Cavalry – Art of Combat European Martial Arts

By: Jefferson P. Webb

Although Charles Martel ( d. 741)¹is one of the most noted heroes in Christianity when studying one of the many violent encounters between Christian and Muslim forces, Charles “The Hammer” Martel was no marionette of the Church. He was quite an independent and practical thinker as a military leader and as a politician.

Charles’ military abilities were already well know when he was confronted with perhaps his greatest military threat, a large invasion of Muslim Moors into Frankish
territory. The Muslim invasion would reach its climax as Muslim forces under the command of Abd ar-Raham²faced off in a pitched battle against Charles’ Christian forces at the Battle of Tours in October of 732.³In the period building up to this battle through its outcome, Charles would prove himself a wise and knowledgeable leader. One of the greatest assets to a successful military leader is to have good knowledge of the enemy and this is something that Charles possessed. While Charles was already on campaign in a region along the Danube, the Duke of Aquitaine who had already seen defeat against the Moors found and warned Charles of the situation.⁴ Though Charles was urged fervently to move immediately against the Muslim forces, his knowledge of the Muslim Armies’ habits played key in Charles’ plan of dealing with the invasion.

Continue reading “Charles “The Hammer” Martel: Defender of Christianity”

By Jefferson P. Webb

Although people typically conjure up
mental images of battles fought in the deserts and cities of the
Middle East during the Crusades when names such as, Templars,
Hospitallers, or Teutonic Knights come into conversation, but these
monastic knights saw combat actions in a number of other places to
include Europe. Furthermore, Crusades were not only fought in the
Middle East, but also in Eastern Europe in an effort to expand the
influence of the Church for Christianity and to convert pagan
peoples.¹While these knightly orders saw action against a
number of pagans and non-Catholic Christians, these knightly orders
along with secular knights, noblemen and the common soldier faced one
of the world’s best disciplined military forces in history. That
force was the invading Mongol army under the leadership of Batu Kahn. Continue reading “The Battle of Liegnitz: Duke Henry and the Mongol Invasion”