Reconquista

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For other uses, see Reconquista (disambiguation).

A battle of the Reconquista from the Cantigas de Santa Maria

[show]

Reconquista

The Reconquista("reconquest")[a] is a period of approximately 781 years in the history of the Iberian
Peninsula, after the Islamic conquest in 711 to thefall of Granada, the last Islamic state on the
peninsula, in 1492. It comes before the discovery of the New World, and the period of
the Portuguese andSpanish colonial empires which followed.
Traditionally, historians mark the beginning of the Reconquista with theBattle 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.
Contents
[hide]

1 Concept and duration

2 Background
o 2.1 Islamic conquest of Christian Iberia
o 2.2 Islamic rule
o 2.3 Beginning of the Reconquista
o 2.4 Franks and Al-Andalus
2.4.1 Charles Martel
2.4.2 Pepin the Younger and Charlemagne

3 Military culture in medieval Iberia

o 3.1 Cavalry and Infantry
o 3.2 Technological changes
4 Expansion into the Crusades and military orders
5 Northern Christian realms
o 5.1 Kingdom of Asturias (718924)
o 5.2 Kingdom of Navarre (8241620)
o 5.3 Kingdom of Len (9101230)
o 5.4 Kingdom of Portugal (11391910)
o 5.5 Kingdom of Castile (10371230)
6 Christian In-fighting
7 Christian repopulation of the Iberian Peninsula
8 Muslim decline and defeat
o 8.1 Fall of the Caliphate
o 8.2 Almoravids
o 8.3 Almohads
o 8.4 Granada War and the end of Muslim rule in Iberia
9 Conversions and expulsions
o 9.1 Spanish Inquisition
10 Classifications and later consequences
11 Legacy
o 11.1 Recreations in modern Spain
12 Timeline of major dates
13 Notes
14 References
15 Bibliography
16 External links

Concept and duration[edit]

Nineteenth and much of twentieth-century Spanish and Portuguese historiography stressed the
existence of a continuous phenomenon by which the Christian Iberian kingdoms opposed and
conquered the Muslim kingdoms understood as a common enemy from the early eighth century to
the late fifteenth century.[1] However, the ideology of a Christian reconquest of the peninsula started
to take shape at the end 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.
However, Christian and Muslim rulers commonly became divided and fought amongst themselves.
Co-existence and alliances between Muslims and Christians were as prevalent as frontier skirmishes
and raids, especially in the earlier periods.[2] Blurring distinctions even further were the mercenaries
from both sides who simply fought for whoever paid the most.
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 Almoravidsand even to a greater degree, in the Almohads. In fact previous documents (10-11th
century) are mute on any idea of "reconquest".[3]Propaganda accounts of Muslim-Christian hostility
came into being to support that idea: most notably the Chanson de Roland, a highly mythical 12thcentury French re-creation of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass (778) dealing with the
Iberian Saracens and taught unquestioned in the French educational system as of 1880. [4][5]
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".[6][7][8][9][10][11] One of the first Spanish intellectuals to question the idea of a
"reconquest" that lasts for eight centuries was Jos Ortega y Gasset, writing in the first half of the
twentieth century.[12] However, the term is still used by professionals and laymen, to designate that
historical period.

Background[edit]
Islamic conquest of Christian Iberia[edit]
Further information: Umayyad conquest of Hispania and Battle of Guadalete
In 711, Muslim Moors, mainly North African Berber soldiers with someArabs, crossed the Strait of
Gibraltar and began their conquest of theVisigothic Kingdom of Hispania. After their conquest of the
Visigothic kingdom's 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.
At no point did the invading Islamic armies exceed 60,000 men. [13]These armies established an
Islamic rule that would last 300 years in much of the Iberian Peninsula and 781 years in Granada.

