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{{Short description|Frankish military and political leader (c. 688–741)}}
{{About|the Frankish ruler}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Charles Martel
| title        = {{noitalic|{{ubl|[[Duke and Prince of the Franks]]|[[Mayor of the Palace]]}}}}
| image        = Charles Martel divise le royaume entre Pépin et Carloman.jpg
| caption      = 14th century depiction of Charles Martel dividing the realm between his sons, [[Pepin the Short|Pepin]] and [[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]], from the [[Grandes Chroniques de France]]
| succession   = [[Duke and Prince of the Franks]]
| reign        = 718 – 22 October 741
| predecessor  = [[Pepin of Herstal]]
| successor    = {{plainlist|
*[[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]]
*[[Pepin the Short]]
}}
| succession1  = [[Mayor of the Palace]] of [[Austrasia]]
| reign1       = 715 – 22 October 741
| predecessor1 = [[Theudoald]]
| successor1   = [[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]]
| succession2  = [[Mayor of the Palace]] of [[Neustria]]
| reign2       = 718 – 22 October 741
| predecessor2 = [[Ragenfrid|Raganfrid]]
| successor2   = [[Pepin the Short]]
| spouse       = {{plainlist|
* [[Rotrude of Hesbaye|Rotrude of Trier]]
* [[Swanachild]]
}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
* [[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]]
* [[Pepin the Short]]
* [[Grifo (noble)|Grifo]]
* [[Bernard, son of Charles Martel|Bernard]]
* [[Hieronymus, son of Charles Martel|Hieronymus]]
* [[Remigius of Rouen]]
* [[Hiltrud]]
* [[Auda of France|Auda]]
}}
| house        = [[Arnulfings]] <br/>[[Carolingian]] (founder)
| father       = [[Pepin of Herstal]]
| mother       = [[Alpaida]]
| birth_date   = 23 August c. 686 or 688<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fouracre |first=Paul |date=2000 |title=The Age of Charles Martel |location=Harlow, England |publisher=Longman |pages=1, 55 |isbn=0582064759 |oclc=43634337}}</ref>
| birth_place  = [[Herstal]], [[Austrasia]]
| death_date   = 22 October 741
| death_place  = [[Quierzy]], [[Frankish Empire]]
| place of burial = [[Basilica of St Denis]]
| signature    = 
}}
{{Campaignbox Charles Martel}}

'''Charles Martel''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ɑr|ˈ|t|ɛ|l}}; {{circa|688}} – 22 October 741),<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Charles Martel |volume= 5 |last= Pfister |first= Christian |author-link= Christian Pfister | pages = 942–943 }}</ref> ''Martel'' being an [[Old French]] [[sobriquet]] meaning "The Hammer", was a [[Franks|Frankish]] political and military leader who, as [[Duke of the Franks|Duke and Prince of the Franks]] and [[Mayor of the palace|Mayor of the Palace]], was the de facto ruler of the Franks from 718 until his death.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schulman |first=Jana K. |title=The Rise of the Medieval World, 500–1300: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_jLbHTM_zgC&pg=PA101 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 |page=101 |isbn=0-313-30817-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cawthorne |first=Nigel |author-link=Nigel Cawthorne |title=Military Commanders: The 100 Greatest Throughout History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-QawgVmYn8C&pg=PA52 |publisher=Enchanted Lion Books |year=2004 |pages=52–53 |isbn=1-59270-029-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kibler |first1=William W. |last2=Zinn |first2=Grover A. |title=Medieval France: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4qFY1jpF2JAC&pg=PA205 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1995 |pages=205–206 |isbn=0-8240-4444-4}}</ref> He was a son of the Frankish statesman [[Pepin of Herstal]] and a noblewoman named [[Alpaida]]. Charles successfully asserted his claims to power as successor to his father as the [[power behind the throne]] in Frankish politics. Continuing and building on his father's work, he restored [[centralized government]] in Francia and began a series of military campaigns that re-established the Franks as the undisputed masters of all [[Gaul]]. According to the contemporary ''[[Liber Historiae Francorum]]'', Charles was "a warrior who was uncommonly ... effective in battle".<ref>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Fouracre |editor1-first=Paul |editor2-last=Gerberding |editor2-first=Richard A. |title=Late Merovingian France: history and hagiography, 640–720 |date=1996 |publisher=Manchester University Press |translator=Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding |isbn=0719047900 |location=Manchester |page=93 |oclc=32699266}}</ref>

