The siege of Avignon was contested in 737.

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

forces led by

Charles Martel Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...

defeated the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

garrison of

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

and destroyed the stronghold.

Contemporary view

Arabs had occupied the city of

in 734, after it had been surrendered to Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri,

governor of

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

, by Duke Maurontus of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. According to the '' Continuations of Fredegar'', Maurontus probably invited Yusuf into the city after forming an alliance with him against Martel. The '' Chronicle of Moissac'' confirms that Yusuf's forces moved peacefully from Arab-held

Septimania Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

into

and entered Avignon without a fight. In reaction, Martel sent his brother Duke

Childebrand Childebrand I (c. 678 – 743 or 751) was a Frankish duke (''dux''), son of Pepin of Heristal and Alpaida, and brother of Charles Martel. He was born in Autun, where he later died. He married Emma of Austrasia and was given Burgundy by his fath ...

south in 736, accompanied by fellow dukes and counts. Childebrand laid siege to Avignon and held the field until his brother was ready to storm the city. Martel's forces used rope ladders and battering rams to attack the walls of

, which was burned to the ground following its capture. The army then crossed the

Rhône River The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf ...

into Septimania in order to lay siege to Narbonne. This siege was part of the campaigns of 736–737 during which Charles Martel for the second time engaged Arab armies from

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

beyond the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. Unlike the invasion of 732–733, the Arabs came this time by sea. Notable at these battles was the use of heavy cavalry in addition to Martel's vaunted veteran Frankish infantry. Though he had some catapults, the city of Avignon was largely taken by a simple, brutal, frontal assault using

rams In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)Dark Ages and

Medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

, has argued that these events were as important macrohistorically as Martel's victory at the

Battle of Tours The Battle of Tours, also called the Battle of Poitiers and the Battle of the Highway of the Martyrs (), was fought on 10 October 732, and was an important battle during the Umayyad invasion of Gaul. It resulted in victory for the Frankish an ...

. The campaigns, which ended with the complete destruction of a large Arab force, attempting to relieve Narbonne, at the Battle of the River Berre in 737, crushed any hope of expansion while the

Caliphate was still united, before the Battle of the Zab, at which the Umayyads were defeated by their

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

rivals. In Paul Fouracre's account, however, both the extent and the importance of Martel's victories are said to have been greatly exaggerated by

Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, sc ...

and the ''Continuations of Fredegar'' in which Martel came to be depicted as the progenitor of later Frankish success and the Franks as "God's people". Other historians point to Charles' interests in the region, who in 736 had just occupied the Lyonnais and the Middle Rhone, and may have seen his newly conquered Burgundy in danger. At any rate, it seems apparent that the local magnates of Provence, ruling semi-autonomously, saw the impending danger coming from the north, and may have in turn called in the Muslim forces from bordering

References

{{coord, 43.9500, N, 4.8167, E, source:wikidata, display=title 737 Avignon 737 Avignon 737 Military history of Avignon Islam in France

8th century in Francia 730s in the Umayyad Caliphate Charles Martel