Reconquista

of the 9th century.[2] A landmark was set by the Christian Chronica Prophetica (883-884), a document stressing
the Christian and Muslim cultural and religious divide in
Iberia and the necessity to drive the Muslims out.

For other uses, see Reconquista (disambiguation).

The Reconquista (reconquest)[lower-alpha 1] is a

Nevertheless, the dierence between Christian and Muslim kingdoms in early medieval Spain was not seen at
the time as anything like the clear-cut opposition which
later emerged. Both Christian and Muslim rulers fought
amongst themselves. Alliances between Muslims and
Christians were not at all uncommon.[2] Blurring distinctions even further were the mercenaries from both sides
who simply fought for whoever paid the most. The period
is looked back upon today as one of religious tolerance.[3]
The Crusades, which started late in the eleventh century, bred the religious ideology of a Christian reconquest, confronted at that time with a similarly staunch
Muslim Jihad ideology in Al-Andalus: the Almoravids
and even to a greater degree, in the Almohads. In fact
previous documents (10-11th century) are mute on any
idea of reconquest.[4] Propaganda accounts of MuslimChristian hostility came into being to support that idea,
most notably the Chanson de Roland, a ctitious 12thcentury French version of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass
(778) dealing with the Iberian Saracens (Moors), and
taught as historical in the French educational system since
1880.[5][6]

A battle of the Reconquista from the Cantigas de Santa Maria

historical period of approximately 770 years in the history of the Iberian Peninsula, beginning after the Islamic
conquest 711-718, to the fall of Granada, the last Islamic
state on the peninsula, in 1492. It marks the gradual return of Christian rule in the Iberian Peninsula. It ended
right before the discovery of the New World, and the
period of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires
which followed.

Many recent historians dispute the whole concept of

Reconquista (as well as that of a prior conquista by
the Moors) as a concept created a posteriori in the
service of later political goals. It has been called a
myth.[7][8][9][10][11][12] One of the rst Spanish intellectuals to question the idea of a reconquest that lasts for
eight centuries was Jos Ortega y Gasset, writing in the
rst half of the twentieth century.[13] However, the term
is still in wide use.

Traditionally, historians mark the beginning of the Reconquista with the Battle of Covadonga (718 or 722), in
which a small army, led by the nobleman Pelagius, defeated an Umayyad army in the mountains of northern
Iberia and established a small Christian principality in
Asturias.
The nal campaign to conquer Granada, near the end
of the 15th century, is never designated reconquista in
Spanish; it is rather la conquista de Granada, the conquest of Granada. Nevertheless, references to the recon1 Concept and duration
quista as a whole are understood to include this campaign.
Catholic Spanish and Portuguese historiography, from
the beginnings of historical scholarship until the twen2 Background
tieth century, stressed the existence of a continuous phenomenon by which the Christian Iberian kingdoms opposed and conquered the Muslim kingdoms, understood 2.1 Islamic conquest of Christian Iberia
as a common enemy who had militarily seized Christian territory.[1] The concept of a Christian reconquest of Further information: Umayyad conquest of Hispania and
the peninsula rst emerged, in tenuous form, at the end Battle of Guadalete
1

BACKGROUND

tent internal conict jeopardized Muslim unity.

In 711, Muslim Moors, mainly North African Berber
soldiers with some Arabs, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and began their conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania. After their conquest of the Visigothic
kingdoms Iberian territories, the Muslims crossed the
Pyrenees and took control of Septimania in 719, the last
province of the Visigothic kingdom to be occupied. From
their stronghold of Narbonne, they launched raids into the
Duchy of Aquitaine.

After the Islamic Moorish conquest of nearly all of the

Iberian Peninsula in 711-718 and the establishment of the
emirate of Al-Andalus, an Umayyad expedition suered a
major defeat at the Battle of Toulouse and was halted for a
while on its way north. Odo of Aquitaine had married his
daughter to Uthman ibn Naissa, a rebel Berber and lord
of Cerdanya (maybe of all current Catalonia too), in an
attempt to secure his southern borders in order to fend o
Charles Martels attacks on the north. However, a major
At no point did the invading Islamic armies exceed punitive expedition led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghaqi, the
60,000 men.[14] These armies established an Islamic rule latest emir of Al-Andalus, defeated and killed Uthman,
that would last 300 years in much of the Iberian Peninsula and the Muslim governor mustered an expedition north
across the western Pyrenees, looted areas up to Bordeaux,
and 770 years in Granada.
and defeated Odo in the Battle of the River Garonne in
732.
A desperate Odo turned to his archrival Charles Martel
for help, who led the Frankish and leftover Aquitanian
armies against and defeated the Umayyad armies at the
Main articles: Berbers and Islam and Berber Revolt
Battle of Tours in 732, killing Abdul Rahman Al Ghaqi.
Moorish rule began to recede, but it would remain in parts
After the establishment of a local Emirate, Caliph Al- of the Iberian peninsula for another 760 years.
Walid I, ruler of the Umayyad caliphate, removed many
of the successful Muslim commanders. Tariq ibn Ziyad,
the rst governor of the newly conquered province of AlAndalus, was recalled to Damascus and replaced with 2.3 Beginning of the Reconquista
Musa bin Nusair, who had been his former superior.
Musas son, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, apparently married Main article: Kingdom of Asturias
Egilona, Roderic's widow, and established his regional
government in Seville. He was suspected of being un- The year 722 saw the rst Asturian victory against the
der the inuence of his wife, accused of wanting to con- Muslims. A drastic increase of taxes by the new emir
vert to Christianity, and of planning a secessionist rebel- Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi had provoked several rebellion. Apparently a concerned Al-Walid I ordered Abd lions in Al-Andalus, which a series of succeeding weak
al-Azizs assassination. Caliph Al-Walid I died in 715 emirs was unable to suppress. Around 722, a military
and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al- expedition was sent into the north to suppress Pelayos
Malik. Sulayman seems to have punished the surviving rebellion, but his forces prevailed in the Battle of CovMusa bin Nusair, who very soon died during a pilgrimage
adonga. In late summer, a Muslim army overran much
in 716. In the end Abd al-Aziz ibn Musas cousin, Ayyub of Pelayo's territory, forcing him to retreat deep into the
ibn Habib al-Lakhmi became the emir of Al-Andalus.
mountains. Pelayo and a few hundred men retired into
The conquering generals were necessarily acting very in- a narrow valley at Covadonga. There, they could defend
dependently, due to the methods of communication avail- against a broad frontal attack. From here, Pelayos forces
able. Successful generals in the eld and in a very dis- routed the Muslim army, inspiring local villagers to take
tant province would also gain the personal loyalty of their up arms. Despite further attempts, the Muslims were unocers and warriors and their ambitions were probably able to conquer Pelayos mountain stronghold. Pelayos
always watched by certain circles of the distant govern- victory at Covadonga is hailed as the beginning of the
ment with a certain degree of concern and suspicion. Old Reconquista.
rivalries and perhaps even full-edged conspiracies be- This battle was considered by the Muslims as little more
tween rival generals may have had inuence over this de- than a skirmish, since no Muslim source mentions it,
velopment. In the end, the old successful generals were while the Battle of Toulouse (721), with a death toll of
replaced by a younger generation considered more loyal maybe tens of thousands, was mourned for centuries as
by the government in Damascus.
a large scale tragedy by the Iberian Muslims. However,

2.2

Islamic rule

A serious weakness amongst the Muslim conquerors was

the ethnic tension between Berbers and Arabs.[15] The
Berbers were indigenous inhabitants of North Africa who
had only recently been converted to Islam; they had provided most of the soldiery of the invading Islamic armies
but sensed Arab discrimination against them.[16] This la-

for Pelayo, the Christian victory secured his independent

rule. The precise date and circumstances of this battle are
unclear. Among the possibilities is that Pelayos rebellion was successful because the greater part of the Muslim forces were gathering for an invasion of the Frankish
empire.