Charles gained a victory against an [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] invasion of [[Aquitaine]] at the [[Battle of Tours]], and Charles is credited as an important factor in curtailing the [[spread of Islam]] in [[Western Europe]]. Alongside his military endeavours, Charles has been traditionally credited with an influential role in the development of the Frankish system of [[feudalism]].<ref>{{cite book|author1-last=White, Jr.|author1-first=Lynn|title=Medieval technology and social change|date=1962|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=London, England|pages=2–14}}</ref><ref>Mclaughlin, William, "[https://www.warhistoryonline.com/medieval/ed-ok-732-battle-tours-charles-martel-hammer-preserves-western-christianity.html 732 Battle of Tours]: Charles Martel the 'Hammer' preserves Western Christianity", War History Online.</ref>

At the end of his reign, Charles divided Francia between his sons, [[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]] and [[Pepin the Short|Pepin]]; Pepin became the first king of the [[Carolingian dynasty]]. Pepin's son [[Charlemagne]], grandson of Charles, extended the Frankish realms and became the first emperor in the West since the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]].<ref name="Fouracre00">Fouracre, Paul (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=WsNnAAAAMAAJ ''The Age of Charles Martel'']. London: Longman. {{ISBN|0-582-06475-9}}. Accessed 2 August 2015.{{page needed|date=August 2015}}</ref>

== Background ==
Charles, nicknamed "Martel" ("the Hammer") in later chronicles, was a son of [[Pepin of Herstal]] and his mistress, possibly second wife, [[Alpaida]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia|date=2002|publisher=Yorkin Publications|isbn=0-7876-4074-3|editor1-last=Commire|editor1-first=Anne|location=Waterford, Connecticut|chapter=Alphaida (c. 654–c. 714)|chapter-url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-2591300322.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924170313/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-2591300322.html|archive-date=2015-09-24|url-status=dead|chapter-url-access=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hanson|first=Victor Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C|title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power|date=2007-12-18|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|language=en}}</ref> He had a brother named [[Childebrand I|Childebrand]] who later became the Frankish ''dux'' (that is, ''duke'') of [[Duke of Burgundy|Burgundy]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Commire|first=Anne|date=2015-09-24|orig-year=2002|title=Alphaida (c. 654–c. 714) – Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-2591300322.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924170313/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-2591300322.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|access-date=2020-09-24|publisher=Yorkin Publications|publication-place=Waterford, Connecticut}}</ref> Charles was a great-grandson of [[Arnulf of Metz]].

Older historiography commonly describes Charles as "illegitimate", but the dividing line between wives and concubines was not clear-cut in 8th-century Francia. It is likely that the accusation of "illegitimacy" derives from the desire of Pepin's first wife [[Plectrude]] to see her progeny as heirs to Pepin's throne.<ref name="Matthiesen Verlag">{{cite book|author1-last=Joch|author1-first=Waltraud|title=Legitimität und Integration: Untersuchungen zu den Anfängen Karl Martells|date=1999|publisher=Matthiesen Verlag|location=Husum, Germany}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news|author1-last=Gerberding|author1-first=Richard A.|title=Review of ''Legitimität und Integration: Untersuchungen zu den Anfängen Karl Martells'' by Waltraud Joch|date=October 2002|journal=Speculum|volume=77|number=4|pages=1322–1323}}</ref>

By Charles's lifetime the [[Merovingian dynasty|Merovingian]]s had ceded power to the [[Mayor of the palace|mayors of the palace]] who controlled the royal treasury, dispensed patronage, and granted land and privileges in the name of the figurehead king. Pepin of Herstal had united the Frankish realm by conquering [[Neustria]] and [[Burgundy]]. Pepin was the first to call himself Duke and Prince of the Franks, a title later taken up by Charles.

== Contesting for power ==
[[File:Francia 714.png|thumb|350px|The Frankish kingdoms at the time of the death of Pepin of Herstal (714). Aquitaine (yellow) was outside Arnulfing authority and Neustria and Burgundy (pink) were united in opposition to further Arnulfing dominance of the highest offices. Only Austrasia (green) supported an Arnulfing mayor -- first Theudoald, then Charles. The German duchies to the east of the Rhine were ''de facto'' outside of Frankish suzerainty at this time.]]

