By the dawn of the seventh century, the Franks were well established as the predominant Christian kingdom in Western Europe, and missionary monks were making much progress in converting the pagan German population of Central Europe. At that moment however, a new threat was looming in the east. Moslem invaders from the south would soon overrun all of Syria, Africa, and Spain, and in the following centuries Western Europe would suffer attacks from pagan tribes in the north and east as well.
The waves of Arab, Moorish, Norse, Danish, Slavic and Magyar invaders swept over Europe between 700 and 1000 A.D. were a more serious threat to Christendom than the Germans tribes of the late Roman era had been. For four centuries many regions suffered devastating invasions and attack, and unlike the earlier Germanic migrations, which were gradual and involved partially Romanized peoples, the assaults of the Moslems, Vikings, and Magyars against Christian Europe were violent threats by hostile pagans.
But instead of being destroyed or over run, the Christian kingdoms of Europe resisted centuries of barbarian assaults and successfully converted tens of thousands of hostile pagans to the Christian faith.
Of all the invaders who attacked Europe during the early middle ages, only the Mohammedans failed to Christianize, and they were held back at the Pyrenees and at long last driven from Europe.
Almost immediately after the death of the prophet Mohammed (632), his followers embarked on a war of conquest, under the extraordinary general Khalid. In 636 the Byzantine Empire lost the critical Battle of Yarmouk and much of Syria and Palestine fell into Moslem hands. The Umayyads set up their Caliphate in Damascus, effectively splitting the Eastern Roman Empire in two. The Byzantines attempted to defend their in North Africa but all aid had to be sent by sea and the effort was doomed.
All of North Africa fell to the Moslems by 700 A.D. and only a few years later, a Moorish army led by Tariq crossed at the Strait of Gibraltar and conquered Visigoth Spain. The Moors met with little resistance, due to a civil within the Visigoth kingdom. Twenty years after their conquest of Spain, Moorish armies crossed the Pyrenees and invaded Frankish territories, but were driven back by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours.
| SYRIA | |
| 636 | Mohammedans win devastating victory over Byzantines at the Battle of Yarmouk in Sicily. Most of Middle east is lost, and Africa is cut off from Constantinople. |
| NORTH AFRICA | |
| 641 | Moslem conquest of Egypt and Alexandria. Siege of Alexandria |
| 647 | Moslem conquest of Libya and Tripoli Battle of Tripoli |
| 698 | Moslem conquest of Morocco and Tangiers, destruction of Carthage. Battle of Utica. |
| SPAIN AND ITALY | |
| 711 | Moslem (Moorish) conquest of Spain. Battle of Guadalete |
| 732 | Moslem invasion of France stopped at Battle of Tours |
| 827 | Beginning of Moslem attacks on Sicily, Malta, and Southern Italy. Siege of Syracuse. |
| 1085 | By the 11th century Cordoba Caliphate began to collapse. Alfonso VI captured Toledo, but Reconquista of Spain took 400 more years. |
While Christians were able to successfully convert all of the Pagan or Arian invaders, including German, Celtic, Slavic, Norse and Magyar peoples, attempts to convert Mohammedans to Christianity were almost entirely unsuccessful. The only territory regained from Moslem expansion into Christian territory was by military reconquest rather than by assimilation and conversion.
SYRIA — The Moslem conquest of Syria occurred quickly after only a few major battles, so much of the cities and infrastructure of the region was left intact. The Court of the Caliph of Damascus left much of the existing economy intact and continued to rely on Christian civil servants to run the government. The Umayyad Caliphate was relatively secular, and sought taxes and tributes from Christian citizens rather than forcing conversion. By making peace with the Byzantines, and allowing Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land to resume, the formerly Christian regions of Syria and Palestine continue to prosper under Moslem rule (until the Seljuk Turk invasion of the 11th century).
AFRICA — The reign of the Vandal Empire in Africa (420-530), and Byzantine reconquest had already weakened Christian civilization in Africa by persecutions, divisions, and war. However, even the diminished and unreinforced Christians of Africa put up a great resistance to the Moslem invaders so in the course of over sixty years of war, all major cities and centers of culture in the region, including Carthage, Utica, and Cyrene, were utterly destroyed. There are few records from either Christian or Moslem historians, so very little is known about the period other than cities and formerly productive areas were destroyed and laid to waste, and the Christian community in Africa never recovered.
SPAIN — Only one major battle, at the Guadalete river was fought during the Moslem conquest of Spain. The reason for the lack of effective resistance was a civil war within the Visigoth government, and treachery on the part of civic leaders. Many Christian who opposed king Roderick joined the side of the Moslem invaders believing they were merely mercenaries, who would return to Africa as soon as they were paid off. In town after town, the gates were opened, and the Moors allowed to take control without any effective resistance. Within a few months all of the major population centers of Spain, especially those on the coasts and navigable rivers were in the hands of the Moors and the Christian resistance fled to the far off province of Asturias in the Northwest mountains. Because there were few battles, and not a great loss of life, Moorish Spain recovered relatively quickly. Taxes and restrictions on trade were imposed on Christians, but they were allowed to practice their religion.
RECONQUISTSA — The Christians of Spain never succeeded in converting Moslems to Christianity but they eventually regained control of the Iberian peninsula by a series of wars and battles, lasting over 700 years. This long running conflict is known as the ‘Reconquista’ and Christian heroes of the early period (before 1200) included El Cid, Alfonso VI, and Saint Ferdinand. The Reconquista began immediately after the Moorish conquest but did not make significant progress until the 10th century. The last Moors were evicted from Spain in 1492.
