Last episode, we talked about the rise of Islam, and how it swept over the Middle East, Central Asia, and across North Africa. And I mentioned that the Islamic Caliphate, which was controlled by the Umayyad dynasty at that time, conquered Spain, and pushed their way up into France.
In 732, however, in France, the Caliphate ran into a Frankish king with one of the greatest nicknames of all time: Charles the Hammer. But before we get to Hammerin’ Charlie, let’s talk a bit about the landscape of Europe here in the early dark ages.