In December 714 Pepin died.<ref name=Kurth>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06238a.htm Kurth, Godefroid. "The Franks." ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''] Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909</ref> A few months before his death and shortly after the murder of his son [[Grimoald the Younger]], he had taken the advice of Plectrude to designate as his sole heir [[Theudoald]], his grandson by Grimoald. This was immediately opposed by the Austrasian 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 intended to be her capital. This prevented an uprising on his behalf in [[Austrasia]], but not in Neustria.

=== Civil war of 715–718 ===
{{Carolingians|315px}}
Pepin's death occasioned open conflict between his heirs and the Neustrian nobles who sought political independence from Austrasian control. In 715 [[Dagobert III]] named [[Ragenfrid|Raganfrid]] as mayor of the palace over Neustria and Burgundy. On 26 September 715, Raganfrid's Neustrians met the young Theudoald's forces at the [[Battle of Compiègne]]. Theudoald was defeated and fled back to Cologne. Before the end of the year, Charles had escaped from prison and was acclaimed mayor of the palace over Austrasia.<ref name=Kurth /> Dagobert died in 715, and the Neustrians proclaimed [[Chilperic II]], the cloistered son of [[Childeric II]], as king.

==== Battle of Cologne ====
In 716, Chilperic and Raganfrid led an army into Austrasia intent on seizing the Pippinid wealth at Cologne. The Neustrians allied with another invading force under [[Radbod of Frisia|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 inevitable. Radbod held off Charles, while Chilperic and Raganfrid besieged Plectrude, where she bought them off with a substantial portion of Pepin's treasure. After that they withdrew.<ref name="Costambeys">Costambeys, Marios; Matthew Innes & MacLean, Simon (2011) ''The Carolingian World'', p. 43, Cambridge, GBR: Cambridge University Press, see [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0521563666], accessed 2 August 2015.</ref> The [[Battle of Cologne]] was the only defeat of Charles's career.

==== Battle of Amblève ====
Charles retreated to the hills of the [[Eifel]] to gather and train men. In April 716 he fell upon the triumphant army near [[Malmedy]] as it was returning to Neustria. In the ensuing [[Battle of Amblève]], Charles attacked as the enemy rested at midday. According to one source, he split his forces into several groups which fell at them from many sides.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qluMPHMHPfYC&q=Battle%20of%20Vincy%2C%20717&pg=PA148] Daniel, Gabriel. ''The History of France'', G. Strahan, 1726, p. 148]</ref> Another suggests that while this was his intention, he then decided that given the enemy's unpreparedness, this was not necessary. In any event, the suddenness of the assault led them to believe they were facing a much larger host. Many of the enemy fled, and Charles's troops gathered the spoils of the camp. His reputation increased considerably as a result, and he attracted more followers. This battle is often considered by historians as the turning point in Charles's struggle.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Age of Charles Martel|last=Fouracre|first=Paul|date=2000|publisher=Longman|isbn=0582064759|location=Harlow, England|pages=61|oclc=43634337}}</ref>

==== Battle of Vincy ====
[[Richard Gerberding]] points out that up to this time, much of Charles's support was probably from his mother's kindred in the lands around [[Liège]]. After Amblève, he seems to have won the backing of the influential [[Willibrord]], founder of the [[Abbey of Echternach]]. The abbey had been built on land donated by Plectrude's mother [[Irmina of Oeren]], but most of Willibrord's missionary work had been carried out in [[Frisia]]. In joining Chilperic and Raganfrid, Radbod sacked [[Utrecht]], burning churches and killing many missionaries. Willibrord and his monks were forced to flee to Echternach. Gerberding suggests that Willibrord had decided that the chances of preserving his life's work were better with a successful field commander like Charles than with Plectrude in Cologne. Willibrord subsequently baptized Charles's son [[Pepin the Short|Pepin]]. Gerberding suggests a likely date of Easter 716.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/716-crucial-year-charles-martel/| title = Gerberding, Richard. "716: A Crucial Year For Charles Martel", Medievalists.net, November 3, 2014| date = 3 November 2014}}</ref> Charles also received support from Bishop Pepo of Verdun.

