RELIGIOUS IN WARS OF EUROPE
Muslim forays into Western Europe began shortly after the religion's inception, with a short lived invasion of Byzantine Sicily by a small Arab and Berber force that landed in 652. Islam gained its first foothold in Europe from 711 onward, with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The invaders named their land Al-Andalus, which expanded to include what is now Portugal and Spain except for the northern highlands of Asturias. Al-Andalus has been estimated to have had a Muslim majority by the 10th century.[13] This coincided with the La Convivencia period of the Iberian Peninsula as well as the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. Pelayo, King of Asturias began the Christian counter-offensive known as the Reconquista after the Battle of Covadonga in 722. Slowly, Spanish Christian forces regained control of the peninsula. By 1236, practically all that remained of Muslim Spain was the southern province of Granada.
In the eighth century, Muslim forces pushed beyond Spain into Aquitaine, in southern France, but suffered a temporary setback when defeated by Eudes (Duke of Aquitaine), at the Battle of Toulouse (721). In 725 Muslim forces captured Autun in France. The town would be the easternmost point of expansion of Umayyad forces into Europe; just seven years later in 732, the Umayyads would be forced to begin their withdrawal to al-Andalus after facing defeat at the Battle of Tours by Frankish King Charles Martel. The last Muslim forces were driven from France in 759. At the same time, however, Muslim forces managed to capture Sicily and portions of southern Italy, and even sacked Rome in 846 and later sacked Pisa in 1004.
Vikings are known to have traveled both East and South, raiding Muslim holdings in Europe on the one hand, and establishing trade on the other. In 884 a Viking raiding expedition reached the then Muslim dominated Iberian peninsula and attacked Lisbon, Cadiz, Algeciras and North Africa. On their way home, the Norsemen sailed along the Guadalquivir River and plundered Seville, destroying the city walls and burning the local mosque. Muslim sources tell of some "mayus" (pagans), who got lost in Spain, and converted to Islam. The Christian conquests of the Iberian peninsula and southern Italy led to the Renaissance of the 12th century, when many aspects of medieval Islamic culture
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