Charles Martel was a Frankish statesman and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesman Pepin of Herstal and Pepin's mistress, a noblewoman named Alpaida. Charles asserted his claims to power as successor to his father as the power behind the throne in Frankish politics. Continuing and building on his father's work, he restored centralized government in Francia and began the series of military campaigns that re-established the Franks as the undisputed masters of all Gaul. According to a near-contemporary source, the Liber Historiae Francorum, Charles was "a warrior, uncommonly effective in battle". Much attention has been paid to his success in defeating an Arab invasion in Aquitaine at the Battle of Tours. Alongside his military endeavours, Charles has been traditionally credited with a seminal role in the development of the Frankish system of feudalism. At the end of his reign, Charles divided Francia between his sons and Pepin.

The latter became the first king of the Carolingian dynasty. Charles' grandson, extended the Frankish realms, became the first emperor in the West since the fall of Rome. Charles, nicknamed "Martel", or "Charles the Hammer", in chronicles, was the son of Pepin of Herstal and his second wife Alpaida, he had a brother named Childebrand, who became the Frankish dux of Burgundy. In older historiography, it was common to describe Charles as "illegitimate", but the dividing line between wives and concubines was not clear-cut in eighth-century Francia, it is that the accusation of "illegitimacy" derives from the desire of Pepin's first wife Plectrude to see her progeny as heirs to Pepin's power. After the reign of Dagobert I the Merovingians ceded power to the Pippinid Mayors of the Palace, who ruled the Frankish realm of Austrasia in all but name, they controlled the royal treasury, dispensed patronage, granted land and privileges in the name of the figurehead king. Charles' father, Pepin of Herstal, was able to unite the Frankish realm by conquering Neustria and Burgundy.

He was the first to call himself Duke and Prince of the Franks, a title taken up by Charles. In December 714, Pepin of Herstal died. Prior to his death, he had, at his wife Plectrude's urging, designated Theudoald, his grandson by their late son Grimoald, his heir in the entire realm; this was opposed by the nobles because Theudoald was a child of only eight years of age. To prevent Charles using this unrest to his own advantage, Plectrude had him imprisoned in Cologne, the city, intended to be her capital; this prevented an uprising on his behalf in Austrasia, but not in Neustria. Pepin's death occasioned open conflict between his heirs and the Neustrian nobles who sought political independence from Austrasian control. In 715, Dagobert III named Ragenfrid mayor of their palace declaring political independence. On 26 September 715, Ragenfrid's Neustrians met the young Theudoald's forces at the Battle of Compiegne. Theudoald fled back to Cologne. Before the end of the year, Charles Martel had escaped from prison and been acclaimed mayor by the nobles of Austrasia.

That same year, Dagobert III died and the Neustrians proclaimed Chilperic II, the cloistered son of Childeric II, as king. In 716, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia intent on seizing the Pippinid wealth at Cologne; the Neustrians allied with another invading force under Radbod, King of the Frisians and met Charles in battle near Cologne, still held by Plectrude. Charles had little time to gather men, or prepare, the result was the only defeat of his career; the Frisians held off Charles, while the king and his mayor besieged Plectrude at Cologne, where she bought them off with a substantial portion of Pepin's treasure. They withdrew. Charles retreated to the hills of the Eifel to gather men, train them. Having made the proper preparations, in April 716, he fell upon the triumphant army near Malmedy as it was returning to its own province. In the ensuing Battle of Amblève, Martel attacked. According to one source, he split his forces into several groups. Another suggests that while this was his intention, he decided, given the enemy's unpreparedness, this was not necessary.

In any event, the suddenness of the assault lead them to believe they were facing a much larger host. Many of the enemy fled and Martel's troops gathered the spoils of the camp. Martel's reputation increased as a result, he attracted more followers; this battle is considered by historians as the turning point in Charles's struggle. Richard Gerberding points out that up to this time, much of Martel's support was from his mother's kindred in the lands around Liege. After Amblève, he seems to have won the backing of the influential Willibrord, founder of the Abbey of Echternach; the abbey had been built on land donated by Plectrude's mother, Irmina of Oeren, but most of Willibrord's missionary work had been carried out in Frisia. In joining Chilperic and Ragenfrid, Radbod of Frisia sacked Utrecht, burning churches and killing many missionaries. Willibrord and his monks were forced to flee to Echternach. Gerberding suggests that Willibrord had decided that the chances of preserving his life's work were better with a successful field commander like Martel than with Plectrude in Cologne.

