Battle of Tours

Franks vs. Moors, A.D.732

Prologue



After Zama Rome's empire spread across the entire Mediterranean world. In 200 years Rome stretched his borders from the Nile to the Thames. Roman power and glory climaxed just before and during the life of Christ under the first emperor Augustus Caesar and his son Tiberius. However, the Caesar dynasty collapsed thirty years later. Tiberius' vengeful, self-absorbed, and ineffective descendant Nero incited a military revolt in A.D. 68.



After the death of Nero, Rome began a slow decline. Occasionally, strong emperors like Hadrian and Constantine would manage to stop, or even reverse the decline. However, centuries of barbarian attacks, corruption, and ineffective emperors finally culminated in A.D. 410, when an army of Goths sacked the city of Rome, the first invaders to do so in 700 years. Although Rome managed to hold onto some shadows of its former power and territory until A.D. 476, the intervening 66 years were little more than the death rattle of the mightiest empire in history.



After A.D.476 the fates of Eastern and Western Europe made a major split. The eastern half of the old Roman empire, ruled from the massive city of Constantinople on the Hellespont, remained fairly peaceful and stable for more than a century. Western Europe, however, fell into what is now called the Dark Age. The tribes that had defeated Rome began fighting each other for control the region, with none ever truly gaining supremacy. This pattern continued in western Europe for more than 200 years.



Outside of Europe, however, time marched on. In A.D.632 Mohammad died. His followers soon began a bloody military campaign to bring Islam to all corners of the earth. They met with unprecedented success early on. In less than a century the Arabs took Egypt, Israel, Syria, Persia, North Africa, and Spain. This was not enough, however, and the Omayyad Caliphs soon began considering further conquests. The Byzantine Empire and India were too strong to overthrow, but the 'barbarian' kingdoms of western Europe appeared ripe for invasion.


In A.D.721 a first attempt to invade the lands north of Spain was quickly defeated by Duke Odo of Aquitaine. The Muslims returned, however, in A.D.732, with an army of 80,000 men. Odo was crushed and the Muslim invasion swept through France, burning, looting, and raping. While the Arabs cut a bloody swathe through southern France, Odo fled to Paris, which was the capital of the Frankish tribes. There he made a protection deal with the Palace-Mayor of the Franks, a man named Charles Martel.


Charles was no stranger to war. Born the illegitimate son of the earlier Palace-Mayor Pippin in A.D. 686, Charles had to fight to secure his position. He had been imprisoned in 714, escaped to exile in late 715, and began a civil war that culminated three years later. After his victory at over his rivals at the battle of Soissons Charles seized the rank of Palace-Mayor. This title was important because, while the Franks had a king, the Palace-Mayor was the person with the real political power.


Charles spent the next several years expanding Frankish power and keeping an eye of developments in Muslim Spain. He realized he would need well trained and heavily armed men to repel any Muslim invasion. This would be very expensive, however, and the Franks didn't have the funds to spare. To get the money Charles took an extremely controversial step. He seized Church lands and used the money to fund the training of a 30,000 man army. This action left him with a force more powerful than any seen in western Europe since the days of the Caesars. It also nearly got him excommunicated. However, Charles managed to -barely- avoid that disastrous outcome.

As A.D.732 dragged on, the Muslims began acquiring a vast amount of stolen treasure from the cities and monasteries they had devastated. Looking to increase this hoard, they then turned towards the monastery at Tours, reputed to be the richest in France. Charles anticipated this, however, and marched his army to Tours. He took back roads to avoid detection.The move paid-off handsomely when the Arabs were taken by surprise to find the Frankish army waiting for them on a wooded hill near Tours in early October.

For seven days neither side moved. The Muslims hoped the Christians would come to attack them on the plain below the hill. Charles knew such a move would be suicide and stayed in his strong defensive position. Finally, winter broke the deadlock. Charles and his northmen were prepared for the oncoming cold, but the Muslim commander Abd er Rahman knew his men were not. The only way to winter quarters was through the Frankish army, so on the seventh day Rahman ordered a full-scale attack. The spiritual and political future of Europe was about to be decided.