Charles took time to rally more men and prepare. By the following spring, he had attracted enough support to invade Neustria. Charles sent an envoy who proposed a cessation of hostilities if Chilperic would recognize his rights as mayor of the palace in Austrasia. The refusal was not unexpected but served to impress upon Charles's forces the unreasonableness of the Neustrians. They met near [[Cambrai]] at the [[Battle of Vincy]] on 21 March 717. The victorious Charles pursued the fleeing king and mayor to Paris, but as he was not yet prepared to hold the city, he turned back to deal with Plectrude and Cologne. He took the city and dispersed her adherents. Plectrude was allowed to retire to a convent. Theudoald lived to 741 under Charles's protection.

== Consolidation of power ==
Upon this success, Charles proclaimed [[Chlothar IV]] king in Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic and deposed [[Rigobert]], [[Archdiocese of Reims|archbishop of Reims]], replacing him with [[Milo (bishop of Trier)|Milo]], a lifelong supporter. In 718 Chilperic responded to Charles's ascendancy by making an alliance with [[Odo the Great]], the [[duke of Aquitaine]], who had become independent during the civil war in 715. The alliance was defeated by Charles at the [[Battle of Soissons (718)|Battle of Soissons]].<ref name="Strauss">Strauss, Gustave Louis M. (1854) ''Moslem and Frank; or, Charles Martel and the rescue of Europe,'' Oxford, GBR:Oxford University Press, see [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4YBAAAAQAAJ], accessed 2 August 2015.{{page needed|date=August 2015}}</ref> Chilperic fled with Odo south of the [[Loire]], and Raganfrid fled to [[Angers]]. Odo then surrendered Chilperic in exchange for Charles recognizing his dukedom. Charles recognized Chilperic as king of the Franks in return for legitimate royal affirmation of his own mayoralty over all the kingdoms.

=== Wars of 718–732 ===
[[File:The Saracen Army outside Paris, 730-32 AD.png|thumb|250px|The Saracen Army outside Paris, 730–32, in an early-nineteenth-century depiction by [[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]].]]
Between 718 and 732, Charles secured his power through a series of victories. Having unified [[Francia]] under his banner, Charles was determined to punish the Saxons who had invaded Austrasia. In late 718 he laid waste their country to the banks of the [[Weser]], the [[Lippe (river)|Lippe]], and the [[Ruhr (river)|Ruhr]].<ref name=Kurth/> He defeated them in the [[Teutoburg Forest]] and thus secured the Frankish border.

When Radbod died in 719, Charles seized [[West Frisia]] without any great resistance on the part of the [[Frisians]], who had been subjected to the Franks but had rebelled upon the death of Pippin. When Chilperic II died in 721, Charles appointed as his successor the son of Dagobert III, [[Theuderic IV]], who occupied the throne from 721 to 737. Charles was now appointing the kings whom he supposedly served (''[[Roi fainéant|rois fainéants]]''). By the end of his reign, he did not appoint any at all. At this time, Charles again marched against the Saxons. Then the Neustrians rebelled under Raganfrid, who had left the County of Anjou. They were easily defeated in 724, but Raganfrid gave up his sons as hostages in turn for keeping his county. This ended the civil wars of Charles's reign.

The next six years were devoted to assuring Frankish authority over the neighboring political groups. Between 720 and 723, Charles was fighting in Bavaria, where the [[Agilolfings|Agilolfing]] dukes had gradually evolved into independent rulers, recently in alliance with [[Liutprand, King of the Lombards|Liutprand the Lombard]]. He forced the [[Alemanni]] to accompany him, and Duke [[Hugbert of Bavaria]] submitted to Frankish suzerainty. In 725 he brought back the Agilolfing Princess [[Swanachild]] as a second wife.

In 725 and 728, he again entered Bavaria, and in 730 he marched against [[Lanfredus|Lantfrid]], Duke of Alemannia, who had also become independent, and killed him in battle. He forced the Alemanni to capitulate 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.

== Aquitaine and the Battle of Tours in 732 ==
{{Main|Battle of Tours}}
In 731, after defeating the Saxons, Charles turned his attention to the rival southern realm of Aquitaine and crossed the Loire, breaking the treaty with Duke Odo. The Franks ransacked Aquitaine twice and captured [[Bourges]], although Odo retook it. The ''Continuations of Fredegar'' allege that Odo called on assistance from the recently established emirate of [[al-Andalus]], but there had been Arab raids into Aquitaine from the 720s onwards. Indeed, the anonymous [[Chronicle of 754]] records a victory for Odo in 721 at the [[Battle of Toulouse (721)|Battle of Toulouse]], while the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' records that Odo had killed 375,000 [[Saracen|Saracens]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Age of Charles Martel|last=Fouracre|first=Paul|date=2000|publisher=Longman|isbn=0582064759|location=Harlow, England|pages=84–5|oclc=43634337}}</ref> It is more likely that this invasion or raid took place in revenge for Odo's support for rebel [[Berbers|Berber]] leader [[Munuza|Munnuza]].

