aded the duchy, which, being abandoned by Spain,
was overrun by their armies. The duke fought desperately, but was taken
ill at Savigliano and died in 1630. He was succeeded by his son Victor
Amedeo I., while his third son Tommaso founded the line of
Savoy-Carignano from which the present royal house of Italy is
descended. Charles Emmanuel achieved a great reputation as a statesman
and warrior, and increased the prestige of Savoy, but he was too shifty
and ingenious, and his schemes ended in disaster.

See E. Ricotti, _Storia della monarchia piemontese_, vols. iii. and
iv. (Florence, 1865); T. Raulich, _Storia di Carlo Emanuele I._
(Milan, 1896-1902); G. Curti, _Carlo Emanuele I. secondo; piu recenti
studii_ (Milan, 1894).

CHARLES MARTEL[1] (c. 688-741), Frankish ruler, was a natural son of
Pippin II., mayor of the palace, and Chalpaida. Charles was baptized by
St Rigobert, bishop of Reims. At the death of his father in 714,
Pippin's widow Plectrude claimed the government in Austrasia and
Neustria in the name of her grandchildren, and had Charles thrown into
prison. But the Neustrians threw off the Austrasian yoke and entered
into an offensive alliance with the Frisians and Saxons. In the general
anarchy Charles succeeded in escaping, defeated the Neustrians at
Ambleve, south of Liege, in 716, and at Vincy, near Cambrai, in 717, and
forced them to come to terms. In Austrasia he wrested the power from
Plectrude, and took the title of mayor of the palace, thus prejudicing
the interests of his nephews. According to the Frankish custom he
proclaimed a king in Austrasia in the person of the young Clotaire IV.,
but in reality Charles was the sole master--the entry in the annals for
the year 717 being "Carolus regnare coepit." Once in possession of
Austrasia, Charles sought to extend his dominion over Neustria also. In
719 he defeated Ragenfrid, the Neustrian mayor of the palace, at
Soissons, and forced him to retreat to Angers. Ragenfrid died in 731,
and from that time Charles had no competitor in the western kingdom. He
obliged the inhabitants of Burgundy to submit, and disposed of the
Burgundian bishoprics and countships to his _leudes_. In Aquitaine Duke
Odo (Eudes) exercised independent authority, but in 719 Charles forced
him to recognize the suzerainty of northern France, at least nominally.
After the alliance between Charles and Odo on the field of Poitiers, the
mayor of the palace left Aquitaine to Odo