Battle of Avignon

The Battle of Avignon, in which Frankish forces led by Charles Martel beat the Umayyad garrison of Avignon and destroyed the stronghold, was contested in 737.

Arabs had occupied the city of Avignon in 734, after it had been surrendered to Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, Umayyad governor of Narbonne, by Duke Maurontus of Provence. 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 into Provence and entered Avignon without a fight. In reaction, Martel sent his brother Duke Childebrand 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 Avignon, which was burned to the ground following its capture. The army then crossed the Rhône River into Septimania in order to lay siege to Narbonne.

This battle was part of the campaigns of 736-737 during which Charles Martel for the second time kept invading Muslim armies from Al-Andalus occupying further territory beyond the Pyrenees. Unlike the invasion of 732-733, the Arabs came this time by sea, and forced the Franks to come to them. 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 to smash through the gates, and ladders to scale the walls.

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