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PersonAD 688 – AD 741

Charles Martel

Also called: Carolus Martellus

Mayor of the palace of the Frankish kingdom who defeated the Muslim army at Tours–Poitiers in 732; his authority paved the way for his son Pepin to found the Carolingian dynasty

Son of Pepin II, the mayor of the palace who held real power under the Merovingian kings, he won a civil war to become mayor himself and effectively ruled the kingdom while keeping a king on the throne. Defeating the Muslim army at Tours–Poitiers in 732 earned him the name Martel, “the Hammer”. He is said to have granted church lands to warriors to raise cavalry, which is sometimes linked to later feudalism. His son Pepin founded the Carolingian dynasty in 751.

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2 related events

  1. 1
    AD 732Battle of Tours–Poitierscommander

    The army of Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi, governor of al-Andalus, advancing north across the Pyrenees, was defeated between Tours and Poitiers by the Frankish mayor of the palace Charles Martel.

  2. 2
    AD 756Donation of Pepin and the Papal Statesrelated figure

    Pepin, who founded the Carolingian dynasty in 751 with papal backing, gave the pope the lands around Ravenna taken from the Lombards in 756, laying the foundation of the Papal States.

People who appear alongside

  • Abd al-Rahman al-GhafiqiAD 732

    Governor of al-Andalus who crossed the Pyrenees into Francia in 732 and was killed at the Battle of Tours–Poitiers

  • Pepin the ShortAD 714 – AD 768

    Son of Charles Martel and first Carolingian king of the Franks, who gave lands taken from the Lombards to the pope (the Donation of Pepin)

Themes this person appears in

  • Medieval Europe and ByzantiumAD 476 – 1077

    From the fall of Rome in the West to Canossa — the feudal West built by the Franks and the papacy, Byzantium as heir of Rome, and a church divided east and west

  • The Rise of the Islamic WorldAD 570 – 1055

    From the revelation to Muhammad to the Seljuk entry into Baghdad — 450 years in which a new faith from Arabia built a civilisation stretching from Iberia to Central Asia and reached as far as Silla by sea