General Notes

1  NAME Karl /Martel/
1  BIRT
2  DATE ABT. 675
bk&q p 724 [R18] -- List of French kings, "Mayor of the Palace who assum
ed royal control."
ema p 114-5 "Pepin died in 714, but to succeed his father, Charles Mart
el had to overcome the threat
posed by Pepin's widow Plectrud and her grandsons, since Charles Martel hi
mself was the son of a wife or concubine of Pepin of Liege.  By 718, aid
ed by noble allies, Charles had triumphed, gaining not only his father's o
ffice, but also the treasure that Pepin II had amassed. In 719, he vanquis
hed the Neustrians and their  ally  Odo  of AQUITAINE.  He  retrieved  t
he Merovingian Chilperic II (reigned 715-721), who
had fled to join Odo in 717. Charles had to engage in continual struggl
es to maintain his power and was
forced to tolerate the autonomy of various princes, secular and ecclesiast
ical. The extent to which he drew on the wealth of the Church to support t
he armies he raised is debated. He attacked and despoiled the lands of Bis
hop Eucherius of Orleans, and he was censured for this. It was, however, C
harles's son and successor, PEPIN, who in 741 seized most of the lands t
he bishop had controlled. Still, by the ninth century it was convenie
nt to blame Charles Martel for all losses of Church property that had tak
en place since his day.
The Merovingian kings Chilperic II and his successor THEUDERIC IV (re
igned 721-737) were mere figureheads, although they had talismanic utili
ty when armies had to be raised. These armies were led by Charles Marte
l. He attacked the Saxons, Alemans, and Bavarians. As a result of his camp
aigns, in 734 the pagan Frisians were said to be close to extinction. He e
rected fortresses and colonized border regions. He encouraged the missiona
ry activity of the English Wynfrith (680-754), commissioned in 719 by Po
pe Gregory II (reigned 715-732) to bring Roman Christianity to Germany a
nd given the name Boniface. Charles Martel's most spectacular success w
as his victory near Poitiers in 732, where he triumphed over an invading I
slamic army from Spain.  Although in 721 Odo of Aquitaine had repulsed t
he Arabs before Toulouse, this victory was not decisive, and in 732 Odo ap
pealed for Charles' aid.  After his victory, Charles used his army n
ot to pursue the Arabs, but to attack some unruly bishops, including Euche
rius of Orleans.  In later years, Charles himself became the plunder
er of Aquitaine and Provence, especially after the death of Odo in 73
5.  He razed cities and laid waste to the countryside in campaigns that re
called his conquest of Bavaria, Burgundy, and Saxony.
In 739 Pope Gregory III sent an embassy to Charles to present him wi
th gifts that included keys to the tomb of Saint Peter in hopes of gaini
ng his aid in the papal conflict with the Lombards.  The Lombard king, Liu
tprand, had come to Charles' aid in Province, however, and had made Charl
es son PEPIN his adoptive son-in-arms.  Thus, although Charles sent an emb
assy to Rome, he does not seem to have responded positively to the pope
's request.  Within fifty years, however, Pepin and his son Charlemagne wo
uld accomplish the destruction of the Lombards, which the popes consider
ed essential to their survival.
In 737, the Merovingian king THEUDERIC died.  From then until his dea
th in 741, Charles Martel ruled alone, as chief of the Franks, without a k
ing.  Realizing that the united kingdom he had created would be threaten
ed after his death, he planned its division.  He first decided to divi
de it between CARLOMAN and PEPIN, the sons borne by his first wife, CHROTR
UD.  Shortly before his death, however, he decided to endow his son Grif
o, the son of his second wife, a Bavarian, who also bore him a daughter Ch
iltrud.  Because of this decision, the power Charles Martel had amassed w
as threatened with dissipation after his death.  Grifo was imprisoned by h
is brothers, and his lands divided along lines that mingl