Charles Martel: The Life Of Charles Martel

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Who is Charles Martel? When you ask someone that question the most common response is “I do not know.” I would have answered the same way if I had been asked the same question a little more than 4 months before now. He is one of the unknown heroes; one of the men throughout history who made a huge difference in the way events played out but who does not receive any recognition from people alive today. He was very important in stopping the crusades being made by the Muslims during the early 8th century to the middle of the 8th century. This saw the Muslims attempt to come through the Iberian Peninsula and invade European lands while spreading Islam. A big battle which defined Charles and his life was the Battle of Tours which determined the fate of Christianity and Islam in Europe. There are multiple history forces that can be used to describe the life and deeds of Charles Martel and the ones I will be looking at are religion and technology.

Charles Martel was born during the late 7th century in what is now modern day Belgium. His father Pippin the Middle served as Mayor to the Palace of the King of the Franks and had an affair with a mistress which produced one of his bastard children, Charles. Instead of the King having power in the court they were essentially a figurehead and at the same time the Mayor of the Palace was really the king or the commander in chief of the army so Charles’ father Pippin was very powerful. Charles started out life at a disadvantage because just before Pippin’s death he was forced to disown any of the bastard children he had created which included Charles. Therefore Charles was no longer in line to become the next Mayor of the Palace and he lost all political standing while one of Pippin’...

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...ia paper on him and the Battle of Tours. Even though the Battle of Tours is remembered as one of the most important battles in history not many people know of its’ consequences and how it effects most everyone who now lives in the Western World. More importantly who knows if Christianity would have survived at all if Charles did not stop the Moors at Tours, considering how early in history the battle took place and how both Christianity and Islam were growing at the time. Given that I learned a lot about Charles Martel and about the Frankish people as well as how history forces contribute to almost if not all of the major things that have happened throughout history. More than one of each are usually involved and knowing about them have really helped me better understand why certain things throughout history have happened and why they happened the way that they did.

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