The Early Middle Ages | The House of Islam (Lecture 12)

Lecture 12: Islam emerged in Arabia, on the frontiers of the Byzantine and Persian Empires, in the early 7th century. Following the death of Muhammad, Arabs conquered the Persian Empire, large sections of the Byzantine Empire, and even parts of continental Europe, most notably the greater part of the Iberian peninsula in less than a decade. At the Battle of Poitiers in 732, an Arab raiding party that had reached deep into Merovingian Francia was defeated by Charles Martel, a member of the Carolingian family. For the House of Islam, this was a wholly insignificant event. For Francia and for Europe as a whole, it was very significant, because the Carolingian victory at Poitiers marked an important moment in the ascent of the Carolingian family, which would come to dominate the political life of continental Europe during the Early Middle Ages.

Suggested Readings:
Roger Collins. The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797. Blackwell, 1995.
Michael Cook. Muhammad. Oxford University Press, 1983.
Robert Hoyland. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Longman, 1986.

Lecture 13: https://www.bitchute.com/video/G5dlosVQe6Ns/