Battle·Umayyad
Battle of Tours (Poitiers)
- Date
- October 732 CE114 AH1,294 years ago
- Place
- Between Tours and Poitiers, France
- People
- Charles Martel, Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi
A Frankish army under Charles Martel met an Umayyad force led by Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi, governor of al-Andalus, near Tours in central France. The battle is traditionally dated to October 732 CE. Al-Ghafiqi was killed, and the Umayyad army withdrew after the fighting. Sources differ on the exact date, and some historians argue that the raid was a limited one.
Why it matters
Historians still debate how decisive the battle was, but it is often cited as the limit of Muslim advance into western Europe.