Islamic Cavalry Conquest

In the 8th century, the Muslim army was expanding into Europe from Africa across the strait of Gibraltar in 703 A.D. They conquered the Spanish kingdom and the region that is now called Portugal The army was finally defeated at the Battle of Tours in 732 A.D. The battlefield was located in north central France, between Tours and Poitiers. The Muslim defeat caused the spread of Islam to be temporarily halted. The victorious Franks were led by their king, Charles Martel. The Muslim army at this time was on a conquest throughout the western world and had already swept through Africa, conquering the North African kingdoms stretching from Egypt to Morocco. From there, they conquered Spain and invaded Gaul conquering one city after another. The Frankish army intercepted them
According to Jefferson Webb,”Their initial cavalry charges [were] repulsed for lack of strength in numbers, reducing the shock characteristic of a successful cavalry charge.”(Webb, 6) The chunk of the Muslim cavalry that attacked was killed because of lack of numbers. This lost the effectiveness of the cavalry charge and through losing the effectiveness caused confusion. Therefore, through the confusion, it gave the upperhand to Charles Martel. Webb also believes, Charles held back his heavy cavalry, because Webb also states,”Charles maintained a reserve [surpirse] element of heavy cavalry (mounted) to use at key points in the coming battle as they were needed. They were indeed used and would greatly affect the outcome of the battle.”(Webb, 5) This caused the battle to change favor because of the swift counterattack led by the French. This change in battle led to the Muslim defeat that is talked about as a major turning point in the Umayyad invasion. According to Hanson, “Most of the renowned historians of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, like Gibbon saw Poitiers[Tours] as a landmark battle that marked the high tide of the Muslim advance into