Legends of Charlemagne | Page 5

the Saracens (so the followers of
Mahomet were called) into France, the conquest of which, if achieved,
would have been followed very probably by that of all the rest of
Europe, and would have resulted in the banishment of Christianity from
the earth. For Christianity was not at that day universally professed,
even by those nations which we now regard as foremost in civilization.
Great part of Germany, Britain, Denmark, and Russia were still pagan
or barbarous.
At that time there ruled in France, though without the title of king, the
first of those illustrious Charleses of whom we have spoken, Charles
Martel, the grandfather of Charlemagne. The Saracens of Spain had
made incursions into France in 712 and 718, and had retired, carrying
with them a vast booty. In 725, Anbessa, who was then the Saracen
governor of Spain, crossed the Pyrenees with a numerous army, and
took by storm the strong town of Carcassone. So great was the terror
excited by this invasion, that the country for a wide extent submitted to
the conqueror, and a Mahometan governor for the province was
appointed and installed at Narbonne. Anbessa, however, received a
fatal wound in one of his engagements, and the Saracens, being thus
checked from further advance, retired to Narbonne.

In 732 the Saracens again invaded France under Abdalrahman,
advanced rapidly to the banks of the Garonne, and laid siege to
Bordeaux. The city was taken by assault and delivered up to the
soldiery. The invaders still pressed forward, and spread over the
territories of Orleans, Auxerre and Sens. Their advanced parties were
suddenly called in by their chief, who had received information of the
rich abbey of St. Martin of Tours, and resolved to plunder and destroy
it.
Charles during all this time had done nothing to oppose the Saracens,
for the reason that the portion of France over which their incursions had
been made was not at that time under his dominion, but constituted an
independent kingdom, under the name of Aquitaine, of which Eude was
king. But now Charles became convinced of the danger, and prepared
to encounter it. Abdalrahman was advancing toward Tours, when
intelligence of the approach of Charles, at the head of an army of
Franks, compelled him to fall back upon Poitiers, in order to seize an
advantageous field of battle.
Charles Martel had called together his warriors from every part of his
dominions, and, at the head of such an army as had hardly ever been
seen in France, crossed the Loire, probably at Orleans, and, being
joined by the remains of the army of Aquitaine, came in sight of the
Arabs in the month of October, 732. The Saracens seem to have been
aware of the terrible enemy they were now to encounter, and for the
first time these formidable conquerors hesitated. The two armies
remained in presence during seven days before either ventured to begin
the attack; but at length the signal for battle was given by Abdalrahman,
and the immense mass of the Saracen army rushed with fury on the
Franks. But the heavy line of the Northern warriors remained like a
rock, and the Saracens, during nearly the whole day, expended their
strength in vain attempts to make any impression upon them. At length,
about four o'clock in the afternoon, when Abdalrahman was preparing
for a new and desperate attempt to break the line of the Franks, a
terrible clamor was heard in the rear of the Saracens. It was King Eude,
who, with his Aquitanians, had attacked their camp, and a great part of
the Saracen army rushed tumultuously from the field to protect their

plunder. In this moment of confusion the line of the Franks advanced,
and, sweeping the field before it, carried fearful slaughter amongst the
enemy. Abdalrahman made desperate efforts to rally his troops, but
when he himself, with the bravest of his officers, fell beneath the
swords of the Christians, all order disappeared, and the remains of his
army sought refuge in their immense camp, from which Eude and his
Aquitanians had been repulsed. It was now late, and Charles, unwilling
to risk an attack on the camp in the dark, withdrew his army, and
passed the night in the plain, expecting to renew the battle in the
morning.
Accordingly, when daylight came, the Franks drew up in order of battle,
but no enemy appeared; and when at last they ventured to approach the
Saracen camp they found it empty. The invaders had taken advantage
of the night to begin their retreat, and were already on their way back to
Spain, leaving their immense plunder behind to fall into the hands of
the Franks.
This was the celebrated battle of Tours, in which vast numbers of the
Saracens were slain, and only fifteen