THE SLA’VI.

19.  These were the last of the barbarian hordes, and are not mentioned by any author before the sixth century.  They first appeared in the east of Europe, and spreading themselves over the central provinces, occupied the greater part of the countries that now constitute the dominions of Austria.  The Sla’vi warred chiefly against the Eastern empire, and their contest with the Grecian forces on the Danube, in the sixth and seventh centuries, shook the throne of Constantinople.  The VENE’DI and the AN’TES were tribes of the Slavi.

THE NORMANS.

20.  The piratical inhabitants of Norway and Denmark were called by the Franks, Normans, or, Men of the North; in Ireland they were named Ostmen, or, Men of the East.  Their depredations began to attract notice early in the seventh century, but did not become formidable before the ninth:  when they obtained possession of that part of France now called Normandy.  In the two following centuries they wrested England from the Saxons, and established kingdoms in Sicily and southern Italy.

THE BULGARIANS.

21.  The Bulgarians were of Scythian or Tartar origin, and became formidable to the Eastern empire in the latter part of the seventh century.  In the beginning of the ninth, Cruni’nus, their king, advanced to the gates of Constantinople; but the city proving too strong, he seized Adrianople, and returned home loaded with booty.  The successors of Cruni’nus did not inherit his abilities, and the Bulgarians soon sunk into comparative insignificance.

THE SARACENS MOORS AND TURKS.

22.  In concluding this chapter, it may be proper to give some account of the subverters of the Eastern empire, and of their irruption into Europe.  The Arabs, called in the middle ages Saracens, are supposed to be descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar.  During all the changes of dynasties and empires in the eastern and western world, they retained their independence, though almost constantly at war with the surrounding states.  “Their hand was against every man, and every man’s hand was against them.”  In the beginning of the seventh century, Mohammed, a native of Mecca, descended from a noble family, laid claim to the title of a prophet, and being aided by a renegade Christian, formed a religious system, which, after encountering great opposition, was finally adopted by the principal tribes of Arabia.  The successors of Mohammed, called Caliphs, resolved to propagate the new religion by the sword, and conquered an empire, more extensive than that of the Romans had been.  The entire of central and southern Asia, including Persia, India, and the provinces of the Eastern empire owned their sway; northern Africa was soon after subdued, and in the beginning of the eighth century, the Saracenic Moors established their dominion in Spain. 23.  It is probable, even, that all Europe would have submitted to their yoke, if the French hero, Charles Martel,[1] had not arrested their victorious career, and defeated their numerous armies on the plains of Poitiers, A.D. 732.[2]