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732-739] dependency of the kingdom of the Visigoths. Using this as a base they had invaded Gaul. Eudo, duke of Aquitaine, had succeeded, by his able policy, in holding them in check for some years, but in 732 a new wālī or governor 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān, belonging to a sect of extreme fanatics, resumed the offensive. Eudo was vanquished on the banks of the Garonne, Bordeaux was taken and its churches burnt, and the Arabs then advanced, by way of the Gap of Poitiers, towards the north. Poitiers resisted their attack, but the basilica of St Hilary, situated outside the walls, was burnt. Without halting, 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān continued his march on Tours, the resting-place of the body of St Martin, which was, as it were, the religious capital of Gaul. Eudo besought the aid of Charles, who hurried up and posted himself at the junction of the Clain and the Vienne. The two armies halted, facing one another, for seven days. Then, on an October Saturday of 732 — exactly a hundred years after the death of Mahomet — the battle was joined, and Charles came off victorious. 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān was slain on the field. This battle became extremely celebrated and it is chiefly on account of it that later chronicles give to Charles the surname of Tudites or Martellus (Charles Martel).

The day of Poitiers marks the turning-point in the fortunes of the Arabs. Harassed during their retirement by Eudo and his Aquitanians, they met with defeat after defeat. But to crown all, at this moment internal dissensions broke out within the Arab Empire. The Ma'ddites regained the ascendancy at the expense of their enemies the Yemenites, but the Berbers in Africa refused to obey the new rulers and rose in revolt. The Arabs, occupied with the suppression of this rebellion, were thenceforth unable to throw powerful armies into Gaul.

Charles proceeded to take the offensive against the Muslims. In 737 he wrested from them the town of Avignon which they had seized, and then attempted the conquest of Septimania, but in spite of strenuous efforts he was unable to effect the capture of Narbonne. He had to content himself with laying waste the country systematically and destroying the fortifications of Agde, Béziers, and Maguelonne. He set fire to the amphitheatre at Nîmes, and the marks of the fire are still visible. In 739, the Arabs having attempted a new descent on Provence and even threatened Italy, Charles marched against them once more and drove them out. He allied himself against them with Liutprand, king of the Lombards, who adopted the Frankish ruler according to the Germanic custom.

Charles also completed the subjugation of the barbarian tribes of Germany. He abolished the duchy of Alemannia, intervened in the affairs of Bavaria, made expeditions into Saxony, and even, in 738, compelled some of the Saxon tribes to pay tribute. He gave a safe-conduct to Boniface who preached Christianity in Thuringia, in Alemannia and in Bavaria, and constantly befriended the devoted