The Armies


Franks- The Frankish army was composed almost entirely of infantry. These men were farmers Charles had whipped into fighting shape over the previous months and years. They were better armored and armed than their Muslim counterparts. The signature Frankish weapon was a short throwing axe called the Francisca. The Francisca had only a short range, but it could go through any armor in the world. Their training had hardened them and their do-or-die situation would undoubtedly drive to fight even harder. However, they were outnumbered nearly 3-to-1 and facing a fierce and undefeated enemy with far superior cavalry. The future of Christianity looked grim.



Moors- The Moorish army was composed of Muslims from North Africa and Spain. They were mostly unarmored and carried spears and scimitars. Cavalry victories at Adrianople (A.D.378) and Ad Decimum (A.D.533) had left horsemen the dominant unit of the day, and the Moors had thousands of cavalry. They used this fact to devastating effect, outmaneuvering and destroying their infantry-based enemies in Spain and southern France. The Frank's excellent choice of battlefield had reduced some Moorish advantages, but Abd er Rahman still held a 50,000 man numerical superiority and his men were inflamed with Islamic fervor. Despite not properly scouting the enemy or the terrain, it still looked as though the Moors would break through and take the Koran to all corners of Europe at the point of a sword.


The Battle- The exact details of the battle of Tours are still unknown. The two main sources of information from the Dark Ages, Christian monks and Muslim scribes, either hyped the battle beyond all reasonable proportions or severely downplayed it. For example, some Christian sources have Arab casualty figures in the hundreds of thousands over the course of a seven day struggle. On the other hand, what little Muslim material exists mostly concentrates on excusing the outcome of the battle.


Regardless of the shortage of hard evidence, some basic facts about the battle are generally agreed on by historians:

1. The Franks were considerably outnumbered by the Moors.


2. The Franks fromed a square at the top of a wooded hill.


3. The Muslims attacked that square.


4. The Franks didn't break.


5. The Muslims didn't stop attacking.


6. Scouts from Charles infiltrated the Muslim camp and began freeing prisoners and treasure.


7. Moors began sneaking back to their camp to protect their loot, and the trickle quickly became a flood.


8. Abd er Rahman attempted to stop the mass desertion/retreat, but was surrounded and killed.


9. The Moorish army never reorganized and fled back to Spain, abandoning all their stolen treasure and slaves.

Aftermath

Charles was hailed as the savior of Christendom for his stunning victory at Tours. The Church VERY quickly forgot his earlier offenses. His men named him 'The Hammer'. The Frankish Palace-Mayor became an 8th-century rock star.

Charles would continue to attack Muslim holdings in southern France for the remainder of his life. Under his rule the Franks would continuously rise in power in France. Under his son Pippin, the Franks continued that tradition. Charles' grandson eventually conquered and ruled France, Germany, and northern Italy. The grandson became so powerful he abandoned the title of Palace-Mayor and had the Pope crown him Emperor of Rome. The grandson's name was Charlemagne. He would become known as the greatest ruler of the Dark Ages.

The effects of the battle of Tours were not confined to the rise of one family's political fortunes, however. The expulsion of Islam from northern Europe allowed for nearly everything good in modern Western culture to grow and thrive. Without Islam, science, based on the idea of a logical and orderly universe, was reborn in western monasteries. Without Islam, chivalry, the idea that is the bedrock of western social thought and based on gender equality, grew and thrived. Principles of the Rule of Law, music, and art were all preserved to flourish later. Charlemagne's empire, the Holy Roman Empire, gave the west a level of stability not seen for centuries. That stability allowed the peoples of Europe to begin rebuilding their civilization. In short, Tours saved the Western World.

Next Week- The Battle of Arsuf.