Charles Martell actually concentrated the supreme power in his hands under the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty. To strengthen state centralization and strengthen the military power of the kingdom, he put an end to the previous procedure for donating land holdings to full ownership by kings and began to widely practice the granting of land to conditional holding - beneficiaries; the land fund for the distribution of beneficiaries was created by confiscation of the possessions of recalcitrant magnates and the wide secularization of church lands. The transformations of Charles Martel were an important phase in the development of feudal relations in the Frankish state.


At the head of the royal military retinue was a special dignitary - the mayor (major domus - senior in the house), whose importance increased with the increase in the king's house and his retinue, as well as with the increase in the importance of the royal house in governing the whole country. This place could only be offered to a trusted person, and therefore the mayor was elected, or at least presented to the king, by the most eminent of the nobles and the noble class. And so, among the Austrasian nobility, a surname related to the royal house was found, possessing vast estates between the Meuse, the Moselle and the Rhine. Of its representatives, the most ancient, Carloman is known (lived c. 600); his son Pepin of Landen was mayor in Austrasia under Dagobert I (622-638). He was followed by another great representative of the same house, Grimoald, who aroused the envy of other nobles against himself and fell victim to it. Only Pepin of Geristal, Pepin the Middle, managed to gain fame: in one of the strife that raged between the nobles of Neustria and Austrasia because of the dominance of the Franks in the land, he defeated Bercher, the major of Neustria, at Tertri (687). After that, Pepin forced the insignificant king of Neustria, Theodoric III, to appoint him mayor of Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy, therefore, the entire Frankish kingdom, reunited by the victory at Tertry. Then he was given a title indicating that Pepin was not a simple subject of the king: he was titled prince and duke of the Franks (dux et princeps Francorum).

His son Charles, later nicknamed Charles Martell (that is, war hammer), after a long struggle in 719, took his father's place as a major of the three constituent parts of the state, managed to maintain the unity of these parts and glorified his family with a heroic deed, which is the significance of the ancient royal family was completely undermined.

The power of the Caliphate under Walid I and his heir Suleiman was more formidable than ever. On the banks of the Indus and on the coasts Atlantic Ocean the troops of the caliphate triumphed over the enemies. In 717, a new attack on Constantinople was repulsed with great difficulty, and from 720 the Spanish Arabs were already making campaigns beyond the Pyrenees. The Duke of Aquitaine - the southwestern part of Gaul, freed from Frankish rule, repelled their attacks with the greatest efforts. In 732, a strong Arab army crossed the Pyrenees for the second time, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Duke of Aquitaine and forced him to flee. Then he turned for help to the powerful and formidable mayor of the Franks. Apparently, the impending formidable danger temporarily stopped numerous strife and strife both among the Franks themselves and between the Franks and other Germanic tribes. Karl managed to collect large army, which included, in addition to the Franks, other tribes of the Germans: Alamanni, Bavarians, Saxons, Frisians. The decisive battle took place in October 732 on the plain between Tours and Poitiers. The day of this battle was one of the important turning points in the history of mankind: here, as at Salamis or in the Catalaunian fields, the fate of many peoples depended on the outcome of the struggle between the two armies. The details of the battle are unknown, although one can clearly imagine what motives and passionate impulses agitated the soldiers who were part of the troops. The army of Abd ar-Rahman was animated by the flame of faith in Allah and his prophet, who had already betrayed kingdoms and peoples to the power of the faithful, and the pride of the victors and the greed of prey, for which all victories and conquests already won served only as steps to further successes, conquests and enrichment. Religious enthusiasm was also great in the Christian army, although there is no information about the special zeal of the clergy, it is only known that a fairly significant part of Charles's army consisted of pagans. But the Franks knew what they were fighting for: they had already managed to get used to the beautiful country that they had acquired with their courage and the courage of their ancestors, and were preparing to passionately stand up for it. The main strength of the Arabs was manifested in their swift onslaught, which terrified the enemies; the main strength of the northerners is in a calm defense: "They stood like an immovable wall, like an ice belt." Karl, obviously, took care to first acquaint his soldiers with Arab tactics, they were given some confidence by the consciousness of their superiority over the Arabs in physical strength. The skillful roundabout movement of the Duke of Aquitaine contributed to the complete victory - the next day the tents of the Arab camp were empty, and it was possible to safely take a very significant booty.

