The Frankish War-Machine of Charles Martel
The Franks had a war-machine that was a highly effective and mobile under the leadership of Charles Martel. It fought from the North Sea in the north to the Mediterranean Sea in the south and from Aquitaine in the west to Bavaria in the east.
716: A Crucial Year For Charles Martel
The early years of Charles Martel’s life are all but obscured from the historian’s view.
The Liber Historiae Francorum – a Model for a New Frankish Self-confidence
The Liber Historiae Francorum – a Model for a New Frankish Self-confidence Philipp Dörler Networks and Neighbours, Volume One, Number One (2013) The…
Scissors or Sword? The Symbolism of a Medieval Haircut
Simon Coates explores the symbolic meanings attached to hair in the early medieval West, and how it served to denote differences in age, sex, ethnicity and status.
The Stirrup as a Revolutionary Device
A German legal historian, Paul Roth, published in 1850 a work that set out the basic concept of feudalism. According to Roth, Charles Martel had combined the two existing institutions of ‘vassalage’ and ‘benefice’—that is, a vassal swore allegiance to his lord in return for which he was given some kind of benefice, usually rent-free land.