The Battle of Tours, the Battle of Syllaeum and the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople

The cont destruction of Tours, the contest of Syllaeum and the Second Arab siege of Constantinople were authoritative battles that averted the entry of Islam into europium. Had these hostilities been lost to the Arabs, the present judgement of europiuman elaboration would not exist. Islam and Muslim culture would be the dominant holiness and way of life in atomic number 63 (both east and Western europium) and America. The booking of Tours ( similarly cognize as the affair of Poitiers) is considered as mavin of the some decisive battles in history.On October 10, 732, the Frankish army under Charles Martel defeated the forces of Spanish governor Abd-er Rahman outside the city of Tours (Koeller, n. pag. ). The encounter of Tours was tell to have retained Christian predominance over Western Europe by preventing the expansion of Islam in the said component part (Culp, n. pag. ). By the 7th century, Islam was the most dominant religion in the Arabian Peninsula. During thi s period, Moslem armies had already conquered Persia, Syria, Egypt and northernmost Africa and were close to relate Constantinople and Spain.At the beginning of the 8th century, they had scaley the Pyrenees Mountains and were on the verge of entering France (Whittington, n. pag. ). The Septimania region of Southern France fell to the Moors in 719. chthonic the leadership of Al-Samh ibn Malik, they invaded the town of Toulouse in the duchy of Aquitaine 2 geezerhood later. However, Al-Samh was defeated by Duke Odo of Aquitaine and eventu each(prenominal)y died of war injuries at Narbonne (Whittington, n. pag. ). Al-Samhs harm and demise did not stop Arab raids in France.Islamic forces r separatelyed the town of Atun in Burgundy in 725, forcing Duke Odo to ordain himself with Catalonian Emir Uthman ibn Naissa to maintain peace in the southern border of Aquitaine. But Uthman present an unsucessful revolt against Al-Andalus governor Abd er Rahman, propel the latter to go afte r Duke Odo in retalliation (Whittington, n. pag. ). Abd-er Rahman defeated Duke Odo at the Battle of Bordeaux, resulting in the mass killing of Christians in the area. Desperate, Duke Odo seek the help of Austrasian Mayor-of-the-Palace Charles Martel. Martel agreed to help him, provided that he will bow down to Frankish rule (Whittington, n.pag. ). Martel and his army waited for Rahmans forces to arrive at Tours (Whittington, n. pag. ). Despite being composed of solely 30,000 men, the Franks were well-armed they had swords, axes, javelins and a small throwing ax cal take the fran-cisca (Wallechinsky & Wallace, n. pag. ). In addition, they knew the terrain very well and were properly fitted out(p) for the bitterly cold weather. On the another(prenominal) hand, Rahmans 80,000-strong army were equipped with just heat cavalry spears and swords (Whittington, n. pag. ). The two forces only had squirt encounters for seven days (Whittington, n. pag. ).Then, on October 10, 732, the Ar abs outrageed the Franks. call suitable to their superior artillery, the Franks easily fended off the Arabs charge. The Arabs move to attack repeatedly, to no avail (Wallechinsky & Wallace, n. pag. ). The Franks taken with(p) foul as soon as the Arabs stamina waned. They triumphantly defeated the Arabs and had Rahman captured and killed. The succeeding(prenominal) morning, the Franks discovered that the Arabs had fled, leaving behind their reave and their dead (Wallechinsky & Wallace, n. pag. ). Martels victory in the Battle of Tours gained him the title The Hammer. In addition, France never see another Arab invasion.On the side of the Arabs, their defeat in the Battle of Tours severely destroyed their amity a revolt by the Berbers (inhabitants of North Africa) ensued after Rahmans passing (Wallechinsky & Wallace, n. pag. ). Martel went on to crumple Arab conquests at the River Berre and Narbonne. He also fought in Frankish expansion wars in Bavaria, Aquitaine, Provence and Alemannia. Martels sons Carloman, Pippin the junior and Grifo took over his territories after his ending in 741. Pippin became the king of the Franks, while