Middle Ages Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Rise of Islam=== {{main|Spread of Islam|Early Muslim conquests}} [[File:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|upright=1.3|thumb|alt=Map of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, showing the expansion of the Muslim empire|The [[early Muslim conquests]] {{legend|#a1584e|Expansion under [[Muhammad]], 622β632}} {{legend|#ef9070|Expansion during the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], 632β661}} {{legend|#fad07d|Expansion during the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], 661β750}}]] Religious beliefs were in flux in the lands along the Eastern Roman and Persian frontiers, as state-sponsored Roman missionaries proselytised among the pagan steppe peoples, and the Persians made attempts to enforce [[Zoroastrianism]] on the Christian [[Armenians]].{{sfn|Collins|2010|pp=136, 141β142}} The emergence of [[Islam]] in Arabia during the lifetime of [[Muhammad]] (d. 632) brought about more radical changes. After his death, Islamic forces conquered [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Syria]], [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Persia]], and [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|Egypt]]. The Eastern Romans halted the Muslim expansion at Constantinople in [[Siege of Constantinople (674β678)|674β78]] and [[Siege of Constantinople (717β718)|717β18]], but in the west, Islamic troops conquered [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|North Africa]], annihilated [[Muslim conquest of Spain|the Visigothic Kingdom]] in 711, and invaded [[Umayyad invasion of Gaul|southern Gaul]] from 713.{{sfn|Collins|2010|pp=143β150, 160, 226}} The conquerors bypassed the mountainous northwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula. Here a small kingdom, [[Kingdom of Asturias|Asturias]] emerged as the centre of local resistance.{{sfn|Collins|2010|pp=376β377}} The defeat of [[Muslim]] forces at the [[Battle of Tours]] in 732 led to the reconquest of southern France by the Franks, but the main reason for the halt of Islamic growth in Europe was the overthrow of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] and its replacement by the [[Abbasid Caliphate]]. The Abbasids were concerned with the Middle East, losing control of sections of the Muslim lands in the west. Umayyad descendants took over [[Al-Andalus]] (or Muslim Spain), the [[Aghlabids]] controlled North Africa, and the [[Tulunids]] became rulers of Egypt.{{sfn|Brown|2001|p=15}} The Islamisation of the countryside in Al-Andalus was slow. Christians were regularly employed in state administration, but violent interreligious conflicts could lead to their mass migration to the north.{{sfn|Collins|2010|pp=373β375}} Apart from Byzantium, Muslim Spain was the only place in Europe where eunuchs played a preeminent role in administration and social life, holding positions such as guardians of religious shrines, or [[harem]] servants.{{sfn|Ringrose|2016|pp=372β373}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page