Whatever the circumstances were, it is clear that an army under the leadership of [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi|Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi]] headed north, and after some minor engagements marched on the wealthy city of [[Tours]]. According to British medieval historian [[Paul Fouracre]], "Their campaign should perhaps be interpreted as a long-distance raid rather than the beginning of a war".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Age of Charles Martel|last=Fouracre|first=Paul|date=2000|publisher=Longman|isbn=0582064759|location=Harlow, England|pages=88|oclc=43634337}}</ref> They were defeated by the army of Charles at the [[Battle of Tours]] at a location between Tours and [[Poitiers]], in a victory described by the ''Continuations of Fredegar''. According to historian [[Bernard Bachrach]], the mostly mounted Arab army failed to break through the Frankish infantry.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bachrach |first=Bernard S. |title=Early Carolingian warfare : prelude to empire |date=2001 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=0-8122-3533-9 |location=Philadelphia |pages=170–178 |oclc=43095805}}</ref> News of this battle spread and may be recorded in [[Bede|Bede's]] [[Ecclesiastical History of the English People|''Ecclesiastical History'']] (Book V, ch. 23). It is not given prominence in Arabic sources from the period.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Christys|first=Ann|title=Sons of Ishmael, Turn Back!|year=2019|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781316941072%23CN-bp-20/type/book_part|series=East and West in the Early Middle Ages|pages=318–328|editor-last=Esders|editor-first=Stefan|edition=1|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781316941072.021|isbn=9781316941072|access-date=2019-05-07|editor2-last=Fox|editor2-first=Yaniv|editor3-last=Hen|editor3-first=Yitzhak|editor4-last=Sarti|editor4-first=Laury|chapter='Sons of Ishmael, Turn Back!'|s2cid=166413345 }}</ref> Despite his victory, Charles did not gain full control of Aquitaine, and Odo remained duke until 735.

== Wars of 732–737 ==
[[File:Vasconia wide 740 3 - 80.jpg|thumb|Charles's military campaigns in Aquitaine, Septimania and Provence after the Battle of Tour-Poitiers (734–742)]]

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 [[Bubo, Duke of the Frisians]], to invade independent-minded Frisia again. In 734 he slew Bubo at the [[Battle of the Boarn]]. Charles ordered the Frisian pagan shrines destroyed and so wholly subjugated the populace that the region was peaceful for 20 years after.

In 735 Odo died. Though Charles wished to rule the duchy directly and went there to elicit the submission of the Aquitanians, the aristocracy proclaimed Odo's son [[Hunald I]] as duke, and Charles and Hunald eventually recognised each other's position.

== Interregnum (737–741) ==
In 737 at the tail end of his campaigning in Provence and [[Septimania]], the Merovingian King Theuderic IV died. Charles, titling himself ''maior domus'' and ''princeps et dux Francorum'', did not appoint a new king, and nobody acclaimed one. The throne lay vacant until Charles's death. The interregnum, the final four years of Charles's life, was relatively peaceful although in 738 he compelled the Saxons of [[Westphalia]] to submit and pay tribute, and in 739 he checked an uprising in Provence where some rebels united under the leadership of [[Maurontus]].

Charles used the relative peace to set about integrating the outlying realms of his empire into the Frankish church. He erected four dioceses in Bavaria ([[Archdiocese of Salzburg|Salzburg]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg|Regensburg]], [[Prince-Bishopric of Freising|Freising]], and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Passau|Passau]]) and gave them [[Saint Boniface|Boniface]] as [[metropolitan bishop]] over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at [[Mainz]]. Boniface had been under his protection since 723. Boniface explained to [[Daniel of Winchester]] that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry.

In 739, [[Pope Gregory III]] sought Charles's aid against Liutprand, but Charles was loathe to fight his onetime ally and ignored the plea. Nonetheless, the pope's request for Frankish protection showed how far Charles had come from the days when he was tottering on excommunication, and set the stage for his son and grandson to assert themselves in the peninsula.

