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Battle Of Tours Essay

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The Battle of Tours was fought on October 10, 732 AD between the Frankish Empire, led by Charles Martel, and the Moorish army, led by Abd der Rahman near the city of Tours, France. The Frankish Empire included the territories of much of modern-day France, western Germany, Switzerland, along with Belgium and the Netherlands, and was the dominant Christian power in Western Europe at the time. The Middle East was becoming united under the religion of Islam and was beginning to conquer more distant lands. The Muslim army had crossed the Gibraltar Straight and entered into Europe by way of present-day Spain. From here they began to set up new kingdoms and conquer other parts of Europe primarily for plunder of treasure. Despite the great importance …show more content…

Leading up to the Battle of Tours, the Umayyad Caliphate were working their way throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia conquering the villages and tribes as they were interested in expanding from their lands in Arabia into lands which were green and fertile. They continued to move into Africa and then into Spain before deciding to move up into France to conquer the Franks. For several days, both armies watched each other before Abd er Rahman had his army charge the Franks, who were in a tightly packed defensive formation. The Franks were primarily an infantry force complete with heavy armor. They were prepared for the cold weather and they had the advantage of being familiar with the terrain. In contrast, the Islamic army consisted mainly of cavalry and was geared for offensive warfare. They wore little armor, and they relied on their swords and lances. At one point, some of the Franks began to raid the Muslim camp. A large part of the Muslim forces broke off to save their plunder and while Rahman attempted to restore order to his troops, he found himself surrounded by the Franks and then killed (Hickman,

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