Forgotten History: The Islamic Conquest of the Alps

[Dawn Marie]

Forgotten History: The Islamic Conquest of the Alps

Casual students of medieval history may be surprised to learn that the Muslims were already at the gates of Germany and in control of the Alps as early as the 10th century. More than a century after Charles Martel defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Tours (732), the Saracens returned to wreak havoc in a small forgotten corner of Western Europe.

The story begins more than 200 years before the First Crusade (1095). In 889 AD twenty Muslim pirates from Al-Andalus, armed with daggers and swords, landed in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez in the Kingdom of Provence (today France).

There they occupied the old Roman fortress of Fraxinetum in the modern village of La Garde-Freinet. Before long, one hundred more Andalusian Muslim reinforcements arrived. The Muslims formed a pirate nest and used the fortress as a base to conduct deep raids into Provence, Northern Italy, the Alps and the Riviera for the next 100 years. These events were contemporaneous with fierce Viking raids from the North and Magyar invasions from the East.

The small region of Europe between France, Italy and Switzerland for a short time became the northernmost outpost of the Cordoban Caliphate and a centre for Jihad. The Muslims spent several decades subduing and plundering the towns of Burgundy-Dauphiné, Provence, Savoy, Piedmont, Liguria, Rhaetia, Alemannia-Swabia, the Rhone Valley, and penetrated as far as St. Gallen in the Swiss Canton of Graubünden, in the Upper Rhine Valley, near the mouth of the Rhine River, reaching the shores of Lake Constance at the modern border of Germany and Austria.

The Western Alps became a den of pirates, and was so dangerous that it halted trade, travel and communication between Italy, Germany and Provence for nearly a century. The Muslims hid in their fortresses and could strike at any moment. They sacked numerous monasteries, burned cities, sold local Christians into the slave trade and indiscriminately killed hundreds of pilgrims on their way to Rome. In the 10th century, those who crossed the Alps faced serious risk of kidnapping, enslavement or death. In the best case scenarios, Christian captives would be kept alive and freed if they paid ransoms and tributes.

Contemporary Arabic writers described the Muslims of Fraxinetum as “mujahideen” (holy warriors; literally “those who do jihad”). Despite being so small in number, the Muslims were able to inflict serious damage and consolidate their control over the region due to the political disintegration of Europe after the death of Charlemagne.

• In 904 the Muslims raided Priola in Northern Italy and killed the bishops Eilulfo and Bernolfo of Asti.

• In 906 the Muslims raided Acqui and sacked Novalesa Abbey in Piedmont, Italy.

• In 906 the Muslims also raided the villages of Limone Piemonte and Borgo San Dalmazzo, destroyed the Abbey and slaughtered many monks.

• In 908 the Muslims occupied the Susa Valley in Northern Italy and sacked Psalmody Abbey in France.

• In 911 the Muslims seized control of the Alpine passes between Italy and France.

• In 921 the Muslims massacred a group of English pilgrims on their way to Rome. Massacres of English and French pilgrims also took place in 923, 936, 939, 940 and 951.

• In 923 the Muslims raided Marseille, sacked the Abbey of St. Victor and massacred the monks.

• In 929 the Muslims raided the Val Chisone in Northern Italy.

• In 931 the Muslims killed Robert II, the Bishop of Tours.

• In 931 some Byzantine ships, in service of the King of Italy, attacked Fraxinetum without any permanent success.

• Around 935 the Muslims raided Aix-en-Provence and destroyed the Abbey of Giusvalla in Liguria, Italy.

• In 935 the Muslims invaded Acqui near Genoa in the Kingdom of Italy. The Muslims were defeated by the Italians in the ensuing Battle of Acqui and the Saracen leader Sagittus was killed.

• In 936 the Muslims pillaged the Upper Rhine Valley near Germany.

• In 939 the Muslims overran the city of Geneva in Switzerland.

• In 940 the Muslims occupied Toulon, burned the city of Chur and sacked the Abbey of St. Maurice in Agaunum, Switzerland.

• In 940 King Hugh of Italy organized a plan to attack the Muslim fortress of Fraxinetum, which took place two years later.

• In 940-941, the Muslims were driven out of the Susa Valley by Arduino Glabrione, Marchese of Turin.

• In 942 the Muslims occupied the cities of Nice and Grenoble.

• In 942 the King of Italy, together with some Byzantine ships, attacked Fraxinetum. The Muslims were defeated, but not expelled; instead they agreed to a peace treaty and their lives were spared for political purposes. Hugh became known as "the Traitor King".

• In 953 Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, sent the monk St. John of Gorze to Al-Andalus, to convince the Caliph to stop the incursions into France and the Alps.

• In 954 the Muslims attacked the Abbey of Saint Gall in Switzerland.

• In 954 Count Guido of Ventimiglia launched a crusade against the Saracens. The outcome of the battle is lost to history, but the Muslims continued to disturb the region for the next two decades.

• In 961 the Muslims destroyed villages in Montferrat, Piedmont.

• Around 966-969 the Muslims destroyed the towns and churches in diocese of Alba.

• In 972, the Muslims kidnapped St. Mayeul, the holy abbot of Cluny, and held him and his companions for hostage in Le Châtelard, Switzerland. This was the final unforgivable act which caused the Italian and Provencal lords to unite and expel the Muslims once and for all. St. Mayeul and the Cluniac monks preached a crusade against the Saracens, with the blessing of the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor; the knights of Italy and Provence responded to the call.

• In 972-973 the Muslims were defeated in five battles at Embrun, Gap, Riez, Ampus and Cabasse.

• In 973 the Muslims were defeated by the Italians and Provencals at the Battle of Tourtour. The fortress of Fraxinetum was captured and the Saracens were finally driven out of Provence by Arduino of Turin, Count Rotbold I and William I of Provence, effectively ending Muslim control over southern France and the Western Alps.

After their expulsion, the Alpine passes were finally reopened to Christian travellers and craftsmen, which opened the way for cultural exchange and allowed Romanesque architecture to spread from Italy to the rest of Western Europe.

These events are little-remembered today. But the terror which the Muslim pirates inflicted on the locals of Provence and Piedmont remained in their memory for centuries. To this day the mountain range near Fraxinetum is named Massif des Maures ("Plateau of Moors") and in Piedmont there is a cavern called Grotta dei Saraceni ("Saracen Cave"), which is said to be haunted. The town of Vinchio near Asti still celebrates and reenacts the Battle of Acqui. The town derives its name from the Italian verb 'vincere', which means 'to win' — a reference to the victory over the Saracens in 935.

The most valuable contemporary sources for these events is the “Antapodosis” Chronicle by Liutprand of Cremona and the Annals of Flodoard of Reims.

This is Christian Europe

[Flavia Talladen Schott]

Thank you for sharing.  

[332xt2bmneuca]

So interesting as I was born in Piemonte it was great to learn  some of its history.

especially appropriate for our times with all the people flooding into Europe,

let us pray that the outcome will be the same for the Greater Glory of God.