The unanimity to which this victory was due was short-lived. Subsequently, Charles again had to fight with the Frisians, and with the Saxons, and with the Duke of Aquitaine, and with the Neustrian nobles, who did not disdain even treacherous relations with the Muslims, as a result of which they invaded the Frankish state many times, devastating its entire southeast to Lyon himself. Only in 739 did Charles manage, in alliance with the Lombard king Liutprand, to finally deal with both the Arabs and his internal strife. During this struggle, the formidable warrior broke his ties with the church, or, more precisely, with the highest clergy of the Frankish state, who were mired in gross immorality and led a wasteful life. He, without hesitation, drew from church property in those cases when it was a question of the fight against Islam, and especially about remuneration of figures who, in this struggle, rendered essential services to the state. The clergy, spoiled by the kings and arrogant, tried in every possible way to harm and hinder him, and even launched a legend about the vision of a certain confessor: the conqueror of the Arabs was tormented in the flames of the underworld for his bad attitude towards the clergy. Despite this, the importance of Charles was so great that after the death of Theodoric IV, he for a long time could not replace the orphaned throne by anyone.

Under the arches of the ancient Parisian abbey of Saint-Denis, a man sleeps with eternal sleep, his perseverance and inflexibility once reached the heights of power. In his status, he was the mayor of the Frankish court, but he surpassed the kings in real power. His name is Karl Martell.

"Elder in the house" of the Frankish kings

In order to understand the significance that Charles Martel had at the court of the king of the Franks, holding the position of his mayor, one should dwell in more detail on the features of this high state post. For a long time, the retinue of the king, which consisted of both civil officials and the military aristocracy, was headed by a special dignitary, called the major, which literally means "senior in the house."

Over the years, as the retinue grew, the importance of its head also increased. Since this place was not only honorary, but also very profitable, there were enough people who wanted to take it at all times, which gave rise to competition, intrigues and bloodshed, which is inevitable in such cases.

Illegitimate son of Major Pepin

Karl Martell is one of the most prominent representatives of the aristocracy, who, by the will of fate, found himself at the pinnacle of power, was born in 686 or 688 (the exact date is unknown) in the family of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of Theodoric III, one of the last kings of the Merovingian dynasty, which had been very crushed by that time.

His misfortune was that he was born not from the lawful wife of his father, but from an outsider and completely obscure person named Alpaida, for whom his father had tender feelings. Simply put, he was illegitimate child and had no right to inheritance.

insidious widow

When, after the death of Pepin, the post of mayor was vacant, his ambitious widow Plektruda managed to seize all power in the kingdom in her unfeminine strong hands. The stepson, in order to avoid any claims on his part, she simply hid in prison without any explanation.

But it is not for nothing that they say that it is easier to seize power than to keep it. Soon, among the courtiers, dissatisfied with the new ruler, turmoil began, spreading from the palace halls to the Parisian squares, and causing violent clashes. Karl Martel managed to take advantage of the favorable situation, and in the very first days of the riots he escaped from prison.

The misadventures of the unfortunate Plectrude

Meanwhile, Plectrude, that classic example of the evil stepmother, was better times. If at first she somehow managed, having gathered her supporters, to resist the troublemakers, then soon, abandoned by everyone, she was forced to simply pay off them, wasting untold wealth acquired (or stolen) by her late husband. To top it off, her stepson showed up. He unceremoniously broke into Plectrude's residence, bringing with him an impressive army, which he gathered, using his father's name as a banner.

Having taken from his stepmother not only the remaining capital, but also the power so insidiously usurped by her, he became, though not crowned, but the sovereign master of the country. Without experiencing two misfortunes at once - the loss of money and power, the inconsolable widow died immediately.

Strengthening power and the machinations of envious people

During the reign of the Merovingians, the Frankish state consisted of several scattered kingdoms, the largest of which was Austrasia. Its ruler set the tone for everything that happened in the rest of the territory, therefore, when the throne was vacated after the death of Theodoric III, Charles Martell hastened to erect the person he needed on him - the son of the deceased monarch, the weak and weak-willed Chlothar IV, who was only interested in hunting and cute maids.

However, the problems associated with the retention of power fully affected Karl himself. Many of those who looked with envy at his rapid ascent tried to thwart him. As a result, the first years of such a gloriously begun reign were overshadowed by frequent unrest, the suppression of which took both strength and time.