2.4

Franks and Al-Andalus

3
It was not until Alfonso II that the kingdom was rmly established with Alfonsos recognition as king of Asturias
by Charlemagne and the Pope. During his reign, the
bones of St. James the Great were declared (falsely[18] ) to
have been found in Galicia, at Santiago de Compostela.
Pilgrims from all over Europe opened a channel of communication between the isolated Asturias and the Carolingian lands and beyond.
Two northern realms, Basque Navarre[19] and Asturias,
despite their small size, demonstrated an ability to maintain their independence. Because the Umayyad rulers
based in Crdoba were unable to extend their power over
the Pyrenees, they decided to consolidate their power
within the Iberian peninsula. Arab-Berber forces made
periodic incursions deep into Asturias but failed to make
any lasting gains against the strengthened Christian kingdoms.

2.4 Franks and Al-Andalus

Main articles: Islamic invasion of Gaul and Marca
Hispanica
After the Umayyad conquest of the Iberian heartland of
the Visigothic kingdom, the Muslims crossed the Pyrenees and gradually took control of Septimania starting
in 719 (Narbonne conquered) up to 725 (Carcassone,
Nmes). From its stronghold of Narbonne, they tried
to conquer Aquitaine but suered a major defeat at the
Battle of Toulouse (721).
Coat of arms of Alcanadre. La Rioja, Spain. Depicting heads of
slain Moors

During the rst decades, Asturian control over the

dierent areas of the kingdom was still weak, and
for this reason it had to be continually strengthened
through matrimonial alliances with other powerful families from the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, Ermesinda, Pelayos daughter, was married to Alfonso, Peter of Cantabrias son. Alphonses children, Froila and
Adosinda, married Munia, a Basque from Alava, and
Silo, a local chief from the area of Pravia, respectively.
[17]

After Pelayos death in 737, his son Favila of Asturias

was elected king. Favila, according to the chronicles, was
killed by a bear during a trial of courage.
Pelayos dynasty in Asturias survived and gradually expanded the kingdoms boundaries until all of northwest
Iberia was included by roughly 775. However, credit is
due not to him but to his successors. Alfonso I (king
from 739-757) rallied Galician support when driving the
Moorish army out of Galicia and an area of what was to
become Leon. The reign of Alfonso II (from 791-842)
saw further expansion of the northwest kingdom towards
the south and, for a short time, it almost reached Lisbon.

Northeastern al-Andalus, the Pyrenees and southern Gaul at the

time of the Berber rebellion (739-742).

After halting their advance north, ten years later, Odo of

Aquitaine married his daughter to Uthman ibn Naissa,
a rebel Berber and lord of Cerdanya (maybe of all current Catalonia too), in an attempt to secure his southern
borders in order to fend o Charles Martel's attacks on
the north. However, a major punitive expedition led by

BACKGROUND

Abdul Rahman Al Ghaqi, the latest emir of Al-Andalus, Arabi, Husayn, and Abu Taur at the Diet of Paderborn in
defeated and killed Uthman.
777. These rulers of Zaragoza, Girona, Barcelona, and
Huesca were enemies of Abd ar-Rahman I, and in return for Frankish military aid against him oered their
2.4.1 Charles Martel
homage and allegiance.
Charlemagne, seeing an opportunity, agreed upon an expedition and crossed the Pyrenees in 778. Near the
city of Zaragoza Charlemagne received the homage of
Sulayman al-Arabi. However the city, under the leadership of Husayn, closed its gates and refused to submit.
Unable to conquer the city by force, Charlemagne decided to retreat. On the way home the rearguard of the
army was ambushed and destroyed by local forces at the
Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The Song of Roland, a highly
In 737 Charles Martel led an expedition south down the romanticized account of this battle, would later become
Rhone Valley to assert his authority up to the lands held one of the most famous chansons de geste of the Middle
by the Al-Andalus Umayyads. These had been called Ages.
in by the regional nobility of Provence in a military caAround 788 Abd ar-Rahman I died, and was succeeded
pacity, probably fearing Charles expansionist ambitions.
by Hisham I. In 792 Hisham proclaimed a jihad, adCharles went on to attack the Umayyads in Septimania
vancing in 793 against the Kingdom of Asturias and
up to Narbonne, but he had to lift the siege of the city
the Franks. In the end his eorts were turned back by
and make his way back to Lyon and Francia (at the time
William of Gellone, Count of Toulouse.
north of the lower Loire) after subduing various Umayyad
strongholds, such as Arles, Avignon and Nmes, not with- Barcelona, a major city, became a potential target for the
out leaving behind a trail of ruined towns and strongholds. Franks in 797, as its governor Zeid rebelled against the
Umayyad emir of Crdoba. An army of the emir managed to recapture it in 799 but Louis, at the head of an
army, crossed the Pyrenees and besieged the city for two
2.4.2 Pepin the Younger and Charlemagne
years until the city nally capitulated on December 28,
After expelling the Muslims from Narbonne in 759 and 801.
driving their forces back over the Pyrenees, the Carolin- The main passes were Roncesvalles, Somport and
gian king Pepin the Short conquered Aquitaine in a ruth- Junquera. Charlemagne established across them the vasless eight-year war. Charlemagne followed his father sal regions of Pamplona, Aragon and Catalonia (which
by subduing Aquitaine by creating counties, taking the was itself formed from a number of small counties,
Church as his ally and appointing counts of Frankish or Pallars, Girona, and Urgell being the most prominent) reBurgundian stock, like his loyal William of Gellone, mak- spectively.
ing Toulouse his base for expeditions against Al-Andalus.
Four small realms pledged allegiance to Charlemagne at
Charlemagne decided to organize a regional subkingdom the start of the 9th century (not for long): Pamplona (to
in order to keep the Aquitanians in check and to secure become Navarre) and the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe
the southern border of the Carolingian Empire against and Ribagorza. Pamplonas rst king was Iigo Arista,
Muslim incursions. In 781, his three-year-old son Louis who allying with his Muslim kinsmen the Banu Qasi
was crowned king of Aquitaine, under the supervision of rebelled against Frankish overlordship, and overcame a
Charlemagnes trustee William of Gellone, and was nom- Frankish expedition in 824 that led to the setup of the
inally in charge of the incipient Spanish March.
Kingdom of Pamplona. It was not until Queen Ximena in
Meanwhile, the takeover of the southern fringes of Al- the 9th century that Pamplona was ocially recognised as
Andalus by Abd ar-Rahman I in 756 was opposed by an independent kingdom by the Pope. Aragon, founded
Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman, autonomous governor (wli) in 809 by Aznar Galndez, grew around Jaca and the high
or king (malik) of al-Andalus. Abd ar-Rahman I expelled valleys of the Aragon River, protecting the old Roman
Yusuf from Cordova, but it took still decades for him road. By the end of the 10th century, Aragon was anto expand to the north-western Andalusian districts. He nexed by Navarre. Sobrarbe and Ribagorza were small
was also opposed externally by the Abbasids of Damascus counties and had little signicance to the progress of the
Reconquista.
who failed in their attempts to overthrow him.
The Umayyad governor mustered an expedition north
across the western Pyrenees, looted its way up to Bordeaux and defeated Odo in the Battle of the River
Garonne in 732. A desperate Odo turned to his archrival Charles Martel for help, who led the Frankish and remaining Aquitanian armies against the Muslims and beat
them at the Battle of Tours in 732, killing Abdul Rahman
Al Ghaqi.

