o Clovis sponsored the establishment of the Salian (or Salic)
Law in 507 or 511; written in Latin, it provided the basis for a
legal code for the Frankish kingdom.• More than a century later, Charles Martel (690–741), nicknamed
“the Hammer,” the son of the Merovingian King Pepin II by
a concubine and himself destined to be the grandfather of
Charlemagne, fought for control of the Merovingian kingdom from
714 to 718.
o Charles was recognized by the Byzantine emperor Leo III as
princeps Francorum (“ruler of the Franks”) in 723. This was a
considerably higher recognition than that accorded Clovis.
o His greatest historical significance lies in his monumental
victory over the Arab army at Tours (or Poitiers) in 732, just
when the Arabs seemed destined to conquer all of Europe.
Charles stopped the northern expansion of Islam utterly;
courted by the papacy, he was the protector of such missionaries
as Boniface and Willibrord.• Pepin III (“the Short,” 714–768) was the son of Charles Martel and
the father of Charlemagne. He became sole ruler of the Frankish
kingdom in 747. Pope Zacharias approved his election as king in
751 and then repeated the coronation ceremony in 754. Note the
regular and increased mutual courtship of the Germanic rulers and
the papacy.
o Pepin III was another strong military leader. His armies
conquered Saxony, Aquitaine, and Alemannia.
o In fulfillment of a promise made to the pope, Pepin won back
Ravenna, the last outpost of the Byzantine Empire in Italy
and was named “protector of the Holy See.” He increased the
prestige of the Roman church by siding with monks—allied
with Rome—against aristocratic bishops.