Charles Martel was the most famous Mayor of the Palace and was actually more powerful than

the KingCharles Martel

reunited the Frankish Kingdom
When Charles heard that Muslims from Spain had invaded Frank territories (modern day France), and won. He stopped the
advance of the Muslims at the Battle of Tours in western France. .
The battle of Tours, or Poitiers, as it should be called, is regarded as one of the decisive battles of the world. It decided that
Christians, should be the ruling power in Europe. The victory stopped a Muslim invasion of Europe and prevented the
Frankish kingdom from becoming part of the Muslim empire. It made Charles Martel a hero. It is said that the name
MARTEL was given to him because of his bravery during the fight. Marteau (mar-to) is the French word for hammer, and one
of the old French historians says that a hammer breaks and crushes iron and steel, so it means that Charles broke and crushed the
power of his enemies in the battle of Tours.
Pepin was quite low in stature, and therefore was called Pepin the Short
A story is told of him, which shows how fearless he was.
One day he went with a few of his nobles to a circus to see a fight between a lion and a bull. Soon after the fight began, it looked
as though the bull was getting the worst of it. Pepin cried out to his companions:
Will one of you separate the beasts?
But there was no answer. None of them had the courage to make the attempt. Then Pepin jumped from his seat, rushed into the
arena, and with a thrust of his sword killed the lion.
Pepin the Short succeeded his father Charles Martel after he died as the new Mayor of the Palace. But Pepin the Short wanted
to become king and, taking advantage of his fathers powerful fame,decided to make his move.
In 751, Pepin deposed the last ruler of the Merovingian Dynasty and declared himself king of the Franks.
Pepin the Short, as mayor of the palace, possessed all powers of the king.
He appealed to the Pope asking whether he or the do-nothing Merovingian King should have all the power
The Pope replied, the one who wields the power should be king.
In return for being made king, the Pope wanted protection against the Lombards , and he was appointed by the pope
as the King by the Grace of God
The Merovingian House changed to the Carolingian House, and would now officially rule the Franks.
. When Pepin, died, he divided the kingdom of the Franks between his 2 sons:Charles and Carloman . After Carlomans
death , Charles quickly took control of the entire kingdom