The king was
cheered by the people, and he acknowledged their greetings most
graciously.
After the parade the king was escorted to the great hall of the
palace, which was filled with nobles. Seated on a magnificent
throne, he saluted the assemblage and made a short speech. The
speech was prepared beforehand by Pepin, and committed to memory by
the king. At the close of the ceremony the royal "nobody" retired
to his country house and was not heard of again for a year.
II
Pepin died in 714 A.D., and his son Charles, who was twenty-five
years old at that time, succeeded him as mayor of the palace. This
Charles is known in history as Charles Martel. He was a brave
young man. He had fought in many of his father's battles and so
had become a skilled soldier. His men were devoted to him.
While he was mayor of the palace he led armies in several wars
against the enemies of the Franks. The most important of his
wars was one with the Saracens, who came across the Pyrenees from
Spain and invaded the land of the Franks, intending to establish
Mohammedanism there. Their army was led by Abd-er-Rahman
(Abd-er-Rah'-man), the Saracen governor of Spain.
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