Charles Martel Charles Martel ( c . 688 – 22 October 741 ) was a Frankish statesman and military leader who , as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace , was de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death . The illegitimate son of Frankish strongman , Pepin of Heristal , and a noblewoman named Alpaida , Martel 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 the series of military campaigns that re – established the Franks as the undisputed masters of all Gaul . In foreign wars , Martel subjugated Bavaria , Alemannia , and Frisia , vanquished the pagan Saxons , and halted the Islamic advance into Western Europe at the Battle of Tours . Martel is considered to be the founding figure of the European Middle Ages . Skilled as an administrator and warrior , he is often credited with a seminal role in the development of feudalism and knighthood . Martel was a great patron of Saint Boniface and made the first attempt at reconciliation between the Papacy and the Franks . The Pope wished him to become the defender of the Holy See and offered him the Roman consulship . Martel refused the offer , but it was a sign of the things to come . Although Martel never assumed the title of king , he divided Francia , like a king , between his sons Carloman and Pepin . The latter became the first of the Carolingian s , the family of Charles Martel , to become king . Martel ' s grandson , Charlemagne , extended the Frankish realms to include much of the West , and became the first Emperor since the fall of Rome . Therefore , on the basis of his achievements , Martel is seen as laying the groundwork for the Carolingian Empire . In summing up the man , Gibbon has written , Martel was " the hero of the age , " whereas Guerard describes him as being the " champion of the Cross against the Crescent . " Background . Martel was born as the illegitimate son of Pepin of Herstal and his concubine Alpaida . He had a brother named Childebrand , who later became the Frankish dux of Burgundy . The brothers , being illegitimate , were not considered to be part of their father ' s paternal family , the Pippinids , who since the early seventh century had dominated the politics of Francia . After the reign of Dagobert I ( 629 - 639 ) the Merovingians effectively ceded power to the Pippinids , who ruled the Frankish realm of Austrasia in all but name as Mayors of the Palace . They controlled the royal treasury , dispersed patronage , and granted land and privileges in the name of the figurehead king . Martel ' s father , Pepin , was the second member of the family to rule the Franks . Pepin was able to unite all the Frankish realms by conquering Neustria and Burgundy . He was the first to call himself Duke and Prince of the Franks , a title later taken up by Charles . Pepin died of old age in 714 . His legitimate grandchildren ( his legitimate sons having predeceased him ) claimed themselves to be his true successors and , with the help of Pepin ' s legitimate wife , Plectrude , tried to assume power in the realm . Pepin had agreed to name one of them , Theudoald , heir to Francia . Plectrude subsequently imprisoned Charles to secure matters . But he managed to escape . Charles was able to gather an army for himself , having gained favour among the Franks , primarily for his military prowess . Indeed , he was nicknamed " Martel " , meaning " the hammer " in French , by later , 9th century chronicles . Although he was entirely neglected in his father ' s will , being a bastard son , Martel was now determined to become the ruler of all Francia . Contesting for power . In December 714 , Pepin of Herstal 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 . Civil war of 715 - 718 . In 715 , the Neustrian noblesse proclaimed Ragenfrid mayor of their palace on behalf of , and apparently with the support of , Dagobert III , 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 a 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 716 , 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 . 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 . Military brilliance . At this juncture , however , events turned in favour 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 brilliance 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 . He allowed both Plectrude and the young Theudoald to live and treated them with kindness — unusual for those times , when mercy to a former gaoler , or a potential rival , was rare . On this success , he proclaimed Chlotar IV king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic and deposed the archbishop of Reims , Rigobert , replacing him with Milo , a lifelong supporter . Consolidation of power . After subjugating all Austrasia , he marched against Radbod and pushed him back into his territory , even forcing the concession of West Frisia ( later part of the county of 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 ) . Foreign wars from 718 - 732 . 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 failed to maintain strong outer defenses and continuous scouting . 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 . Raising an army . Due to the situation in Iberia , Martel believed he needed a virtually full - time 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 . Eve of the Battle of Tours . Historian Paul K . Davis wrote , " 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 . " Charles Martel could have pursued the wars against the Saxons — but he was determined to prepare for what he thought was a greater danger . The Muslims were not aware , at that time , of the true strength of the Franks , or the fact that they were building a disciplined 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 . Battle of Tours . Lead - up and importance . 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 Aquitani ans . 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 Japan 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 E . Watson , still believe this battle was one of macrohistorical world - changing importance , if they do not go so far as Gibbon does rhetorically . Contemporary historians . 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 : After Tours . 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 Frisia ns 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 expand beyond Al - Andalus . Wars from 732 - 737 . 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 Narbonnea 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 . In addition , he faced strong opposition from regional lords such as the patrician Maurentius , from Marseille , who revolted against the Frankish leader . Moreover , the Aquitanian duke Hunald threatened his lines of communication with the north , so deciding him to withdraw from Septimania and destroy several strongholds ( Béziers , Agde , etc . ) . He left Narbonne therefore , isolated and surrounded , and his son would return to conquer it for the Franks . 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 . 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 unaware and dictate the time and place of battle , as his father had . He concentrated instead on seizing a substantial portion of the coastal plains around Narbonne in 736 and heavily reinforced Arles as he advanced inland . Abdul Rahman ' s son 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 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 . 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 . Interregnum . 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 . Death ( 741 ) . 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 . " Legacy . 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 : 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 . ( " Mayor of the Palace , Duke 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 . Beginning of the " Reconquista " . 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 to 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 ( Pepin II , The Short ) 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 . Military legacy . Heavy infantry and permanent army . 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 the first standing permanent army since the fall of Rome in 476 . At its core was a body of tough , seasoned heavy infantry who displayed exceptional resolution 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 . Charles Martel ' s most important military achievement was the victory at Tours . Creasy argues that the Martel victory " preserved the relics of ancient and the gems 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 neighbours 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 . " Martel analysed 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 armored mounted knight possible ) . Not daring to send his few horsemen against the Islamic cavalry , he had his army 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 . 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 fragmentation of authority within the Muslims , 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 : However , when the Muslim first crossed the Pyrenees , Aquitaine was actually an independent realm under duke Odo ' s leadership and the Gothic Septimania remained out of Frankish rule . Odo , who was Charles ' s southern rival , had struck a peace treaty after the Frankish civil wars in Neustria and Austrasia , and garnered much popularity and the Pope ' s favour for his victory on the 721 Battle of Toulouse against the Moors . On the eve of the Muslim expedition north ( 731 ) , Charles Martel crossed the Loire and captured the Aquitanian city of Bourges , while Odo re - captured it briefly after . 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 renowned for never doing what his enemies forecast he would do , and for moving far faster than his opponents believed he could . 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 , and constructed defenses against counterattacks by land , 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 . Conclusion . J . M . Roberts says of Charles Martel in his note on the Carolingians on page 315 of 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 . " Family and children . Charles Martel married twice : His first wife was Rotrude , daughter of Leudwinus , ( died 724 ) . They had the following children : His second wife was Swanhild . They had the following child : Charles Martel also had a mistress , Ruodhaid . They had the following children :