Islamic rule[edit]
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Main articles: Berbers and Islam and Berber Revolt
After the establishment of a local Emirate, Caliph Al-Walid I, ruler of theUmayyad caliphate, removed
many of the successful Muslim commanders. Tariq ibn Ziyad, the first governor of the newly
conquered province of Al-Andalus, was recalled to Damascus and replaced with Musa bin Nusair,
who had been his former superior. Musa's son, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, apparently
married Egilona, Roderic's widow, and established his regional government in Seville. He was
suspected of being under the influence of his wife, accused of wanting to convert to Christianity, and
of planning a secessionist rebellion. Apparently a concerned Al-Walid I ordered Abd al-Aziz's
assassination. Caliph Al-Walid I died in 715 and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd alMalik. Sulayman seems to have punished the surviving Musa bin Nusair, who very soon died during
a pilgrimage in 716. In the end Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa's cousin, Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi became
the emir of Al-Andalus.
The conquering generals were necessarily acting very independently, due to the methods of
communication available. Successful generals in the field and in a very distant province would also
gain the personal loyalty of their officers and warriors and their ambitions were probably always
watched by certain circles of the distant government with a certain degree of concern and suspicion.
Old rivalries and perhaps even full-fledged conspiracies between rival generals may have had
influence over this development. In the end, the old successful generals were replaced by a younger
generation considered more loyal by the government in Damascus.
A serious weakness amongst the Muslim conquerors was the ethnic tension
between Berbers and Arabs.[14] 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.[15] This latent internal conflict jeopardized
Muslim unity.
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 suffered a major defeat at

the Battle of Toulouseand 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 ofCerdanya (maybe of all current Catalonia
too), in an attempt to secure his southern borders in order to fend off Charles Martels attacks on the
north. However, a major punitive expedition led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, the latest emir of AlAndalus, defeated and killed Uthman, and the Muslim governor mustered an expedition north across
the western Pyrenees, looted areas 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 leftover
Aquitanian armies against and defeated the Umayyad armies at the Battle of Tours in 732, killing
Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi. Moorish rule began to recede, but it would remain in parts of the Iberian
peninsula for another 760 years.

Beginning of the Reconquista[edit]

Main article: Kingdom of Asturias
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2014)

The year 722 saw the first Asturian victory against the Muslims. A drastic increase of taxes by the
new emir Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbihad provoked several rebellions in Al-Andalus, which a series
of succeeding weak emirs was unable to suppress. Around 722, a military expedition was sent into
the north to suppress Pelayo's rebellion, but his forces prevailed in the Battle of Covadonga. In late
summer, a Muslim army overran much of Pelayo's territory, forcing him to retreat deep into the
mountains. Pelayo and a few hundred men retired into a narrow valley at Covadonga. There, they
could defend against a broad frontal attack. From here, Pelayo's forces routed the Muslim army,
inspiring local villagers to take up arms. Despite further attempts, the Muslims were unable to
conquer Pelayo's mountain stronghold. Pelayo's victory at Covadonga is hailed as the beginning of
the Reconquista.
This battle was considered by the Muslims as little more than a skirmish, since no Muslim source
mentions it, while the Battle of Toulouse (721), with a death toll of maybe tens of thousands, was
mourned for centuries as a large scale tragedy by the Iberian Muslims. However, for Pelayo, the
Christian victory secured his independent rule. The precise date and circumstances of this battle are
unclear. Among the possibilities is that Pelayo's rebellion was successful because the greater part of
the Muslim forces were gathering for an invasion of the Frankish empire.

Coat of arms of Alcanadre.La Rioja, Spain. Depictingheads of slain Moors

During the first decades, Asturian control over the different 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, Pelayo's daughter, was
married to Alfonso, Peter of Cantabria's son. Alphonse's children, Froila and Adosinda, married
Munia, a Basque from Alava, and Silo, a local chief from the area of Pravia, respectively." [16]
After Pelayo's death in 737, his sonFavila of Asturias was elected king. Favila, according to the
chronicles, was killed by a bear during a trial of courage.
Pelayo's dynasty in Asturias survived and gradually expanded the kingdom's 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.
It was not until Alfonso II that the kingdom was firmly established with Alfonso's recognition as king
of Asturias by Charlemagne and the Pope. During his reign, the bones of St. James the Great were
declared (falsely[17]) 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.
The two resistances, Basque Navarre and Cantabrian 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.

Franks and Al-Andalus[edit]

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
suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Toulouse (721).

