Siege of Narbonne (737): Difference between revisions

Siege of Narbonne
	Part of the Islamic invasion of Gaul
Date	737
Location	Narbonne, France43°11′03″N 3°0′11″E / 43.18417°N 3.00306°E
Result	Frankish Christian military success against the Umayyad Caliphate; Politically inconclusive The Franks besieged the city of Narbonne, without conquering it.; Relieving Arab-Berber Muslim forces destroyed by the Christian Franks at the battle of the River Berre.; Andalusian garrison confined within the city of Narbonne.;
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate	Kingdom of Francia
Commanders and leaders
Yusuf al-Fihri; Uqba ibn al-Hajjaj	Charles Martel
	Siege of Narbonne class=notpageimage\| Location within France

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Latest revision as of 11:24, 7 December 2024

The siege of Narbonne was fought in 737 between the Arab and Berber Muslim forces of Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, Arab Umayyad Muslim governor of Septimania on behalf of al-Andalus, and the Frankish Christian army led by the Carolingian duke Charles Martel.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Background

The region of Septimania was invaded by al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani, wāli (governor-general) of al-Andalus,^[6] in 719, and subsequently occupied by the Arab and Berber Muslim forces in 720.^[1]^[3] The region was renamed Arbūnah and turned into a military base for future operations by the Andalusian military commanders.^[7]

By 721, al-Samh was reinforced and ready to lay siege to Toulouse, a possession that would open up the bordering region of Aquitaine to him on the same terms as Septimania. But his plans were thwarted in the disastrous battle of Toulouse in 721; the Aquitanian Christian army led by Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine defeated the Umayyad Muslim army and achieved a decisive and significant victory.^[5] The surviving Umayyad forces drove away from Aquitaine with immense losses, in which al-Samh was so seriously wounded that he soon died at Narbonne.^[5]

Arab and Berber Muslim forces, soundly based in Narbonne and easily resupplied by sea, struck in the 720s, conquering Carcassonne on the north-western fringes of Septimania (725) and penetrating eastwards as far as Autun (725). In 731, the Berber lord of the region of Cerdagne, Uthman ibn Naissa, called Munuza by the Franks, was an ally of the Duke of Aquitaine Odo the Great after he revolted against the Emirate of Córdoba, but the rebel lord was killed by the Arab Umayyad commander Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi. Following his success at the siege of Avignon in 737, Charles Martel besieged Narbonne^[2] but his forces were unable to take the city,^[4] after which the Frankish army marched on Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers.^[2]^[4]

Battle

In 737, the Carolingian duke Charles Martel went on to attack Narbonne,^[2]^[4] but the local nobility of Gothic and Gallo-Roman stock had concluded different military and political arrangements to oppose the expanding Frankish realm.^[8] Charles Martel attempted to conquer the whole region of Septimania and besieged Narbonne in 737,^[2] but his forces were unable to take the city.^[4] However, when the Arabs sent reinforcements from Muslim-ruled Iberia, the Frankish Christian army intercepted them at the mouth of the River Berre (located in the present-day Département of Aude) and achieved a decisive and significant victory,^[2]^[5] after which the Frankish army marched on Nîmes.^[2]^[4]

Retreat

The Frankish Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel may have been able to take Narbonne had he been willing to commit his army and full resources for an indefinite siege, but he was not willing or able to do so.^[2] Probably he found that Hunald I, Duke of Aquitaine, was threatening his line of communication with the north. Furthermore, Maurontius, patrician of Provence, from his unconquered city of Marseille, raised a revolt against him from the rear.^[9] The Frankish king may have considered accomplished his primary goals by destroying the Arab Muslim armies in Septimania, and leaving the remaining Arab and Berber garrison confined within the city of Narbonne.^[1]