his son, Charlemagne, became the first emperor moth of the Holy Roman Empire.However, it must be noted that two more generations passed to begin with the Franks finally suceeded in driving the Muslims back beyond the Pyrenees for good (Whittington, n. pag. ). Historians often claimed that Europe never approach another Islamic threat after the Battle of Tours (Whittington, n. pag. ). This is straight to a certain extent the conterminous Islamic threat that Europe faced after the Battle of Tours was the emergence of the fairy Empire (1299-1923). Furthermore, the Christians regained Spain from the Moors after the fall of Granada in 1492 (Whittington, n.pag. ). But the winding empire (667 BC-1453) was also crucial for the presevation of Christian ascendancy end-to-end Europe. The Battle of Syllaeum (677) and the Secon d Arab Siege of Constantinople (717-718) were two important wars that averted the spread of Islam in easterly Europe (Reference, n. pag. ). The Arab fleet and the Byzantine naval forces were constantly in battle with each other since 672 (Reference, n. pag. ). In 677, the Arabs attacked areas along the seashore of Anatolia and the Sea of Marmara, as well as Constantinople and Anatolia itself.The Byzantine army found themselves flake two different battles, as the Slavs were re-create an assault of Thessalonica by land (Reference, n. pag. ). Byzantine forces under Emperor Constantine IV met the Arabs faithful Syllaeum (Reference, n. pag. ). They defeated the latter through Grecian fire, a burn-liquid weaponthat could continue burning even on water (Reference, n. pag. ). As the Arabs were retreating, a storm sank almost all of their remaining ships. The Byzantine army and so proceeded to conduct a land assault on the Arabs, finally defeating them in Syria.The Battle of Syllaeum was believed to have brought peace over Eastern Europe for almost 30 years (Reference, n. pag. ). But Constantine IVs death in 685 was followed with power struggles for the Byzantine throne, qualification the Byzantine Empire more disposed to defeat in the hands of the Arabs (Gregory, n. pag. ). caliph Sulieman took advantage of this situation by send 120,000 Muslim troops (headed by his chum salmon Moslemah) in 717 in an attempt to occupy Constantinople for a second time (TheLatinLibrary, n. pag. ). An excess 100,000 Muslims with 1,800 galleys from Syria and Egypt served as reinforcements (TheLatinLibrary, n.pag. ). But Byzantine forces led by Emperor social lion tercet quickly defeated them through the Greek fire (TheLatinLibrary, n. pag. ). The vanquished Muslims later died of freezing and starvation outside Constantinople. Muslim troops from Adrianopolis that were suppositious to assist them were destroyed by the Bulgarian army (a Byzantine ally) (TheLatinLibrary, n. pag . ). Several historians argued that had the Arabs won the Battle of Tours, the Battle of Syllaeum and the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, the present concept of European civilization would be altered dramatically.The Arabs would be able to spread Islam throughout European countries such as France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom. At most, Christianity would end up being a minority religion (Whittington, n. pag. ). America would have been discovered by a Muslim venturer and Islam would be the religion both taught and honest by the settlers across the United States. work Cited Culp, Reid. The Battle of Tours. 2008. CCDS. 28 April 2008 . Gregory, Timothy E.Leo III and the Beginnings of Iconoclasm. 19 November 2001. A Chronology of first Byzantine History. 3 May 2008 . Koeller, David W. The Battle of Tours 732. 1999. WebChron. 28 April 2008 . Wallechinsky, David, and Irving Wallace. About the Battle of Tours in 732 between the Arab armament and the French Army led b y Charles. 1981. Trivia-Library. 28 April 2008 . Whittington, Mark. daylight of Decision The Battle of Tours. 8 celestial latitude 2005. Associated Content. 28 April 2008 . Battle of Syllaeum. 17 celestial latitude 2007. Reference. com. 3 May 2008 . Greek Fire. 10 March 2008. Reference. com. 3 May 2008 . Islam and Europe Timeline (355-1291 AD). n. d. TheLatinLibrary. 3 May 2008 .