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 Aquitainemarried 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 offCharles Martel's attacks on the north. However, a
major punitive expedition led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, the latest emir of Al-Andalus, defeated
and killed Uthman.
Charles Martel[edit]
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 leftover Aquitanian armies against
the Muslims and beat them at the Battle of Tours in 732, killing Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi.
In 737 Charles Martel led an expedition south down the Rhone Valley to assert his authority up to
the lands held by the Al-Andalus Umayyads. These had been called in by the regional nobility of
Provence in a military capacity, probably fearing Charles' expansionist ambitions. Charles went on to
attack the Umayyads in Septimania up to Narbonne, but he had to lift the siege of the city and make
his way back to Lyon and Francia (at the time north of the lower Loire) after subduing various
Umayyad strongholds, such as Arles, Avignon and Nmes, not without leaving behind a trail of ruined
towns and strongholds.
Pepin the Younger and Charlemagne[edit]
After expelling the Muslims from Narbonne in 759 and driving their forces back over the Pyrenees,
the Carolingian king Pepin the Short conquered Aquitaine in a ruthless eight-year war. Charlemagne
followed his father by subduing Aquitaine by creating counties, taking the Church as his ally and
appointing counts of Frankish or Burgundian stock, like his loyal William of Gellone,
making Toulouse his base for expeditions against Al-Andalus.
Charlemagne decided to organize a regional subkingdom in order to keep the Aquitanians in check
and to secure the southern border of theCarolingian Empire against Muslim incursions. In 781, his
three year-old son Louis was crowned king of Aquitaine, under the supervision of Charlemagne's
trustee William of Gellone, and was nominally in charge of the incipient Spanish March.
Meanwhile, the takeover of Al-Andalus by Abd ar-Rahman I in 756 was not unopposed. Certain local
Muslim wlis decided to oppose him, but instead of appealing to the distant Caliph, they 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-Arabi, Husayn, and Abu Taur at the Diet
of Paderborn in 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 offered their 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 Basque forces at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The Song of Roland, a
highly romanticized account of this battle, would later become one of the most famous chansons de
geste of the Middle Ages.
Around 788 Abd ar-Rahman I died, and was succeeded by Hisham I. In 792 Hisham proclaimed
a jihad, advancing in 793 against the Kingdom of Asturias and the Franks. In the end his efforts were
turned back byWilliam of Gellone, Count of Toulouse.
Barcelona, a major city, became a potential target for the 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 years until the
city finally capitulated on December 28, 801.
The main passes were Roncesvalles, Somport and Junquera. Charlemagne established across
them the vassal regions of Pamplona,Aragon and Catalonia (which was itself formed from a number
of small counties, Pallars, Girona, and Urgell being the most prominent) respectively.
Four small realms pledged allegiance to Charlemagne at the start of the 9th century (not for
long): Pamplona (to become Navarre) and the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza.
Pamplona's first king wasIigo Arista, who allying with his Muslim kinsmen the Banu Qasi rebelled
against Frankish overlordship, and overcame a Frankish expedition in 824 that led to the setup of
the Kingdom of Pamplona. It was not untilQueen Ximena in the 9th century that Pamplona was
officially recognised as an independent kingdom by the Pope. Aragon, founded in 809 by Aznar
Galndez, grew around Jaca and the high valleys of theAragon River, protecting the old Roman road.
By the end of the 10th century, Aragon was annexed by Navarre. Sobrarbe and Ribagorza were
small counties and had little significance to the progress of theReconquista.
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 andAndorra but also some which were on the northern side of the mountains, such
as Perpignan and Foix.
In the late 9th century under Count Wilfred, Barcelona became the de facto capital of the region. It
controlled the other counties' policies in a union, which led in 948 to the independence of Barcelona
under Count Borrel II, who declared that the new dynasty in France (the Capets) were not the
legitimate rulers of France nor, as a result, of his county.
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[edit]

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Forces of Muhammed IX, Nasrid Sultan of Granada, at the Battle of La Higueruela, 1431

In a situation of constant conflict, warfare and daily life were strongly interlinked during this period.
Small, lightly equipped armies reflected 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.
In the context of the relative isolation of the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe, and the
contact with Moorish culture, geographical and cultural differences implied the use of military
strategies, tactics and equipment that were markedly different from those found in the rest of
western Europe during this period.
Medieval Iberian armies mainly comprised two types of forces: the cavalry (mostly nobles, but
including commoner knights from 10th century on) and the infantry, or peones (peasants). Infantry
only went to war if needed, which was not common.

