In 730, the Land of the Franks appeared to be wide open for conquest. Al-Andalus was securely Muslim, apart from the tiny northern mountain kingdoms. In 721, Arab and Berber invaders had entered modern France in the south—then the Duchy of Aquitaine. But the Duke of Aquitaine defeated them at Toulouse, so they pulled back. Raids continued, darting into the northern territory and retreating with loot. Arabs even settled in the city of Marseille on the coast, the start of a Muslim northern kingdom.
Farther north, the Franks appeared to be the most primitive people the Muslims had yet fought, and their Merovingian kings had become increasingly powerless. The border areas were especially decentralized; until the late Middle Ages, Toulouse was independent and often allied against Paris. The Duke of Aquitaine who had driven the Muslims from Toulouse now chose a marriage alliance with the local Muslim emir. With the defenders divided, France should have been a reprise of the Spanish conquest.
But Frankia was a real homeland with loyal Frankish farmers, not a place like Iberia where the aristocrats were hated by the native peasants. They had settled in tribal groups with chains of loyalty stretching from farmers to barons to kings. We should imagine the Franks much as we picture Vikings, armed with axes and shields. The leaders ride horses, but most of the men are on foot.
Although the King in Paris was powerless, his Majordomo—the manager, or steward—was growing stronger. Majordomo Charles began drilling an army as soon as Muslim invaders settled in Marseille.
In 732, a Muslim rebellion brought the main force of the Arab fighting men into the north of al-Andalus. They killed the rebel emir and surged north to attack his ally (and father-in-law), the Duke of Aquitaine. Their successes devastated the heartland of Celtic-Roman Gaul. The defeated Duke now sent word to the Franks, agreeing to their overlordship in return for help. Majordomo Charles headed south.
For the first time, the Muslim invaders met a defensive army that was large, well-trained, and not caught by surprise. It wasn’t the dregs of a waning empire, it was the first youth of a rising one. Heading north to sack the city of Tours before heading back to Spain for the winter, the Arabs and Berbers found a Frankish shield wall across the top of a wooded hill near Poitiers.
We don’t really know where, there is no archeological evidence or even folklore specifying a spot. But there is an old Roman road running to Tours, and that’s probably what the Arabs were following, and probably what the Franks defended. It ran between the two rivers, crossing the Vienne near the point.’
Charles chose his position carefully. The Muslim cavalry had to charge uphill and through trees, which diminished the shock of their attack. They were not able to break the shield wall. Cavalry can’t operate in a wooded place, but shield walls can, in fact shield walls might be all the stronger for including trees.
We see here the power of terrain in battles; the Frankish forest was nothing like the rocky deserts where Arabs and Berbers had been accustomed to fighting. It was certainly no place for camels, as the first Caliph Umar would have pointed out. Additionally, the Muslim army could never get a handle on just how many men the Franks had in the field, since the forest obscured the view.
Frankish victory came when some Franks ran down to the Arab camp in the valley and began freeing their captives. When a party of cavalry rode back to deal with this threat, the rest of the Muslims thought a retreat had been called. In the confusion, their general was killed. As night fell, the Muslim raiders abandoned their camp and fled.
Muslim armies never came that far north again (until much later they besieged Vienna from another direction). Charles became known as Martel, the Hammer. Charles Martel, his son Pippin and grandson Charlemagne built up Frankish military power so that the Muslims were trapped into a Cold War. There were flashpoints around Toulouse and Narbonne, but the Franks were always on hand to aid allies. Three powerful dynasties were established within twenty years of each other; this Frankish one was the first.
- God’s Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215, David Levering Lewis.