A second Frankish expedition was led later in 739 to expel the inconvenient count Maurontius, who couldn't expect this time Andalusian relief, from Marseille and regain control of Provence. According to Paul the Deacon's historical treatise Historia Langobardorum (787–796), the Arab Muslims retreated when they learned that Charles Martel had formed an alliance with the Lombards, leaving the Umayyad forces stationed in the area and Maurontius himself too weak to meet in open battle.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Deanesly, Margaret (2019). "The Later Merovingians". A History of Early Medieval Europe: From 476–911. Routledge Library Editions: The Medieval World (1st ed.). London and New York City: Routledge. pp. 244–245. ISBN 9780367184582.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Verbruggen, J. F. (2005). "The Role of the Cavalry in Medieval Warfare". In Rogers, Clifford J.; Bachrach, Bernard S. (eds.). The Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume III. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. pp. 55–56. doi:10.7722/j.ctt81qwd.6. ISBN 9781846154058. After 734 Charles Martel advanced against the nobles in Burgundy and placed the region of Marseilles under the authority of his counts. [...] Charles marched afterwards to Narbonne and besieged it. Then an army of Saracens came to relieve Narbonne. Charles marched against them and defeated them along the banks of the Berre. Charles still devastated the area around Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, but an uprising in Saxony caused him to make an expedition to hold onto that land. [...] Charles Martel had subjected the whole of Gallia, again by battles, and had to besiege Avignon and Narbonne there. He did not have the time to conquer Septimania.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Collins, Roger (1998). "Italy and Spain, 773–801". Charlemagne. Buffalo, London, and Toronto: Palgrave Macmillan/University of Toronto Press. pp. 65–66. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-26924-2_4. ISBN 978-1-349-26924-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Collins, Roger (1995). "Conquerors Divided". The Arab Conquest of Spain: 710–797. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-631-19405-7. It would be quite anachronistic that the Provençal aristocracy would or those whose primary interests lay in the south would welcome the extension into their region of the authority of the eastern Frankish Mayors of the Palace, or that a sense of Christian solidarity should mean more than the dictates of realpolitik. For that matter it was not with any sense of obligation to free formerly Christian lands from Islamic rule that Charles Martel launched a raid into western Provence in 737. He took Avignon, but clearly did not retain it, and advanced to besiege Narbonne, the centre of Arab control in the March. The Frankish chronicles record his victory over a relieving force sent by the governor ʿUqba, but their uniform silence makes it clear that despite this he failed to take the city itself.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Baker, Patrick S. (2013). "The Battle of the River Berre". Medieval Warfare. 3 (2). Karwansaray BV: 44–48. ISSN 2211-5129. JSTOR 48578218. After three months, Eudo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine, lifted the siege. Eudo's army decimated the Moors, killed As-Sahm and drove the survivors from Aquitaine.
^ Christys, Ann (2002). Christians in Al-Andalus (711-1000). London: Routledge, ISBN 0-7007-1564-9, p. 28.
^ Holt, P. M., Lambton, Ann K. S. and Lewis, Bernard (1977). The Cambridge History of Islam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29135-6, p. 95.
^ Meadows, Ian (March–April 1993). "The Arabs in Occitania". Saudi Aramco World. 44: 24–29.
^ Lewis, Archibald R. (1965). The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 23. Retrieved June 15, 2012.

43°11′03″N 3°00′11″E / 43.184277°N 3.003078°E / 43.184277; 3.003078

[Deanesly_2019-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Deanesly, Margaret (2019). "The Later Merovingians". A History of Early Medieval Europe: From 476–911. Routledge Library Editions: The Medieval World (1st ed.). London and New York City: Routledge. pp. 244–245. ISBN 9780367184582.

[Verbruggen_2005-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Verbruggen, J. F. (2005). "The Role of the Cavalry in Medieval Warfare". In Rogers, Clifford J.; Bachrach, Bernard S. (eds.). The Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume III. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. pp. 55–56. doi:10.7722/j.ctt81qwd.6. ISBN 9781846154058. After 734 Charles Martel advanced against the nobles in Burgundy and placed the region of Marseilles under the authority of his counts. [...] Charles marched afterwards to Narbonne and besieged it. Then an army of Saracens came to relieve Narbonne. Charles marched against them and defeated them along the banks of the Berre. Charles still devastated the area around Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, but an uprising in Saxony caused him to make an expedition to hold onto that land. [...] Charles Martel had subjected the whole of Gallia, again by battles, and had to besiege Avignon and Narbonne there. He did not have the time to conquer Septimania.

