The Saracen Empire: Its Fanaticism, Art and Learning
Saracen (Arab. Sharkiin, the eastern people, from Sharq, the East), is a term applied to the first followers of Mohammed or Mahomet who within forty years after his death, 632 A.D., had subdued a part of Asia and Africa. The Saracens conquered Spain in 711 and following, but were defeated at Tours, France, by Charles Martel in 732. Under Abd-el-rahman they established the caliphate of Cordova in 755, which gave way to the Moors in 1237. The empire of the Saracens closed with the capture of Bagdad by the Tartars, 1258.
We now come to a remarkable chapter in European history,—the invasion of Europe, the land of the Aryans, by a Semitic race, the followers of the famous Mohammed. Connected with this is the rise of the new religion and of a vast dominion that played a great part in the history of the Middle Ages. The latter only can be touched on here.