In 778, Abd al-Rahman closed in on the Ebro valley. Regional lords saw the Umayyad emir on the gates and decided to enlist the nearby Christian Franks. According
to Ali ibn al-Athir, a Kurdish historian of the 12th century, Charlemagne received the envoys of Sulayman al-

The Catalan counties protected the eastern Pyrenees

passes and shores. They were under the direct control
of the Frankish kings and were the last remains of the
Spanish Marches. Catalonia included not only the southern Pyrenees counties of Girona, Pallars, Urgell, Vic and

3.1

Cavalry and infantry

Andorra but also some which were on the northern side the rest of western Europe during this period.
of the mountains, such as Perpignan and Foix.
Medieval Iberian armies mainly comprised two types of
In the late 9th century under Count Wilfred, Barcelona forces: the cavalry (mostly nobles, but including combecame the de facto capital of the region. It controlled moner knights from 10th century on) and the infantry, or
the other counties policies in a union, which led in 948 peones (peasants). Infantry only went to war if needed,
to the independence of Barcelona under Count Borrel II, which was not common.
who declared that the new dynasty in France (the Capets)
were not the legitimate rulers of France nor, as a result,
of his county.
3.1 Cavalry and infantry
These states were small and, with the exception of
Navarre, did not have the capacity for attacking the Muslims in the way that Asturias did, but their mountainous
geography rendered them relatively safe from being conquered. Their borders remained stable for two centuries.

Military culture in medieval

Iberia

Iberian cavalry tactics involved knights approaching the

enemy and throwing javelins, before withdrawing to a
safe distance before commencing another assault. Once
the enemy formation was suciently weakened, the
knights charged with thrusting spears (lances did not arrive in Hispania until the 11th century). There were three
types of knights: royal knights, noble knights (caballeros
hidalgos) and commoner knights (caballeros villanos).
Royal knights were mainly nobles with a close relationship with the king, and thus claimed a direct Gothic inheritance.
Royal knights were equipped in the same manner as
their Gothic predecessorsbraceplate, kite shield, a long
sword (designed to ght from the horse) and as well as
the javelins and spears, a Visigothic axe. Noble knights
came from the ranks of the infanzones or lower nobles,
whereas the commoner knights were not noble, but were
wealthy enough to aord a horse. Uniquely in Europe,
these horsemen comprised a militia cavalry force with no
feudal links, being under the sole control of the king or
the count of Castile because of the "charters" (or fueros).
Both noble and common knights wore leather armour and
carried javelins, spears and round-tasselled shields (inuenced by Moorish shields), as well as a sword.
The peones were peasants who went to battle in service
of their feudal lord. Poorly equipped, with bows and arrows, spears and short swords, they were mainly used as
auxiliary troops. Their function in battle was to contain
the enemy troops until the cavalry arrived and to block
the enemy infantry from charging the knights.

Forces of Muhammed IX, Nasrid Sultan of Granada, at the Battle

of La Higueruela, 1431

The longbow, the composite bow and the crossbow are

the basic types of bows and especially popular in infantry.

Typically armour was made of leather, with iron scales;

full coats of chain mail were extremely rare and horse
barding completely unknown. Head protections consisted
of a round helmet with nose protector (inuenced by the
designs used by Vikings who attacked during the 8th and
9th centuries) and a chain mail headpiece. Shields were
often round or kidney-shaped, except for the kite-shaped
designs used by the royal knights. Usually adorned with
geometric designs, crosses or tassels, shields were made
In the context of the relative isolation of the Iberian out of wood and had a leather cover.
Peninsula from the rest of Europe, and the contact with Steel swords were the most common weapon. The cavalry
Moorish culture, geographical and cultural dierences used long double-edged swords and the infantry short,
implied the use of military strategies, tactics and equip- single-edged ones. Guards were either semicircular or
ment that were markedly dierent from those found in straight, but always highly ornamented with geometrical
In a situation of constant conict, warfare and daily
life were strongly interlinked during this period. Small,
lightly equipped armies reected how the society had to
be on the alert at all times. These forces were capable of
moving long distances in short times, allowing a quick return home after sacking a target. Battles which took place
were mainly between clans, expelling intruder armies or
sacking expeditions.

NORTHERN CHRISTIAN REALMS

patterns. The spears and javelins were up to 1.5 metres

long and had an iron tip. The double-axe, made of iron
and 30 cm long and possessing an extremely sharp edge,
was designed to be equally useful as a thrown weapon or
in close combat. Maces and hammers were not common,
but some specimens have remained, and are thought to
have been used by members of the cavalry.

