Battle of Tours
The Frankish and Aquitanian army of Charles Martel defeated the Umayyad raiders of Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi on the road to Tours; the governor was killed, and the victory strengthened the power of the Carolingian family.
- Date
- 10 October 732exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Between Poitiers and Toursapproximate locationtoday: Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- Francia (Frankish realm), Charles Martel, Umayyad Caliphate, Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi
- Threads
- Early medieval Europe (500–1000)
- Also known as
- Battle of Poitiers (732); Битва при Туре; Balat al-Shuhada; Мостовая мучеников
In 732 the governor of al-Andalus crossed the Pyrenees, defeated Duke Odo of Aquitaine near Bordeaux and marched north towards the rich abbey of Saint-Martin at Tours. Odo turned for help to Charles Martel, the mayor of the palace of Francia. The two armies met somewhere between Poitiers and Tours — the exact site is unknown; the Franks, fighting on foot in a dense formation, withstood the Muslim cavalry, Abd al-Rahman fell, and the Umayyad army withdrew during the night. Arabic sources call the place “the Pavement of the Martyrs”.
The traditional date, 10 October 732, is not certain, and some historians argue for 733. Later writers made the battle the salvation of Christian Europe; modern historians see it rather as the end of large raids into Gaul and as a milestone in the rise of Charles Martel and his descendants.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Umayyad conquest of Hispania711–718 · Western and Central EuropeRaids into Gaul from newly conquered al-Andalus
Related events
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and AnatoliaBoth are often named as the victories that halted Muslim expansion into Europe
Same participants
- Battle of Covadongabetween 718 and 722 · Western and Central Europevia Umayyad Caliphate
- Donation of PepinApril 754 – 756 · Western and Central Europevia Francia (Frankish realm)
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Founding of Ladoga753
- The Khazar rulers adopt Judaismbetween 740 and 861
Balkans and Anatolia
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Battle of Tours
- Wikipedia (Russian): Битва при Пуатье (732)
- Fouracre P. The Age of Charles Martel. — Harlow: Longman, 2000.
- Wikidata: Q173077