== Death and transition in rule ==
[[File:Charles Martel bad.jpg|thumb|150px|14th-century depiction of the death of Charles.]]
[[File:Theuderich and Martell.JPG|thumb|150px|Tomb in [[Basilica of St Denis|Saint Denis Basilica]].]]

Charles died on 22 October 741, at [[Quierzy|Quierzy-sur-Oise]] in what is today the [[Aisne]] ''[[Departments of France|département]]'' in the [[Picardy]] region of France.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|title=Charles Martel|wstitle=Charles Martel}}</ref> He was buried at [[Basilica of St Denis|Saint Denis Basilica]] in Paris.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Monument|url=http://www.saint-denis-basilique.fr/en/Explore/History-of-the-monument|website=Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis|access-date=27 January 2017|archive-date=15 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615060407/http://www.saint-denis-basilique.fr/en/Explore/History-of-the-monument|url-status=dead}}</ref> His territories had been divided among his adult sons a year earlier: to [[Carloman, son of Charles Martel|Carloman]] he gave Austrasia, Alemannia, and Thuringia, and to [[Pepin the Short|Pippin the Younger]] Neustria, Burgundy, Provence, and Metz and Trier in the "Mosel duchy". [[Grifo (noble)|Grifo]] was given several lands throughout the kingdom but at a later date, just before Charles died.<ref name="Riche93">Riche, Pierre (1993) ''The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe,'' [Michael Idomir Allen, transl.], Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, {{ISBN|0-8122-1342-4}}, see [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0812213424], accessed 2 August 2015.</ref>{{rp|50}}

== Legacy ==
Earlier in his life Charles had many internal opponents and felt the need to appoint his own kingly claimant, Chlotar IV. Later, however, the dynamics of rulership in Francia had changed, and no hallowed Merovingian ruler was required. Charles divided his realm among his sons without opposition (though he ignored his young son [[Bernard, son of Charles Martel|Bernard]]). For many historians, Charles laid the foundations for his son Pepin's rise to the Frankish throne in 751 and his grandson [[Charlemagne]]'s imperial acclamation in 800. However, for historian [[Paul Fouracre]], while Charles was "the most effective military leader in Francia", his career "finished on a note of unfinished business".<ref>Paul Fouracre, 'Writing about Charles Martel', in ''Law, Laity and Solidarities: essays in honour of Susan Reynolds,'' ed. Pauline Stafford et al. (Manchester, 2001), pp. 12–26.</ref>

[[File:Charles Martel divise le royaume entre Pépin et Carloman.jpg|thumb|Charles divides the realm between Pepin and Carloman (Grandes Chroniques de France – Bibliothèque Nationale)]]

===Family and children===

Charles married twice, his first wife being [[Rotrude of Hesbaye|Rotrude of Treves]], daughter either of [[Lambert, Count of Hesbaye|Lambert II, Count of Hesbaye]], or of [[Leudwinus]], Count of Treves. They had the following children:

* [[Hiltrud]]
* [[Carolman, son of Charles Martel|Carloman]]<ref name=Riche93 />{{rp|50}}
* Landrade, also rendered as Landres {{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* [[Auda of France|Auda]], also rendered as Aldana {{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* [[Pepin the Short|Pepin the Younger]]<ref name=Riche93 />{{rp|50}}

Most of the children married and had issue. [[Hiltrud]] married [[Odilo, Duke of Bavaria|Odilo I]] ([[List of rulers of Bavaria|Duke of Bavaria]]). Landrade was once believed to have married a [[Sigramnus, Count of Hesbaye|Sigrand]] (Count of Hesbania) but Sigrand's wife was more likely the sister of Rotrude. [[Auda of France|Auda]] married [[Thierry IV|Theoderic, Count of Autun]].

Charles also married a second time, to [[Swanachild|Swanhild]] and they had a child named [[Grifo (noble)|Grifo]].<ref name=Riche93 />{{rp|50}}

With mistress [[Ruodhaid (concubine of Charles Martel)|Ruodhaid]] he had:

* [[Bernard, son of Charles Martel|Bernhard]] (c. 720–787)

With an unnamed mistress he had:
* [[Hieronymus, son of Charles Martel|Hieronymus]] (c. 722 – after 782),
* [[Remigius of Rouen|Remigius]] (c. 725–771), [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen|archbishop of Rouen]].

