Most Important Battles Challenge (5)

Battle of Tours (Poitiers)Year: 732Armies: The Franks (Charles Martel) vs. Umayyad Caliphate (Abdul Rahman) The BattleFor many years, Islamic forces in the Umayyad Caliphate (or the Moors) were expanding all over the Middle East and North Africa. Now it was time to conquer Europe. One of the most key battles in which the Caliphate tried to take Europe was a battle between them and the Franks led by Charles Martel. Martel had a total of 20,000 troops. The Caliphate army led by Abdul Rahman could have been as small as 30,000, but as high as 300,000. It was vastly larger than the Frank army. However, against all the odds, Martel and the Franks held off the Caliphate. It was at this battle that Charles Martel may have earned his nickname, "Charles The Hammer." [3]Had Rahman won?If Rahman won, chances are they won have taken over Europe. Many people credit Martel as the savior of Europe. The defeat of the talented Martel would open up Europe and even just taking France would have major effects in history. It does not seem possible that other, more mediocre generals, would be able to do what Martel could not. [3]The famous historian Edward Gibbon:"A victorious line of march had been prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of Gibraltar to the banks of the Loire; the repetition of an equal space would have carried the Saracens to the confines of Poland and the Highlands of Scotland; the Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. 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." [4]Historian William E. Watson writes that:"There is clearly some justification for ranking Tours-Poitiers among the most significant events in Frankish history when one considers the result of the battle in light of the remarkable record of the successful establishment by Muslims of Islamic political and cultural dominance along the entire eastern and southern rim of the former Christian, Roman world. The rapid Muslim conquest of Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the North African coast all the way to Morocco in the seventh century resulted in the permanent imposition by force of Islamic culture onto a previously Christian and largely non-Arab base."And:"Had Charles Martel suffered at Tours-Poitiers the fate of King Roderic at the Rio Barbate, it is doubtful that a "do-nothing" sovereign of the Merovingian realm could have later succeeded where his talented major domus had failed. Indeed, as Charles was the progenitor of the Carolingian line of Frankish rulers and grandfather of Charlemagne, one can even say with a degree of certainty that the subsequent history of the West would have proceeded along vastly different currents had ‘Abd ar-Rahman been victorious at Tours-Poitiers in 732." [1]Historian Paul Davis argues that had the Arabs won at Tours, then they probably would have been unstoppable. This is because of the preservation of classical literature and education in the Catholic monasteries led to the end of the terrible Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. How could Christanity and the basis of western society at the time advance into the "rebirth" of Europe that has played a critical part in the world today. Indeed, the entire western power could be centered around Islam and its basis of society. [2,3,5]Finally, historian Victor Davis Hanson writes:"Recent scholars have suggested Poitiers, so poorly recorded in contemporary sources, was a mere raid and thus a construct of western mythmaking or that a Muslim victory might have been preferable to continued Frankish dominance. What is clear is that Poitiers marked a general continuance of the successful defense of Europe, (from the Muslims). Flush from the victory at Tours, Charles Martel went on to clear southern France from Islamic attackers for decades, unify the warring kingdoms into the foundations of the Carolingian Empire, and ensure ready and reliable troops from local estates." [6]Sources:1. Watson, William, E. (1993). The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited. Providence: Studies in Western Civilization v.2 n.1.2. Davis, Paul 1999, p. 105.3. http://en.wikipedia.org...4. The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, Chapter LII.5. The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions 6. Hanson, Victor Davis, 2001, p. 167 http://www.youtube.com...