The Battle of Tours, 732: the hammer of the Franks

On 10 October 732, on ground between Tours and Poitiers, the Frankish leader Charles Martel met and defeated a large raiding army of the Umayyad Caliphate. For centuries the battle was remembered as the moment the Muslim advance into Western Europe was turned back, and it earned Charles the name by which history knows him: Martel, the Hammer.

The raid from the south

The Umayyads had swept across Iberia and pushed north over the Pyrenees, raiding deep into Aquitaine. When Duke Odo of Aquitaine was beaten in the field, he turned to his rival, Charles Martel, mayor of the Frankish palace, who marched south with a hardened army to meet the threat.

A wall of men

Charles chose his ground with care, forming his experienced infantry into a dense square on wooded high ground where cavalry could not easily reach them. The Franks stood, in the words of one chronicler, like a wall of ice, and refused to be drawn out into the open.

They stood like a wall, and the horsemen broke upon them again and again.

The charges break

The Umayyad horse charged the Frankish square through the day and could not shatter it. In the fighting their commander, Abd al-Rahman, was killed. That night, with their leader dead and their camp threatened, the raiders slipped away, leaving the field to the Franks.

What the day decided

Historians still debate how close Europe truly came to conquest, but the consequences for the Franks were clear. The victory sealed Charles Martel's power, set his family, the Carolingians, on the road to a kingdom and then an empire under his grandson Charlemagne, and gave later ages one of their most enduring images of a continent defended at its gate.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the Battle of Tours in 732 remembered as a turning point?

The Battle of Tours in 732 was long remembered as the moment the Umayyad advance into Western Europe was turned back, when Charles Martel's Franks defeated a large raiding army on ground between Tours and Poitiers. It gave later ages one of their most enduring images of a continent defended at its gate.

What tactic let Charles Martel win the Battle of Tours in 732?

At the Battle of Tours in 732 Charles Martel formed his experienced infantry into a dense square on wooded high ground where cavalry could not easily reach them. The Franks held like a wall and refused to be drawn into the open, so the Umayyad horsemen could not shatter their formation.

Did the Battle of Tours in 732 really save Europe from conquest?

Historians still debate how close Europe truly came to conquest at the Battle of Tours in 732, so the claim that it single-handedly saved the continent is disputed. What is clear is that the victory sealed Charles Martel's power over the Franks.

What were the strategic consequences of the Battle of Tours in 732?

The Frankish victory at the Battle of Tours in 732 set Charles Martel's family, the Carolingians, on the road to a kingdom and then an empire under his grandson Charlemagne. It also earned Charles the name Martel, the Hammer.

How did the Umayyad army come to be defeated at Tours in 732?

At the Battle of Tours in 732 the Umayyad cavalry charged the Frankish square all day without breaking it, and their commander Abd al-Rahman was killed in the fighting. That night, with their leader dead and their camp threatened, the raiders slipped away and left the field to the Franks.

Who won the Battle of Tours?

The Franks under Charles Martel won the Battle of Tours in 732, defeating a large raiding army of the Umayyad Caliphate whose commander Abd al-Rahman was killed in the fighting.