[Collins_1998-3] Collins, Roger (1998). "Italy and Spain, 773–801". Charlemagne. Buffalo, London, and Toronto: Palgrave Macmillan/University of Toronto Press. pp. 65–66. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-26924-2_4. ISBN 978-1-349-26924-2.

[Collins_1995-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Collins, Roger (1995). "Conquerors Divided". The Arab Conquest of Spain: 710–797. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-631-19405-7. It would be quite anachronistic that the Provençal aristocracy would or those whose primary interests lay in the south would welcome the extension into their region of the authority of the eastern Frankish Mayors of the Palace, or that a sense of Christian solidarity should mean more than the dictates of realpolitik. For that matter it was not with any sense of obligation to free formerly Christian lands from Islamic rule that Charles Martel launched a raid into western Provence in 737. He took Avignon, but clearly did not retain it, and advanced to besiege Narbonne, the centre of Arab control in the March. The Frankish chronicles record his victory over a relieving force sent by the governor ʿUqba, but their uniform silence makes it clear that despite this he failed to take the city itself.

[Baker_2013-5] Baker, Patrick S. (2013). "The Battle of the River Berre". Medieval Warfare. 3 (2). Karwansaray BV: 44–48. ISSN 2211-5129. JSTOR 48578218. After three months, Eudo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine, lifted the siege. Eudo's army decimated the Moors, killed As-Sahm and drove the survivors from Aquitaine.

[6] Christys, Ann (2002). Christians in Al-Andalus (711-1000). London: Routledge, ISBN 0-7007-1564-9, p. 28.

[7] Holt, P. M., Lambton, Ann K. S. and Lewis, Bernard (1977). The Cambridge History of Islam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29135-6, p. 95.

[8] Meadows, Ian (March–April 1993). "The Arabs in Occitania". Saudi Aramco World. 44: 24–29.