== Reputation and historiography ==

[[File:Carolus-Martell.jpg|thumb|Charles depicted in ''[[Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum|Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum]]'' by [[Guillaume Rouillé]], published in 1553]]

=== Military victories ===

For early medieval authors, Charles was famous for his military victories. [[Paul the Deacon]] for instance attributes a victory against the Saracens actually won by Odo of Aquitaine to Charles.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Age of Charles Martel|last=Fouracre|first=Paul|date=2000|publisher=Longman|isbn=0582064759|location=Harlow, England|page=85|oclc=43634337}}</ref> However, alongside this there soon developed a darker reputation, for his alleged abuse of church property. A 9th century text, the ''Visio Eucherii'', possibly written by [[Hincmar]] of Reims, portrayed Charles as suffering in hell for this reason.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Merovingian kingdoms, 450–751|last=Wood|first=I. N.|date=1994|publisher=Longman|isbn=0582218780|location=London|oclc=27172340}} pp. 275–276</ref> According to Fouracre, this was "the single most important text in the construction of Charles's reputation as a seculariser or despoiler of church lands".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Age of Charles Martel|last=Fouracre|first=Paul|date=2000|publisher=Longman|isbn=0582064759|location=Harlow, England|page=124|oclc=43634337}}</ref>

By the 18th century, historians such as [[Edward Gibbon]] had begun to portray the Frankish leader as the saviour of Christian Europe from a full-scale Islamic invasion.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gibbon|first1=Edward|chapter-url=https://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume2/chap52.htm|chapter=Chapter 52|title=The History of the Decline And Fall of the Roman Empire}}</ref> 19th century German historian [[Heinrich Brunner]] argues that Charles had confiscated church lands in order to fund military reforms that allowed him to defeat the Arab conquests, in this way brilliantly combining two traditions about the ruler. However, Fouracre argues "...there is not enough evidence to show that there was a decisive change either in the way in which the Franks fought, or in the way in which they organised the resources needed to support their warriors."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Age of Charles Martel|last=Fouracre|first=Paul|date=2000|publisher=Longman|isbn=0582064759|location=Harlow, England|page=149|oclc=43634337}}</ref> Many 20th century European historians continued to develop Gibbon's perspectives, such as French medievalist [[Christian Pfister]], who wrote in 1911:

{{blockquote|"Besides establishing a certain unity in Gaul, Charles saved it from a great peril. In 711 the Arabs had conquered Spain. In 720 they crossed the Pyrenees, seized Narbonensis, a dependency of the kingdom of the Visigoths, and advanced on Gaul. By his able policy Odo succeeded in arresting their progress for some years; but a new vali, [[Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi|Abdur Rahman]], a member of an extremely fanatical sect, resumed the attack, reached Poitiers, and advanced on Tours, the holy town of Gaul. In October 732—just 100 years after the death of [[Muhammad|Mahomet]]—Charles gained a brilliant victory over [[Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi|Abdur Rahman]], who was called back to Africa by revolts of the Berbers and had to give up the struggle. ...After his victory, Charles took the offensive".<ref name="EB1911"/>|sign=|source=}}

Similarly, [[William E. Watson]], who wrote of the battle's importance in Frankish and world history in 1993, suggests:

{{blockquote|"Had Charles Martel suffered at Tours-Poitiers the fate of King Roderick at the Rio Barbate, it is doubtful that a "do-nothing" sovereign of the Merovingian realm could have later succeeded where his talented major domus had failed. Indeed, as Charles was the progenitor of the Carolingian line of Frankish rulers and grandfather of Charlemagne, one can even say with a degree of certainty that the subsequent history of the West would have proceeded along vastly different currents had 'Abd al-Rahman been victorious at Tours-Poitiers in 732."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watson|first=William|date=1993|title=The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited|journal=Providence: Studies in Western Civilization|volume=2}}</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Political scientist [[Samuel P. Huntington|Samuel Huntington]] sees the Battle of Tours as marking the end of the "Arab and Moorish surge west and north".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huntington |first=Samuel P. |date=1993 |title=The Clash of Civilizations? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20045621 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=22–49 |doi=10.2307/20045621 |jstor=20045621 |issn=0015-7120|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Other recent historians, however, argue that the importance of the battle is dramatically overstated, both for European history in general and for Charles's reign in particular. This view is typified by [[Alessandro Barbero]], who writes:

