General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> The /Hammer/
REFN: 7089AN
Charles Martel was born August 23, 676 in Heristal, Alsace, France and di
ed o n October 22, 741. He was Mayor of the Palace of the kingdom of the
Franks. Martel is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours (more co
rrectly the Battle of Poitiers) in 732, which has been characterized as t
he salvation of Europe from the Arab menace. Martel's Frankish army defeat
ed an Arab army fighting to spread Islam, which had swept through southern
Asia and north Afric a, before conquering most of the Iberian peninsula a
nd much of southern France. Although it took another two generations for t
he Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of what is now France and ac
ross the Pyrenees. Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil tu
rned the tiDe of Islamic advance, and the unification of the Frankish king
dom under Charles Martel, his son Pi ppin the Short, and his grandson Char
lemagne prevented
the Ummayad kingdom fr om expanding over the Pyrenees. Charles Martel (Mar
tel means "the Hammer") was the son of Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Pal
ace of Austrasia, and his conc ubine Alpaida. On Pippin's death in 714, t
he succession passed to an infant grandson, Theodoald. The faction of Aust
rasian nobles who supported Theodoald was led by his stepmother, Pippin
's widow, Plectrude. Charles, who was already an adult, led a rival facti
on and prevailed in a series of battles agains t both invading Neustrian F
ranks and the forces of Plectrude. Between 718 and 723, Charles secured h
is power through a
series of victories and by winning the loyalty of several important cleric
s. This he accomplished in part by don ating lands and money for the found
ations of abbeys such as Echternach. In t he subsequent decade, Charles l
ed the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, a
nd the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence ( in Avignon, Nîmes, Montf
rin (736),...). He dealt with the ongoing conflict wi th the Saxons to h
is northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Sa xons and the
ir incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his gran dson Cha
rlemagne. Charles Martel's wives were (1) Chrotrud or RotruDe (690-724 ) (
mother of Pippin and Carloman), and (2) Swanachild. Charles Martel di
ed o n October 22, 741, at Quierzy in what is today the Aisne départeme
nt in the P icardy region of France. He was interred at Saint Denis Basili
ca in Paris, France. He was succeeded by his sons, Carloman, Pippin the Sh
ort, and Grifo.
Charles Martel (Charles "the Hammer", German: Karl Martell) (August 23, 6
86 – October 22, 741) was born in Herstal, in what is now Wallonia, Belgiu
m, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle (635 or 640-December 16, 71
4) and his concubine Alpaida or Chalpaida.
Although he was Mayor of the Palace of the three kingdoms of the Franks, M
artel is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which h
as traditionally been characterized as saving Europe from the Emirate of C
ordoba's expansion beyond the Iberian Peninsula. Martel's Frankish army de
feated an Arab army, which had crushed all resistance before it. The Cordo
ban Emirate had previously invaded Gaul and had been stopped in its northw
ard sweep at the Battle of Toulouse (721). The hero of that less celebrat
ed event had been duke Odo of Aquitaine, who was not the progenitor of a r
ace of kings and patrons of chroniclers, however. In the interim, the arri
val of a new emir to Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who brought with h
im a huge force of Arabs and Berber horsemen, triggered a far greater inva
sion. Odo, hero of Toulouse, was badly defeated in the Muslim invasi
on of 732 at the Battle of the River Garonne, where the western chronicle
rs stated, "God alone knows the number of the slain," and fled to Charle
s, seeking help. Thus, Odo faded into history, and Charles marched into it
.
Main article Battle