[9] Lewis, Archibald R. (1965). The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 23. Retrieved June 15, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 | campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Islamic invasion of Gaul}}
 | date              = 737
+| result            = [[Frankish Kingdom|Frankish]] [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Christian]] military success against the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]<ref name="Deanesly 2019"/><ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/><ref name="Collins 1998"/><ref name="Collins 1995"/><br/> Politically inconclusive<ref name="Deanesly 2019"/><ref name="Collins 1998"/><ref name="Collins 1995"/>
-| result            = Umayyad victory
+* The [[Franks]] besieged the city of [[Narbonne]],<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/> without conquering it.<ref name="Collins 1995">{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Collins |year=1995 |title=The Arab Conquest of Spain: 710–797 |chapter=Conquerors Divided |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mlO-EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 |location=[[Chichester, West Sussex]] |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |page=92 |isbn=978-0-631-19405-7 |quote=It would be quite anachronistic that the [[Provence|Provençal]] [[French aristocracy|aristocracy]] would or those whose primary interests lay in the south would welcome the extension into their region of the authority of the [[Frankish Kingdom|eastern Frankish Mayors of the Palace]], or that a sense of Christian solidarity should mean more than the dictates of ''[[realpolitik]]''. For that matter it was not with any sense of obligation to free formerly Christian lands from Islamic rule that [[Charles Martel]] launched a raid into western Provence in 737. [[Siege of Avignon (737)|He took Avignon]], but clearly did not retain it, and advanced to besiege Narbonne, the centre of Arab control in the March. The Frankish chronicles record his victory over a relieving force sent by the governor [[Uqba ibn al-Hajjaj|ʿUqba]], but their uniform silence makes it clear that despite this he failed to take the city itself.}}</ref>
+* Relieving Arab-Berber Muslim forces destroyed by the Christian Franks at the [[battle of the River Berre]].<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/><ref name="Baker 2013"/>
+* [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] garrison confined within the city of Narbonne.<ref name="Deanesly 2019"/>
 | combatant1        = [[File:White flag 3 to 2.svg|23px]] [[Umayyad Caliphate]]
 | combatant2        = [[File:Oriflamme of Charlemagne.png|23px]] [[Francia|Kingdom of Francia]]
-| commander1        = [[File:White flag 3 to 2.svg|23px]] [[Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri|Yusuf al-Fihri]]
+| commander1        = [[File:White flag 3 to 2.svg|23px]] [[Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri|Yusuf al-Fihri]]<br/> [[File:White flag 3 to 2.svg|23px]] [[Uqba ibn al-Hajjaj]]
 | commander2        = [[File:Oriflamme of Charlemagne.png|23px]] [[Charles Martel]]
 | coordinates       = {{Coord|43|11|03|N|3|0|11|E}}
@@ Line 15: / Line 18: @@
 | map_size          = 300
 | partof            = the [[Islamic invasion of Gaul]]
 | territory         =
 }}
-The '''siege of [[Narbonne]]''' was fought in 737 between the Arab and Berber Muslim forces of [[Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri]], Arab [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad Muslim]] governor of [[Septimania]] on behalf of [[al-Andalus]], and the [[Frankish kingdom|Frankish]] [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Christian]] army led by the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian king]] [[Charles Martel]].<ref name="Collins 1995"/><ref name="Deanesly 2019">{{cite book |last=Deanesly |first=Margaret |year=2019 |title=A History of Early Medieval Europe: From 476–911 |chapter=The Later Merovingians |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20ufDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT244 |location=[[London]] and [[New York City]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |series=Routledge Library Editions: The Medieval World |pages=244–245 |isbn=9780367184582}}</ref><ref name="Collins 1998">{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Collins |year=1998 |title=Charlemagne |chapter=Italy and Spain, 773–801 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05IVoPSfb48C&pg=PA66 |location=[[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[London]], and [[Toronto]] |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]/[[University of Toronto Press]] |pages=65–66 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-26924-2_4 |isbn=978-1-349-26924-2}}</ref>