Wise ruler and zealous owner

However, these years have not been in vain. In constant battles with the opposition, who were looking for ways to overthrow him, Martell's inner circle was formed, which later formed a powerful bloc that contributed to the success of many of his deeds. In particular, the subsequent beneficiary reform of Charles Martel originated precisely in that early period his reign.

Having put an end to the tradition of giving land as a gift to feudal lords, he switched to the practice of giving them away for temporary use, called beneficiation. He began by rewarding his comrades-in-arms with them, first confiscating allotments from his opponents, and also withdrawing them from the property of monasteries. This led to the strengthening of centralization. state power and, consequently, to increase the power of the country.

Concentrating all the power in his hands, Mortell proved himself not only a skilled commander, but also a diligent business executive. During the years of his reign, many roads and fortresses were built, creating a reliable springboard for its defense on the borders of the state.

Saracen invasion

However, the main battle that immortalized his name forever was ahead. Fate prepared for him a great mission to become the savior of Europe from the Arabs, who surged in a powerful wave from behind the Perenees. Overpowered at the beginning of the 8th century, they began their invasion in 717 with an attempt to capture Aquitaine and then Toulouse, but were defeated by the troops of Duke Ed the Great. This somewhat cooled their fighting ardor, but in 732 the Arabs launched a new offensive, this time with much larger forces. A real threat of Muslim enslavement loomed over Gaul, and with it the whole south of Europe.

The situation was so serious that the petty feudal lords, overcome by a common misfortune, postponed civil strife for a while and rallied under the banner of Charles Martel. The decisive battle took place on October 10, 732 near the city of Poitiers. This day entered the history of the Middle Ages forever.

Historic Battle of Poitiers

The Moors, led by an experienced commander Abd ar-Rahman, were the first to move against the Franks, trying to overturn them with the onslaught of their cavalry, but here, according to historians, an incident occurred. Carried away by the attack, they left their camp unguarded, filled with booty looted in previous months. The Franks, seeing their oversight, instantly rushed into it and began to grab the good left unattended.

Forgetting everything in the world and crushing their own ranks, the Saracens rushed to save property. Thus, the battle, which began according to all the rules of military art, quickly developed into a market brawl with shouts and abuse in two languages ​​- Arabic and old French. Despite the fact that the Moors still managed to defend their junk and drive the uninvited guests out of the camp, under cover of night they left, thus giving victory to the opponents.

The battle of Charles Martel with the Arabs, in which he so valiantly won, became his finest hour. From now on, he was given the glory of a fighter for the triumph of Christianity and the status of the sole ruler of Gaul. Barely catching his breath after Poitiers, he continued the war, but this time against neighboring European peoples, with fire and sword, adding new territories to his possessions.

The winner of the Saracen entered history not only as a commander, but also as a reformer. The experience gained in the campaigns showed the need to modernize the army, and military reform Karla Martella became a real embodiment of this. He rebuilt all the numerous armed forces at his disposal according to the eastern model, comprehensively developing the cavalry.

Such a task was fraught with great material difficulties, since each cavalryman had to have the means to maintain a horse and acquire the necessary equipment. This is where his other reform came to the rescue - the beneficiary one, by virtue of which the persons who were in his service received land for life use, the income from which covered all the necessary costs.

Without being crowned, Charles, meanwhile, ruled the state of the Franks for twenty-five years, and died on September 22, 741, leaving behind two sons. family tradition to rule and win, continued his grandson, the founder of the royal Carolingian dynasty - Charlemagne. Martell rested forever under the vaults of the Parisian abbey of Saint-Denis.

In the first years of his reign, he was forced to fight against the feudal lords of Neustria who rebelled against him (occupied the valleys of the Seine and Loire), a little later - with the Dukes of Provence and Aquitaine. The uprisings were suppressed, and the lands of the rebellious feudal lords were confiscated. This land reserve provided Charles with the opportunity to carry out a beneficial reform. Plots of land were now provided to feudal lords as beneficiaries - into lifetime ownership and only on condition military service feudal lord in the royal army. In case of non-fulfillment of service, the lands were confiscated. Heirs could receive benefices only under the same conditions. This approach changed for a long time the practice of donating land as allods. - into unconditional ownership.