al-Andalus, Aragon) a collective indulgence 30 years before Pope Urban II called the First Crusade. The legitimacy of such a letter establishing a grant of indulgence
has been disputed at length by historians, notably by Ferreiro. Papal interest in Christian-Muslim relations in the
peninsula are not without precedent Popes Leo IV
(847-855), John VIII (872-882) and John XIX (1024
Finally, mercenaries were an important factor, as many 33) are all known to have displayed substantial interest in
the region.
kings did not have enough soldiers available. The
Norsemen, the Flemish spearmen, the Frankish knights, Neither is there evidence to support the contention that
the Moorish mounted archers and Berber light cavalry the Cluniacs publicised the letter throughout Europe. It
were the main types of mercenary available and used in was addressed to the clero Vulturnensi. The name has
the conict.
been associated with the castle of Volturno in Campania
but even this is not concrete. Baldwin, for example, stipulates that the name is simply garbled and that it was
intended for a French bishopric. Not until 1095 and the
3.2 Technological changes
Council of Clermont did the Reconquista amalgamate the
This style of warfare remained dominant in the Iberian conicting concepts of a peaceful pilgrimage and armed
Peninsula until the late 11th century, when couched lance knight-errantry.
tactics entered from France, although the traditional horse But the papacy left no doubt about the heavenly reward
javelin-shot techniques continued to be used. In the 12th for knights ghting for Christ (militia Christi): in a letter,
and 13th centuries, soldiers typically carried a sword, a Urban II tried to persuade the reconquistadores ghting at
lance, a javelin, and either bow and arrows or crossbow Tarragona to stay in the Peninsula rather than joining the
and darts/bolts. Armor consisted of a coat of mail over armed pilgrimage to conquer Jerusalem, saying that their
a quilted jacket, extending at least to the knees, a helmet contribution for Christianity was equally important. The
or iron cap, and bracers protecting the arms and thighs, pope promised them the same indulgences that he had
either metal or leather.
promised to those who chose to join the First Crusade.
Shields were round or triangular, made of wood, covered
with leather, and protected by an iron band; the shields of
knights and nobles would bear the familys coat of arms.
Knights rode in both the Muslim style, a la jineta (i.e. the
equivalent of a modern jockeys seat), a short stirrup strap
and bended knees allowed for better control and speed, or
in the French style, a la brida, a long stirrup strap allowed
for more security in the saddle (i.e. the equivalent of the
modern cavalry seat, which is more secure) when acting
as heavy cavalry. Horses were occasionally tted with a
coat of mail as well.

Later military orders like the Order of Santiago, Montesa,

Order of Calatrava and the Knights Templar were
founded or called to ght in Iberia. The Popes called
the knights of Europe to the Crusades in the peninsula. After the so-called Disaster of Alarcos, French,
Navarrese, Castilian, Portuguese and Aragonese armies
united against the Muslim forces in the massive battle
of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). The big territories
awarded to military orders and nobles were the origin of
the latifundia in todays Andalusia and Extremadura, in
Spain, and Alentejo, in Portugal.

Expansion into the Crusades and 5 Northern Christian realms

military orders

In the High Middle Ages, the ght against the Moors in

the Iberian Peninsula became linked to the ght of the
whole of Christendom. The Reconquista was originally
a mere war of conquest. It only later underwent a significant shift in meaning toward a religiously justied war
of liberation (see the Augustinian concept of a Just War).
The papacy and the inuential Abbey of Cluny in Burgundy not only justied the acts of war but actively encouraged Christian knights to seek armed confrontation
with Moorish indels instead of with each other.

The northern principalities and kingdoms survived in

their mountainous strongholds (see above). However,
they started a denite territorial expansion south at the
turn of the 10th century (Leon, Najera). The fall of
the Caliphate of Cordova (1031) heralded a period of
military expansion for the northern kingdoms, now divided into several mighty regional powers after the division of the Kingdom of Navarre (1035). A myriad of
autonomous Christian kingdoms emerged thereafter.

5.1 Kingdom of Asturias (718924)

From the 11th century onwards indulgences were

granted: In 1064 Pope Alexander II allegedly promised Main article: Kingdom of Asturias
the participants of an expedition against Barbastro (Tagr See also: Duchy of Cantabria

5.2

Kingdom of Navarre (8241620)

7
to have been found in Iria Flavia (present day Padrn)
in 813 or probably two or three decades later. The cult
to the saint was transferred later to Compostela (from
Latin campus stellae, literally the star eld), possibly in
the early 10th century when the focus of Asturian power
moved from the mountains over to Len, to become the
Kingdom of Len or Galicia-Len.
Santiagos were just one of the many saint relics proclaimed to have been found across north-western Iberia.
Pilgrims started to ow in from other Iberian Christian
realms, sowing the seeds of the later Way of Saint James
(11-12th century) that sparked the enthusiasm and religious zeal of continental Christian Europe for centuries.

The Islamic Almohad dynasty and surrounding states, including

the Christian Kingdoms of Portugal, Len, Castile, Navarre, and
Crown of Aragon c. 1200.

The Kingdom of Asturias was located in the Cantabrian

Mountains, a wet and mountainous region in the north of
the Iberian Peninsula. It was the rst Christian power to
emerge. The kingdom was established by a nobleman,
Pelagius (Pelayo), who had possibly returned to his country after the Battle of Guadalete in 711, where he was
elected leader of the Asturians and laid the foundations
for the Kingdom of Asturias. However, Pelagius kingdom initially was little more than a gathering point for
the existing guerrilla forces.
During the rst decades, the Asturian dominion over
the dierent areas of the kingdom was still lax, and for
this reason it had to be continually strengthened through
matrimonial alliances with other powerful families from
the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, Ermesinda,
Pelagius daughter, was married to Alfonso, Dux Peter
of Cantabria's son. Alfonsos son Fruela married Munia,
a Basque from lava, after crushing a Basque uprising
(probably resistance). Their son is reported to be Alfonso Santiago the Moor-slayer
II, while Alfonso Is daughter Adosinda married Silo, a
local chief from the area of Flavionavia, Pravia.
Despite numerous battles, neither the Umayyads nor the
Alfonsos military strategy was typical of Iberian war- Asturians had sucient forces to secure control over
fare at the time. Lacking the means needed for whole- these northern territories. Under the reign of Ramiro,
sale conquest of large territories, his tactics consisted of famed for the highly legendary Battle of Clavijo, the borraids in the border regions of Vardulia. With the plun- der began to slowly move southward and Asturian holdder he gained further military forces could be paid, en- ings in Castile, Galicia, and Len were fortied and an
abling him to raid the Muslim cities of Lisbon, Zamora, intensive program of re-population of the countryside beand Coimbra. Alfonso I also expanded his realm west- gan in those territories. In 924 the Kingdom of Asturias
became the Kingdom of Len, when Len became the
wards conquering Galicia.
seat of the royal court (it didn't bear any ocial name).
During the reign of King Alfonso II (791842), the kingdom was rmly established, and a series of Muslim raids
caused the transfer of Asturian capital to Oviedo. The 5.2 Kingdom of Navarre (8241620)
king is believed to have initiated diplomatic contacts with
the kings of Pamplona and the Carolingians, thereby gain- Main article: Kingdom of Navarre
ing ocial recognition for his kingdom and his crown The Kingdom of Pamplona was one of the important
from the Pope and Charlemagne.
Christian powers of Iberia during the Reconquista. The
There, the bones of St. James the Great were proclaimed kingdom was formed when local leader igo Arista led

NORTHERN CHRISTIAN REALMS

Alfonso III of Asturias repopulated the strategically important city Len and established it as his capital. From
his new capital, King Alfonso began a series of campaigns to establish control over all the lands north of
the Douro. He reorganized his territories into the major duchies (Galicia and Portugal) and major counties
(Saldaa and Castile), and fortied the borders with many
castles. At his death in 910 the shift in regional power
was completed as the kingdom became the Kingdom of
Len. From this power base, his heir Ordoo II was able
to organize attacks against Toledo and even Seville.