+The '''siege of [[Narbonne]]''' was fought in 737 between the Arab and Berber Muslim forces of [[Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri]], Arab [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad Muslim]] governor of [[Septimania]] on behalf of [[al-Andalus]], and the [[Frankish Kingdom|Frankish]] [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Christian]] army led by the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian duke]] [[Charles Martel]].<ref name="Deanesly 2019">{{cite book |last=Deanesly |first=Margaret |author-link=Margaret Deanesly |year=2019 |title=A History of Early Medieval Europe: From 476–911 |chapter=The Later Merovingians |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20ufDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT244 |location=[[London]] and [[New York City]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |series=Routledge Library Editions: The Medieval World |pages=244–245 |isbn=9780367184582}}</ref><ref name="Verbruggen 2005">{{cite book |author-last=Verbruggen |author-first=J. F. |year=2005 |chapter=The Role of the Cavalry in Medieval Warfare |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I78P9K6Iq_YC&pg=PA56 |editor1-last=Rogers |editor1-first=Clifford J. |editor2-last=Bachrach |editor2-first=Bernard S. |editor2-link=Bernard Bachrach |title=The Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume III |location=[[Woodbridge, Suffolk]] |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer|Boydell Press]] |pages=55–56 |doi=10.7722/j.ctt81qwd.6 |isbn=9781846154058 |quote=After 734 [[Charles Martel]] advanced against the nobles in [[Burgundy]] and placed the region of [[Marseilles]] under the authority of [[Frankish Kingdom|his counts]]. [...] Charles marched afterwards to [[Narbonne]] and besieged it. Then an army of [[Saracens]] came to relieve Narbonne. Charles marched against them and [[Battle of the River Berre|defeated them along the banks of the Berre]]. Charles still devastated the area around [[Siege of Nîmes|Nîmes]], [[Agde]], and [[Béziers]], but an uprising in [[Old Saxony|Saxony]] caused him to make an expedition to hold onto that land. [...] Charles Martel had subjected the whole of [[Gallia]], again by battles, and had to besiege [[Siege of Avignon (737)|Avignon]] and Narbonne there. He did not have the time to conquer [[Septimania]].}}</ref><ref name="Collins 1998">{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Collins |year=1998 |title=Charlemagne |chapter=Italy and Spain, 773–801 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05IVoPSfb48C&pg=PA66 |location=[[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[London]], and [[Toronto]] |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]/[[University of Toronto Press]] |pages=65–66 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-26924-2_4 |isbn=978-1-349-26924-2}}</ref><ref name="Collins 1995"/>
 ==Background==
@@ Line 26: / Line 29: @@
 By 721, al-Samh was reinforced and ready to lay siege to [[Toulouse]], a possession that would open up the bordering region of [[Aquitaine]] to him on the same terms as Septimania. But his plans were thwarted in the disastrous [[Battle of Toulouse (721)|battle of Toulouse in 721]]; the [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitanian]] [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Christian]] army led by [[Odo the Great]], [[Duke of Aquitaine]] defeated the Umayyad Muslim army and achieved a decisive and significant victory.<ref name="Baker 2013">{{cite journal |last=Baker |first=Patrick S. |date=2013 |title=The Battle of the River Berre |journal=Medieval Warfare |publisher=Karwansaray BV |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=44–48 |issn=2211-5129 |jstor=48578218 |quote=After three months, [[Odo the Great|Eudo the Great]], [[Duke of Aquitaine]], lifted the siege. Eudo's army decimated the [[Moors]], killed [[Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani|As-Sahm]] and drove the survivors from [[Aquitaine]].}}</ref> The surviving Umayyad forces drove away from Aquitaine with immense losses, in which al-Samh was so seriously wounded that he soon died at Narbonne.<ref name="Baker 2013"/>
-Arab and Berber Muslim forces, soundly based in Narbonne and easily resupplied by sea, struck in the 720s, conquering [[Carcassonne]] on the north-western fringes of Septimania (725) and penetrating eastwards as far as [[Autun]] (725). In 731, the Berber lord of the region of [[Cerdagne]], [[Uthman ibn Naissa]], called ''Munuza'' by the Franks, was an ally of the Duke of Aquitaine [[Odo the Great]] after he revolted against the [[Emirate of Córdoba]], but the rebel lord was killed by the Arab [[Umayyad caliphate|Umayyad]] commander [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi]]. Following his success at the [[Siege of Avignon (737)|siege of Avignon]] in 737, [[Charles Martel]] besieged Narbonne but his forces were unable to take the city, after which [[Siege of Nîmes|the Frankish army marched on Nîmes]].<ref name="Collins 1995"/>
+Arab and Berber Muslim forces, soundly based in Narbonne and easily resupplied by sea, struck in the 720s, conquering [[Carcassonne]] on the north-western fringes of Septimania (725) and penetrating eastwards as far as [[Autun]] (725). In 731, the Berber lord of the region of [[Cerdagne]], [[Uthman ibn Naissa]], called ''Munuza'' by the Franks, was an ally of the Duke of Aquitaine [[Odo the Great]] after he revolted against the [[Emirate of Córdoba]], but the rebel lord was killed by the Arab [[Umayyad caliphate|Umayyad]] commander [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi]]. Following his success at the [[Siege of Avignon (737)|siege of Avignon]] in 737, [[Charles Martel]] besieged Narbonne<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/> but his forces were unable to take the city,<ref name="Collins 1995"/> after which the Frankish army marched on [[Siege of Nîmes|Nîmes]], [[Agde]], and [[Béziers]].<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/><ref name="Collins 1995"/>
 ==Battle==
 {{Campaignbox Charles Martel}}
