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QINGDAO TODAY
在线翻译:
szdaily -> Speak Shenzhen -> 
The Battle of Tours
    2019-01-29  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

James Baquet

Some in the West are watching certain Islamic factions with a wary eye. But many forget that this is not the first time that Muslim forces and European nations have come into conflict.

By the 8th century Islam had spread west across North Africa from its origin in modern Saudi Arabia, and jumped the Straits of Gibraltar into Spain. Under the Umayyad Caliphate, Muslim forces had worked their way up the Iberian Peninsula, from which they were not finally driven out until the mid-16th and early 17th centuries, after nine centuries of occupation.

But France was another story. On Oct. 10, year 732, Muslim troops were turned back from their northernmost incursion into Frankish domains at the Battle of Tours (sometimes called the Battle of Poitiers), some 200 kilometers southwest of Paris, France.

Charles Martel was the de facto ruler of Francia — essentially modern France — from 718 until his death in 741. He was the “power behind the throne,” whose legitimate occupant, Theuderic IV, King of the Franks, had an essentially ceremonial role. In 751, Charles’s son, Pepin the Short, discarded the charade and was crowned king himself. His son, Charlemagne or Charles the Great, was the best known of the so-called Carolingian kings.

Recognizing the threat from the south — as well as dealing with the Saxon invasions in the north — Charles had built up a standing army, a rare thing in the days when volunteers and conscripts were usually called up to fight as needed. The Muslim leader was not aware of this force, becoming wise only after his defeat at Tours.

In the heat of the battle, a contingent of the Muslims heard a rumor that their camp was being sacked, and that the Franks were taking their booty from previous conquests. When they left the field to protect their goods, the rest of the army thought a retreat had been called — and they left. During this rout, their leader was killed, and the Franks were victorious.

After this battle, Charles was nicknamed Martel — “the Hammer” — and went on to rescue France three more times from Umayyad invasions before the Muslims finally retreated south of the Pyrenees.

Vocabulary:

Which words above mean:

1. informal ruler besides the official one

2. defeat including disorderly retreat

3. people forced into service

4. goods taken in battle

5. permanent body of troops

6. state of being taken over

7. careful, concerned

8. pretense, deception

9. in fact, but not by law

10. looted, plundered

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