Karl Martell: a brief biography, reforms and activities. The military reform of Charles Martel

In the VII-VIII centuries. On the ruins of the former Western Roman Empire, there were several German states. The center of each of them was a tribal alliance. For example, they were francs, who eventually became French. With the advent of the state, kings from the Merovingian dynasty began to rule there. However, this title could not last long at the peak of power. Over time, the influence passed to the majordomas. At first they were the senior dignitaries, ruling the palace of the Merovingians. With the weakening of royal power, this post became the main one in the state, although the kings remained and existed in parallel with the new rulers of the francs.

Origin

Pepin of the Hero of the dynasty of the Carolingians was a majorord from 680 to 714. He had three sons, the youngest of whom was Carl Martell. The two elder sons of Pipin died before their father, and therefore the dynastic question arose sharply in the country. From the eldest son the elderly ruler had a grandson, who was called Theodoald. It was he who decided to transfer the throne to Pipin, relying on the opinion of his ambitious wife, Electroda. She was incited sharply against Karl for the reason that he was born of another woman.

When his father passed away, Karl was imprisoned, and the beginning of the Electrode, which was formally regent with a young son, began to rule. Karl Martell did not long languish in prison. He managed to escape, after the riots broke out in the country.

Riots in the country

Dissatisfied Franks did not want to see the despotic Plectrud on the throne and declared war on her. Their first attempt ended in defeat in a place near the modern city of Compiègne in Picardy. One of the leaders of the rebels named Theodoald betrayed them and went over to the side of the enemy. Then in the camp of the Franks appeared a new leader - Ragenfred. He was elected Mayordom of Neustrius. The military leader decided that he could not cope alone, and made an alliance with the Frisian king Radbor. The united army besieged Cologne, which was the residence of Plectruda. She was saved only by the fact that she paid off due to the great wealth accumulated in the days of her husband Pipin.

The struggle for power

It was at this point that Karl Martell escaped from prison. He managed to gather around him a large number of supporters who did not want to see on the throne of none of the other contenders. At first, Karl tried to defeat Radbora, but failed in battle. Quickly gathering a new army, the young commander overtook another rival - Ragenfred. He was in modern Belgium. The battle took place at the present town of Malmedy. Then followed the turn of the ruler of Australia, Hilperik, who made an alliance with Ragenfred. The victory allowed Karl to gain influence and strength. He persuaded Plectrud to withdraw from power and give him the treasury of his father. Soon the stepmother, because of which the internecine strife began, died quietly. In 718, Carl Martell finally established himself in Paris, but he still had to subdue the rest of the Frankish feudal lords.

Expanding borders

It's time to steer the gun to the south. The ruler of Neustria, Ragenfred, united with Ed the Great, who ruled in Aquitaine. The latter crossed the Loire with the Basque army, in order to help the ally. In 719, there was a battle between them and Karl, who managed to win. Ragenfred fled to Angers, where they ruled until his death for several more years.

Ed recognized himself as a vassal of Charles. Both agreed to put on the throne of the weak Hilperik. He soon died, and in his place stood Theodoric IV. He obeyed the mayorddom in everything and did not pose a threat to the ambitious franc. Despite the victories in Neustria, the outskirts of the state continued to exist autonomously from the central government. So, for example, in Burgundy (in the southeast) local bishops dominated, not listening to orders of Paris. The cause of concern was still the German lands, where in Alemannia, Thuringia and Bavaria, they negatively treated the majordomo.

Reforms

In order to strengthen his power, the mayor decided to change the order in the state. The first was the formal reform of Karl Martell, carried out in the 30s. It was necessary to strengthen the army. Initially, the Frankish troops were formed from the militia or city squads. The problem was that there was simply not enough money to keep a large army in power.

The reasons for Karl Martell's reform were precisely this deficit of military specialists in the event of a conflict with their neighbors. Now the men, going on a campaign together with the mayordome, received for their service the land allotment. To preserve it, they needed to regularly respond to the suzerain's calls.

