The Battle of Tour Poitiers It was a turning point in world history, which decided the fate of Western Europe. This was where the tide of Muslim conquest began to turn, with huge implications for the future of the entire world.
Data from the Battle of Tours Poitiers
- Who: A force of Franks under the command of Charles Martel (688-741 AD) against a superior Moorish Muslim cavalry army under the command of Emir Abderramán (d. 732 AD).
- How: The Frankish infantry settled in a defensive position and awaited the attack of the Moorish cavalry. After a tough battle, the Franks were victorious.
- Where: Between the modern cities of Tours and Poitiers (France).
- When: October 10, 732 AD
- Why: Muslim forces had conquered Iberia and were reaching out into the Pyrenees to conquer more parts of Europe. They were opposed by the Christian Franks.
- Result: A decisive victory for the Franks. Carlos Martel made his reputation in this battle. The Muslim commander was killed and his army withdrew to Spain.
Background
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Europe fragmented into many small kingdoms and tribal groupings . This time has been called the "Dark Ages", although, in reality, culture and civilization flourished in most regions. It was a turbulent time when many successors to Roman power fought each other and battled barbarians along their borders. Circa 700 AD several large kingdoms had arisen. Spain was more or less dominated by the Visigoths, who had migrated there from the East . The Duchy of Aquitaine dominated southwestern France. The largest of the western European states was the kingdom of the Franks, which stretched from the English Channel and the North Sea coasts to the Mediterranean and from narrow possessions on the Atlantic coast north of Aquitaine to Bavaria and Saxony.
The Frankish kingdom was a Christian state, with a powerful army, centered around a core of elite armored infantry and bound to its leader by oaths and family ties . The rest of the forces were foot soldiers with lighter weapons; armored cavalry was not yet the dominant force in European military art.
The Franks were powerful and warlike. Less powerful was the Visigothic kingdom of Iberia, which around 700 AD. he was in great trouble. With famine and the nobility fighting each other, the central authority had broken down and King Rodrigo's rivals decided the time had come to seize power . Rodrigo's rivals looked to one of the greatest powers of the day for help, the Umayyad Caliphate, which stretched along the entire northern coast of Africa, through Egypt and Arabia to Mesopotamia. In 711 AD Tariq ibd Ziyad, governor of Tangier, granted them aid in the form of 10,000 soldiers. With his Visigoth allies, he landed at Gibraltar and thus began the Muslim conquest of Iberia. . After defeating Rodrigo in combat, the Muslim forces quickly conquered much of the country. Whether or not their initial intention was to help Rodrigo's opponents, they then set out to take over Iberia.
Expeditions to Europe
After the initial invasion, Tariq ibd Ziyad was relieved by a member of the Umayyad dynasty named Musa ibn Unsay. Even larger forces penetrated into Iberia and made it a province of the caliphate. Some invaded regions retained a certain degree of autonomy, maintaining religious freedom, such as the principality of Murcia, while others, especially Asturias, resisted as best they could or rose up against Umayyad domination.
ExpeditiontotheFrankishkingdom
Some of those who resisted were in the Pyrenees, between what is now France and Spain. Expeditions were sent against them . When the Muslims crossed the mountains and began to make inroads into Europe, alarm spread. By 720 AD, Moorish forces had a foothold in southern France and were expanding their control, even raiding the Rhone Valley.
A series of internal problems and revolts delayed the Muslim expansion in Europe for several years, but in 730 AD. the then leader, Abderramán, undertook an expedition to Aquitaine to eliminate this threat from his northern border . After defeating the Aquitanians at Bordeaux, Abderraman's army laid waste to the Duchy of Aquitaine, breaking its power and subduing its fortresses.
Carlos Martel
The neighboring Frankish kingdom had several princes with various titles, although chief among them, ruler of the Franks in all but name, was Charles . In the campaign that lay ahead, the Frankish prince obtained his title of Martel, which means 'Hammer'. He was born in what is now Belgium. Carlos Martel had previously been imprisoned to avoid succession complications; maneuver that did not achieve complete success. He ran away and, during the ensuing civil war, learned the value of what we would now call logistics. After a shaky start, he emerged as an astute and surprisingly modern commander. Arriving on the field with forces capable of winning the battle was part of his strategic pattern. He, too, discovered the value of attacking unexpectedly and defying convention when it was advantageous to do so. His military genius allowed Carlos Martel to create a unified kingdom under his command, although he did not adopt the title of king. In 732 AD. Carlos was an enormously powerful figure in Europe. Furthermore, he was popular with the Church as a champion of Christianity. .
Although he undertook several campaigns between AD 720 and 732, he was well aware of the threat from the southeast and had begun building an army to defeat it. This was typical of him:he did not rush into battle against his enemies, but instead determined how they might be defeated before putting up a fight. The core of Carlos's strategy against the invaders was the creation of an elite heavy infantry force, made up of professionals capable of training throughout the year . This was not the practice of that time; Aside from small personal guards, men-at-arms were normally recruited for a campaign and then returned home to farm work.
Carlos equipped his professionals splendidly and protected them with good armor. He trained them well and allowed them to gain combat experience, increasing their confidence and consistency. He was not without some mounted troops, although cavalry was not used much in Europe at the time and lacked stirrups. Unable to match the excellent horsemen of the Muslim caliphate, these mounted soldiers were used as mobile reserves or simply dismounted to fight.