When the land funds were once again depleted, Karl Martel carried out a partial secularization of church lands and continued the distribution of beneficiaries at the expense of the Church. Church hierarchs, who were not satisfied with this situation, were replaced by his authority. Beneficial reform allowed Charles to create powerful army. The cavalry, for the service in which significant funds were needed, now became the core of the Frankish army. Perhaps this was the decisive factor in resisting the Arab expansion.

The Arab cavalry first invaded the territory of Gaul in 720: the Arabs, who had already captured the Pyrenees by this time, took Narbonne and laid siege to Toulouse. Throughout the next decade, the struggle against the Arab invasion continued. Some feudal lords, such as the Duke of Aquitaine Odon, went over to the side of the invaders. But, finally, in 732, at the Battle of Poitiers, the Frankish cavalry dealt such a serious blow to the Arabs that the Arabs returned to Spain and stopped advancing north of the Pyrenees. The Franks thus protected Europe from Arab conquest. It is believed that it was after this battle that Charles received the nickname "Martell" ("Hammer").

In 725 and 728 Karl Martel undertook two campaigns in Bavaria, as a result of which she was subordinated to his kingdom, although she continued to be ruled by her duke. In the early 730s, he conquered Alemannia, which was part of the Frankish state in the past. In 733 and 734 he conquered the lands of the Frisians, accompanying the conquest by actively planting Christianity among them. His patronage of the missionary activity of St. Boniface - "the apostle of Germany". Repeatedly (in 718, 720, 724, 738) Karl Martell made campaigns beyond the Rhine, against the Saxons, imposed tribute on them, but there could be no question of any annexation of Saxony. Before his death, he divided the Frankish kingdom between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin the Short: the first of them received majordom in Austrasia, Swabia and Thuringia, the second in Neustria, Burgundy and Provence.

Around 688–741

The actual ruler of the Frankish state (since 715), a major from the Carolingian family. Frankish commander.

The military leader of the Franks Karl Pepin, a major from the Carolingian family, received his historical nickname Martell after his victory over the Arab army. Martell is a hammer that mercilessly strikes the enemy.

By the beginning of his actual reign, the Frankish state consisted of three long-separated parts: Neustria (northwestern Gaul with Paris), Austrasia (northeastern part) and Burgundy. Royal power was purely nominal. This was not slow to take advantage of the enemies of the Franks. The Saxons invaded the Rhine regions, the Avars invaded Bavaria, and the Arab conquerors moved across the Pyrenees to the Loire River.

Karl Martell had to pave his way to power with weapons in his hands. After the death of his father in 714, he was imprisoned by his stepmother Plektruda, from which he was able to escape the following year. By that time, he was already a fairly well-known military leader of the Franks of Austrasia, where he was popular among free peasants and medium landowners. They became his main support in the internecine struggle for power in the Frankish state.

Having established himself in Austrasia, Karl Pepin began to strengthen the position of the Pepin house in the lands of the Franks by force of arms and diplomacy. After a fierce confrontation with his opponents, in 715 he became the major of the Frankish state and ruled it on behalf of the infant king Theodoric. Having established himself at the royal throne, Charles began a series of military campaigns outside of Austrasia.

The rise of Charles Martel in the Frankish state began with military victories over those feudal lords who tried to challenge his supreme power. He won victories at the battles of the Amblève River (near the city of Malmedy in present-day Belgium) and at Vincy (near the modern French city of Cambrai).

In 719, Charles Martell won a brilliant victory over the Neustrians, led by one of his opponents, Major Ragenfried. Soon the Franks occupied the cities of Paris and Orleans.

Karl Martell did not forget his sworn enemy - his stepmother Plectruda, who had her own, and considerable, army. He started a war with her and forced her stepmother to surrender to him the rich trading, well-fortified city of Cologne on the banks of the Rhine.

In 725 and 728, Major Karl Pepin made two large military campaigns against the Bavarians and eventually subjugated them. This was followed by campaigns in Alemannia and Aquitaine, in Thuringia and Frisia.

In European history ancient world General Charles Martell became famous primarily for the wars against the conquerors of the Arabs, who in 720 crossed the Pyrenees and invaded the territory of modern France. The Arab army took the well-fortified Narbonne by storm and besieged Big city Toulouse.