{{blockquote|"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".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Charlemagne : father of a continent|first=Alessandro|last=Barbero|date=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0520239431|location=Berkeley|oclc=52773483|page=10}}</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Similarly, Tomaž Mastnak writes:
{{blockquote|"The continuators of Fredegar's chronicle, who probably wrote in the mid-eighth century, pictured the battle as just one of many military encounters between Christians and Saracens—moreover, as only one in a series of wars fought by Frankish princes for booty and territory... One of Fredegar's continuators presented the battle of Poitiers as what it really was: an episode in the struggle between Christian princes as the Carolingians strove to bring Aquitaine under their rule."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Crusading peace : Christendom, the Muslim world, and Western political order|first=Tomaž|last=Mastnak|date=2002|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520925991|location=Berkeley|oclc=52861403|page= }}</ref>}}

More recently, the memory of Charles has been appropriated by [[Far-right politics|far right]] and [[White nationalism|white nationalist]] groups, such as the '[[Charles Martel Group]]' in France and by the perpetrator of the [[Christchurch mosque shootings]] at [[Al Noor Mosque, Christchurch|Al Noor Mosque]] and [[Linwood Islamic Centre]] in [[Christchurch]], New Zealand, in 2019.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/03/18/fake-history-that-fueled-accused-christchurch-shooter/|title=Perspective {{!}} The fake history that fueled the accused Christchurch shooter|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2019-06-04}}</ref> The memory of Charles is a topic of debate in contemporary French politics on both the right and the left.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blanc |first=William |title=Charles Martel et la Bataille de Poitiers |year=2022 |publisher=Libertalia |isbn=9782377292356}}</ref>

In the 17th century a legend emerged that Charles had formed the first regular order of knights in France. In 1620, Andre Favyn stated (without providing a source) that among the spoils Charles's forces captured after the Battle of Tours were many [[Genet (animal)|genets]] (raised for their fur) and several of their pelts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Favyn |first=Andre |title=Le Theatre d'honneur et de chevalerie |year=1620}}</ref> Charles gave these furs to leaders amongst his army, forming the first order of knighthood, the Order of the Genet. Favyn's claim was then repeated and elaborated in later works in English, for instance by [[Elias Ashmole]] in 1672<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashmole |first=Elias |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=woFlAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA97 |title=The Institution, Laws and Ceremonies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter |year=1672 |pages=97|publisher=J. Macock }}</ref> and James Coats in 1725.<ref>{{cite book |author=James Coats |title=A New Dictionary of Heraldry |date=1725 |publisher=Jer. Batley |pages=163–164}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{EB9 Poster|Charles Martel}}
{{NIE Poster|year=1905}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110514184310/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199302/the.arabs.in.occitania.htm Ian Meadows, "The Arabs in Occitania"]: A sketch giving the context of the conflict from the Arab point of view.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051222052229/http://www.standin.se/fifteen07a.htm ''Poke's edition of Creasy's 15 Most Important Battles Ever Fought According to Edward Shepherd Creasy'' "Chapter VII. The Battle of Tours, A.D. 732."]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03pm7dv "The Battle of Tours"]—''[[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]]'', [[BBC Radio 4]] (2014)
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/732tours.html Medieval Sourcebook: Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011132606/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/732tours.html |date=11 October 2014 }})
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/732tours.html Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732: Three Accounts] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011132606/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/732tours.html |date=11 October 2014 }}) from the [[Internet Medieval Sourcebook]]
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g2-martellet.html Medieval Sourcebook: Gregory II to Charles Martel, 739] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429225422/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g2-martellet.html |date=29 April 2008 }})
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Charles Martel |volume= 5 |last= Pfister |first= Christian |author-link= Christian Pfister | pages = 942–943 |short= 1}}

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{{S-ttl|title=[[List of Mayors of the Palaces|Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia]]|years=717–741}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Carloman, Mayor of the Palace|Carloman]]}}
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{{S-ttl|title=[[List of Mayors of the Palaces|Mayor of the Palace of Neustria]]|years=717–741}}
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[[Category:Charles Martel| ]]
[[Category:680s births]]
[[Category:741 deaths]]
[[Category:7th-century Frankish nobility]]
[[Category:8th-century Frankish nobility]]
[[Category:8th-century dukes in Europe]]
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis]]
[[Category:Carolingian dynasty]]
[[Category:Christian monarchs]]
[[Category:Frankish warriors]]
[[Category:Mayors of the Palace]]
[[Category:People from Herstal]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]] <!--infobox gives various dates-->