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Battle of Tours
Part of Umayyad Invasion of Gaul
Painting of Charles Martel during the Battle of Tours
Date 10th October, 732 Location Poitiers or Tour, France Result Decisive Frankish victory Umayyad Caliphate leaves the battle Al-Ghafiqi gets killed in action
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate	Frankish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi  †	Charles Martel Odo, the Duke of Aquitaine
Units involved
Umayyad Army	Vascones Tribe
Strength
20,000–25,000 men	15,000–20,000 men
Casualties and losses
12,000	1,000

The Battles of Tour, Battle of Poitiers or the Battle of the Highway of the Martyrs was a battle probably in the town of Poitiers or Tour, it was part of the Umayyad Invasion of Gaul. It was a major battle during the invasion, it happened on October 10th, 732. The battle was a Frank victory which was led by Charles Martel and Odo the great, while the Umayyad's army was led by Abdul Rahman Al-Ghafiqi, an Andalusian leader. The Umayyad Caliphate had to retreat as a consequence of their loss. This was a big victory for the Frankish Empire. A lot of information about the battle has been lost or never found, such as the exact size and exact spot where the battle happened. But most people who were in the battle said that the Umayyad had a way bigger army, and that they lost more men. And some people said that the Franks didn't even use Heavy Cavalry. The battle took place somewhere between the city of Tour and the city of Poitiers.

When the Umayyad leader Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi was killed in the battle, the Umayyad's army retreated and tried to run away from the Franks. The battle was important because it helped to make the Carolingian Empire later on, which was a mostly Frankish empire and also helped make the Franks control a lot of Western Europe.

Background

The Battle of Tour happened after twenty years of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania which was in Europe, they even reached modern-day Southern France, where the Franks and other kingdoms were. An imporant invasion happened in the Visigothic Kingdom, which was mainly Christian in 711. And later did military expeditions to Frankish territory, specifically in Gaul including some former Roman Empire provinces and states.

The Umayyad had already taken most of Iberia, and were looking to expand is Islamize more places near Iberia, which was successful in some places, but not always as seen in the Battle of Tour and other battles. And the Franks were expanding and also taking land, they were also Christians.

Their battles ad wars were a type of "Crusade" before they actually existed against the powerful Muslim empire or Caliphate, which had taken Iberia and established Al-Andalus, which was the Islamic version of Iberia, al-Andalus was an important place in the Umayyad Empire that was very rich.

While the Franks were expanding south and sometimes fighting the Umayyads and also getting a tiny bit of land in Iberia where the Umayyads did not or could not capture. They had a powerful empire and they ruled a lot of land, which made them very strong.

Umayyad Caliphate

See the main article: Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyad Caliphate was an Islamic Caliphate, they were very strong and took over a lot of land in Europe, Turkey and other places. The Umayyads were the second Caliphate after Muhammad's death. They took over after the Rashidun Caliphate's fall, and they were probably the strongest at the time. They had land from al-Andalus to Persia and Pakistan, which made them big and very strong and took over a lot of other empires and kingdoms in the Arab world and nearby regions because of how strong they were.

They even completely took over all of the Sasanian Empire while also attacking the Byzantine Empire and also took over lands that included Syria, Iraq, Armenia, Northern Africa and other places. They even took over Anatolia which is in modern-day Turkey and used to be in the Byzantine Empire, and also took Jerusalem and other religious cities and important places.

Franks

Main articles: Franks and Frankish Empire

The Franks were a Germanic people that lived in Western Europe before even the Romans came in and took them over. After the Romans left, they made their own country and called it the Frankish Empire, which was in modern-day France. They were powerful and they took a lot of land in Western Europe after the Fall of the Roman Empire,

Battle

The battle started on October of 732 when the Umayyads invaded the city of Tour or the city of Poitiers since the exact location is very disputed and nobody knows where it really happened exactly, but it was probably inbetween the two cities. The battle resulted in a Frankish victory and they killed Al-Ghafiqi, the Umayyad's leader during the battle. It made the Umayyad's retreat since if the leader died, this was a big victory for the Frankish Empire.

Frankish and Umayyad preparations

When the Frankish prepared, they went into a very big square formation to stop cavalry, according to Arab sources. They also used phalanx type of defense against cavalry in their massive square. Charles Martel did not choose to start off with an offense, but more of a defense instead as it provided more protection for his men and would destroy the Umayyad's cavalry.

For almost a week, the Umayyads and the Franks would clash against eachother. The Umayyads waited for their army to arrive before they would even start fully fighting. Abd al-Rahman was a good commander, but he let Charles pick the place where the battle would occur and it would have been impossible to even see the Franks since they used trees for cover, so their true size wouldn't be known.

Charles's army was his best weapon, since they actually had experienced and well trained unlike the larger Umayyad's army. And most of the men on his side was under his command ages ago, some since 717. And also, he had a lot of militias around that had no experience except for gathering food and minor fights, but they would clash with the Umayyads.

Charles knew that Abd al-Rahaman would feel like he's forced to take over Tours and loot the entire place, but neither the Franks or the Umayyads wanted that to happen. It allowed Charles to put his army in the hills and wait for the Umayyad's cavalry to go up the hill, which made them slow and ineffective. And it worked very well and the trees got on the way.

The Franks also had heavier armor and better weapons, also Charles gave his men winter clothes since it would be cold at that time, while the Arabs did not have winter clothes, they wore ones for North African winters but not for Winters in Europe, specifically in Gaul.

A lot of historians say that the Franks had less men that the Umayyads, but the Mozarabic Chronicle of 754, one of the best latin sources says that the Umayyads actually had less men that the Franks.

The fight

Frankish Army during the Battle of Tour (right) and Umayyad Cavalry (left)

Abd al-Rahman thought that his cavalry would break through the Frankish troops, but he was wrong since they needed to go uphill and the franks had a square formation to stop any incoming cavalry from the Umayyads. He rushed his entire cavalry to stop the Frankish defenses but it did not work. Abd al-Rahman trusted his cavalry too much, which made him loose.

The Frankish Army stood still and stopped the incoming cavalry charge to their position because they were well experienced and had better training and better tactics and defense than the Umayyads, because they would send a used their cavalry too much which made the Umayyads loose. And the Frankish empire was a way more professional army not like the Umayyads because they were not that well trained.

Death of Al-Ghafiqi

When Abd al-Rahman charged trying to find Odo, he was caught by Charles Martel, who was better experienced and ready to kill the Andalusian leader, he was hit right in the chest.

See also

• Umayyad conquest of Hispania