The reform of the reform of Karl Martell led to the fact that the Frankish state received a large, efficient army of well-equipped soldiers. Such a system was not in the neighbors, so they became extremely vulnerable to the state of the mayordome.

The meaning of the reform of Charles Martel in land ownership affected the property of the church. Secularization allowed to increase the allotment of secular power. It was these confiscated lands that went to those who served in the army. The church took only surplus, for example, the monastery grounds were left out of the redistribution.

The military reform of Charles Martella allowed to increase the number of cavalry in the army. Rebellious feudal lords with small allotments no longer threatened the throne, as they were strongly attached to it. All of their wealth depended on loyalty to power. This is how a new important estate has emerged, which became central to the subsequent Middle Ages.

What is the meaning of the military reform of Karl Martell? He wanted not only to increase the number of dependent feudal lords, but also to remove the incapable peasants from the army. Instead of the army, they now fell into the ownership of landowners: counts, dukes, etc. Thus, the enslavement of peasants began, which were mostly free for the most part. They received a new status of disenfranchised after they lost their importance in the army of the Franks. In the future, feudal lords (both small and large) will live at the expense of exploiting the labor of forced peasants.

The meaning of the reform of Charles Martel is a transition to the classical Middle Ages, where everything in society - from the beggar to the ruler - exists within the framework of a clear hierarchy. Each estate was a link in the chain of relationships. It was hardly possible for the Franks at the time to guess that they were creating an order that would last for hundreds of years, but nevertheless it did. The fruits of this policy will appear very soon, when the descendant of Martell - Charlemagne - calls himself emperor.

But before that it was still far away. At first, the reforms of Charles Martell strengthened the central authority of Paris. But with decades it became clear that such a system is an excellent ground for the beginning of the fragmentation of the state of the Franks. Under Martell, the central authority and the middle-class feudal lords received mutual benefit-the expansion of borders and the work of enslaved peasants. The state has become more defensive.

For each sphere of life, a new reform of Karl Martell was being developed. The table shows well what has changed in the state of the Franks under his rule.

German policy

In the middle of the reign, Karl decided to tackle the organization of the German limits of his power. He was engaged in building roads, fortifying cities and establishing order everywhere. This was necessary for the revitalization of trade and the restoration of cultural ties between the various tribal unions of Western Europe. During these years, the Franks are actively colonizing the valley of the River Main, where the Saxons and other Germans used to live. The emergence of a loyal population in this region made it possible to strengthen control not only over Franconia, but also over Thuringia and Hessen.

Weak Germanic dukes sometimes tried to assert themselves as independent rulers, but the military reform of Karl Martell changed the balance of power. The feudal lords of Alemannia and Bavaria suffered losses from the Franks and recognized themselves as their vassals. Numerous tribes, just included in the state, remained pagans. Therefore the priests of the Franks diligently turned the infidels into Christianity, so that they feel themselves one with the Catholic world.

Invasion of Muslims

Meanwhile, the main danger for the mayor and his state was not at all in the German neighbors, but in the Arabs. This warlike tribe has for centuries seized new lands under the shadow of a new religion - Islam. The Middle East, North Africa and Spain have already fallen. The Visigoths, who lived on the Iberian Peninsula, were defeated after the defeat, and eventually retreated to the borders with the Franks.

For the first time the Arabs appeared in Aquitaine in 717, when Ed Veliky still ruled there. Then they were isolated raids and reconnaissance. But already in 725, cities such as Carcassonne and Nimes were taken.

All this time Aquitaine was a buffer formation between Martell and the Arabs. Its fall would lead to a complete defenselessness of the Franks, since it was difficult for the conquerors to pass the Pyrenees Mountains, but on the hills they felt much more confident.