Soon the Arab cavalry appeared on the fields of Septimania and Burgundy and even reached the left bank of the Rhone River, entering the lands of the Franks proper. Karl Pepin realized the danger of an invasion from the Pyrenees of the Arab Moors, who by that time had managed to conquer almost all Spanish regions. Their troops were constantly replenished with new forces that came through the Strait of Gibraltar from the Maghreb - North Africa (the territories of modern Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia). Arab commanders were famous for their martial arts, and their warriors were excellent riders and archers. The army of the Arabs was partially completed by the North African nomads Berbers, therefore in Spain the Arabs were called Moors.

In 732, Karl Pepin, interrupting the military campaign in the upper reaches of the Danube, gathered a large militia of Austrasians, Neustrians and Rhine tribes. The reason for the collection of the general Frankish army was serious - at the beginning of that year, the army of the Arabs, according to the overly increased data of European chroniclers, numbering 400 thousand people (according to a number of sources, only 50 thousand people), crossed the Pyrenees, invaded Gaul, plundered the city of Bordeaux, captured the fortress city of Poitiers and moved to the city of Tura.

The Frankish commander resolutely moved towards the Arab army, trying to prevent its appearance in front of the fortress walls of Tours. He already knew that the Arabs were commanded by the experienced Abderrahman ibn Abdillah and that his army greatly outnumbered the Frankish militia, which, according to the same European chroniclers, numbered only 30,000 soldiers.

The Franks and their allies barred the Arab army from reaching Tours at the point where the old Roman road crossed the river Vienne, over which a bridge had been built. Nearby was the city of Poitiers, after which the battle, which took place on October 10, 732, was named. The battle lasted several days: according to the Arab chronicles - two, according to the Christian - seven days.

Knowing that light cavalry and many archers predominate in the enemy army, Major Karl Pepin decided to give the Arabs, who adhered to active offensive tactics on the fields of Europe, defensive battle. Moreover, the hilly terrain made it difficult for large masses of cavalry to operate. The Frankish army was built for the battle between the rivers Clen and Vienne, which, with their banks, well covered his flanks. basis order of battle was the infantry, built in a dense phalanx. The cavalry, heavily armed in a knightly manner, was stationed on the flanks. The right flank was commanded by Count Ed.

Approaching the river Vienne, the Arab army, not immediately getting involved in the battle, spread their camp not far from the Franks. Abderrahman ibn Abdillah immediately realized that the enemy was taking very strong position and it cannot be outflanked by light cavalry. The Arabs did not dare to attack the enemy for several days, waiting for an opportunity to strike. However, Karl Pepin did not move, patiently waiting for an enemy attack.

In the end, the Arab leader decided to start the battle and built his army in a fighting, dissected order. The reserve of the Arabs, intended for the development of victory, was under the personal command of Abderrahman ibn Abdillah and was called the "Banner of the Prophet".

The battle of Poitiers began with the shelling of the Frankish phalanx by Arab horse archers, to which the enemy responded with crossbows and longbows. After that, the Arab cavalry attacked the positions of the Franks. The French infantry successfully repulsed attack after attack, the enemy light cavalry could not break through their dense formation.

A Spanish chronicler, a contemporary of the Battle of Poitiers, wrote that the Franks "stood closely with each other, as far as the eye could see, like a motionless and icy wall, and fought fiercely, hitting the Arabs with swords."

After the Frankish infantry repelled all the attacks of the Arabs, who, line by line, in some disorder, rolled back to their original positions, Karl Pepin immediately ordered the knightly cavalry, which was still inactive, to launch a counterattack in the direction of the enemy camp, located behind the right flank of the military formation of the Arab army.

The Frankish knights, led by Ed of Aquitaine, launched two ram attacks from the flanks, overturning the light cavalry that opposed them, rushed to the Arab camp and captured it. The Arabs, demoralized by the news of the death of their leader, could not hold back the onslaught of the enemy and fled from the battlefield. The Franks pursued them and inflicted considerable damage on them. This ended the battle near Poitiers.

It had very important consequences. The victory of Major Charles Martel put an end to the further advancement of the Arabs in Europe. After the defeat at Poitiers, the Arab army, hiding behind detachments of light cavalry, left French territory and, without further combat losses, went through the mountains to Spain.

But before the Arabs finally left the south of modern France, Karl Pepin inflicted another defeat on them - on the Burr River, south of the city of Narbonne.

