The Battle of Tours
2009
When: October 10, 732
Where: Near Tours, France
Belligerents: Carolingian Franks vs. Umayyad Caliphate
Result: A Carolingian Victory
The Battle of Tours was fought near the modern French city of Tours between the Carolingian Franks and the Umayyad Caliphate. The Caliphate was a Sunni Muslim Empire that had stretched from Pakistan to Western North Africa along Africa’s Northern Coast. It had then moved up through the Straights of Gibraltar into the Iberian Peninsula, present day Spain.
Islam had been spreading for about a hundred years and already it was knocking at Europe’s Western door through the Iberian Peninsula. In an eight year campaign, the Umayyad forces, led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad, met little resistance from the Visigoth Kingdoms that ruled the area and eventually conquered it. Later, they pushed on up into parts of France where they met stronger, more organized resistance. The Islamic advanced was stopped for a short time by Duke Odo of Aquitaine at the Battle of Toulouse in 721. This, however, did not stop the ambitions of the Caliphate.
Eventually, the Umayyad Caliphate, led by Abdul Rahman, sacked Aquitaine, forcing Odo to flee North. He approached his Frankish rival, Charles Martel, whom he had previously been at war with, and requested his aid to thwart the Muslim advance. Martel would grant aid under the condition that Odo submit to him as his overlord. Reluctanly, Odo conceded and Martel began making plans to stop the Muslim advance.
Since Charles did not have any cavalry to speak of, it was important for him to select the place and time of the battle. To accomplish this, Charles quietly took his force of approximately 30,000 infantry through back-roads to a high, wooded plain. On seeing this, Abdul Rahman paused his forces for a week to consider his options while his skirmishers tried to draw Charles’ forces out into the open.
For a week, the Franks had not taken the bait and stayed within the safety of the wooded area. Finally, Abdul Rahman became impatient. He sent his cavalry to attack Martel’s infantry. The infantry repulsed the cavalry charges, thanks in part, to the wooded area they were in. The wooded area was not ideal for cavalry and did not allow it to maneuver very well. Eventually, the cavalry broke through Martel’s infantry and attempted to kill Charles. Charles was quickly surrounded by his personal body guards who repulsed the attack.
While Charles was being attacked, a portion of his forces were releasing prisoners that had been captured by the Umayyad from their rear camp. Word came to the Umayyad that the camp was being attacked and believing that their spoils were being plundered, most of the Caliphate army retreated to protect it. After the retreat, Charles did not relax. Instead, believing that the Muslims would reengage, he prepared his own forces for a new attack. An attack that never came. The Caliphate had retreated back to the Iberian Peninsula never to return that far into Western Europe again.
Personal Observations:
Many modern historians still debate the importance of the battle on both sides, personally, I view the Battle of Tours as one of the most pivotable battles in Western Civilization history. Had the Umayyad Caliphate won the battle, Islam might have spread throughout most of Western Europe leaving, at best, little safe haven for Western Christianity. Christianity could be as obscure today as Zoroastrism. This would have drastically changed the way the modern world has been shaped. It is interesting to ponder all the possible courses history could have taken had this battle turned out differently.
aaron
The Battle of Tours Poitiers (732)
Charles Martel – Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours
Battle of Tours – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Martel – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Odo the Great – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