The Moors request permission from James I of Aragon

a revolt against the regional Frankish authority and was

elected or declared King in Pamplona (traditionally in
824), establishing a kingdom inextricably linked at this
stage to their kinsmen the muwallad Banu Qasi of Tudela.

The Caliphate of Crdoba was gaining power, and began

to attack Len. Navarre and king Ordoo allied against
Abd-al-Rahman but were defeated in Valdejunquera, in
920. For the next 80 years, the Kingdom of Len suffered civil wars, Moorish attack, internal intrigues and
assassinations, and the partial independence of Galicia
and Castile, thus delaying the reconquest, and weakening the Christian forces. It was not until the following
century that the Christians started to see their conquests
as part of a long-term eort to restore the unity of the
Visigothic kingdom.

The only point during this period when the situation became hopeful for Leon was the reign of Ramiro II. King
Ramiro, in alliance with Fernn Gonzlez of Castile and
his retinue of caballeros villanos, defeated the Caliph
in Simancas in 939. After this battle, when the Caliph
barely escaped with his guard and the rest of the army
was destroyed, King Ramiro obtained 12 years of peace,
but had to give Gonzlez the independence of Castile as
a payment for his help in the battle. After this defeat,
Throughout the early history of the Navarrese kingdom, Moorish attacks abated until Almanzor began his camthere were frequent skirmishes with the Carolingian Em- paigns.
pire, from which it maintained its independence, a key
feature of its history until 1513. The reign of Sancho the It was Alfonso V in 1002 who nally regained the control
Great not only expanded the Navarese territories when over his domains. Navarre, though attacked by Almanzor,
they absorbed Castile, Leon, and what was to be Aragon remained.
in addition to other small counties which would also unite
and become the Principality of Catalonia, but it also
helped form the Galician independence as well as getting 5.4 Kingdom of Aragon (10351706)
overlordship on Gascony.
Main article: Kingdom of Aragon
The conquest of Leon did not consume Galicia, as the
Leonese king retreated and was left to temporary independence. Galicia was conquered soon after (it was con- The Kingdom of Aragon was an oshoot of the Kingquered by Sanchos son Ferdinand around 1038). How- dom of Navarre. It was formed when Sancho III of
ever, this small period of independence meant that it was Navarre decided to divide his large realm among all his
fashioned as its own kingdom and the subsequent kings sons. Aragon was the portion of the realm which passed
named their titles as king of Galicia and Len, instead of to Ramiro I of Aragon, an illegitimate son of Sancho III.
merely king of Len, even though Galicia was never to be The kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre were several times
united in personal union until the death of Alfonso the
independent again.
Battler in 1135.
Although relatively weak up until the early 11th century under the Sancho III (10041035), Navarre took up
a more active Christian role after the accession to the
throne of the Jimenez lineage (905). The Kingdom of
Pamplona (after 12th century, Navarre), was a Christian
kingdom extending after the 13th century (and briey
in the early 11th century) at either side of the Pyrenees
alongside the Atlantic Ocean.

The Kingdom of Aragon eventually passed, by marriage,

to the Counts of Barcelona, who were vassals of the King
of France. The House of Barcelona eventually collected
Main articles: Kingdom of Len, Kingdom of Galicia a number of territories in the Mediterranean, known as
and County of Portugal
the Crown of Aragon. James I of Aragon, also known

5.3

Kingdom of Len (9101230)

5.6

Kingdom of Portugal (11391910)

as James the Conqueror, expanded Aragon to the north, 5.6 Kingdom of Portugal (11391910)
south and east. James also signed the Treaty of Corbeil
(1258), which released him from the nominal suzerainty Main article: Kingdom of Portugal
of the King of France.
In 1139, after an overwhelming victory in the Battle
Early in his reign, James the Conqueror attempted to
reunite the Aragonese and Navarrese crowns through a
treaty with the childless Sancho VII of Navarre. But the
Navarrese nobles rejected him, and chose the Theobald
IV of Champagne in his stead. It was his distant descendant, Ferdinand II of Aragon, who brought Aragon
to the height of its power through the conquest of Upper
Navarre (Navarre south of the Pyrenees) and Granada.

5.5

Kingdom of Castile (10371230)

Main article: Kingdom of Castile

Ferdinand I of Len was the leading king of the mid11th century. He conquered Coimbra and attacked the
taifa kingdoms, often demanding the tributes known as
parias. Ferdinands strategy was to continue to demand
parias until the taifa was greatly weakened both militarily and nancially. He also repopulated the Borders with
numerous fueros. Following the Navarrese tradition, on
his death in 1064 he divided his kingdom between his
sons. His son Sancho II of Castile wanted to reunite the
kingdom of his father and attacked his brothers, with a
young noble at his side: Rodrigo Daz (later known as
El Cid Campeador). Sancho was killed in the siege of
Zamora by the traitor Bellido Dolfos (also known as Vellido Adolfo) in 1072. His brother Alfonso VI took over
Len, Castile and Galicia.
Alfonso VI the Brave gave more power to the fueros and
repopulated Segovia, vila and Salamanca. Then, once
he had secured the Borders, King Alfonso conquered
the powerful Taifa kingdom of Toledo in 1085. Toledo,
which was the former capital of the Visigoths, was a
very important landmark, and the conquest made Alfonso
renowned throughout the Christian world. However, this
conquest was conducted rather gradually, and mostly
peacefully, during the course of several decades. It was
not until after sporadic and consistent population resettlements had taken place that Toledo was decisively conquered.

Statue of Gerald the Fearless. A Portuguese folk hero with the

head of a Moor

of Ourique against the Almoravids, Afonso Henriques

was proclaimed the rst King of Portugal by his troops.
According to the legend, Christ announced from heaven
Afonsos great deeds, whereby he would establish the rst
Portuguese Cortes at Lamego and be crowned by the
Archbishop of Braga. In the Treaty of Zamora in 1143,
Alfonso VII of Len and Castile recognized Portuguese
independence from the Kingdom of Len.
In 1147, Portugal captured Santarm, and seven months
later the city of Lisbon was also brought under Portuguese control after the Siege of Lisbon. By the papal
bull Manifestis Probatum, Pope Alexander III recognized
Afonso Henriques as King of Portugal in 1179.
With Portugal nally recognized as an independent kingdom by its neighbours, Afonso Henriques and his successors, aided by Crusaders and the military monastic orders the Knights Templar, the Order of Aviz or the Order
of Saint James, pushed the Moors to the Algarve on the
southern coast of Portugal. After several campaigns, the
Portuguese part in the Reconquista came to an end with
the denitive capture of the Algarve in 1249.