Willibrord subsequently baptized Martel's son Pepin. Gerberding suggests a date of Easter 716. Martel received support from Bishop Pepo of Verdun. Charles took time to prepare. By the fo

Edmond Seward was a Hollywood screenwriter who had attended Northwestern University and worked as a journalist, before doing some writing for Disney. During the mid-1930s he was brought out to Australia by director Ken G. Hall, to write movies and train Australian screenwriters for Cinesound Productions."We hired him at one hundred pounds a week as a writer and he laughed at it, but he said he would like a trip to the South Seas, he came for one hundred pounds a week and brought his wife", said Hall. "He didn't know all that much as it turned out."Seward ended up writing two films for Cinesound and Orphan of the Wilderness, as well as adapting Thoroughbred into a novel. He soon returned to Hollywood, with Hall claiming the writer "had not been a bell-ringing success". Hall thought Seward may have been responsible for plagiarising the end of Thoroughbred from the Frank Capra film, Broadway Bill. Seward worked for Screen Gems and wrote a number of scripts for The Bowery Boys. Walls of Gold Fashions of 1934 Thoroughbred Orphan of the Wilderness The Devil Is Driving – uncredited The Duke Comes Back Gulliver's Travels There's Something About a Soldier – short The Disillusioned Bluebird – short Mutt'n' Bones – short As the Fly Flies – short In Fast Company Bowery Bombshell Spook Busters Hard Boiled Mahoney News Hounds Bowery Buckaroos Angels' Alley Jinx Money Smugglers' Cove Trouble Makers Fighting Fools Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla – additional dialogue Edmond Seward on IMDb

The Girl in the Other Room is the seventh studio album by Canadian singer Diana Krall, released on March 31, 2004 by Verve Records. In addition to cover versions, it is Krall's first album to include original material, which she co-wrote with her husband Elvis Costello. Krall wrote some of the songs for the album with English musician Elvis Costello. Krall lacked the confidence. "I started writing when I was a student but didn't have the confidence to lyric-writing in great depth. I've never done anything so personal." On the Verve Records website, Krall explains the songwriting for the album in more detail: "I wrote the music and Elvis and I talked about what we wanted to say. I told him stories and wrote pages and pages of reminiscences and images, he put them into tighter lyrical form. For'Departure Bay,' I wrote down a list of things that I love about home, things I realized were different exotic, now that I've been away." "Departure Bay" is written about her hometown Nanaimo, British Columbia on Vancouver Island and the first Christmas without her mother and finishes the album.

The penultimate song on the album, "I'm Coming Through", is about the death of her mother. As well as the songs she co-wrote with Costello, Krall departs from the standards she has sung on previous albums by performing songs by contemporary performers such as Costello, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, as well as a Chris Smither song performed by Bonnie Raitt, she covered Mose Allison's "Stop This World". A reviewer of NPR commented "The release is a departure from her past work, in that it bypasses interpretations of jazz standards in favor of new songs written by Krall and her husband, Elvis Costello". Jum Santella of All About Jazz wrote "Some of the songs come from a different direction than her previous material. Nothing can change her core jazz focus, however; the spirit of Nat King Cole, Jimmy Rowles and Ray Brown continues to guide her at every turn". Linda Serck of musicOMH added "Yet this album doesn’t just take you on Krall’s journey, it’s not that self-indulgent; the lyrics are universal. The Girl In The Other Room is a melancholy and beautifully-crafted body of work, full of evocative images and sounds.

It not only shows Krall to be a superb song-writer but the real woman behind that elegant poster-girl". Pamela Winters of Paste Magazine stated "Diana Krall has been wowing mainstream audiences for the past decade with her smooth, spare sound. If you like your jazz tidy and competent, you already have her CDs cozied up to that well-worn copy of Come Away With Me, but if you’re among the music snobs who, when she married Elvis Costello, wondered, “What does he see in her?” The Girl in the Other Room will attempt to answer your question". A reviewer of Cosmopolis wrote. However, it should allow her definitively break into the fan base of popular music to which she gives new impulses and a rarely-heard quality". Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Girl in the Other Room. Official website