Орта ғасырдағы Тулуза шайқасы: Аквитания мен Омейялардың қақтығысы

Aquitanian–Umayyad battle in medieval France

Al Samh's army included siege engines, infantry, a few horsemen and a number of mercenaries, as well as Basque slingers. He besieged the city of Toulouse, then Aquitaine's most important city. Duke Odo the Great, otherwise known as Eudes, was not in the city when it was besieged, having left to find help. He asked assistance from the Merovingian Maire du Palais Charles Martel, who in turn preferred to wait and see rather than help his southern rival.

Arab historians agree that the Battle of Toulouse was a total disaster for the Arabs. After the defeat, some Umayyad officials and soldiers managed to escape, among them Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi. However, the clash halted indefinitely the Umayyad expansion northwards. Al Andalus was at the time re organising into a new post Gothic order. The Umayyads kept the military initiative raiding several times the south of Gaul (up to Autun in 725), but avoided new serious campaigns into the north west. Odo's victory earned him widespread renown in Aquitaine and recognition abroad. He was hailed as champion of Christianity by the Pope in Rome, and was presented with gifts. Charles steered clear of the political and military developments in the south of Gaul for another 10 years, until 732. Some authors have called the fateful engagement the Balat Al Shuhada of Toulouse; others attach that name exclusively to the Battle of Poitiers (Tours). According to Meadows, it would be still remembered in memorials by Al Andalus Muslims for the following 450 years, as opposed to the Battle of Poitiers, held as a battle smaller in scale.

Some historians believe that the Battle of Toulouse halted the Muslim conquest of Europe even more than the later—and more celebrated—Battle of Tours (10 October 732, between Tours and Poitiers), but this is highly problematic: for even had the Arabs won at Toulouse, they still would have had to conquer the Franks to retain control of the region. However, nearly all historians agree that the Christian victory at Toulouse was important in a macrohistorical sense in that it gave Charles Martel badly needed time to strengthen his grip on power and build the veteran army which stood him in such good stead eleven years later at Tours. The eleven years between Toulouse and Tours without question gave him time to fully secure power, inspire the loyalty of his troops, and, most importantly, drill the core of veterans who stood so stoutly in 732. However, others (e. g. Archibald Lewis, Roger Collins, etc.) hold that Umayyad attacks were raids or razzias, like the one reaching as far north as Autun in 725, and not real attempts to conquer Francia. While Odo faded into history after his 732 defeat at Battle of the River Garonne, near current days Bordeaux, Martel was hailed in later times as the "savior of Europe" by many Western and European authors and academic figures.