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October 732 CEReputable source · 2 sourcesDebated

Charles Martel Halts Umayyad Expansion at the Battle of Tours

A Frankish army stops raids that had reached deep into modern France

On the timeline · around October 732 CE · The Umayyad CaliphateThe Umayyad CaliphateThe Abbasid Caliphate and the Islamic Golden AgeCharles Martel Halts Umayyad Expansion at the Battle of Tours710 CE720 CE730 CE740 CE750 CE770 CE

Quick facts

Location
Between Tours and Poitiers, France
Frankish leader
Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace
Date
October 732 CE
Dynasty strengthened
Carolingian

What happened

After conquering most of Iberia, Umayyad forces based in Al-Andalus began raiding across the Pyrenees into Frankish territory as early as 712 CE. In October 732 CE, a Frankish army led by Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace who held the Merovingian kingdom's real power, met an invading Umayyad force in a battle fought over roughly a week somewhere between the cities of Tours and Poitiers. The Franks won a decisive victory, but the World History Encyclopedia notes that internal divisions within the Umayyad Caliphate itself, which limited its capacity to sustain the campaign, were as important as Frankish battlefield strength in ending the immediate threat.

Why it matters

Tours marked the furthest point of sustained Umayyad advance into Western Europe and is often remembered as the battle that saved Frankish Gaul from conquest, though historians caution that Umayyad strength in the region was already declining for internal reasons. Charles Martel's victory strengthened the Carolingian family's hold on Frankish power, setting up the dynasty that would later produce Charlemagne.

How we know

The battle's date, location, and the caveat about its broader significance come from the World History Encyclopedia's dedicated article on Charles Martel and the battle, which draws on the standard scholarly reassessment of Tours as less militarily decisive than its later legend suggests.

Sources

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Part of a timelineThe Rise of Islam30 events · From a trading town in the Arabian desert to a caliphate stretching from Iberia to Central Asia in under a centuryView all →