Siege Of Nîmes
The city of Nîmes (Chronicle of Fredegar) and the Roman amphitheatre (turned into a fortress by the Visigoths) were destroyed under the orders of Charles Martel.
The Arabs were temporarily contained to the city of Narbonne, though a second expedition was needed later that year to regain control of Provence after Arab forces returned. According to Paul the Deacon's Historia Langobardorum the Arabs retreated when they learned that Martel had formed an alliance with the Lombards. Martel's remaining years - he had only four to live - were spent setting up and strengthening the administrative structure that became the Carolingian Empire, and the feudal state that would persist through the Dark Ages. His son would return in 759 and finish his father's work by taking Narbonne.
References
- ^ Riche, Pierre (1993). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0-8122-1342-4, p. 45.
- ^ Lewis, Archibald R. (1965). The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 24. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
- ^ Bomgardner, David L. (2000). The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-18798-9, p. 119.
- ^ Fouracre, Paul (2000). The Age of Charles Martel. Pearson Education. ISBN 0-582-06476-7, p. 97.