The victory over the Arabs glorified the commander of the Franks. Since then, he began to be called Karl Martell. The battle of Poitiers is also known for being one of the first battles when numerous heavy knightly cavalry entered the battlefield. It was she who, with her blow, provided the Franks with a complete victory over the Arabs. Now not only riders, but also horses were covered with metal armor.

The victory at the Battle of Poitiers was the most significant in the military biography of Charles Martel. After her, he won several more big victories. In 736, the Frankish army under his command made a successful campaign in Burgundy and forced it to recognize the power of the Frankish kingdom by force of arms.

Then Charles Martell conquered the regions in the south of France. He resolutely suppressed the uprising against the rule of the Franks in Provence. After that, he established his power further south, up to the city of Marseilles. The local population was taxed, and many free Franks were settled on their lands, who, by the power of their weapons, ensured order and obedience to the power of the king, or, more precisely, the mayor.

Charles Martell patronized the spread of Christianity among the pagan tribes. However, the Catholic clergy in his state did not like the king, since in order to strengthen the country, Charles Martell confiscated part of the church lands and distributed them to the Frankish nobility as beneficiaries - for life use on the terms of mandatory royal military service. So in the country of free francs with " light hand» Charles Martell began to appear feudal lords.

Under Charles Pepin Martel, the military art of the Franks was further developed. This was primarily due to the appearance of the heavily armed cavalry of the Frankish nobility, which in the near future became knightly. However, the basis of the combat power of the army continued to be the infantry, which consisted of free peasants. At that time, all the men of the kingdom who were able to bear arms were liable for military service.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

CHARLES THE SENIOR, OR MARTELL

A). CARL MARTELL
For the victory over the Arabs at the Battle of Poitiers (732), he received the nickname Martell (from Latin Martellus, hammer) - a Frankish major, the illegitimate son of Pepin Geristalsky and Alpeida, born. about 688. After the death of Pepin (714), he was imprisoned by his stepmother Plektruda, who saw Charles as a dangerous rival for her grandchildren and tried especially to protect the interests of one of them, Theodoald (Theudald), appointed by Pepin, despite his youth, majordomo Neustria .

The Neustrians, dissatisfied with the appointment of a minor mayor, raised an uprising against him in 715 and elected the Neustrian Raganfred to the mayor; about the same time, the Merovingian Chilperic II was chosen king of Neustria. Meanwhile, Charles in August 715 escaped from prison. Having found many adherents in Austrasia, Charles began to vigorously and continuously pursue two goals:

1) to break the resistance of tribal rulers (like the Dukes of Fris, Bavaria, Aquitaine) and secular and spiritual aristocratic landowners who took advantage of the unrest in the Pepin family to strengthen their power; unite power over Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy and thereby strengthen the position of the Pipinid house in the Frankish state;

2) to protect the state and the church from the pagan Saxons, who threatened from the northeast, and from the Mohammedan Arabs, who attacked from the southwest. In 717 he won a brilliant victory over the Neustrians; then he forced Plektruda to surrender Cologne to him, elevated the Merovingian Chlothar to the throne of Austrasia, and two years later defeated Raganfred, occupied Paris and Orleans and became the de facto ruler of Austrasia and Neustria. At this time, King Chlothar died, and Charles did not hesitate to recognize Chilperic as the nominal king of the entire state. Eudon, Duke of Aquitaine, who until then stood on the side of Charles' enemies, concluded an agreement with him and recognized him as mayor, retaining, however, his independence. In 720 Chilperic died, and the seven-year-old Theoderic (son of Dagobert the Younger) was erected in his place, in whose name Charles ruled until his death in 737.

In 725 and 728 Karl made two trips to Bavaria, which submitted to him, but retained its duke. In the early 730s. Allemania also obeyed. In 733-734. Charles undertook campaigns against the pagan Frisians who lived near the coast of the North Sea. The result of these campaigns was the loss of independence by the Frisians and the spread of Christianity among them. Against the pagan Saxons, K. undertook successful campaigns in 718, 720, 724 and 738, thanks to which their destructive pressure was somewhat restrained.

