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First glorified as the Saviour of Christendom and then vilified as an enemy of the Church, Charles Martel's career has been written and rewritten from the time of his descendents. This important new study draws on strictly contemporary sources to assess his real achievements and offers new insights into a fascinating period.
'West puts the battle in its historical context, and shows how it set the course of history for more than a thousand years.' Piers Paul Read 732. The future of Europe is held in the balance. A Frankish force, assembled at speed, ready themselves to resist an army from the largest empire the world has ever seen. The Franks and Arabs give battle, between the cities of Poitiers and Tours. Would France become part of the sophisticated Muslim world to the south, or remain in the control of the Christian barbarians? The battle proves bloody, a clash of arms and civilisations. With the west lying in ruins after the fall of Rome, Charles Martel's victory would become the defining battle of the age, leading a chronicler soon after to describe the defenders by a new term -'Europeans'. In this gripping and informed account Ed West records the rise of the Islamic Empire, the emergence of the Franks in the ashes of Rome, and the events leading to the fateful day when Europe's future was decided close to the river Loire. Ed West is an author, journalist and blogger who has written for the Daily Telegraph, Catholic Herald, Evening Standard, The Times, Daily Express, Standpoint and the Spectator. He wrote a regular blog first for the Daily Telegraph and later for the Spectator, described by Peter Oborne as 'one of the most interesting of the rising generation of political writers'. He is also the author of a number of history books, the latest of which, Iron, Fire and Ice, looks at the historical inspiration for Game of Thrones.
A great collision of armies under the banners of the crescent and the cross The Battle of Tours (also called Poitiers) in 732 A.D. was one of the most significant battles fought during the last two millennia. This book is far more than just a description of the battle, it also recounts, through the writings of several academic contributors, the story of two emergent empires, drawn together on converging paths which resulted in a collision not simply between two armies, but between two uncompromisingly different cultures and faiths. Described in these pages is the violent and turbulent rise of the Franks in Europe who, by the time of the battle of Tours, were led by their warrior king, Charles Martel--'the Hammer'--whose dynasty brought forth the Emperor Charlemagne. From the Middle East, Islam was conquering and spreading its political influence, which are outlined as they bore upon the invasion of Europe. By the sixth century, Umayyad Caliphate armies had swept along the Mediterranean coastline of North Africa, crossed over into Spain and could see no impediment in the mountain barrier of the Pyrenees to their farther expansion. So France faced an invasion by an army accompanied by their families and belongings who had come to stay and rule. That army, under Abdul Rhaman al Ghafiqi, in the valley of the Loire and less than 140 miles from Paris collided with the Frankish and Burgundian battle host and was brought to ruin. In later centuries the Moors successfully ruled Spain and the Ottoman Turks also attempted to invade western Europe but were defeated before Vienna. However, after Tours never again did a Muslim army drive so far westwards and despite the sectarian blood-letting that lay ahead, for which the Europeans themselves were responsible, this fact defined the culture and dominant religion of the modern continent. Included are illustrations which did not accompany the original texts. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.
Charlemagne's pivotal reign is still some distance in the future when Charles is born, the bastard son of Mayor of the Palace, Pepin de Gros. Pepin's jealous wife, Plectruda, will stop at nothing to see Charles dead, thus saving the power behind the Merovingian throne for her own sons. To protect him, twelve-year-old Charles is sent as soldier-in-training to the estate of nobleman Dodo. Here he meets and marries Dodo's orphan niece, Rotruda. All is well until Pepin de Gros dies. When Charles returns to the palace to protect his mother from Plectruda's clutches, Pepin's widow captures Charles and throws him in a dungeon, fully expecting him to rot and die there. With Egar's help, it appears Charles is dead. A nobleman, disenchanted with Plectruda's regency, rescues Charles' 'body'. Charles survives and gathers a following. He and his army of barbarian foot soldiers, armed with lances and casting axes then face the unstoppable Muslim cavalry, as they pour over the Pyrenees mountains into France, determined to wipe Christianity off the face of the land. "A compelling and heart-stirring story of the triumphant ascent to power and glory by Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne." JoAnn Levy, Author of Daughter of Joy, A Novel of Gold Rush San Francisco. Web site: http://mysite.verizon.net/~billndi.
The first English translation of a comprehensive legal history of Europe from the early middle ages to the twentieth century, encompassing both the common aspects and the original developments of different countries. As well as legal scholars and professionals, it will appeal to those interested in the general history of European civilisation.
This book focuses directly on the reign of Charlemagne, bringing together a wide range of perspectives and sources with contributions from fifteen of the top scholars of early medieval Europe. The contributors have taken a number of original approaches to the subject, from the fields of archaeology and numismatics to thoroughly-researched essays on key historical texts. The essays are embedded in the scholarship of recent decades but also offer insights into new areas and new approaches for research. A full bibliography of works in English as well as key reading in European languages is provided, making the volume essential reading for experienced scholars as well as students new to the history of the early middle ages.
