This week, the show that purports to look “at history through the eyes of the Kings and Queens of France” is going to be just a little bit blind, because with the death of Theuderic IV… we have no King. We have no Queen. And we have no heir apparent. In the nearly 300 years this show has covered to date, we’ve had plenty of problems with too many people wanting to be king; we’ve seen civil wars, usurpations, murdered relatives, executions, and God knows what else. What we absolutely have not had to deal with is no one stepping up to the position. But that’s exactly what Charles Martel did when Theuderic died in 737; by not taking the crown, he put himself in a position where he was unquestionably the most powerful man in Francia - the position that should arguably belong to the King - but by not taking the scepter, orb and crown, he avoided all of the shenanigans that come with the position. So, for the rest of this episode, we’re going to look at just what Charles accomplished after he stopped the Umayyad advance in 732, and then we’re going to consider the logic and efficacy of Charles’ decision of omission; was he crazy to avoid this honor, or was he smart to avoid it like the plague? Was Charles a Middle Ages Cincinnatus, a medieval George Washington turning away the trappings of power - or was he simply taking on all of the power Francia had to offer, with none of the risks?

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Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613