Cavalry and Infantry[edit]

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
sufficiently weakened, the knights charged with thrusting spears (lancesdid 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 Gothicpredecessorsbraceplate, kite
shield, a long sword (designed to fight 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 afford 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 (influenced by
Moorish shields), as well as a sword.
The peones were peasants who went to battle in service of their feudallord. 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.
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 ofchain mail were extremely rare
and horse barding completely unknown. Head protections consisted of a round helmet with nose
protector (influenced 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 out of wood and had a leather cover.
Steel swords were the most common weapon. The cavalry used long double-edged swords and the
infantry short, single-edged ones. Guards were either semicircular or straight, but always highly
ornamented with geometrical 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.
Finally, mercenaries were an important factor, as many kings did not have enough soldiers available.
The Norsemen, the Flemish spearmen, the Frankish knights, the Moorish mounted archers and
Berber light cavalry were the main types of mercenary available and used in the conflict.

Technological changes[edit]
This style of warfare remained dominant in the Iberian Peninsula until the late 11th century, when
couched lance tactics entered from France, although the traditional horse javelin-shot techniques
continued to be used. In the 12th and 13th centuries, soldiers typically carried a sword, a lance, a
javelin, and either bow and arrows or crossbow and darts/bolts. Armor consisted of a coat of mail
over a quilted jacket, extending at least to the knees, a helmet or iron cap, and bracers protecting
the arms and thighs, either metal or leather.
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 family's coat of arms. Knights rode in both the
Muslim style, a la jineta (i.e. the equivalent of a modern jockey's 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 fitted with a coat of mail as
well.

Expansion into the Crusades and military orders[edit]

In the High Middle Ages, the fight against the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula became linked to the
fight 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 justified war of liberation (see the
Augustinian concept of a Just War). The papacyand the influential Abbey of Cluny in Burgundy not
only justified the acts of war but actively encouraged Christian knights to seek armed confrontation
with Moorish "infidels" instead of with each other.

From the 11th century onwards indulgences were granted: In 1064Pope Alexander II allegedly
promised the participants of an expedition against Barbastro (Tagr 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 (102433) are all known to have displayed
substantial interest in the region.
Neither is there evidence to support the contention that the Cluniacs publicised the letter throughout
Europe. It was addressed to the clero Vulturnensi. The name has 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 Council of
Clermont did the Reconquista amalgamate the conflicting concepts of a peaceful pilgrimage and
armed knight-errantry.
But the papacy left no doubt about the heavenly reward for knights fighting for Christ (militia Christi):
in a letter, Urban II tried to persuade the reconquistadores fighting at Tarragona to stay in the
Peninsula rather than joining the armed pilgrimage to conquer Jerusalem, saying that their
contribution for Christianity was equally important. The pope promised them the same indulgences
that he had promised to those who chose to join the First Crusade.
Later military orders like the Order of Santiago, Montesa, Order of Calatrava and the Knights
Templar were founded or called to fight 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
thelatifundia in today's Andalusia and Extremadura, in Spain, and Alentejo, in Portugal.

Northern Christian realms[edit]

The Islamic Almohad dynasty and surrounding states, including the Christian Kingdoms
of Portugal, Len,Castile, Navarre, and Crown of Aragonc. 1200.

Kingdom of Asturias (718924)[edit]

Main article: Kingdom of Asturias
See also: Duchy of Cantabria
The Kingdom of Asturias was located in the Cantabrian Mountains, a wet and mountainous region in
the north of the Iberian Peninsula.
By the end of the 15th century there was a myriad of autonomous Christian kingdoms and
principalities. The first Christian power was Asturias. The kingdom was established by a
nobleman,Pelagius (Pelayo), who possibly had 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, Pelayo's kingdom initially was little more than a gathering point for the existing
guerrilla forces.
During the first decades, the Asturian dominion over the different 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, Pelayo's daughter, was
married to Alfonso, Dux Peter of Cantabria's son. Alfonso's son Fruela married Munia, a Basque
from lava, after crushing a Basque uprising (probably resistance). Their son is reported to
be Alfonso II, while Alfonso I's daughter Adosinda married Silo, a local chief from the area of
Flavionavia, Pravia.
Alfonso's military strategy was typical of Iberian warfare at the time. Lacking the means needed for
wholesale conquest of large territories, his tactics consisted of raids in the border regions of Vardulia.
With the plunder he gained further military forces could be paid, enabling him to raid the Muslim
cities of Lisbon, Zamora, and Coimbra. Alfonso I also expanded his realm westwards
conquering Galicia.
During the reign of King Alfonso II (791842), the kingdom was firmly established, and a series of
Muslim raids caused the transfer of Asturian capital to Oviedo. The king is believed to have initiated
diplomatic contacts with the kings of Pamplona and the Carolingians, thereby gaining official
recognition for his kingdom and his crown from the Popeand Charlemagne.
There, the bones of St. James the Great were proclaimed 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 field"), 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.
Santiago's were just one of the many saint relics proclaimed to have been found across northwestern Iberia. Pilgrims started to flow 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.

