22nd
Today in 741
Charles the Hammer (Charles Martel) died on this day in 741 (although with the switch-to-Gregorian thing, I’m never sure). Born a Duke’s bastard in modern-day Belgium, he was imprisoned at 26 by his father’s wife to prevent him from becoming powerful. Charles escaped, raised an army, retreated just once and then won a war despite being heavily outnumbered. He would never lose a battle again.
His military genius became obvious over the next several years, as he fought for kings who were his puppets. But the Cordoban emirate was taking over Gaul — until he won the Battle of Tours, and earned the “Hammer” sobriquet. Many historians consider the battle to be an event of macrohistorical importance, one of the rare tipping points when the fate of civilizations turned.
Charles spent the next nine years consolidating peace and power, in part by systematically replacing as many nobles as possible with his crew, holding off the technologically sophisticated armies and navies of the Caliphate, and keeping the Germans quiet to the east.
When his puppet-king died, Charles decided not to appoint a new king and held power himself. Nobody dared complain. He willed his realm to two of his adult sons.
Yes, Charles the Hammer was real. Charles was the person most responsible for the shift of the Frankish kingdom (aka France, Gaul) from the Merovingian dynasty to the Carolingian dynasty. That is, his descendants, which include fellow badasses Charlemagne, Frederick Barbarossa,
