When Charles and his men arrayed themselves for battle on the morning of October 25, AD 732 they too faced an opponent unlike anything they had ever seen. First and foremost among the invading host would have been a large number of Berber tribesmen, probably armed with long spears and shields.

It had been a primarily Berber army that had defeated and killed Roderick, the last Visigothic king, in AD 711 and Berber tribesman were garrisoned throughout the Iberian Peninsula. While they were probably poorly equipped, they were likely quite fierce, as Berber spearmen would vex Iberian Christian armies into the 13th century.

There were also a large contingent of Arabs. Consistent with the imperial policy of the Caliphate, garrisons of Arabs were sent to the Iberian Peninsula after AD 711. It is not plausible to believe that Abd ar-Rahman would have gone to battle without a sizeable number of Arabs, if no other reason than he would have rightly feared for his own life had he traveled without them as the Arabs and Berbers were intense – and often violent – rivals for land and power.

These Arabs were professional soldiers, paid in cash by the local authorities through taxes levied on the local non-Islamic population. While it is not clear whether and to what extent these men were trained, they were probably fairly well-equipped, with a sizeable number carrying excellent bows (far better, in fact, than any bow any Frank had ever seen). The rest were armed with spears and long, slashing, swords and were protected by round shields and whenever possible by chainmail shirts and metal helmets. Some may have been mounted on horseback.

There were likely also Visigoths and other Iberian Christians. After the death of Roderick in AD 711 many Visigothic nobles made peace with the Islamic invaders and were allowed to keep their lands. It is likely that one condition of peace would have been the active support of the Amir’s military campaigns. Moreover, many Visigoths might have willingly fought for the possibility of plunder (war being the best way to acquire movable wealth in Early Medieval Europe) and some may have fought for ethnic pride (the Visigoths and the Franks were long and bitter rivals and it had been Clovis that had driven the Visigoths from Gaul and into the Iberian Peninsula).

The wealthier men would have been mounted, armed with spears and long, slashing, swords, and protected by large round shields and chainmail shirts and metal helmets. The poorer men (likely the clients, servants, or slaves or the wealthier men, and quite probably of Iberian, rather than Visigothic, descent) were probably poorly armed and equipped, with little more than spears and shields, or simple short bows.

Finally, there were probably a number of Basques. Some may have been subject to Islamic rule (Basque-speaking peoples once resided well west of what is now the Basque country and into what is now northern Castile) and fought because they had to. Others may have been mercenaries, like their Gascon cousins that fought for Eudo.

These Basques were probably unarmored and lightly armed with javelins or spears and would have served as skirmishers and scouts, either mounted or on foot. Given that the invaders were said to have crossed into France through Basque country, it seems likely that they would have employed Basques as interpreters and guides. Likewise, given that the purpose of the campaign was to advance into Aquitaine to punish Eudo, Basque-speaking soldiers probably also served as scouts and spies because of the large Gascon population in Aquitaine and their prevalence in Eudo’s army.