(My answer on Quora)
Tours or Poitiers was the critical battle that turned back the Muslim Umayyad invasion of Gaul (France) in 732. It was a pivotal event in the Arab Invasion Wars that had dominated the Middle East, the Maghreb and now parts of Western Europe since the time of Muhammad.
Battle of Tours: source: Britannica.com
However it wasn’t the first time that Gaul had been attacked by Arab forces. Troops loyal to the Muslim Umayyad dynastry had already crossed into French territory in 719. Their advances followed from the continuation of their campaigns in Hispania (711–718). The Umayyad’s had already succeed in destroying the Visigoth kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula and were eager to extend their gains North of the Pyrenees.
Western Europe around the time of the Battle of Tours source: Flashpoint History
An earlier invasion was stopped in Toulouse in 721 by the Aquitaine king Odo the Great. However Ummayad led raids would persist for the next decade in and around Avignon, Lyon and Autun.
In 730 a large Ummayad invasion force was assembled under Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi, a veteran of the 721 defeat. The intention was to bring the land of the Franks under Ummayad domination once and for all. His forces attacked with more venom than did the previous attempt and they were rewarded for their effort with a victory at the Battle of the River Garonne (also known as the Battle of Bordeaux). Full of triumph they headed north as Frankish Christendom rallied to oppose him.
Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiq: Source Alchettron
Panic did set in but it was soon allayed by the formation of an alliance between the Duke and Prince of the Franks Charles Martel (Founder of the Carlonigian dynasty) and Odo. Their forces were comprised of Frankish and Vascones tribesmen. Estimates differ as to the size of the defending force but it is fair to say that it was roughly 15,000–20,000 strong.
Charles Martel - The Hammer - Grandfather of Charlemagne - Saviour of Christendom in Western Europe source: thefamouspeople
The Umayyad invaders had somewhere between 20,000–25,000 soldiers. The battle raged on October 10th, 732 at Tours. Fighting was fierce but the Frankish alliance would emerge victorious. Charles had made effective use of his cavalry, the phalanx support and early intelligence reports. Weather conditions played to his favour as well (apparently the Arabs were under dressed for the cold)
At the final count the defenders lost about a thousand men with the Umayyad’s suffering casualties that were likely twelve times as much.
The defeat though was a crushing blow to Muslim designs on France ending any future thoughts of an Arab invasion of Gaul.
Historically though it has even greater significance. For many it represented the watershed event that saved Europe from incorporation into an expanding Islamic civilization. The successful Arab invasion wars that had been ongoing since the 7th century had been halted on the western front.
Some have suggested that the significance may be exaggerated and that the Tour’s importance has been embellished by legend. Perhaps so.
Historian Victor Davis Hanson sums it up well here providing necessary perspective.
Recent scholars have suggested Poitiers, so poorly recorded in contemporary sources, was a mere raid and thus a construct of western mythmaking or that a Muslim victory might have been preferable to continue Frankish dominance. What is clear is that Poitiers marked a general continuance of the successful defense of Europe, (from the Muslims). Flush from the victory at Tours, Charles Martel went on to clear southern France from Islamic attackers for decades, unify the warring kingdoms into the foundations of the Carolingian Empire, and ensure ready and reliable troops from local estates.
Source: Carnage and Culture, Viictor Davis Hanson. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Dec. 18, 2007 (pg 201).
Fouracre, Paul (2000). The Age of Charles Martel. Harlow, England: Longman.
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