Charles Martel
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Edward Gibbon wrote that were it not for Charles Martel that "Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet. . . . From such calamities was Christendom delivered by the genius and fortune of one man." --Edward Gibbon: History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Volume 5, page 156 - 157 "A Muslim France? Historically, it nearly happened. But as a result of Charles’ fierce opposition, which ended Muslim advances and set the stage for centuries of war thereafter, Islam moved no farther into Europe. European schoolchildren learn about the Battle of Tours in much the same way that American students learn about Valley Forge and Gettysburg." --Wakefield, Dexter B. (2006) "An Islamic Europe?," in Tomorrow's World Charles Martel cemented his place in history with his defense of Christian Europe against a Muslim army at the Battle of Tours in 732." |
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Charles Martel (c. 686 – 22 October 741) was a Frankish statesman and military leader who was de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death.
In October 732, the army of the Umayyad Caliphate led by Al Ghafiqi met Frankish and Burgundian forces under Charles in an area between the cities of Tours and Poitiers (modern north-central France), leading to a decisive, historically important Frankish victory known as the Battle of Tours (or ma'arakat Balâṭ ash-Shuhadâ, Battle of the Palace of Martyrs), ending the "last of the great Arab invasions of France," a military victory termed "brilliant" on the part of Charles.
