Charles Martel

The victory over the Arabs at Poitiers in 732: this is about all that remains of Charles Martel in the collective memory.

A mere skirmish, or a clash of civilisations that saved Europe from Islamisation? The significance of this famous battle has seen renewed interest in the current context and is the subject of vigorous debate. However, one would be wrong to reduce the "Hammer of the Saracens" to this single date, however celebrated it may be.

Grandfather of Charlemagne, Charles Martel secured the transition between the moribund Merovingian dynasty and that of the Carolingians. A mere "mayor of the palace", and yet master of a vast territory, he prepared the way for his son Pepin the Short's accession to the throne. A warrior above all, he became, through his many victories — but also through his collaboration with the missionaries and his accord with the pope — the most powerful prince of his era, the saviour of the unity of the Frankish world, the bulwark of Christendom and, by extension, a founding figure of the European Middle Ages.

His marble effigy, installed for nearly eight centuries in the royal basilica of Saint-Denis, bears eternal witness to his greatness. Yet the fragmentary and laconic nature of the chronicles of his time has not done justice to the memory of Charles Martel.

Drawing on his intimate knowledge of the subject and making use of numerous documents — some previously unpublished — on Frankish society of the period, Georges Minois finally lifts the veil on this remarkable figure, an unsung hero of French history.