Even more persistently, he protected the state from the Arabs, who in 720 crossed the Pyrenees, took Narbonne and laid siege to Toulouse; Eudon managed in 721 to repulse them from Toulouse, but after that new masses of Mohammedans appeared from behind the Pyrenees; they penetrated into Septimania and Burgundy and even reached the left bank of the Rhone. Evdon became close to Otman, the head of the Arab troops, and violated the agreement with Charles. As a result, Charles in 731 twice crossed the Loire (sending his brother Hildebrand against the Saracens) and devastated Aquitaine; Evdon was forced to join Karl again. In 732, with a host of Austrasians, Neustrians, and Rhineland tribes, Charles advanced to meet the Arabs, who had sacked Poitiers and Tours. In October 732, south of Tours, a mile from old Poitiers, near the present town of Senon, there was a famous battle that lasted a whole day with considerable success for the Franks, but without a decisive outcome; however, the Arabs fled the next night. Thanks to the resistance of the Christian population of the Pyrenees, encouraged by this success, their further movement to the north was stopped.

In 735, the Burgundians, reluctantly submitting to Charles, entered into relations with the Arabs and gave them the city of Arles. After a campaign in Aquitaine, where, after the death of Eudon, Charles managed, by agreement with his son, Hunold, to establish the same relations as in Bavaria, Charles moved to Burgundy (736), forced the Burgundians to vassal oath and appointed new counts to Arles. In 737, after the death of King Theoderic, Charles began to rule without a king. Following that, the Arabs suffered a severe defeat from Caral at the river. Burr, south of Narbonne; he crushed an uprising in Provence and subjugated the entire country to Marseilles.

Oct 21 741 Charles died and was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Denis. Before his death, he divided his possessions between his legitimate sons (from Hroshruda), Carloman and Pepin. From the concubine Svanagilda he had a son Griffin. Karl zealously patronized the spread of Christianity among the pagans (especially the Frisians), provided active support to Boniface and was in good relations with Pope Gregory III; the latter turned to Charles, who received from the Pope the rank of Roman “patrician” (i.e., the guardian of Rome), for help against the Lombards and thought about subordinating K. Rome, on certain conditions.

This idea was abandoned, since Charles did not consider it possible to give the pope help against the Lombards, who were on friendly terms with Charles. Among the clergy of the Frankish state, Charles was not loved; in an effort to break the opposition of the aristocracy, in whose ranks there was also the higher clergy, he removed some of the spiritual from their chairs, putting secular people devoted to him in their place; contrary to church prescriptions, several chairs and land holdings were united in one hand; church lands were given and directly for use on long term secular persons. Arbitrary measures of Charles, which did not remain without a significant impact on the development in the Frankish state of such feudal forms as the distribution of land for use, have found unequal interpretations among the latest researchers: some, stipulating that it is hardly possible to talk about the formal secularization of church lands under Charles, admit that however, providing them in large sizes secular persons; others deny the justice of Caral's accusation of seizing church lands. For representatives of the first view, the church measures of the sons of Caral appear to be the ordering of the father's activities, for the second, these measures represent real secularization.

The material used encyclopedic dictionary» Brockhaus and Efron.

b). ACTS OF CARL MARTELLUS
How (Charles) defeated and defeated the Saxons, the Duke of Aquitaine, and Abdiraman, King of the Saracens. After a year, Charles gathered an innumerable army, crossed the Rhine, passed the country of the Alamanni and Suebi and reached the Danube; he crossed it and conquered the country of the Bulgarians. Having conquered these lands, he set off on his return journey with many treasures, a certain woman and her daughter Sonnehilde; at this time, Duke Ed was no longer honoring the terms of the treaty. Having received the news of this, Charles gathered an army, crossed the Loire, put Edda himself to flight, captured a lot of booty (the enemies plundered the country twice), and returned to his land.

Ed, who was defeated, began to seek help from Princeps Charles and the people of the Franks from the insidious people of the Saracens. Marching with their king Abdiraman, they crossed the Garonne and reached Bordeaux. Burning churches, beating the inhabitants, they reached Poitiers, where they set fire to the Basilica of St. Hilary. What a shame to talk about it! And they set out to destroy the monastery of blessed Martin. The princeps boldly and militantly led his army and attacked them. With the help of Christ, he overturned their tents and fell on them to end the battle with a beating. He killed their king, defeated and destroyed their army, fought and prevailed. So he celebrated the victory over his enemies.