Alfonso VI was rst and foremost a tactful monarch who

chose to understand the kings of taifa and employed unprecedented diplomatic measures to attain political feats
before considering the use of force. He adopted the title
Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all Hispania",
referring to all the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian
Peninsula, and not just the modern country of Spain). Alfonsos more aggressive policy towards the Taifas worried With all of Portugal now under the control of Afonso III
the rulers of those kingdoms, who called on the African of Portugal, religious, cultural and ethnic groups became
Almoravids for help.
gradually homogenized.

10

CHRISTIAN REPOPULATION OF IBERIAN PENINSULA

Len, and Sancho VII, of Navarre, entered an alliance
with the Almohads and invaded Castile in 1196. By the
end of the year Sancho VII had dropped out of the war
under Papal pressure. Early in 1197, at the request of
Sancho I, King of Portugal, Pope Celestine III declared
a Crusade against Alfonso IX, and released his subjects
from their responsibilities to the king, declaring the men
of his realm shall be absolved from their delity and his
dominion by authority of the apostolic see.[20]
Together the Kings of Portugal, Castile, and Aragon invaded Len. In the face of this onslaught combined with
pressure from the Pope, Alfonso IX was nally forced to
sue for peace in October 1197.

Cross of the Order of Christ

In the late years of Al-Andalus, Castile had the might to

conquer the remains of the kingdom of Granada, but the
kings preferred to claim the tribute of the Muslim parias.
The trade of Granadan goods and the parias were a major
means by which African gold entered medieval Europe.

repopulation
of
After the completion of the Reconquista, the Portuguese 7 Christian
territory was a Roman Catholic realm. Nonetheless,
Iberian Peninsula
Denis of Portugal carried out a short war with Castile for
possession of the towns of Serpa and Moura. After this,
Medieval demography and
Denis avoided war; he signed the Treaty of Alcanizes with Further information:
Repoblacin
Ferdinand IV of Castile in 1297, establishing the presentday borders.
During the suppression of the Knights Templar all over The Reconquista was a process not only of war and conEurope, under the inuence of Philip IV of France and quest, but also repopulation. Christian kings took their
Pope Clement V requesting its annihilation by 1312, King own people to locations abandoned by Muslims, in orDenis reinstituted the Templars of Tomar as the Order der to have a population capable of defending the borof Christ in 1319. Denis believed that the Orders assets ders. The main repopulation areas were the Douro Basin
should by their nature stay in any given Order instead of (the northern plateau), the high Ebro valley (La Rioja)
being taken by the King, largely for the Templars contri- and central Catalonia.
bution to the Reconquista and the reconstruction of Por- The repopulation of the Douro Basin took place in two
tugal after the wars.
distinct phases. North of the river, between the 9th and
10th centuries, the pressure (or presura) system was
employed. South of the Douro, in the 10th and 11th centuries, the presura led to the charters (forais or fueros).
6 Christian In-ghting
Fueros were used even south of the Central Range.
Clashes and raids on bordering Andalusian lands did not
keep the Christian kingdoms from battling among themselves or allying with Muslim kings. Some Muslim kings
had Christian-born wives or mothers.
Also some Christian champions like El Cid were contracted by Taifa kings to ght against their neighbours.
Indeed, El Cid's rst battle experience was gained ghting
for a Muslim state against a Christian state, at the Battle
of Graus in 1063, where he and other Castilians fought
on the side of al-Muqtadir, Muslim sultan of Zaragoza,
against the forces of Ramiro I of Aragon. There is even
an instance of a Crusade being declared against another
Christian king in Iberia.[20]

The presura referred to a group of peasants who crossed

the mountains and settled in the abandoned lands of the
Douro Basin. Asturian laws promoted this system with
laws, for instance granting a peasant all the land he was
able to work and defend as his own property. Of course,
Asturian and Galician minor nobles and clergymen sent
their own expeditions with the peasants they maintained.
This led to very feudalised areas, such as Len and Portugal, whereas Castile, an arid land with vast plains and
harsh climate only attracted peasants with no hope in Biscay. As a consequence, Castile was governed by a single
count, but had a largely mostly non-feudal territory with
many free peasants. Presuras also appear in Catalonia,
when the count of Barcelona ordered the Bishop of Urgell
and the count of Gerona to repopulate the plains of Vic.

Following the disastrous defeat of Alfonso VIII, King of

Castile, at Alarcos, Kings Alfonso IX, of Kingdom of During the 10th century and onwards, cities and towns

8.2

Almoravids

11

gained more importance and power, as commerce reappeared and the population kept growing. Fueros were
charters documenting the privileges and usages given to
all the people repopulating a town. The fueros provided
a means of escape from the feudal system, as fueros were
only granted by the monarch. As a result, the town council was dependent on the monarch alone and had to help
their lord (auxilium). The military force of the towns became the caballeros villanos. The rst fuero was given by
count Fernn Gonzlez to the inhabitants of Castrojeriz
in the 940 s. The most important towns of medieval
Iberia had fueros or forais. In Navarre, fueros were the
main repopulating system. Later on, in the 12th century,
Aragon also employed the system; for example, the fuero
of Teruel, which was one of the last fueros, in the early
13th century.
From the mid-13th century on no more charters were
granted, as the demographic pressure had disappeared
and other means of re-population were created. Fueros
remained as city charters until the 18th century in
Aragon, Valencia and Catalonia and until the 19th century in Castile and Navarre. Fueros had an immense importance for those living under them, who were prepared
to go to war to defend their rights under the charter. In
the 1800s the abolition of the fueros in Navarre would be
one of the causes of the Carlist Wars. In Castile disputes The Battle of the Puig at El Puig de Santa Maria in 1237
over the system contributed to the war against Charles I
(Castilian War of the Communities).
wished-for independence. The result was many (up to
34) small kingdoms each centered upon their capital, and
the governors, not subscribing to any larger-scale vision
8 Muslim decline and defeat
of the Moorish presence, had no qualms about attacking
their neighbouring kingdoms whenever they could gain
8.1 Fall of the Caliphate
advantage by doing so.
The 9th century saw the Berbers return to Africa in the
aftermath of their revolts. During this period, many governors of large cities distant from the capital (Crdoba)
planned to establish their independence. Then, in 929 the
Emir of Crdoba (Abd-ar-Rahman III), the leader of the
Umayyad dynasty, declared himself Caliph, independent
from the Abbasids in Baghdad. He took all the military,
religious and political power and reorganised the army
and the bureaucracy.

This split into the taifa states caused Islamic presence

to be greatly weakened in the face of the strengthening
Christian kingdoms to the north when Alfonso VI brought
Toledo under his authority in 1085. Mortied by the
concept of being surrounded by the enemy, taifa rulers
sent a desperate appeal to the Berber chieftain Yusuf ibn
Tashn, leader of the Almoravids.

