“The Muslims pierced through the mountains, trampled over rough and level ground, plundered far into the country of the Franks, and smote all with the sword, insomuch that when Eudo came to battle with them at the River Garonne, he fled.”
Battle of Toulouse The Muslim army uinder Al-Samh had brought siege engines, infantry, cavalry, mercenaries and Basque slingers to the walls of Toulouse as he looked to spread the Umayyad Caliphate further into western Europe in 721 AD.
Toulouse was the most important city in Aquitaine, a fruitful province that was still largely autonomous from the various Frankish kingdoms that had been largely unified by Charles Martel. Duke Odo (or Eudo) was not in the city and he sought the assistance of Martel, who preferred to await the outcome rather than supporting a regional rival.
Odo returned to the city with Aquitanian, Gascon and Frankish troops just as the city was about to surrender, attacking the Umayyads in early June. The over-confident Umayyads had not built outer fortifications for their camp and neglected their scouting, which allowed Odo to launch a surprise attack on their rear.
Bolstered with a sortie from the city garrison, the Umayyad army scattered at the first attack while Odo’s troops ran riot through their camp. Al-Samh escaped the rout but was mortally wounded and died soon after, and in his letter to Pope Gregory II Odo claimed to have killed 375,000 Arabs in one day, losing 1,500 of his own men.
A miracle associated with the battle was that Pope Gregory had sent Odo three blessed baskets of bread, which he distributed between his men before the battle, and none of those who ate it were killed.
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The Battle of Toulouse was a disaster for the Arabs, immediately halting Umayyad expansion into Frankia. This was coupled with their attempts to reorganize post-Visigothic Spain and the increased resistance faced following the rebellions marking the beginning of the Reconquista.
Odo’s victory won him renown in Aquitaine and abroad, and he was hailed as a champion of Christianity. It also secured his position regionally, and Martel would avoid confrontation in the south of Gaul for the next decade.
While Odo was securing Toulouse, Charles Martel appointed Theuderic IV, the son of Dagobert III, as the successor to Chilperic II when he died in the same year. Martel was now the kingmaker of the various kingdoms he ostensibly served, although they were clearly puppets of his de facto leadership. Martel again marched on the Saxons, the defeated the Neustrians who rebelled under Ragenfrid, who surrendered his sons as hostages in return for maintaining his rule. This success ended the Frankish civil wars that marked the beginning of Martel’s reign.
Battle of Toulouse Written by Jack Tappin
