Karl Martell: A Brief Biography, Reforms and Activities. Karl Martell's military reform

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 union. For example, it was the Franks, 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 on top of power. Over time, the influence passed to the mayords. At first it was the senior dignitaries who run the Merovingian Palace. With the weakening of royal power, this position became the main one in the state, although the kings remained and existed in parallel with the new rulers of the Franks.

Origin

Pepin of Geristalsky from the Carolingian dynasty was a mayor from 680 to 714. He had three sons, the youngest of whom was Karl Martell. Two senior offspring of Pipin died before their father, and therefore a dynastic question arose sharply in the country. From the eldest son, the elderly ruler had a grandson, whose name was Theodoald. It was he who decided to transfer the throne to Pepin, relying on the opinion of his ambitious wife Plectruda. She was sharply opposed to Karl for the reason that he was born from another woman.

When his father passed away, Karl was sent to prison, and the beginning of Plektrud, which was formally regent with his young son, ruled over. Karl Martell did not languish in prison for long. He managed to escape after riots broke out in the country.

Riots in the country

Dissatisfied Franks did not want to see the oppressive Plectrude on the throne and declared war on her. Their first attempt ended in defeat in a place near the modern city of Compiegne in Picardy. One of the leaders of the rebels named Theodoald betrayed them and went over to the side of the enemy. Then a new leader appeared in the camp of the Franks - Ragenfred. He was elected mayor of Neustria. The military leader decided that he alone could not cope, and made an alliance with the Frisian king Radbor. The combined army besieged Cologne, which was the seat of the Plectrudes. She was saved only by paying off at the expense of the great wealth accumulated during the time of her husband Pepin.

Power struggle

It was at that moment that Karl Martell escaped from prison. He managed to gather around himself a large number of supporters who did not want to see any of the other candidates on the throne. Karl first tried to defeat Radbor, but failed in the battle. Quickly gathering a new army, the young commander overtook another rival - Ragenfred. He was in modern Belgium. The battle happened at the current town of Malmedy. This was followed by the turn of the ruler of Australia, Chilperic, who entered into an alliance with Ragenfred. The victory allowed Karl to gain influence and strength. He persuaded Plectrudge to step back from power and give him the treasury of his father. Soon the stepmother, because of which the feud began, quietly died. In 718, Karl Martell finally established himself in Paris, but he still had to subjugate the rest of the Frankish feudal lords.

Expanding borders

The time has come to send weapons south. The ruler of Neustria Ragenfred teamed up 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, a battle took place between them and Karl, who managed to win. Ragenfred fled to Angers, where he ruled until his death for several more years.

Ed pleaded a vassal of Carl. Both agreed to place the weak Chilperic on the royal throne. He soon died, and in his place stood Theodoric IV. He obeyed the mayordom in everything and did not constitute a threat to the ambitious franc. Despite 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 ruled who did not listen to the orders of Paris. The German lands were still the cause of concern, where in Alemania, Thuringia, and Bavaria, they were negative about Mayordom.

The reform

In order to strengthen his power, the mayor decided to change the order in the state. The first was a beneficial reform of Karl Martell carried out in the 30s. It was necessary to strengthen the army. Initially, Frankish troops were formed from militias or urban units. The problem was that the authorities simply did not have enough funds to maintain a large army.

The reasons for the reform of Karl Martell were precisely in this shortage of military specialists in the event of a conflict with neighbors. Now men who went camping together with the mayor received a land allotment for their service. To save him, they needed to regularly respond to the overlord's calls.

The unofficial reform of Karl Martell led to the fact that the Frankish state received a large combat-ready army of well-equipped soldiers. The neighbors did not have such a system, so they became extremely vulnerable to the state of the mayordom.

The meaning of Karl Martell’s reform in land tenure affected the property of the church. Secularization allowed to increase the allotment of secular power. It was these confiscated lands that passed to those who served in the army. Only surpluses were taken from the church, for example, the monasteries' lands remained aloof from the redistribution.

Military reform of Karl Martell allowed to increase the number of cavalry in the army. Rebel feudal lords with small allotments no longer threatened the throne, as they were firmly attached to it. All their wealth depended on loyalty to power. So a new important estate appeared, which became central in the subsequent Middle Ages.

What is the meaning of Karl Martell’s military reform? He wanted not only to increase the number of dependent feudal lords, but also to remove incapable peasants from the army. Instead of the army, they now fell into the ownership of the landowners: counts, dukes, etc. Thus, enslavement of peasants, who were previously mostly free, began. 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 off the exploitation of the labor of bonded peasants.

The meaning of Karl Martell’s reform is a transition to the classical Middle Ages, where everything in society - from the pauper to the ruler - exists within a clear hierarchy. Each estate was a link in a chain of relationships. The Franks hardly knew at that moment that they were creating an order that would last hundreds of years, but nonetheless it happened. The fruits of this policy will appear very soon, when Martell's descendant, Charlemagne, will call himself emperor.