8.2 Almoravids

After regaining control over the dissident governors, Abdar-Rahman III tried to conquer the remaining Christian Main article: Almoravid dynasty
kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula, attacking them several
times and forcing them back beyond the Cantabric range.
The Almoravids were a Muslim militia, their ranks
Later Abd-ar-Rahmans grandson became a puppet in the mainly composed of Berber and African Moors, and unhands of the great Vizier Almanzor (al-Mansur, the vic- like the previous Muslim rulers, they were not so tolertorious). Almanzor waged several campaigns attack- ant towards Christians and Jews. Their armies entered
ing and sacking Burgos, Leon, Pamplona, Barcelona and the Iberian peninsula on several occasions (1086, 1088,
Santiago de Compostela before his death in 1002.
1093) and defeated King Alfonso at the Battle of SagraBetween Almanzors death and 1031, Al-Andalus suf- jas in 1086, but initially their purpose was to unite all the
fered many civil wars which ended in the appearance of Taifas into a single Almoravid Caliphate. Their actions
the Taifa Kingdoms. The taifas were small kingdoms, halted the southward expansion of the Christian kingestablished by the city governors establishing their long doms. Their only defeat came at Valencia in 1094, due to

12

CONVERSIONS AND EXPULSIONS

the actions of El Cid.

Meanwhile, Navarre lost all importance under King
Sancho IV, for he lost Rioja to Sancho II of Castile, and
nearly became the vassal of Aragon. At his death, the
Navarrese chose as their king Sancho Ramirez, King of
Aragon, who thus became Sancho V of Navarre and I
of Aragon. Sancho Ramrez gained international recognition for Aragon, uniting it with Navarre, expanding the
borders south, conquering Wasqat Huesca deep in the valleys in 1096 and building a fort, El Castellar, 25 km away
from Saraqustat Zaragoza.
Catalonia came under intense pressure from the taifas of
Zaragoza and Lrida, and also from internal disputes, as
Barcelona suered a dynastic crisis which led to open war
among the smaller counties; but by the 1080s, the situation calmed, and the dominion of Barcelona over the
smaller counties was restored.

8.3

Almohads

L
P

N
C

The Surrender of Granada by Francisco Pradilla Ortiz

Ferdinand and Isabella completed the Reconquista with a

war against the Emirate of Granada that started in 1482
and ended with Granadas surrender on January 2, 1492.
The Moors in Castile previously numbered half a million within the realm. By 1492 some 100,000 had died
or been enslaved, 200,000 had emigrated, and 200,000
remained in Castile. Many of the Muslim elite, including
Granadas former Emir Muhammad XII, who had been
given the area of the Alpujarras mountains as a principality, found life under Christian rule intolerable and emigrated to Tlemcen in North Africa.[21]

9 Conversions and expulsions

Main articles: Treaty of Granada (1491), Alhambra
decree and Expulsion of the Moriscos

Sevilla

ALMOHADS
Granada

1157

During the Islamic administration, Christians and Jews

were allowed to retain their religions by paying a tax
(jizya). Penalty for not paying it was imprisonment.

Extent of the Reconquista into Almohad territory as of 1157.

Main article: Almohad dynasty

After a brief period of disintegration (second Taifa period), the rising power in North Africa, the Almohads,
took over most of Al-Andalus. But they would be decisively defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
(1212) by a Christian coalition, losing almost all the remaining lands of Al-Andalus in the following decades.
By 1252 only the Kingdom of Granada remained as
sovereign Muslim state in the Iberian peninsula.

8.4

Granada War and the end of Muslim

rule in Iberia

Moros y cristianos celebrated in many towns and cities of Spain,

to commemorate the battles of Reconquista.

The new Christian hierarchy demanded heavy taxes from

Main articles: Granada War and Treaty of Granada non-Christians and gave them rights, such as in the Treaty
(1491)
of Granada (1491) only for Moors in recently Islamic
Granada. In July 30, 1492, all the Jewish community

13
some 200,000 people were forcibly expelled.[22] The
very next year the Alhambra decree under Archbishop
Hernando de Talavera (1492) dismissed the Treaty of
Granada and now the Muslim population of Granada was
forced to convert or be expelled. In 1502, Queen Isabella
I declared conversion to Catholicism compulsory within
the Kingdom of Castile. King Charles V did the same to
Moors in the Kingdom of Aragon in 1526, forcing conversions of its Muslim population during the Revolt of the
Germanies.[23] Many local ocials took advantage of the
situation to seize property.

9.1

the styles, food and agricultural practices learned

from the Moors, while they continued practicing
their Christianity with older forms of Catholic worship and their own versions of the Latin language.
The Marranos: Jewish conversos. Jews who either
voluntarily or compulsorily converted to Catholicism. Some were Crypto-Jews who continued practicing Judaism secretly. All remaining Jews were expelled from Spain in Treaty of Granada of 1492, and
from Portugal in 1497. Converso Jews often became
victims of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions.

Spanish Inquisition

Main article: Spanish Inquisition

The Mudjar : Muslims in Christian-held lands.

Moriscos: Muslim conversos. Muslims who were

compulsorily converted to Catholicism. A signifMost of the descendants of those Muslims who submiticant number were Crypto-Muslims who continted to conversion to Christianity rather than exile during
ued practicing Islam secretly. They ranged from
the early periods of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisisuccessful skilled artisans, valued and protected in
tion, the Moriscos, were later expelled from Spain after
Aragon, to impoverished peasants in Castile. Afserious social upheaval, when the Inquisition was at its
ter the Alhambra Decree the entire Islamic populaheight. The expulsions were carried out more severely
tion was forced to convert or leave, and at the beginin eastern Spain (Valencia and Aragon) due to local anining of the seventeenth century a signicant number
mosity towards Muslims and Moriscos where they were
were expelled in the Expulsion of the Moriscos.
seen as economic rivals by local workers who saw them
as cheap labor undermining their bargaining position with
the landlords. Exactions imposed on the Moriscos paved
the way to a major Morisco revolt happening in 1568, 11 Legacy
with the nal expulsion of the Moriscos from Castile taking place in 1609; they were driven from Aragon at about
See also: History of Spain, History of Portugal and
the same time.
Portugal in the period of discoveries
Making things more complex were the many former Muslims and Jews known as Moriscos, Marranos Conversos
who shared ancestors in common with many Christians, Real, legendary, and ctional episodes from the Reconespecially among the aristocracy, causing much concern quista are the subject of much of medieval Galicianover loyalty and attempts by the aristocracy to hide their Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan literature such as the
non-Christian ancestry. Those that the Spanish Inqui- cantar de gesta.
sition found to be secretly practicing Islam or Judaism Some noble genealogies show the close relations (alwere executed, imprisoned or expelled. Nevertheless all though not very numerous) between Muslims and Christhose deemed to be New Christians were perpetually tians. For example, Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir, whose
suspected of various crimes against the Spanish state in- rule is considered to have marked the peak of power
cluding continued practice of Islam or Judaism.
for Moorish Al-Andalus Iberia, married Abda, daughter
of Sancho Garcs II of Navarra, who bore him a son,
named Abd al-Rahman and commonly known in pejora10 Classications and later conse- tive sense as Sanchuelo (Little Sancho; in Arabic: Shanjoul).

quences

After his fathers death, Sanchuelo/Abd al-Rahman, as a

The many advances and retreats created several social son of a Christian princess, was a strong contender to take
over the ultimate power in Muslim al-Andalus. A huntypes:
dred years later, King Alfonso VI of Castile, considered
The Muladi: Christians under Islamic rule who con- among the greatest of the Medieval Spanish kings, designated as his heir his son (also a Sancho) by the refugee
verted to Islam after the arrival of the Moors.
Muslim princess Zaida of Seville.
The Mozarabs: Christians in Muslim-held lands. The Reconquista was a war with long periods of respite
Some of them migrated to the north of the penin- between the adversaries, partly for pragmatic reasons and
sula in times of persecution bringing elements of also due to inghting among the Christian kingdoms of

14

13 NOTES

the North spanning over seven centuries. Some populations practiced Islam or Christianity as their own religion during these centuries, so the identity of contenders
changed over time.

