Tuesday, April 28, 2009

[charles martel] saint or sinner



A Frankish barbarian of the eastern Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, Charles Martel (688 - 741 A.D.) was most famous for the Battle of Tours (732 A.D.), near Poitiers, in which he successfully defeated the Saracen Moors in their invasion of France, thus preserving Christian Europe from the encroachment of Islam.

He held the title of Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, but in actuality wielded the power of a king. His byname, "Martel," meant "hammer" and was used to describe the way he indefatigably drove back the Moorish invasion.

Barbarian or the saviour of civilization?

8 comments:

  1. Bloody-handed saint.

    We've got more than enough peacemakers for our survival and freedom, and he finally stopped the Islamic conquest in the West. We need more tough guys in peace and in war against the savagery and universality of Islamic ambitions.

    Pity that his descendants are nowhere near up for the job of fighting off the other Islamic invasion - the cultural one.

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  2. Barbarian? A Greek prejudice, and - as an amateur student of history - you should know which of the vices they were famous for.

    The Greeks thought the Romans barbaric, even though the latter were bent towards the Greek vice, yet the Romans did more with the most impressive of Greek cultural achievements, and without any concern for irony, as did the Moslems.

    The greatest achievement of the Frankish kings was not giving the Moslems a bloody nose (something we shall have to do again, and soon) but establishing themselves first as kings of both Franks and Gallo-Romans in Gaul and later as Holy Roman Emperors.

    Some historians have argued that the Roman Empire existed until 1789 and in many ways it exists still. If they are correct the long lines of Merovingian and Carolingian Frankish kings deserve their share of the credit, not just one.

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  3. This may be OT.
    But barbarians take many forms.

    So look hereAnd HereIt just seems so convenient that so many governments in a stressful situation, with social unrest pretty much guaranteed in the near future, that a declaration of martial law, or some-such-similar would suddenly become a logical possibility.

    (Re-attaching tin foil hat)

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  4. http://www.drudge.com/news/120392/new-swine-flu-feared-weaponized-strain



    and

    http://www.naturalnews.com/026141.html

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  5. Thanks, boys - have to agree with William here.

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  6. ...giving the Moslems a bloody nose (something we shall have to do again, and soon)...

    I fear that we no longer have what it takes. And there is a formidable fifth column already embedded.

    If I had grand-daughters I would worried for them.

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Comments need a moniker of your choosing before or after ... no moniker, not posted, sorry.