The campaign is started
The Moorish forces were overconfident. They had easily defeated everything that Europe had put in their way, and they did not consider the "barbarians" either as fighters or as an army . Although a previous expedition had been defeated before the walls of Tolosa, the Muslims did not believe that Europe could offer any resistance.
The winner of Toulouse, Duke Odo of Aquitaine, faced the Moors at the Garonne River and tried to repel the invasion. This time there was to be no European victory. Large numbers of Berber (North African) and Arab cavalry crashed into Odo's army, which was scattered and crushed. Odo's strength ceased to be a factor in the campaign and the Muslims continued their advance.
Victories such as that of the Garonne contributed to the general overconfidence of the Moorish host . Scouting games were abandoned, and victory became more of an expectation than something hard-earned. This allowed Carlos to choose the battlefield and achieve some surprise over his opponents, who were unaware of the size and quality of his force. Charles advanced with his forces to cut off the Muslims who were heading to attack Tours. He did not use the Roman roads, which offered the easiest path, because he expected them to be guarded, and placed his forces in the path of the enemy army. . The exact place is not clear, but it is between Poitiers and Tours, and that is why historians designate the battle with both names.
The Muslims' advance stumbled upon Charles's force in his blocking position, thus surprising and disconcerting them. His scouts had brought no news of this force that had come their way. The Muslim leader, the Emir Abderramán, hesitated to attack and tried to discover as much as possible about his adversary. This six-day pause allowed Abderramán to observe the enemy and gather his patrols and forces, although he also acted in favor of the Franks. The enemy was operating far from home, in a colder climate, while the Franks were on their ground. Abderramán was going to have to attack or turn around and go home. The Franks were prepared for the attack, they were in a good defensive position and could remain there indefinitely .
The Muslims load
Abderramán had between 40,000 and 60,000 cavalry soldiers under his command who had defeated all the opponents they had faced . Many of his defeated enemies had been Frankish infantry like the one arrayed before them.
Any misgivings Abd ar-Rahman might have felt at having to charge uphill against a solid defensive formation was offset by confidence in his cavalry. Or maybe he just felt that, having come this far, he couldn't just walk away. Subsequent events demonstrated the value of discipline and confidence in battle. Conventional opinion at the time was that infantry could not defeat cavalry; however, Carlos's soldiers did just that.
The Franks were arranged in a large square defensive formation, with reserve units inside. The capacity of the infantry square was well demonstrated at Tours.
The Moorish cavalry launched several charges against Charles's square and, though they were weary from their heavy armor and the uphill slope they were attacking up, though their formations were disrupted by the uneven ground and trees that surrounded them. splashed, he bumped into it again and again.
Criticalpoint
Groups of Muslim horsemen forced their way into the square several times. If they could settle there, it would all be over; an attack from inside and outside the square would mean that the square would lose cohesion and its scattered members would be crushed. The reserve forces from within the square descended on them (the infantry confidently launched into the attack of the armored cavalry, something that rarely happened let alone successfully) and killed them or drove them out of the square.
The situation was doubtful for some time because the square was strongly harassed from all sides, but then the pressure began to decrease. The Muslim warriors began to retreat, back to their camp, leaving the square battered but intact. .
Abderramán downed
Some of Martel's scouts had managed to penetrate the Muslim camp during the battle, taking advantage of poor surveillance and overconfidence on the part of the enemy. There, they freed prisoners and caused general chaos . This confusion in his rear, coupled with the concern that his hard-earned loot might be stolen by the Franks, drew many of Abd ar-Rahman's soldiers back to the camp and seriously disrupted the attack on the Frankish square. Abderramán tried to stop the withdrawal movement, but in doing so he exposed himself with an inadequate personal guard. He was killed by Frankish soldiers. The Muslims were dismayed and withdrew in some disorder . The Franks ordered their formation and remained in their defensive positions.
There was no clear successor to Abderramán and the Moorish force was left in disarray. The force began to withdraw in the direction of Iberia, although this was not immediately apparent to the Franks, who suspected a mock retreat to lure them off the hill they occupied. The Muslims retained the means to defeat the Franks because they were still very powerful. However, his will had broken and the various deputy commanders, still unable to agree on who should take command, decided to continue on their way home . They had obtained a considerable amount of loot and still had plenty; little would be gained by a renewal of hostilities, or so they thought.
Aftermath
The Battle of Tours/Poitiers has sometimes been lauded as the only reason Europe is not a Muslim state and part of the Arab Empire . Although this is an exaggeration, it is fair to say that Charles deserved the nickname Hammer, or Martel, bestowed on him for dealing the Muslim expansion such a spectacular defeat.
Tours/Poitiers represented a kind of high tide mark for the Muslim invasion of Europe. The expeditions over the Pyrenees would continue and Carlos Martel would face them for the rest of his life. Over time, he would create the great Carolingian dynasty that gave rise to Charlemagne, considered the father of European knights.
Muslim occupation of Iberia continued for many centuries and the advantage waxed and waned between Muslim and Christian forces in southwestern Europe . Carlos Martel's victory did not end the Moorish invasion nor did it make the invasion of other territories impossible. However, it was the point at which the easy Muslim victories ended and the long struggle began.