11.1

Recreations in modern Spain

Currently, the festivals of moros y cristianos (Castilian),

moros i cristians (Catalan), mouros e cristos (Portuguese)
and mouros e cristins (Galician), these meaning Moors
and Christians, recreate the ghts as colorful parades
with elaborate garments and lots of reworks, especially
on the central and southern towns of the Land of Valencia, like Alcoi, Ontinyent or Villena.

12

Timeline of major dates

Main article: Timeline of the Muslim presence in the

Iberian peninsula

1085: Landmark conquest of Toledo by Castilian

forces. Over half of Iberia conquered by Christianruled kingdoms.
1086: Almoravid defeated Castilian army and
halted its advance at Battle of Sagrajas.
1097: First Crusade; two-thirds of the Iberian
peninsula conquered by Christian-ruled kingdoms.
1118: Navarro-Aragonese troops capture the Muslim strongholds of Tudela and Zaragoza.
1147: Siege of Lisbon, where Second Crusade and
the Kingdom of Portugal defeat the Almoravids.
1195: The Battle of Alarcos establishes Almohad
authority in the south of the Iberia.
1212: The key battle of Navas de Tolosa heralds the
steady political decline of the Iberian Muslim kingdoms.
1236: Cdiz and the former capital of the caliphate
Crdoba are conquered by Castilian forces.

711: The invasion of Christian-ruled Iberia by ArabBerber armies of the Umayyad Caliphate begins.

1248: Christian armies under Ferdinand III of

Castile take Seville after 16 months of siege.

717: First Umayyad foray over the Pyrenees into

Visigothic Gaul.

1249: King Afonso III of Portugal takes Faro (in

the Algarve), ending the Portuguese Reconquista in
1249.[25]

719: Islamic Umayyad rule in Iberia at its widest,

covering almost all of the Iberian Peninsula and
across the Pyrenees in Narbonne.
718 or 722: Battle of Covadonga in the north-west
of Iberia, establishing a Christian principality in Asturias.
739 Berber garrison driven from Galicia.
742: Berber garrisons give up their positions north
of the Duero River to join the Berber rebellion.
759: Pepin the Short conquers the last Muslim
strongholds in present-day France.
801: The Carolingians led by Louis the Pious
conquer Barcelona, sack Lleida, and establish the
Spanish March.
809: The Carolingians fail to take and hold
Tarragona and Tortosa, retreating to their Ebro
marches.[24]:124
868: Conquest of the city of Porto, leading to the
establishment of the County of Portucale (Latin for
later Portugal).

1249: The Emirate of Granada remains the only

Muslim state in Iberia.
1300s and 1400s: Marinid Muslims seize control
of some towns on the southern coast but are soon
driven out, leaving only a few isolated towns in the
south of Granada still controlled by the Moors.
1492: Following the Treaty of Granada (25 November 1491), the Moors surrender the city, completing
the Reconquista.

13 Notes
[1] While spelled largely the same, the pronunciation differs among the dierent Iberian languages, mostly in accordance with the sound structures of the respective languages. The pronunciations are as follows:
Spanish: [rekokista]
Portuguese: [kkit]
Galician: [rekokista]
Asturian: [rekokista]

871: Capture of Coimbra by the Asturians, County

of Coimbra established.

Catalan: [rkukest] or [rekokesta], spelled Reconquesta. Colloquially also known and spelled as
Reconquista (pron. [rkukist] or [rekokista]).

914: Iberian Muslims briey retake Barcelona.

Basque: [erekokista], spelled Errekonkista

15

14

References

[1] O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (2003). Reconquest and Crusade

in Medieval Spain. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 19. ISBN 0812236963. Retrieved February
15, 2012.
[2] McKitterick, Rosamond; Collins, R. (1990). The New
Cambridge Medieval. History 1. Cambridge University
Press. p. 289. ISBN 9780521362924. Retrieved July 26,
2012.

[17] (quote from 'The making of medieval Spain'),

[18] T. D. Kendrick, Saint James in Spain, London, Methuen,
1960, no ISBN (predates system).
[19] Collins, Roger (1989). The Arab Conquest of Spain 710797. Oxford, UK / Cambridge, USA: Blackwell. p. 181.
ISBN 0-631-19405-3.
[20] Joseph O'Callaghan, Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval
Spain, (Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press
2003), 62.

[3] Mara Rosa Menocal, The Ornament of the World: How

Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain, Back Bay Books, 2003, ISBN
0316168718, and see Golden age of Jewish culture in
Spain.

[21] Kamen, Henry. Spain 1469 - 1714 A Society of Conict. Third edition. pp. 37-38

[4] O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (2003). Reconquest and Crusade

in Medieval Spain. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 18. ISBN 0812236963. Retrieved August
26, 2012.

[23] Censorship and Book Production in Spain During the Age

of the Incunabula, Ignacio Too-Quesada. Graduate
Center, CUNY.

[5] Kinoshita, Sharon (2001-01-31). ""Pagans are wrong and

Christians are right": Alterity, Gender, and Nation in the
Chanson de Roland". Duke University Press.
[6] DiVanna, Isabel N. (2010). Politicizing national literature: the scholarly debate around La Chanson de
Roland in the nineteenth century.
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[13] "Yo no entiendo cmo se puede llamar reconquista a una
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July 11, 2014.
[14] Fletcher, Richard (2006). Moorish Spain. Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 43. ISBN 0-52024840-6.
[15] Chris Lowney, A Vanished World: Muslims, Christians,
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[16] Roger Collins, Early Medieval Spain, (St.Martins Press,
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[22] Modern Jewish History: The Spanish Expulsion (1492)",

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[24] Collins, Roger (1990). The Basques (2nd ed.). Oxford,

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600_dpi_black_and_white_with_OCR

16

External links

Islamic Spain and the Reconquista - Atlas and Article

Forging a Unique Spanish Christian Identity: Santiago and El Cid in the Reconquista

EXTERNAL LINKS

17

17
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