However, this was still a long way off. For the first time, the reforms of Karl Martell strengthened the central authority of Paris. But over the decades, it has become clear that such a system is excellent soil for starting the fragmentation of the state of the Franks. Under Martell, the central government and the feudal lords of the middle hand received mutual benefits — the expansion of borders and the labor of enslaved peasants. Power has become more defensive.

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

German politics

In the middle of the reign, Karl decided to deal with the device of the Germanic borders of his state. He was engaged in the fact that he built roads, strengthened cities and put things in order everywhere. This was necessary to revitalize trade and restore cultural ties between the various tribal unions of Western Europe. During these years, the Franks were actively colonizing the Valley of the Main River, where before they lived mainly Saxons and other Germans. The emergence of a loyal population in this region made it possible to strengthen control not only over Franconia, but also over Thuringia and Hesse.

Weak German dukes sometimes tried to make themselves known as independent rulers, but Karl Martell’s military reform changed the balance of power. The feudal lords of Alemania and Bavaria were defeated by the Franks and recognized themselves as their vassals. Numerous tribes, just included in the state, remained pagans. Therefore, the priests of the Franks diligently converted the infidels to Christianity, so that they felt one with the Catholic world.

Muslim invasion

Meanwhile, the main danger for the mayordom and its state was not at all in the German neighbors, but in the Arabs. This warlike tribe has been conquering ever new lands for a century 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 suffered defeat after defeat, and eventually retreated to the borders with the Franks.

Arabs first appeared in Aquitaine in 717, when Ed the Great reigned there. Then it was a single raids and intelligence. But as early as 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 the 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 commander (wali) of Muslims, Abd al-Rahman, in 731 decided to assemble an army from various tribes subordinated 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 army of Muslims consisted of various Spanish barbarians subordinated to the Arabs, Egyptian reinforcements and large Muslim units. And although the then sources vary in their assessment of the number of Islamic soldiers, it can be assumed that this figure fluctuated at the level of 40 thousand armed men.

Not far from Bordeaux, Ed's troops fought the enemy. It ended sadly for Christians, they suffered a severe defeat, and the city was plundered. Caravans of moors with prey flowed into Spain. However, the Muslims were not going to stop, and again after a short respite they went north. They reached Poitiers, but the inhabitants there had good defensive walls. The Arabs did not decide on a bloody attack and retreated to the Tour, which they took with much smaller losses.

At this time, the defeated Ed fled to Paris to ask for help in the fight against the invaders. Now it’s time to test the meaning of Karl Martell’s military reform. Under his banners stood a lot of soldiers, faithfully serving in exchange for land allotments. Franks were mainly called, but various Germanic tribes were also gathered , depending on the mayordom. These were the Bavarians, Friezes, Saxons, Alemanni, etc. The reasons for the reform of Karl Martell were just in the desire to assemble large armies at the most crucial moment. This task was completed as soon as possible.

Abd ar-Rahman at this time looted a huge number of trophies, because of which his army received a convoy, which extremely slowed down the progress of the army. Upon learning of the Franks' intention to enter Aquitaine, Vali ordered to move to Poitiers. It seemed to him that he would have time to prepare for the decisive battle.

Battle of Poitiers

Here the two troops met. Neither Karl nor Abd al-Rahman dared to attack first, and the tense atmosphere remained for a whole week. Small maneuvers continued all this time - the opponents tried to find a better position for themselves. Finally, on October 10, 732, the Arabs decided to attack first. Abd al-Rahman himself led the cavalry.

The organization of the army under Karl Martell included a remarkable discipline, when each part of the army acted as if it were one. The battle between the two sides was bloody and at first did not give an advantage to either one or the other. Towards evening, a small detachment of Franks broke in a roundabout way to the Arab camp. A huge amount of mining was stored there: money, precious metals and other important resources.

The Moors in the Muslim army felt something was amiss and moved to the rear, trying to drive out enemies that came from nowhere. At the place of their connection with the Arabs, a gap appeared. The main army of the Franks, led by Martell, noticed this weak spot in time and attacked.

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

Reasons for the victory of the Franks

The battle of Poitiers decided the outcome of the war. Arabs were expelled from Aquitaine, and Karl, on the contrary, strengthened his influence here. He received his nickname "Martell" precisely for the victory at Poitiers. Translated, this word means "hammer thief."

Victory was important not only for his personal ambitions. Time has shown that after this defeat, Muslims no longer tried to penetrate further into Europe. They stayed in Spain, where they ruled until the 15th century. The success of Christians is another consequence of Karl Martell’s reform.

The strong army that he gathered could not appear on the basis of the old orders that existed during the Merovingians. Karl Martell’s land reform has given the country new capable soldiers. Success was logical.

Death and meaning

Karl Martell's reforms continued when he passed away in 741. He was buried in Paris, choosing one of the churches of the abbey of San Denis as the resting place. The mayordom has several sons and a successful power. His wise policies and successful wars allowed the Franks to feel confident in the environment of various neighbors. After several decades, his reforms will produce the most noticeable result when his descendant, Charlemagne, proclaims himself emperor in 800, uniting most of Western Europe. Martell’s innovations helped him in this, including the feudal estate, which was interested in strengthening centralized power.