In the autumn of 732, somewhere between Tours and Poitiers1, a Frankish commander named Charles Martel planted himself in the path of an Umayyad army raiding deep into Gaul, and refused to move.
Charles was not a king. He ruled the Franks as Mayor of the Palace, the real power behind a fading royal line, and had spent years fighting to unite them. At Tours he faced the cavalry that had already carried Islam across Spain, and met it with a wall of disciplined infantry.
At Tours, a wall of Frankish infantry turned back an empire.
The victory earned him the name Martel, the Hammer, and a place in legend as the man who halted the advance into western Europe. Historians still argue over how decisive the battle truly was, but its fame, and his, never faded.
How Charles held the line
Charles won not by brilliant manoeuvre but by discipline, position and patient consolidation of power.
- The disciplined square. At Tours his veteran infantry stood in a dense formation that the Umayyad cavalry charged again and again, and could not break.
- Choose the ground. He picked a wooded, high position that blunted the enemy's horsemen and let them exhaust themselves attacking uphill.
- Build a standing army. He rewarded followers with land so he could keep experienced2, loyal troops ready to fight year after year.
- Foster heavy cavalry. He is often credited with encouraging the armoured, mounted warrior who would come to dominate medieval war.
- Consolidate power. As Mayor of the Palace he united Frankish authority in all but name, clearing the path for his descendants to take the crown.
From power broker to legend
- c. 688Born the illegitimate son of Pepin of Herstal3, a leading Frankish noble.
- 718 to 719Wins the struggle to become Mayor of the Palace4, the effective ruler of the Franks.
- 732Defeats an Umayyad army near Tours, earning the name Martel, the Hammer.
- 730sCampaigns to secure Frankish control over Burgundy, Provence3 and the frontiers.
- 741Dies, dividing his realm between his sons3; his son Pepin the Short would soon become king.
The Battle of Tours
In 732 an Umayyad force pushed north out of Spain into the heart of Frankish Gaul. Charles gathered his veterans, took a strong defensive position and let the enemy break themselves against his infantry. When the Umayyad commander fell, their army withdrew5, and the deepest thrust into western Europe was turned back.
See the battle among the great clashes of its age in our guide to the greatest medieval battles.
Grandfather of an empire
Tours made Charles a legend, but his deeper legacy was dynastic. As Mayor of the Palace he gathered all real power into his own hands, and passed it on: his son Pepin the Short took the Frankish crown outright in 7516, and his grandson would rule as Charlemagne, the first emperor in western Europe since Rome.
See how he stands among history's captains in the greatest military commanders in history, or find your own match in the Which Commander Are You quiz.
Sources and notes
Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Tours” ↩
- Bernard S. Bachrach, Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001). ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Charles Martel (summary)” ↩ a b c
- Paul Fouracre, The Age of Charles Martel (Longman, 2000). ↩
- Anonymous (Mozarabic Chronicle of 754), Chronicle of 754, entry for the battle near Poitiers: the Franks stand firm like a 'bulwark of ice'; Abd al-Rahman is killed and the Arabs slip away from their camp by night. ↩
- World History Encyclopedia, “Charles Martel” ↩
- Wikipedia, “Charles Martel, Wikipedia”