In the early decades of the 8th century AD, Islamic forces were flooding into Europe through the Iberian peninsula, threatening Frankish and Burgundian territory and raiding it with ever-increasing ferocity. At the battle of Poitiers, also known as Tours, Christian forces under the Frankish leader Charles Martel "The Hammer" (grandfather of Charlemagne) confronted a massive invading Islamic army. The Franks were victorious, effectively halting the northward advance of Islam and preserving Christianity as the dominant faith in Europe. Expert medievalist David Nicolle draws on contemporary sources to reconstruct this turning-point battle, places it in its historical context and reviews its background and immediate and longer-term historical consequences.
Without the complex military machine that his forebears had built up over the course of the eighth century, it would have been impossible for Charlemagne to revive the Roman empire in the West. Early Carolingian Warfare is the first book-length study of how the Frankish dynasty, beginning with Pippin II, established its power and cultivated its military expertise in order to reestablish the regnum Francorum, a geographical area of the late Roman period that includes much of present-day France and western Germany. Bernard Bachrach has thoroughly examined contemporary sources, including court chronicles, military handbooks, and late Roman histories and manuals, to establish how the early Carolingians used their legacy of political and military techniques and strategies forged in imperial Rome to regain control in the West. Pippin II and his successors were not diverted by opportunities for financial enrichment in the short term through raids and campaigns outside of the regnum Francorum; they focused on conquest with sagacious sensibilities, preferring bloodless diplomatic solutions to unnecessarily destructive warfare, and disdained military glory for its own sake. But when they had to deploy their military forces, their operations were brutal and efficient. Their training was exceptionally well developed, and their techniques included hand-to-hand combat, regimented troop movements, fighting on horseback with specialized mounted soldiers, and the execution of lengthy sieges employing artillery. In order to sustain their long-term strategy, the early Carolingians relied on a late Roman model whereby soldiers were recruited from among the militarized population who were required by law to serve outside their immediate communities. The ability to mass and train large armies from among farmers and urban-dwellers gave the Carolingians the necessary power to lay siege to the old Roman fortress cities that dominated the military topography of the West. Bachrach includes fresh accounts of Charles Martel's defeat of the Muslims at Poitiers in 732, and Pippin's successful siege of Bourges in 762, demonstrating that in the matter of warfare there never was a western European Dark Age that ultimately was enlightened by some later Renaissance. The early Carolingians built upon surviving military institutions, adopted late antique technology, and effectively utilized their classical intellectual inheritance to prepare the way militarily for Charlemagne's empire.
This volume has been created by scholars from a range of disciplines who wish to show their appreciation for Professor John France and to celebrate his career and achievements. For many decades, Professor France’s work has been instrumental in many of the advances made in the fields of crusader studies and medieval warfare. He has published widely on these topics including major publications such as: Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade (1994) and Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades (1999). This present volume mirrors his interests, offering studies upon both areas. The fifteen essays cover a wide variety of topics, spanning chronologically from the Carolingian period through to the early fourteenth century. Some offer new insights upon long-contested issues, such as the question of whether a new form of cavalry was created by Charles Martel and his successors or the implications of the Mongol defeat at Ayn Jalut. Others use innovative methodologies to unlock the potential of various types of source material including: manuscript illuminations depicting warfare, Templar graffiti, German crusading songs, and crusading charters. Several of the articles open up new areas of debate connected to the history of crusading. Malcolm Barber discusses why Christendom did not react decisively to the fall of Acre in 1291. Bernard Hamilton explores how the rising Frankish presence in the Eastern Mediterranean during the central medieval period reshaped Christendom’s knowledge and understanding of the North African cultures they encountered. In this way, this work seeks both to advance debate in core areas whilst opening new vistas for future research.
This pioneering study explores early medieval Frankish identity as a window into the formation of a distinct Western conception of ethnicity. Focusing on the turbulent and varied history of Frankish identity in Merovingian and Carolingian historiography, it offers a new basis for comparing the history of collective and ethnic identity in the Christian West with other contexts, especially the Islamic and Byzantine worlds. The tremendous political success of the Frankish kingdoms provided the medieval West with fundamental political, religious and social structures, including a change from the Roman perspective on ethnicity as the quality of the 'Other' to the Carolingian perception that a variety of Christian peoples were chosen by God to reign over the former Roman provinces. Interpreting identity as an open-ended process, Helmut Reimitz explores the role of Frankish identity in the multiple efforts through which societies tried to find order in the rapidly changing post-Roman world.