Mister D
01-15-2013, 04:24 PM
The Battle of Tours-Poitiers has long occupied a prominent position in Western historiography. The eighth- or ninth-century Carolingian Continuator of Fredegar wrote that Charles Martel won his famous victory over the Muslim invaders of the Frankish Kingdom Christo auxiliante.1Eight centuries later, other clerical authors, the Bollandists, emphasized the miraculous nature of Charles' victory in their writings.2 Beginning in the eighteenth century, however, non-clerical authors began to exaggerate the significance of the battle.
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Conclusion: The Macrohistorical Significance of the Battle
After examining the motives for the Muslim drive north of the Pyrenees, one can attach a macrohistorical significance to the encounter between the Franks and Andalusi Muslims at Tours-Poitiers, especially when one considers the attention paid to the Franks in Arabic literature and the successful expansion of Muslims elsewhere in the medieval period. Lured on by the promise of plunder and by a desire to catch Eudo, as well as a desire to defeat more foes of Islam, 'Abd ar-Rahman extended his campaign towards the regnum Francorum. His invasion was neither simply a raid nor part of a grand scheme to conquer all Christendom, it was a failed attempt to elimi–nate a strategic threat located north of the Andalusi border. Moreover, the battle did not decide the outcome of the Christian-Muslim struggle in Francia. Rather, it brought a determined new participant into the field of combat, the Frankish army, which launched an offensive against the remaining Muslin bases to the south only a few years after Charles won his victory at Tours-Poitiers and earned himself the title Martel ("Hammer").57
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http://web.archive.org/web/20110605021622/http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/watson2.htm
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Conclusion: The Macrohistorical Significance of the Battle
After examining the motives for the Muslim drive north of the Pyrenees, one can attach a macrohistorical significance to the encounter between the Franks and Andalusi Muslims at Tours-Poitiers, especially when one considers the attention paid to the Franks in Arabic literature and the successful expansion of Muslims elsewhere in the medieval period. Lured on by the promise of plunder and by a desire to catch Eudo, as well as a desire to defeat more foes of Islam, 'Abd ar-Rahman extended his campaign towards the regnum Francorum. His invasion was neither simply a raid nor part of a grand scheme to conquer all Christendom, it was a failed attempt to elimi–nate a strategic threat located north of the Andalusi border. Moreover, the battle did not decide the outcome of the Christian-Muslim struggle in Francia. Rather, it brought a determined new participant into the field of combat, the Frankish army, which launched an offensive against the remaining Muslin bases to the south only a few years after Charles won his victory at Tours-Poitiers and earned himself the title Martel ("Hammer").57
continues
http://web.archive.org/web/20110605021622/http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/watson2.htm