The Battle of Amblève took place in 716 near Amel. The

mayor of the palace Under the Merovingian dynasty, the mayor of the palace or majordomo, ( or ) was the manager of the household of the Frankish king. He was the head of the Merovingian administrative ladder and orchestrated the operation of the entire court. He ...

Austrasia Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...

Charles Martel Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...

, defeated his

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages, in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, Austrasia. It initially included land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, in the north of present-day ...

n and Frisian rivals who were led by King

Chilperic II Chilperic II ( 672 – 13 February 721) was King of the Franks from 715 until his death. He was a son of Childeric II and his half-cousin wife, Bilichild, both of whom were assassinated, along with their eldest son Dagobert, in 675. Still a ...

, his mayor

Ragenfrid Ragenfrid (also Ragenfred, Raganfrid, or Ragamfred) (died 731) was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy from 715, when he filled the vacuum in Neustria caused by the death of Pepin of Heristal, until 718, when Charles Martel finally ...

, and Redbad, King of the Frisians. It was the first major victory of Martel in a long career of victories. In this battle Martel began demonstrating the military genius which would mark the remainder of his life.

History

Following his defeat at

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Martel rallied his supporters in the mountains of the

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

. Many Austrasians, under attack by Neustrians, Frisians, and Saxons in the northeast likely rallied behind Martel because he was the only surviving adult male of the Pippinnid family.Costambeys, Marios, Innes, Matthew, and MacLean, Simon. ''The Carolingian World'', Cambridge University Press, 2011
/ref> His forces then attacked the army of

and his allies at the Battle of Amblève near Amel as they returned triumphantly from Cologne. Martel used a feigned retreat, falling on his foes as they rested at midday, and feigning falling back to draw them fully out of a defensive position, where he defeated them. According to the ''

Annals of Metz The ''Annals of Metz'' () are a set of Latin Carolingian annals covering the period of Frankish history from the victory of Pepin II in the Battle of Tertry (687) to the time of writing (c. 806). Sections covering events after 806 are not origin ...

'' the casualties he inflicted on his foes were substantial. Martel remained undefeated until his death 25 years later. Subsequently, Martel recovered much of the ransom paid by

Plectrude Plectrude (; ) (died 718) was the consort of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, from about 670. She was the daughter of Hugobert, seneschal of Clovis IV, and Irmina of Oeren. She was the regent of Neustria during t ...

to the king and Ragenfrid for

. A "feigned retreat," which became famous as one of the Mongols' three favorite tactics, is one of the most difficult to perform during a battle, requiring discipline on the part of the troops and good timing on the part of the commander. The tactic involves getting troops to appear to flee only to reverse and stand once they have lured an opponent out of a stronger position, and have usually strung them out in pursuit, where they are easily picked off. Martel was the only general known to use it during the Dark Ages.

Notes

References

* Bachrach, Bernard S. (2000). ''Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire''. University of Pennsylvania Press. *Bennett, Bradsbury, Devries, Dickie and Jestice, ''Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World'' *Davies, Wendy and Fouracre, Paul (2002). ''Property and Power in the Early Middle Ages''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Halsall, Guy (2003). ''Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West 450-900''. London: Routledge. {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Ambleve Ambleve Amblève Amblève 716 Amel 8th century in Francia

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

Charles Martel