Why Did The Franks Win The Battle Of Tours (poitiers)?
Posted by IT CommentatorAug 31
My term paper topic is “why did Charles Martel (leader of the Franks) beat the Muslims in the Battle of Tours?
I can find the importance of the battle and stuff like that, but how did Charles actually win?
It would be great if someone could give me a source that talks about the terrain, moral, strategies employed, weather, weapons, formations, or other little things that could have affected the outcome of the battle.
Thanks in advance. XD
There is a lot of information about the battle in the wikipedia entry:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_T…
Also see the discussions here, which analyze several reasons for the Muslim defeat.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rahma…http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/batt…
The following site contains some information about the weapons, formations and tactics:http://www.bambooweb.com/articles/B/a/Ba…
Basically Charles Martel sat his troops on the top of a hill and waited. He had an entirely infantry army, while the Muslims were mostly cavalry. Eventually the Muslims got bored with waiting and attacked him up the hill. They were preoccupied with booty and couldn’t wait to sack Tours.
But the hilly and woody terrain negated the advantage of the Muslim cavalry. The Frankish infantry was well-trained and disciplined. The Muslim cavalry were not used to fighting disciplined troops, and charged them head-on. They were also discomforted by the cold weather, and over-concerned with protecting their booty.
Here is a map of the battle:http://etc.usf.edu/Maps/pages/1900/1937/…