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by Selwyn Duke new continent brought new successes to Charles of Herstal, grandfather of Char-
Islam. Conquering the Iberian Peninsula lemagne. He is a brilliant military tacti-
T
he year is 732 A.D., and Europe is by 718, the Muslims crossed the Pyrenees cian who, after losing his very first battle,
under assault. Islam, born a mere Mountains into Gaul (now France) and is enjoying an unbroken 16-year streak of
110 years earlier, is already in its worked their way northward. And now, in victories.
adolescence, and the Muslim Moors are on 732, they are approaching Tours, a mere And this record will remain unblem-
the march. 126 miles from Paris. ished. Outnumbered by perhaps as much
Growing in leaps and bounds, the Ca- The Moorish leader, Abdul Rahman Al as 2 to 1 on a battlefield between the cit-
liphate, as the Islamic realm is known, has Ghafiqi, is supremely confident of suc- ies of Tours and Poitier, Charles routs
thus far subdued much of Christendom, cess. He is in the vanguard of the first the Moorish forces, stopping the Muslim
conquering the old Christian lands of the Muslim crusade, and his civilization has advance into Europe cold. It becomes
Mideast and North Africa in short order. enjoyed rapidity and scope of conquest known as the Battle of Tours (or Poitier),
Syria and Iraq fell in 636; Palestine in 638; heretofore unseen in world history. He is and many historians consider it one of the
and Egypt, which was not even an Arab at the head of an enormous army, replete great turning points in world history. By
land, fell in 642. North Africa, also not with heavy cavalry, and views the Euro- their lights, Charles is a man who saved
Arab, was under Muslim control by 709. peans as mere barbarians. In contrast, the Western Civilization, a hero who well
Then came the year 711 and the Moors’ barbarians facing him are all on foot, a deserves the moniker the battle earned
invasion of Europe, as they crossed the tremendous disadvantage. The only thing him: Martellus. We thus now know him
Strait of Gibraltar and entered Visigothic the Frankish and Burgundian European as Charles Martel, which translates into
Iberia (now Spain and Portugal). And the forces have going for them is their leader, Charles the Hammer.
www.TheNewAmerican.com 35
HISTORY— PAST AND PERSPECTIVE
the official Crusader armies depart from
France and Italy. Arriving in Anatolia
many months later, they lay siege to Mus-
lim-occupied Nicea; however, Emperor
Alexius I negotiates with the Turks, has the
city delivered to him on June 1, 1097, and
then forbids the Crusaders to enter. They
then fight other battles against the Mus-
lims on the way to their next objective:
the great city of Antioch. It is a must-win
scenario; if they do not take it, they cannot
move on to Jerusalem. The siege continues
for seven and a half months, during which
time the Crusaders are hungry, tired, cold,
and often discouraged; Antioch’s formi-
dable walls seem an impenetrable barrier.
On June 2, 1098, however, they are able
to enter the city with the help of a spy. It
is theirs.
Yet the Crusaders soon find themselves
besieged and trapped in Antioch with the
arrival of Muslim relief forces. Neverthe-
less, they manage a break-out on June 28,
defeat the Turks, and, after a delay caused
by internecine squabbling, move south to
Jerusalem in April 1099. Starving after a
long journey, they arrive at the Holy City
on June 7 — with only a fraction of their
original forces. Despite this, Jerusalem
will not pose the problems of Antioch, and
they capture it on July 15.
Abandoned by his allies, England’s Richard the Lionheart earns his nickname, forging on ahead The First Crusade successes give
and retaking the Holy Land’s entire coast in the Third Crusade. Christendom a foothold in the Mideast
for the first time in hundreds of years
Having said this, it would be naïve to primarily motivated by covetous impulses, with the establishment of four outposts
think that all Crusaders’ worldly endeav- it was the most remarkable of coincidenc- known today as “Crusader states.” They
ors were animated by heavenly thoughts. es. For those dark urges then manifested are: the County of Edessa and the Princi-
Some say that Pope Urban II might have themselves just when a Christian emperor pality of Antioch, founded in 1098; the
hoped he could regain control over the appealed for aid, just when Europe again Kingdom of Jerusalem, founded in 1099;
Eastern Church after the Great Schism of seemed imperiled — and after 400 years and the County of Tripoli, founded in
1054. It’s also said that Urban and others of mostly unanswered Muslim conquests. 1104. Perhaps the tide has finally turned
wanted to give those militant medieval in Christendom’s favor.
knights someone to fight besides one an- Into the Mouth of Dar al-Islam But it was not to be. It was still a Muslim
other. As for those on the ground, the Cru- But however great the Europeans’ faith, era, and more Crusades would be launched
sades involved a motley multitude encom- the first Crusade was a long shot. The sol- in the wake of Islamic triumphs. In fact,
passing the regal to the rough-hewn, and it diers had to travel on foot and horseback there was a multitude of Crusades — if we
is certain that some among them dreamt of 1,500 miles — traversing rivers, valleys, include minor ones — lasting until the end
booty and betterment. Yet is this surprising and mountains; braving the elements; of the 17th century. However, it is custom-
or unusual? People are complex beings. dealing with hunger and thirst and what- ary to identify eight major Crusades, dat-
Within a group or even an individual’s ever unknowns lay ahead — and then de- ing from 1096 through 1270, although this
mind, there are usually multiple motiva- feat entrenched Muslim forces. And the does omit many significant campaigns.
tions, some noble, some ignoble. Charles endeavor had gotten off to a rather inaus- Great passion for a second Crusade was
the Hammer might have very well relished picious start: An unofficial Crusade com- sparked when the County of Edessa was
the glory won on the battlefield, for all we prising peasants and low-ranking knights overcome by Turks and Kurds in 1144.
know. But it would be silly to think that had already departed — only to be mas- Led by Kings Louis VII of France and
was his main motivation for fighting the sacred by the Seljuk Turks. Conrad III of Germany and advocated by
Moors. Likewise, if the Crusaders were So, now, it is August 15, 1096, and St. Bernard, it was an utter failure. Most