Editing Battle of Tours (section)

===Supporting the significance of Tours as a world-altering event===
Ninth-century chroniclers recorded the outcome of the battle as a divine judgment in favor of Charles and gave him the nickname ''Martellus'' ("The Hammer"). Later Christian chroniclers and pre-20th century historians praised Charles Martel as the champion of Christianity, characterizing the battle as the decisive turning point in the struggle against Islam, a struggle which preserved Christianity as the religion of Europe. According to modern military historian, [[Victor Davis Hanson]] "most of the 18th and 19th century historians like [[Edward Gibbon|Gibbon]] saw Tours as a landmark battle that marked the high tide of the Muslim advance into Europe."<ref>Hanson, 2001, p. 166.</ref> [[Leopold von Ranke]] felt that Tours-Poitiers "was the turning point of one of the most important epochs in the history of the world."<ref name=Ranke>Ranke, Leopold von. "History of the Reformation," vol. 1, 5</ref>

[[William E. Watson]] writes that "the subsequent history of the West would have proceeded along vastly different currents had 'Abd ar-Rahman been victorious at Tours-Poitiers in 732" and that "[a]fter examining the motives for the Muslim drive north of the Pyrenees, one can attach a macrohistorical significance to the encounter ... especially when one considers the attention paid to the Franks in Arabic literature and the successful expansion of Muslims elsewhere in the medieval period."<ref name="Watson" />

Victorian writer [[John Henry Haaren]] says in ''Famous Men of the Middle Ages'' "The battle of Tours or Poitiers as it should be called is regarded as one of the decisive battles of the world. It decided that Christians and not Muslims should be the ruling power in Europe."<ref>''[http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext03/7fmtm10.txt Famous Men of The Middle Ages]'' by John H. Haaren, LL.D. and A. B. Poland, Ph.D. Project Gutenberg Etext.</ref> Bernard Grun delivers this assessment in his "Timetables of History", reissued in 2004: "In 732 Charles Martel's victory over the Arabs at the Battle of Tours stems the tide of their westward advance."<ref>''The Timetables of History'' p. 275.</ref>

Historian and humanist [[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]] lists the battle of Tours in the macrohistorical dates of the Roman era. Historian [[Norman Cantor]] who specialized in the medieval period, teaching and writing at Columbia and New York University said in 1993: "It may be true that the Arabs had now fully extended their resources and they would not have conquered France, but their defeat (at Tours) in 732 put a stop to their advance to the North."<ref>''Civilization of the Middle Ages'' p. 136.</ref>

Military historian Robert W. Martin considers Tours "one of the most decisive battles in all of history."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/b/a/041971.htm |title=The Battle of Tours (732) |access-date=2006-08-29 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040926202941/http://militaryhistory.about.com/b/a/041971.htm |archive-date=2004-09-26 }}</ref> Additionally, historian [[Hugh N. Kennedy|Hugh Kennedy]] says "it was clearly significant in establishing the power of Charles Martel and the Carolingians in France, but it also had profound consequences in Muslim Spain. It signaled the end of the ''ghanima'' (booty) economy."<ref>Kennedy, ''Muslim Spain and Portugal: Political History of Al-Andalus'', p. 28.</ref>

Military Historian Paul Davis argued in 1999 "had the Muslims been victorious at Tours, it is difficult to suppose what population in Europe could have organized to resist them."<ref name="Davis-105" /> Likewise, George Bruce in his update of Harbottle's classic military history ''Dictionary of Battles'' maintains that "Charles Martel defeated the Moslem army effectively ending Moslem attempts to conquer western Europe."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lbdb.com/TMDisplayBattle.cfm?BID=250 |title=Leaders and Battles: Tours |access-date=2005-10-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020128121614/http://www.lbdb.com/TMDisplayBattle.cfm?BID=250 |archive-date=2002-01-28 }}</ref>

History professor [[Antonio Santosuosso]] comments on Charles, Tours, and the subsequent campaigns against Rahman's son in 736–737, that these later defeats of invading Muslim armies were at least as important as Tours in their defense of Western Christendom and its monasteries, the centers of learning that ultimately led Europe out of her Middle Ages. He also makes an argument, after studying the Arab histories of the period, that these were armies of invasion sent by the Caliph not just to avenge Tours, but to begin the end of Christian Europe and bring it into the Caliphate.

Professor of religion [[Huston Smith]] says in ''The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions'' "But for their defeat by Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours in 732, the entire Western world might today be Muslim." Historian [[Robert Payne (author)|Robert Payne]] on page 142 in ''The History of Islam'' said "The more powerful Muslims and the spread of Islam were knocking on Europe's door. And the spread of Islam was stopped along the road between the towns of Tours and Poitiers, France, with just its head in Europe."

[[Victor Davis Hanson]] has commented that

{{blockquote|text=Recent scholars have suggested [Tours-Poitiers], so poorly recorded in contemporary sources, was a mere raid and thus a construct of western mythmaking or that a Muslim victory might have been preferable to continued Frankish dominance. What is clear is that [Tours-Poitiers] marked a general continuance of the successful defense of Europe, (from the Muslims). Flush from the victory at Tours, Charles Martel went on to clear southern France from Islamic attackers for decades, unify the warring kingdoms into the foundations of the Carolingian Empire, and ensure ready and reliable troops from local estates.<ref>Hanson, Victor Davis, 2001, p. 167.</ref>}}

Paul Davis, another modern historian, says "whether Charles Martel saved Europe for Christianity is a matter of some debate. What is sure, however, is that his victory ensured that the Franks would dominate Gaul for more than a century."<ref>{{harvnb|Davis|1999|page=107}}</ref> Davis writes, "Moslem defeat ended the Moslems' threat to western Europe, and Frankish victory established the Franks as the dominant population in western Europe, establishing the dynasty that led to Charlemagne."<ref>{{harvnb|Davis|1999|page=103}}</ref>