The Frankish Resistance Against the Umayyad Advance into Europe: The Battles of Poitiers and the River Berre

Abstract

From the second half of the seventh century onward, Islam expanded rapidly across
North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, advancing as far as the borders of Europe. Following
the Muslim conquest of Spain, Islamic forces gradually became a significant threat
to the Merovingian Kingdom. Although the Franks initially underestimated the Muslims,
they eventually recognized the seriousness of this danger. They unified Francia against
the Muslim threat by ending internal conflicts. As a result, they achieved a major victory
over Muslim forces at the Battle of Poitiers in 732. The battle, in which the Muslim
commander ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ghāfiqī lost his life, was so devastating that the site later
came to be known as the “Road of the Martyrs.” This defeat erected a barrier against the
growing Muslim advance. Although the scale of this defeat has led modern scholarship to
emphasize the Battle of Poitiers as the decisive factor that halted Muslim expansion, the
Muslim–Frankish war continued after 732. In 737, the two armies confronted each other
again on the banks of the Berre River. In this second major engagement, the Franks transformed
their defensive posture into an offensive strategy. Charles, having strengthened
his army with Lombard support, inflicted a severe blow on the Muslim forces. Through
the victory at the Berre River the Franks rendered permanent the success achieved at
Poitiers and effectively halted further Muslim advances. Thereafter, Muslims no longer
attempted to penetrate deeper into Europe. From the Frankish perspective it was clear that
Charles’s military genius proved decisive in protecting both the Merovingian Kingdom
and Christian Europe. These events laid the foundations for the rise of the Carolingian
Kingdom by strengthening Charles Martel and the Pippinid family.