مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري

Abstract :

In 711, Muslims conquered Spain. They occupied in the current 719 Languedoc. This province, between the Pyrenees and the Rhone, then, called Septimania. They was stopped at Toulouse in 721 by Duke Duke Eudes of Aquitaine. They then turned their eyes towards the east and took Nimes and Arles in 725. İn the same year, they launched a successful raid on the rich abbey of Autun in Burgundy. In 732, the governor of Spain, Abd er-Rahman he walked towards Tours at the head of his troops, composed mainly of Arabs and Berbers of newly converted to Islam. He intended to conquer France and head for Constantinople. However, Charles Martel, answering the call of Eudes, also marched to that city after gathering an army infantry mainly Francs. The two armies faced on Moussais Battle, between Poitiers and Tours. Roughly, about ten days, the troops observed and engaged was skirmishes. On October 25, 732, which was also the day of the month of Ramadan, Muslims decided to engage in battle. But their light cavalry clashed with the impenetrable wall formed by the Frankish warriors, walk but disciplined and ironclad. Abd er-Rahman was killed in the infernal battle and his men packed up and returned to Narbonne in the night.This military battle will almost immediately get a very high profile in educated circles. Thus a Spanish chronicle hardly posterior described the event as a victory for Europeans over the infidel. This is the first known mention of Europe as civilization and culture. Later Christian chroniclers praised Charles Martel as the champion of Christianity, characterizing the battle as the decisive turning point in the struggle against Islam, a struggle which preserved Christianity as the religion of Europe.