The warlord (wali) of Muslims Abd al-Rahman in 731 decided to assemble an army from the most diverse tribes, subordinate to the Caliphate in recent years. His goal was the city of Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast of Aquitaine, which was famous for its wealth. The Muslim army consisted of various Spanish barbarians, subordinated to the Arabs, Egyptian reinforcements and large Muslim units. And although the sources of that time differ in the estimation of the number of Islamic soldiers, it can be assumed that this figure fluctuated at the level of 40,000 armed men.

Not far from Bordeaux Ed's troops gave battle to the enemy. It ended sadly for Christians, they suffered a heavy defeat, and the city was plundered. In Spain, caravans of Moors with prey began to flow. However, the Muslims did not intend to stop, and again after a short respite went north. They reached Poitiers, but the inhabitants there had good defensive walls. The Arabs did not dare to commit a bloody attack and withdrew to Tour, which was taken with much less losses.

At this time, the broken Ed escaped to Paris to ask for help in the struggle against the invaders. Now it's time to check what the sense of the military reform of Karl Martell is. Under his banner stood a lot of soldiers, faithfully servants in exchange for land allotments. Mostly the Franks were summoned, but various Germanic tribes were also found, depending on the mayordome. They were Bavarians, Frisians, Saxons, Alemannians, etc. The reasons for the reform of Karl Martell were just the desire to collect large armies at the most crucial moment. This task was accomplished as soon as possible.

Abd-ar-Rahman at this time, he won a huge number of trophies, because of which his army received a train, which greatly slowed the progress of the army. Learning about the intention of the Franks to enter Aquitaine, Vali ordered to withdraw to Poitiers. It seemed to him that he would have time to prepare for the decisive battle.

The Battle of Poitiers

Here two troops met. Neither Karl nor Abdar-Rahman hesitated to attack first, and the tense atmosphere lasted a whole week. All this time, small maneuvers continued - the opponents tried to find a better position for themselves. Finally, on October 10, 732, the Arabs decided to attack first. At the head of the cavalry was Abd al-Rahman himself.

The organization of the army under Charles Martel included a remarkable discipline, when each part of the army acted as if it were one whole. The battle between the two sides was bloody and at first did not give advantage to either one. By evening a small detachment of Franks broke through a detour to the Arab camp. They stored a huge amount of mining: money, precious metals and other important resources.

The Moors, as part of the Muslim army, felt unwell and retreated to the rear, trying to beat out the enemy who had come from nowhere. There was a gap in the place of their connection with the Arabs. The main army of the Franks under the leadership of Martell in time noticed this weak spot and attacked.

The maneuver became decisive. The Arabs were divided, and some of them are surrounded. Including the commander Abdar-Rahman. He died trying to break back into his camp. By night, the two armies dispersed. The Franks decided that on the second day they would finally get Muslims. However, they realized that their campaign was lost, and in the darkness of the night they quietly withdrew from their positions. At the same time, they left the Christians a huge convoy of looted goods.

The reasons for the victory of the francs

The Battle of Poitiers decided the outcome of the war. The Arabs were driven out of Aquitaine, and Charles, on the contrary, strengthened his influence here. His nickname "Martell" he received just for the victory at Poitiers. In translation, this word means "hammer".

The victory was important not only for his personal ambitions. Time has shown that after this defeat the Muslims no longer tried to penetrate further into Europe. They stopped in Spain, where they ruled until the XV century. The success of Christians is another consequence of the reform of Karl Martell.

The powerful army that he gathered could not have appeared on the basis of the old order that existed under the Merovingians. The land reform of Karl Martell gave the country new capable soldiers. Success was logical.

Death and meaning

Reforms of Charles Martel continued when he died in 741. He was buried in Paris, choosing one of the churches of the abbey of San Denis as a resting place. The Majorord has several sons and a successful power. His wise policy and successful wars allowed the Franks to feel confident in the surroundings of their most diverse neighbors. In a few decades his reforms will give the most noticeable result when his descendant - Charlemagne - proclaims himself emperor in 800, uniting most of Western Europe. In this he helped the innovations of Martell, including the very feudal estate, interested in strengthening centralized power.