Kingdom of the Franks Western Franks [ 1 ]. It resulted in victory for the Frankish and Aquitanian forces, [ 8 ] [ 9 ] led by Charles Martel , over the invading Umayyad forces, led by Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi , governor of al-Andalus. Several historians, such as Edward Gibbon , have credited the Christian victory in the battle as an important factor in curtailing the spread of Islam in Western Europe.
Details of the battle, including the number of combatants and its exact location, are unclear from the surviving sources. Most sources agree that the Umayyads had a larger force and suffered heavier casualties.
Notably, the Frankish troops apparently fought without heavy cavalry. Al-Ghafiqi was killed in combat, and the Umayyad army withdrew after the battle. The battle helped lay the foundations of the Carolingian Empire and Frankish domination of western Europe for the next century.
Most historians agree that "the establishment of Frankish power in western Europe shaped the continent's destiny and the Battle of Tours confirmed that power.
The Battle of Tours followed two decades of Umayyad conquests in Europe which had begun with the invasion of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of the Iberian Peninsula in These were followed by military expeditions into the Frankish territories of Gaul , former provinces of the Roman Empire. Umayyad military campaigns reached northward into Aquitaine and Burgundy , including a major engagement at Bordeaux and a raid on Autun.
