Saracen (Arab. _Sharkiin_, the eastern people, from _Sharq_, the
East), is a term applied to the first followers of Mohammed or
Mahomet who within forty years after his death, 632 A.D., had
subdued a part of Asia and Africa. The Saracens conquered Spain in
711 and following, but were defeated at Tours, France, by Charles
Martel in 732. Under Abd-el-rahman they established the caliphate of
Cordova in 755, which gave way to the Moors in 1237. The empire of
the Saracens closed with the capture of Bagdad by the Tartars, 1258.
We now come to a remarkable chapter in European history,--the invasion
of Europe, the land of the Aryans, by a Semitic race, the followers of
the famous Mohammed. Connected with this is the rise of the new religion
and of a vast dominion that played a great part in the history of the
Middle Ages. The latter only can be touched on here.