10. The Battle of Tours

Painting of the Battle Of Tours

Coming in at number 10 on my list we have the Battle of Tours, a Battle in Southern France that repelled the Islamic armies from what would become the Kingdom of France and paved the way for the establishment of the Carolingian dynasty who would reshape Post-Roman western Europe. If you notice in the painting Charles is defending a mother and child in an over the top and completely inaccurate portrayal of anything that happened at the battle.

Background: In 634 A.D armies of the new religion of Islam attacked the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires who just completed a long and intense war that had drained both empires leaving them easy prey for the forces of Islam. By 720 the Islamic Caliphate stretched from modern India all the way through North Africa and to southern France.  The  Umayyad Caliphate had invaded Iberia(Modern Spain) in 711 and by 718 they were in control of most of the Iberian Peninsula  and began pushing into the Duchy of Aquitaine, which is in modern day southern France and at the time was still referred to as Gaul. The Duchy of Aquitaine was led by Duke Odo who inflicted the first major defeat on the Umayyad’s Dynasty on June 9, 721 at the Battle of Toulouse and Odo was declared a Champion of Christianity by the Pope. However the Merovingian dynasty ruled in Gaul with the title of King of the Franks and had fallen into Civil War after the death of Pepin of Herstal and Duke Odo had declared his independence. So at this point Odo is under attack from both the Umayyad’s and the Franks and so he marries his daughter to a Muslim lord, despite Odo being a “Champion of Christianity”.  Things went poorly for Odo after this, Emir Uthman ibn Naissa whom he had married his daughter to rebelled against the Umayyad's and Odo’s forces were soundly defeated by an Umayyad army who then looked to push further into Gaul. Odo appealed to Charles Martel, who was fighting for a claim as King of the Franks, and agreed to submit to his authority if he would help him.

The Battle: Now it’s important to understand that despite being called the Battle of Tours, nobody actually knows exactly where this battle took place, but most believe it was between the cities of Tours and Poitiers. We also do not know exactly how many soldiers were on either side, sources claim that the number of Christian troops was between 15,000 and 80,000 and the Muslim forces have been stated at between 10,000 and 80,000. Charles Martell had picked the battle field and wanted the Muslim army under Abd el-Rahman to attack him as he held his force in a phalanx type formation to try and repel the Muslim heavy Cavalry. It is of note that despite the later adoption of the armored Knight into warfare, at this point Europeans had none as they had not developed the stirrup which would allow them to travel on Horse with heavy armor, the Muslim forces did have these armored knights with lances and swords which they had come to rely upon. Also historians have wondered why Rahman proceeds with so little scouting into the area and it is generally concluded that he either did not view the Franks as a threat or did not believe that they would come to Odo’s aid.  During the battle the Muslim heavy cavalry repeatedly charged the tightly grouped Frankish troops and were repulsed again and again, however this tactic may have eventually worked if not for one of those odd moments in history that shaped future world events. Charles Martel supposedly sent scouts to raid the Muslim army’s camp in hopes of causing chaos, but what happened went beyond his wildest dreams. The Muslim army, just like any other invading army, had accumulated large amounts of plunder and when word reached the men at the front that their plunder was being seized, some ran back to the camp to stop these raiders from seizing the new wealth that they had accumulated. But quickly more and more troops began to do this and it soon turned into a retreat and then the Muslim army routed. It is important to remember that during hand to hand combat like this there are not that many casualties during the actual battle, but when one side runs away that is when the body count starts to really accumulate. During the chaos General Abd el-Rahman tried to stop the retreat but was surrounded and killed and the Muslim army retreated. The Franks did not know the battle was over and they expected that the next day the battle would resume, but the Muslim army withdrew to the Iberian Peninsula, Charles was victorious and was given the name Charles Martel, which means the Hammer.  

Aftermath: Charles the Hammer’s son was Pippin the Short who would become the first Carolingian King of the Franks and his son was Charlemagne would go on to dramatically alter the face of Post- Roman Europe. Charlemagne would establish the Holy Roman Empire, conquer and convert the Saxons and would subdue the Lombard’s in Italy.

Importance: Now there is a very large debate over whether this is an important battle in History and that is the main reason why I have it so low at number 10. The debate at times seems to follow an east and west divide, many Christian scholars believe that this saves Christianity, while many Muslim Scholars believe that the battle was insignificant because the Umayyad’s had already pushed as far as they were going to push into Western Europe. However the reluctance of Muslim scholar’s to admit any defeat has to be accounted for. In reference to Tours an Arabian chronicler wrote:

Musa being returned to Damascus, the Caliph Abd-el Melek asked of him about his conquests, saying "Now tell me about these Franks---what is their nature?"

"They," replied Musa, "are a folk right numerous, and full of might: brave and impetuous in the attack, but cowardly and craven in event of defeat."

"And how has passed the war betwixt them and thyself? Favorably or the reverse?"

"The reverse? No, by Allah and the prophet!" spoke Musa. "Never has a company from my army been beaten. And never have the Moslems hesitated to follow me when I have led them; though they were twoscore to fourscore."

Islamic armies had been victorious everywhere and so many attempted to paint Tours as a minor defeat, but downplaying the importance and scale of ones defeats or painting them as heroic stands against impossible odds is a very common throughout history. The reality of it, in my own humble opinion, truly lies in the middle of these ideas, Christian Europe was not likely to be destroyed with a loss as Tours but the Christian states warring with one another they could have pressed the weak states in Southern Gaul and Northern Italy. However the Islamic Caliphate had overextended itself and would soon fall into warring with one another over succession, while it is possible that they could have pushed into Gaul and Italy the ability to hold these areas may have proven difficult.  It is also possible that even if they had secured more of Western Europe that it may not have had a major impact on the area, after all Muslim forces controlled various portions of Italy and raided Southern France for several centuries after Tours. However you never truly know what may have happened, what if a Muslim kingdom had been established in Southern Gaul? What if France is never established as a true Kingdom?

The biggest thing that really comes out of the battle of Tours is the rise of the Carolingian Dynasty and what Charles Martel’s grandson Charlemagne does for Europe. Without Charlemagne and the Carolingian dynasty Europe could have looked very different and all of this is brought on by Charles the Hammer’s victory at Tours. If Charles loses or is even killed at Tours then it is very likely that his son Pippin the Short cannot depose Childeric III of the Merovingian dynasty and become King of the Franks. The possibilities are endless which is why the battle becomes so important even if it is unlikely that it saved Europe from Islamic conquest.

Conclusion: So in the end Tours comes in at number ten because it allows the Carolingians and Charlemagne to rise to power more than because of it supposed saving of Christendom from the armies of the prophet Muhammad. Could a victory at Tours led to a Muslim takeover of Southern and possibly all of Gaul? Yes but it is also possible that nothing significant would have come out of it and any gains by Abd el-Rahman would have been temporary as the Franks would have eventually pushed his army out of Gaul.