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There was a Muslim mini-state in southern Europe during the post-Carolingian period, centered on Fraxinetum. To this day there are towns in southern Provence with Muslim names. They raided as far as southern Germany (Swabia - modern-day Baden-Württemberg) and were only beaten back after they kidnapped (hmm, some things never change) St Maiolus, the abbot of the great Abbey of Cluny.

You have to hunt around to find much about it. Older history texts are best. The newer ones are too PC to admit to the notion that Muslims tried to pillage and conquer Europe other than Spain.

"The newer ones are too PC to admit to the notion that Muslims tried to pillage and conquer Europe other than Spain."

And they completely fail to mention the success of the Khan's Golden Horde invasion of the 1300s that had the Khan knocking on the gates of Vienna after thoroughly whipping the butts of the European Christian armies.

There was a Muslim mini-state in southern Europe during the post-Carolingian period, centered on Fraxinetum. To this day there are towns in southern Provence with Muslim names.

Fascinating! I had no idea. Thank you for the information.

Nomads have raiding in their blood. I say the nomad is embedded in the Arab Muslim psyche. Read "Warriors of the Steppe" http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-49,GGLG:en&q=%22Warriors+of+the+Steppe%22 for a great account of the Mongols and why nomads raid the more sedentary. The agricultural peoples. They do it to supplement their diet. They could trade but prefer to raid because they are raised to be better horsemen. Thus better at war

Heck, the newer books make it sound as if Spain was lucky the Muslims conquered it. Spain, contrary to popular thinking, was the intellectual heir of the Roman Empire and a seat of learning and culture at the beginning of what are referred to as the Dark Ages. Just prior to the Muslim invasion, St. Isidore of Sevilla published a compendium of ¨all human knowledge¨ at that time, including Classical writings. The first Muslims who took over were only recently ¨converted¨ themselves, from fairly advanced pagan and Christian cultures (present day Iraq and Iran), and Islam was at any point so new that it was not that doctrinally consolidated at that time. They did what their pre-Islamic, Roman influenced cultures had always done, which was extract taxes and let life go on as usual. They even became rather syncretist and let Spanish learning continue for awhile - until they themselves were overrun by more ¨orthodox¨ Arab Muslims, who promptly initiated persecutions of Christians and Jews, a process that was repeated several times.

But instead our history books go on about the glories that the Muslims ¨brought to¨ Spain. It ain´t true.