-In 737, the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian king]] [[Charles Martel]] went on to attack Narbonne,<ref name="Collins 1995"/> but the local nobility of [[Goths|Gothic]] and [[Gallo-Roman]] stock had concluded different military and political arrangements to oppose the [[Pepin the Short#Expansion of the Frankish realm|expanding Frankish realm]].<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Meadows  | first1 = Ian| title = The Arabs in Occitania | journal = Saudi Aramco World | volume = 44 | pages = 24–29 | date = March–April 1993  | url = http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199302/the.arabs.in.occitania.htm}}</ref> Charles Martel attempted to conquer the whole region of [[Septimania]] and besieged Narbonne in 737 but his forces were unable to take the city. However, when the Arabs sent reinforcements from Muslim-ruled Iberia, the [[Frankish kingdom|Frankish]] [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Christian]] army [[Battle of River Berre|intercepted them at the mouth of the River Berre]] (located in the present-day Département of [[Aude]]) and achieved a decisive and significant victory,<ref name="Baker 2013"/> after which [[Siege of Nîmes|the Frankish army marched on Nîmes]].
+In 737, the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian duke]] [[Charles Martel]] went on to attack Narbonne,<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/><ref name="Collins 1995"/> but the local nobility of [[Goths|Gothic]] and [[Gallo-Roman]] stock had concluded different military and political arrangements to oppose the [[Pepin the Short#Expansion of the Frankish realm|expanding Frankish realm]].<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Meadows  | first1 = Ian| title = The Arabs in Occitania | journal = Saudi Aramco World | volume = 44 | pages = 24–29 | date = March–April 1993  | url = http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199302/the.arabs.in.occitania.htm}}</ref> Charles Martel attempted to conquer the whole region of [[Septimania]] and besieged Narbonne in 737,<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/> but his forces were unable to take the city.<ref name="Collins 1995"/> However, when the Arabs sent reinforcements from Muslim-ruled Iberia, the [[Frankish kingdom|Frankish]] [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Christian]] army [[Battle of the River Berre|intercepted them at the mouth of the River Berre]] (located in the present-day Département of [[Aude]]) and achieved a decisive and significant victory,<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/><ref name="Baker 2013"/> after which [[Siege of Nîmes|the Frankish army marched on Nîmes]].<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/><ref name="Collins 1995"/>
 ==Retreat==
-The Frankish king [[Charles Martel]] may have been able to take [[Narbonne]] had he been willing to commit his army and full resources for an indefinite siege, but he was not willing or able to do so. Probably he found that [[Hunald I]], [[Duke of Aquitaine]], was threatening his line of communication with the north. Furthermore, [[Maurontius]], patrician of [[Provence]], from his unconquered city of [[Marseille]], raised a revolt against him from the rear.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718&ndash;1050|last=Lewis |first=Archibald R.|author-link= Archibald R. Lewis |year= 1965 |publisher= University of Texas Press |location= Austin |page=23 |access-date=June 15, 2012|url=http://libro.uca.edu/lewis/sfc2.htm}}</ref> The Frankish king may have considered accomplished his primary goals by destroying the Arab Muslim armies in [[Septimania]], and leaving the remaining Arab and Berber garrison confined to the city of Narbonne.
+The Frankish Mayor of the Palace [[Charles Martel]] may have been able to take [[Narbonne]] had he been willing to commit his army and full resources for an indefinite siege, but he was not willing or able to do so.<ref name="Verbruggen 2005"/> Probably he found that [[Hunald I]], [[Duke of Aquitaine]], was threatening his line of communication with the north. Furthermore, [[Maurontius]], patrician of [[Provence]], from his unconquered city of [[Marseille]], raised a revolt against him from the rear.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718&ndash;1050|last=Lewis |first=Archibald R.|author-link= Archibald R. Lewis |year= 1965 |publisher= University of Texas Press |location= Austin |page=23 |access-date=June 15, 2012|url=http://libro.uca.edu/lewis/sfc2.htm}}</ref> The Frankish king may have considered accomplished his primary goals by destroying the Arab Muslim armies in [[Septimania]], and leaving the remaining Arab and Berber garrison confined within the city of Narbonne.<ref name="Deanesly 2019"/>
 A second Frankish expedition was led later in 739 to expel the inconvenient count Maurontius, who couldn't expect this time [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] relief, from Marseille and regain control of Provence. According to [[Paul the Deacon]]'s historical treatise ''[[Historia Langobardorum]]'' (787–796), the Arab Muslims retreated when they learned that Charles Martel had formed an alliance with the [[Lombards]], leaving the Umayyad forces stationed in the area and Maurontius himself too weak to meet in open battle.
@@ Line 51: / Line 54: @@
 [[Category:Sieges involving Al-Andalus|Narbonne 737]]
 [[Category:Sieges involving the Umayyad Caliphate|Narbonne 737]]
+[[Category:Charles Martel]]