of force, an empire that was crumbling away, could not escape the accusation of having abetted violence in others and resorted to it himself. He has especially been charged with secularizing many ecclesiastical estates, which he took from churches and abbeys and gave in fief to his warriors as a recompense for their services. This land actually remained the property of the ecclesiastical establishments in questions but its hereditary usufruct was assured to the new occupants. This expedient enabled Charles Martel to collect an army and secure faithful followers. Another no less censurable practice was that of conferring the highest ecclesiastical dignities whose only right was that they were loyal soldiers of Charles Martel. However, it must be remembered that those measures enabled him to muster the forces with which he saved Christian civilization at Tours. He also aided efficaciously St. Boniface in his project of spreading the Christian Faith throughout Germany. Such were the popularity and prestige of Charles that when, in 737, King Theuderic IV died, he saw no necessity of providing a successor for him, and reigned alone. He died at Quierzy-sur-Oise 21 October, 741, after having divided the provinces between his two sons: Carloman received Austrasia with its Germanic dependencies, and Pepin III, Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence, while Grifon, a natural son, was excluded from the succession as Charles himself had been.

Details of Charles "The Hammer" Martel's family with  Sonichilde (Sunihilde) (Swanhilde)  d'Agilolfinges