This victory arrested forever the progress of the Mohammedan arms in Europe, and procured for Charles the expressive surname of “the Hammer” (Martel), by which he is known in history.
While the Saracens were stopped from pushing their conquests farther into Europe, they firmly established themselves in Spain, where they founded a kingdom that lasted for seven hundred years,—that is, till the very close of the Middle Ages.
DIVISION OF SARACENIC
EMPIRE
For a short time the vast dominion which the Saracens had conquered held together, and a single caliph was obeyed in Spain and in India. But soon disputes arose as to the right of succession to the caliphate: wars and secessions took place, and in A.D. 755 the Saracenic [407] empire was divided,—one caliph reigning in Spain and another in Bagdad.
In the East, the most distinguished of the Saracenic rulers was Haroun-al-Raschid (Aaron the Just), who became caliph in A.D. 786, and was a contemporary of Charlemagne. In the Arabian Nights we find a vivid picture of the city he ruled and the life he led. After the death of Haroun, the Eastern dominion of the Saracens was rent by civil strife; one province after another broke off from the caliphate, till in the eleventh and twelfth centuries it fell a prey to the Turks.
SARACENS SUCCEEDED BY THE
MOORS IN SPAIN
In Spain, on the division of the Saracenic power, the rule was in the hands of the Ommiyad line, and the capital was at Cordova. From this city the scepter of the Ommiyades ruled during 283 years (from A.D. 755-1038); but in the eleventh century the supremacy of the Saracens gave place to the Moorish empire in Spain.
SARACEN CONTRIBUTIONS TO
LEARNING AND ART
In the intellectual history of the Middle Ages the Saracens played a remarkable part. When Europe was sunk in the grossest ignorance, this clever people were actively engaged in the cultivation of science, learning, and the arts. The schools of Cordova vied with those of Bagdad in the collection of books and the encouragement of science, and from them proceeded nearly all that was original in the medicine, physics, and metaphysics of Europe during the Middle Ages.