At first next year Charles, a brilliant warrior, invaded the lands of the Burgundians with the help of a ruse. His fame, tested in battles, and the ability of his soldiers to pacify rebellious and infidel peoples, allowed him to establish the borders of his country; when peace was made, he gave Lyon to his faithful. He approved the treaties that fixed the taxes, and confidently returned with a victory.

Meanwhile, Duke Ed died. Having received this news, the already named princes Charles consulted with his people and crossed the Loire a second time; he approached the Garonne, took Bordeaux, and occupied the castle of Blaye; he conquered this region by conquering the cities and lands adjacent to this castle. He returned victorious in peace, thanks to the help of Christ, the King of kings. Amen.

Anonymous chronicler (at the behest of Hildebrand, brother of Charles Martel).

V). CARL AT POitiers
“The impending formidable danger temporarily stopped numerous strife and strife both among the Franks themselves and between the Franks and other Germanic tribes. Charles managed to gather a large army, which included, in addition to the Franks, other tribes of the Germans: Alamanni, Bavarians, Saxons, Frisians. The decisive battle took place in October 732 on the plain between Tours and Poitiers. The day of this battle was one of the important turning points in the history of mankind: here, as at Salamis or in the Catalaunian fields, the fate of many peoples depended on the outcome of the struggle between the two armies. The details of the battle are unknown, although one can clearly imagine what motives and passionate impulses agitated the soldiers who were part of the troops. The army of Abd ar-Rahman was animated by the flame of faith in Allah and his prophet, who had already betrayed kingdoms and peoples to the power of the faithful, and the pride of the victors and the greed of prey, for which all victories and conquests already won served only as steps to further successes, conquests and enrichment. Religious enthusiasm was also great in the Christian army, although there is no information about the special zeal of the clergy, it is only known that a fairly significant part of Charles's army consisted of pagans. But the Franks knew what they were fighting for: they had already managed to get used to the beautiful country that they had acquired with their courage and the courage of their ancestors, and were preparing to passionately stand up for it.

The main strength of the Arabs was manifested in their swift onslaught, which terrified the enemies; the main strength of the northerners is in a calm defense: "They stood like an immovable wall, like an ice belt." Karl, obviously, took care to first acquaint his soldiers with Arab tactics, they were given some confidence by the consciousness of their superiority over the Arabs in physical strength. The skillful roundabout movement of the Duke of Aquitaine contributed to the possession complete victory- the next day the tents of the Arab camp were empty and it was possible to calmly take a very significant booty.

The unanimity to which this victory was due was short-lived. Subsequently, Charles again had to fight with the Frisians, and with the Saxons, and with the Duke of Aquitaine, and with the Neustrim nobles, who did not disdain even treacherous relations with the Muslims, as a result of which they repeatedly invaded the Frankish state, devastating its entire southeast to the very Lyon...

Only in 739 did Charles manage, in alliance with the Lombard king Liutprand, to finally deal with both the Arabs and his internal strife. During this struggle, the formidable warrior broke his ties with the church, or, more precisely, with the highest clergy of the Frankish state, who were mired in gross immorality and led a wasteful life. He, without hesitation, drew from church property in those cases when it was a question of the fight against Islam, and especially about remuneration of figures who, in this struggle, rendered essential services to the state. The clergy, spoiled by the kings and arrogant, tried in every possible way to harm and hinder him, and even launched a legend about the vision of a certain confessor: the conqueror of the Arabs was tormented in the flames of the underworld for his bad attitude towards the clergy. Despite this, the importance of Charles was so great that after the death of Theodoric IV, for a long time he could not replace the orphaned throne with anyone.

Majordom Charles died in 741. Of his two sons, Pepin and Carloman, who succeeded him, the latter retired in 747 to the famous monastery founded in 529 in Campania in Montecassino on the site of the former temple of Apollo. (The founder of this monastery was Benedict of Nursia, who gave the monks of his monastery the rules of community). From that time on, Pepin ruled alone, albeit on behalf of the completely insignificant Merovingian king Childeric III, until in 751 he decided to take a long-considered step. He sent two clerics to Pope Zacharias (741-752) and suggested to him the following: would it not be better for the Frankish church that the one who holds power in his hands would also wear a royal title. This was a significant event in the history of the Frankish state, as well as in the history of the papacy.

O. Eger " The World History in four volumes.