Few Empires emerged as quickly as that of the Muslim Caliphates. Bursting out from what is now Saudi Arabia in the mid-7th century, the Islamic Caliphate expanded outward in all directions.

Early on they won a crushing victory over the long established Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Yarmouk and swept westward across northern Africa. Eventually, they would cross the Strait of Gibraltar, defeat the Visigoths and seize Spain.

The Muslim conquests were not inherently about religion, especially seeing as the conquerors allowed freedom of religion in conquered territories, but their presence and culture was a direct threat to Western Christianity.

Similar to how the Vikings targeted churches for loot, so did the conquering Muslims. Furthermore, over time many of the people conquered by the Muslims adopted their religion.

The Muslims in Spain began threatening modern day France, by the early 8th century.

Spain had been under the rule of the Visigoths, the descendants of the men who sacked Rome, but they were unable to put up much of a fight and the Islamic Caliphate had no setbacks until they met Odo of Aquitaine. He won a victory at the Battle of Toulouse that temporarily halted the previously unstoppable force, and is sometimes held up as being equally important as the later battle of Tours.

Though Toulouse was a setback for the Muslim conquest of France, they would still conduct raids for the next decade. While the Muslims focused on raids, Charles Martel focused on building an army to unify and strengthen the Frankish people.

Odo of Aquitaine had recently suffered defeats and pleaded to Charles for help against the invading Muslims. Charles agreed to the stipulation that Odo submit to Frankish authority. A Frankish power was growing steadily stronger under Charles, and the Caliphate had no real idea of what they would find when they decided to venture north with a stronger army.

The Franks and The Muslims under the Umayyad Caliphate would meet in northeastern France in October of 732. Charles Martel, commander of the Franks, who were largely infantry based, and likely equal in number to the Muslim army, would fight General Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who commanded the Umayyad army that had a large amount of cavalry.

Charles’ force was well trained and fought with the equipment and close order style that echoed the hoplite formations of the ancient Greeks. He occupied an elevated position and used the trees and rough terrain in front of his infantry to protect them from cavalry charges.

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