Editing Charles Martel (section)

== Interregnum (737–741) ==
In 737, at the tail end of his campaigning in Provence and [[Septimania]], the Merovingian king, Theuderic IV, died. Charles, titling himself ''maior domus'' and ''princeps et dux Francorum'', did not appoint a new king and nobody acclaimed one. The throne lay vacant until Charles's death. The interregnum, the final four years of Charles's life, was relatively peaceful although in 738 he compelled the Saxons of [[Westphalia]] to submit and pay tribute and in 739 he checked an uprising in Provence where some rebels united under the leadership of [[Maurontus]].

Charles used the relative peace to set about integrating the outlying realms of his empire into the Frankish church. He erected four dioceses in Bavaria ([[Archbishopric of Salzburg|Salzburg]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg|Regensburg]], [[Prince-Bishopric of Freising|Freising]], and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Passau|Passau]]) and gave them [[Saint Boniface|Boniface]] as [[archbishop]] and [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]] over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at [[Mainz]]. Boniface had been under his protection from 723 on. Indeed, the saint himself explained to his old friend, [[Daniel of Winchester]], that without it he could neither administer his church, defend his clergy nor prevent idolatry.

In 739, [[Pope Gregory III]] begged Charles for his aid against [[Liutprand, King of the Lombards|Liutprand]], but Charles was loath to fight his onetime ally and ignored the plea. Nonetheless, the pope's request for Frankish protection showed how far Charles had come from the days when he was tottering on excommunication, and set the stage for his son and grandson to assert themselves in the peninsula.