Charles Martel (also know as the hammer)

My talk today will be about Charles Martel. He lived from 686-741 and lived in the Frankish territory. To understand why Charles is significant in Medieval history we have to look a generation back and talk about his father Pepin the Great.

Charles Martel’s father Pepin was Mayor of the Palace to the King (also know as Kings of Do nothing) The “do nothing Kings” were kings who sat around all day and partied and got drunk. they would take the name as a King but were not like really Kings they would have a Mayor of the palace make all the decisions for them and all the battle planning.Every year Pepin would parade the King through the streets but that was only once a year for the rest of the year the people would not see the king.

During that time Charles was born on August 23 686 AD. When Pepin died in 714 AD, Charles took the Pepin place. While he was Mayor he fought many wars including the most famous one which most of us know about, Called the War between the Saracens. The Saracens are a group of people who are Muslims. They became Muslims When Mohammad the Great created the Religion Islam because he did not fully agree with Christianity nor Judaism. Who came across the Pyrenees from Spain and invaded the land of the Franks intending to establish Islam there. Their army was led by Abd-er-Rahman the Saracen Governor of Spain. In October of 732 for six day there were only little skirmishes but on the seventh day there was a huge battle, during the battle Abd-er-Rahman was killed that ended the battle, but the Franks came out to the field the next day thy found that the Saracens had fled and left all their plunder (their riches). It was decided that after the battle that was declared that Christianity was the main Religion of Western Europe not Islam. Though the Saracens fled from the battlefield of Tours, they did not leave the land of the Franks. Charles had to fight other battles with them before the were finally defeated. After the Battle with the Saracens Charles was looked upon as the Great Champion of History. Charles did not actually start out with the last name Martel, the last name Martel was given to Charles after the battle of the Tours. The last name Martel (of in French pronounced Mar-to) means “Hammer” and that is how Charles got the name
Hammer. To the day of his death, in 741, he was in reality, though not in name, the King of the Franks.

After Charles Martel died on October 22, 741 his son Pepin (also know as Pepin the Short) succeeded him. Pepin the Short took Charles place as place mayor, just as Charles did to his father Pepin the first. After being mayor for a few years, Pepin asked several of his fellow men to go to the Pope in Italy and ask him who should be the King? The person with the name of the person with all the power and authority? The Pope said why the person with all the power and authority. So Pepin was crowed King on Christmas Day 751 and anointed with oil by the Pope in 754.

Pepin died in 768. And Charlemagne the Great succeeded him.

Katie