Mayence, and ordered to take, thenceforth, the name of Bonifacius (Benefactor), by which he is known in history. He was confirmed in this office by Karl, to whom he had rendered valuable political services by the conversion of the Thuringians, and who had a genuine respect for his lofty and unselfish character. The spot where he built the first Christian church in Central Germany, about twelve miles from Gotha, at the foot of the Thuringian Mountains, is now marked by a colossal candle-stick of granite, surmounted by a golden flame.
After Karl had been for several years actively employed in regulating the affairs of his great realm, and especially, with the aid of Bishop Bonifacius, in establishing an authority in Germany equal to that he possessed in France, he had every prospect of a powerful and peaceful rule. But suddenly a new danger threatened not only the Franks, but all Europe. The Saracens, crossing from Africa, defeated the Visigoths and slew Roderick, their king, in the year 711. Gradually possessing themselves of all Spain, they next collected a tremendous army, and in 731, under the command of Abderrahman, Viceroy of the Caliph of Damascus, set out for the conquest of France. Thus the new Christian faith of Europe, still engaged in quelling the last strength of the ancient paganism, was suddenly called upon to meet the newer faith of Mohammed, which had determined to subdue the world.
732. THE BATTLE OF POITIERS.
Not only France, but the Eastern Empire, Italy and England looked to Karl, in this emergency. The Saracens crossed the Pyrenees with 350,000 warriors, accompanied by their wives and children, as if they were sure of victory and meant to possess the land. Karl called the military strength of the whole broad kingdom into the field, collected an army nearly equal in numbers, and finally, in October, 732, the two hosts stood face to face, near the city of Poitiers. It was a struggle almost as grand, and as fraught with important consequences to the world, as that of Aëtius and Attila, nearly 300 years before. Six days were spent in preparations, and on the seventh the battle began. The Saracens attacked with that daring and impetuosity which had gained them so many victories; but, as the old chronicle says, "the Franks, with their strong hearts and powerful bodies, stood like a wall, and hewed down the Arabs with iron hands." When night fell, 200,000 dead and wounded lay upon the field. Karl made preparations for resuming the battle on the following morning, but he found no enemy. The Saracens had retired during the night, leaving their camps and stores behind them, and their leader, Abderrahman, among the slain. This was the first great check the cause of Islam received, after a series of victories more wonderful than those of Rome. From that day the people bestowed upon Karl the surname of Martel, the Hammer, and as Charles Martel he is best known in history.
He was not able to follow up his advantage immediately, for the possibility of his defeat by the Saracens had emboldened his enemies at home and abroad, to rise against his authority. The Frisians, under Poppo, their new Duke, made another invasion; the Saxons followed their example; the Burgundians attempted a rebellion, and the sons of Duke Eudo of Aquitaine, imitating the example of their ancestors, the Merovingian kings, began to quarrel about the succession. While Karl Martel (as we must now call him) was engaged in suppressing all these troubles, the Saracens, with the aid of the malcontent Burgundians, occupied all the territory bordering the Mediterranean, on both sides of the Rhone. He was not free to march against them until 737, when he made his appearance with a large army, retook Avignon, Arles and Nismes, and left them in possession only of Narbonne, which was too strongly fortified to be taken by assault.
Karl Martel was recalled to the opposite end of the kingdom by a fresh invasion of the Saxons. When this had been repelled, and the northern frontier in Germany strengthened against the hostile race, the Burgundian nobles in Provence sought a fresh alliance with the Saracens, and compelled him to return instantly from the Weser to the shores of the Mediterranean. He suppressed the rebellion, but was obliged to leave the Saracens in possession of a part of the coast, between the Rhone and the Pyrenees. During his stay in the south of France, the Pope, Gregory II., entreated him to come to Italy and relieve Rome from the oppression of Luitprand, king of the Longobards. He did not accept the invitation, but it appears that, as mediator, he assisted in concluding a treaty between the Pope and king, which arranged their differences for a time.
741.
Worn out by his life of marches and battles, Karl Martel became prematurely old, and died in 741, at the age of fifty, after a reign of twenty-seven years. He inherited the activity, the ability, and also the easy principles of his father, Pippin of Heristall. But his authority was greatly increased, and he used it to lessen the remnant of their original freedom which the people still retained. The free Germanic Franks were accustomed to meet every year, in the month of March (as on the Champ de Mars, or March-field, at Paris), and discuss all national matters. In Chlodwig's time the royal dependents were added to the free citizens and allowed an equal voice, which threw an additional power into the hands of the monarch. Karl Martel convoked the national assembly, declared war or made peace, without asking the people's consent; while, by adding the priesthood and the nobles, with their dependents, to the number of those entitled to vote, he broke down the ancient power of the state and laid the foundation of a more absolute system.
Shortly before his death, Karl Martel summoned a council of the princes and nobles of his realm, and obtained their consent that his eldest son, Karloman, should succeed him as Royal Steward of Germany, and his second son, Pippin, surnamed the Short, as Royal Steward of France and Burgundy. The Merovingian throne had already been vacant for four years, but the monarch had become so insignificant that this circumstance was scarcely noticed. On his death-bed, however, Karl Martel was persuaded by Swanhilde, one of his wives, to bequeath a part of his dominions to her son, Grifo. This gave rise to great discontent among the people, and furnished the subject Dukes of Bavaria, Alemannia and Aquitaine with another opportunity for endeavoring to regain their lost independence.
752. PIPPIN THE SHORT MADE KING.
Karloman and Pippin, in order to strengthen their cause, sought for a descendant of the Merovingian line, and, having found him, they proclaimed him king, under the name of Childeric III. This step secured to them the allegiance of the Franks, but the conflict with the refractory Dukedoms lasted several years. Battles were fought on the Loire, on the Lech, in Bavaria, and then again on the Saxon frontier: finally Aquitaine was subdued, Alemannia lost its Duke and became a Frank province, and Bavaria agreed to a truce. In this struggle, Karloman and Pippin received important support from Bonifacius, a part of whose aim it was to bring all the Christian communities to acknowledge the Pope of Rome as the sole head of the Church. They gave him their support in return, and thus the Franks were drawn into closer relations with the ecclesiastical power.
In the year 747, Karloman resigned his power, went to Rome, and was made a monk by Pope Zacharias. Soon afterwards Grifo, the son of Karl Martel and Swanhilde, made a second attempt to conquer his rights, with the aid of the Saxons. Pippin the Short allied himself with the Wends, a Slavonic race settled in Prussia, and ravaged the Saxon land, forcing a part of the inhabitants, at the point of the sword, to be baptized as Christians. Grifo fled to Bavaria, where the Duke, Tassilo, espoused his cause, but Pippin the Short followed close upon his heels with so strong a force that resistance was no longer possible. A treaty was made whereby Grifo was consigned to private life, the hereditary rights of the Bavarian Dukes recognized by the Franks, and the sovereignty of the Franks accepted by the Bavarians.
Pippin the Short had found, through his own experience as well as that of his ancestors, that the pretence of a Merovingian king only worked confusion in the realm of the Franks, since it furnished to the subordinate races and principalities a constant pretext for revolt. When, therefore, Pope Zacharias found himself threatened by Aistulf, the successor of Luitprand as king of the Longobards, and sent an embassy to Pippin the Short appealing for his assistance, the latter returned to him this question: "Does the kingdom belong to him who exercises the power, without the name, or to him who bears the name, without possessing the power?" The answer was what he expected: a general assembly was called together in 752, Pippin was anointed King by the Archbishop Bonifacius, then lifted on a shield according to the ancient custom and accepted by the nobles and people.