SICILY — The Moslem conquest of Sicily took over 80 years, beginning in 827 and being completed in the early 900s. The Moslems controlled the Island and used it as a base for Piracy and attacks on the Italian coast until it was retaken by the Normans in the 11th century.
Names for Followers of Mohammed
Islam Moral Code
The doctrines of Mohammedanism are set forth in the Koran, which means the Book above Books. The principal moral duties are:
Islam Caliphates
The Vikings were a Nordic race of sea-faring pirates, who attacked towns and monasteries on the coasts of Northern Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries. The Viking homelands were in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, but they established settlements in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and even Italy. Vikings also raided the coasts of Slavic regions, but their raids in Eastern Europe were not well documented. The Vikings worshiped Norse Gods and were often violent, but they were not uncivilized. Their longboats were and weapons were brilliantly engineered and they participated in trade, served as mercenary soldiers, and made political alliances.
| ENGLAND | |
| 793 | First recorded Viking Raid on England — Destruction of Lindisfarne Abbey |
| 865 | Great Danish Army invades England and drives Saxon king into exile. |
| 879 | Treaty of Wedmore grants Danes territory in England if they convert. |
| 991 | King of Wessex pays tribute to Danes after Losing the Battle of Maldon |
| 1016 | Danish king Canute takes the throne of England. |
| 1066 | Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, defeats last Saxon king. |
| FRANCE | |
| 845 | First Siege of Paris, second siege of Paris was |
| 885 | Permanent Viking base established at the mouth of the Loire river. |
| 911 | Rollo the Viking pays homage to king of France, made Duke of Normandy |
| ITALY | |
| 860 | Vikings Hastein and Bjorn Ironside lead raiding party from Loire to Mediterranean. |
| 1053 | Norman invasion of Italy. |
| 1060 | Norman conquest of Sicily from Moslems |
| NORWAY | |
| 1015 | St. Olaf, Christian king of the Norsemen converts Norway to Christianity. |
The Vikings were surprisingly easily assimilated into Christian culture because they frequently took wives from among the local population and settled in Christian lands. After seeing the benefits of Christian culture, many adopted the faith and became great defenders of the Church. Vikings were also known as Danes, Norsemen, Rus, and Varangians. The Vikings who settled in Northern France and became Christians were known as Normans, and the North of France became known as Normandy. During the 11th century the Normans were the most prominent Christian warriors in Europe and conquered England, Sicily, southern Italy, and several Crusader states.
DANES IN ENGLAND (793-1000)
The First recorded invasion of Danes was sack of Lindisfarne Abbey in 793 and
many terrible incidents followed. In 878 Alfred the Great defeated an enormous
army of Danish invaders and made a Peace Treaty with Danes who agreed to become
Christians. Raids continued until 1000 when England was ruled by Canute, an
Christianized Vikings. In 1066 the Duke of Normandy, a descendent of Vikings
conquered England.
NORMANS IN FRANCE (845-1100)
Vikings began attacking the coasts and waterways of France in the 9th shortly
after the reign of Charlemagne. In 911 the King of France granted Rollo, a
Viking who had taken control of Roeun, at the mouth of the Seine, Dukeship of
the region if he became Christian. Rollo the Viking became the first
‘Christian’ Duke of Normandy. Normandy means ‘Land of the Northmen.
NORMANS IN ITALY (860-1150)
The first Norman invasion of Sicily, led by a Byzantine general, was intended to
defeat Moslems who had taken over parts of the Island. Fighting between
Moslems, Normans, Italians, and Byzantines continued in Sicily and Southern
Italy throughout 9th and 10th centuries. Normans eventually prevailed and ruled
Kingdom of Italy and Naples for hundreds of Years.
VIKINGS IN NORWAY
In 1000 A.D. St. Olaf, first Christian king of Norway, was baptized by his
Norman cousins and worked to convert his kingdom to the Christian religion.
NORMANS IN THE HOLY LAND (1097-1268)
The Italian branch of the Normans were very active in the Crusades and the
descendants of Robert Guisgard served as princes of the Crusaders state of
Antioch for over 150 years.
The Normans were an energetic military race that assimilated into European Christian culture rather than being defeated or conquered. The Normans produced many great Saints and religious leaders including St. Herluin, St. Anselm and Lanfranc of Bec Abbey.
From 'Leading Events in Church History', Vol. II': Conversion of the Northern Nations
"Nothing contributed to the establishment of peace and order in Europe more than the conversion of the Nations of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. God chose as His Apostle to these people the holy monk Ansgar, afterwards Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. He was indefatigable in his labor to establish the Church throughout all the countries over which his authority extended.
"The Greek monks, Methodius and Cyrillus, converted the Slavonic races about the year 870. These Apostles of the Slavs were brothers, who labored as missionaries in Moravia. Despite their success, they were distrusted by the Germans first because they had come from Constantinople where schism was rife, and secondly because they held the Church services in the Slavonic language.
"Pope Adrian II, convinced of their orthodoxy, commended their missionary zeal, sanctioned the Slavonic Liturgy, and consecrated Cyrillus and Methodius bishops.
"Hungary was brought under the sway of the Church by the monk Hierotheus, who became its first bishop in 950. Two holy bishops, Pilgrim of Passau and Adelbert of Prague, together with the King St. Stephen, completed the conversion of this warlike nation in the year 1000."