charles martel led the franks against the muslim in war.
charles martel led the franks against the muslim in war.
who led the franks against the muslim in war?
charles martel
in 712, another larger force of 18,000 from morocco, led by musa ibn nusayr, crossed the straits of gibraltar to link up with ziyad's force at talavera. the invasion seemed to have entirely on the initiative of tariq ibn ziyad: the caliph, al-walid, in damascus reacted as if it was a surprise to him. by 713 iberia was almost entirely under muslim control. in 714, al-walid summoned ziyad to damascus to explain his campaign in spain, but ziyad took his time travelling through north africa and palestine, and was finally imprisoned when he arrived in damascus. the events of the subsequent ten years, the details of which are obscure, included the capture of barcelona and narbonne, and a raid against toulouse, followed by an expedition into burgundy in 725. the last large-scale raid to the north ended with a muslim defeat at the battle of tours at the hands of the franks in 732. the victory of the franks, led by charles martel, over 'abd al-rahman ibn 'abd allah al-ghafiqi has often been misrepresented as the decisive battle that stopped the muslim conquest of france, but the umayyad force had been raiding aquitaine with a particular interest in sacking churches and monasteries, not seeking its conquest. the battle itself is a shadowy affair with the few sources describing it in poetic terms that are frustrating for the historian. the battle occurred between 18–25 october 732 with the climax being an attack on the muslim camp led by martel that ended with al-ghafiqi being killed and the muslims withdrawing when night fell. martel's victory ended whatever plans there may have been to conquer france, but a series of berber revolts in north africa and in spain against arab rule may have played a greater role in ruling out conquests north of the pyrenees.
early muslim conquests
the avars, a nomadic, slavized central asian people, were situated along what is referred to as the eastern marches of bavaria, and where gerold's military command was to be focused for the entirety of his career as prefect of bavaria. he was, for instance, described in the royal frankish annals as "guard of the avar border". historians have referred to the avar war as one of charlemagne's greatest wars he ever waged. this is due to the zeal and tenacity with which the franks, and specifically the bavarian contingent under gerold, fought. the war with the avars began after the deposition of tassilo iii, the last duke of bavaria, prior to the full takeover of the state by the franks, in 787. tassilo was accused of inciting the avars into a war with the franks, promising to attack them with his bavarian soldiers if the avars would invade. this accusation led to a charge of treason and treachery against the franks, which culminated in his exile. despite tassilo iii's deposition, the avars decided to wage this war all the same. the avars led two campaigns against the franks, invading bavaria, and both times were beaten back by gerold, who had newly taken command of the army in the eastern marches of bavaria, and his bavarian contingent. as the war dragged on, the franks successfully raided the avars in 791, beating them continually in battle, but never decisively. eventually the 'rings of the avars', a collection of grand fortresses that the avars were famous for having constructed, were breached by collective efforts from gerold and his bavarians, erich of friuli, and king pepin of italy. the franks razed the fortresses, plundered them, sending many great riches back to aachen, charlemagne's capital, and proceeded to drive the avars off, considerably weakening their hold in the avarian marches and western pannonia, though not breaking the back of their military capabilities completely. this plunder taken from the avars was to be sent by the carolingians to many other states, such as that of mercia, as a show of good faith. the bavarian troops under gerold, in combination with pepin, king of italy, charlemagne's son, were later successful in pushing the avars across the theiss river, deeper into pannonia, as the avars were not inclined to fighting large scale, pitched battles with the franks, who, with the support, manpower, and arms charlemagne had collected at regensburg, were now fully prepared to strike the death-blow at the avars. in 797 and 799 charlemagne came to bavaria, mustering a large force of franks, allemans, bavarians, and soldiers fighting under king pepin of italy, at lorch, where gerold held his court as prefect. these two campaigns were exceedingly successful in pushing the avars continually eastwards towards the danube river.
gerold, prefect of bavaria