Santiago the Moor-slayer

Despite numerous battles, neither the Umayyads nor the Asturians had sufficient forces to secure
control over these northern territories. Under the reign of Ramiro, famed for the highly
legendary Battle of Clavijo, the border began to slowly move southward and Asturian holdings

in Castile, Galicia, and Len were fortified and an intensive program of re-population of the
countryside began in those territories. In 924 the Kingdom of Asturias became the Kingdom of Len,
when Len became the seat of the royal court (it didn't bear any official name).

Kingdom of Navarre (8241620)[edit]

Main article: Kingdom of Navarre

The Moors request permission fromJames I of Aragon

The Kingdom of Pamplona was one of the important Christian powers of Iberia during the
Reconquista. The kingdom was formed when local leader igo Arista led 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 muwalladBanu Qasi of
Tudela.
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 briefly in the early 11th century) at either side of the Pyrenees alongside the
Atlantic Ocean.
Throughout the early history of the Navarrese kingdom, there were frequent skirmishes with the
Carolingian Empire, from which it maintained its independence, a key feature of its history until 1513.
The reign of Sancho the Great not only expanded the Navarese territories when they absorbed
Castile, Leon, and what was to be Aragon 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 overlordship on Gascony.
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 conquered by Sancho's son
Ferdinand around 1038). However, this small period of independence meant that it was fashioned as
its own kingdom and the subsequent kings named their titles as king of Galicia and Len, instead of
merely king of Len, even though Galicia was never to be independent again.

Kingdom of Len (9101230)[edit]

Main articles: Kingdom of Len, Kingdom of Galicia and County of Portugal
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 fortified 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 Caliphate of Crdoba was gaining power, and began to attack Len. Navarre and king Ordoo
allied against Abd-al-Rahman but weredefeated 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 effort 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, Moorish attacks abated until Almanzor began his campaigns.
It was Alfonso V in 1002 who finally regained the control over his domains. Navarre, though attacked
by Almanzor, remained.

Kingdom of Portugal (11391910)[edit]

Main article: Kingdom of Portugal
This section
requires expansion.(July 2012)

Statue of Gerald the Fearless. A Portuguese folk hero with the head of a Moor

In 1139, after an overwhelming victory in the Battle of Ourique against theAlmoravids, Afonso
Henriques was proclaimed the first King of Portugal by his troops. According to the legend, Christ
announced from heaven Afonso's great deeds, whereby he would establish the first 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 bullManifestis Probatum, Pope
Alexander III recognized Afonso Henriques as King of Portugal in 1179.
With Portugal finally recognized as an independent kingdom by its neighbours, Afonso
Henriques and his successors, aided by Crusadersand the military monastic orders the Knights
Templar, the Order of Avizor 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 definitive capture of the Algarve in 1249.

With all of Portugal now under the control of Afonso III of Portugal, religious, cultural and ethnic
groups became gradually homogenized.

Cross of the Order of Christ

After the completion of the Reconquista, the Portuguese territory was a Roman Catholic realm.
Nonetheless, Denis of Portugal carried out a short war with Castile for possession of the towns
of Serpa and Moura. After this, Denis avoided war; he signed the Treaty of Alcanizes withFerdinand
IV of Castile in 1297, establishing the present-day borders.
During the suppression of the Knights Templar all over Europe, under the influence of Philip IV of
France and Pope Clement V requesting its annihilation by 1312, King Denis reinstituted the
Templars of Tomar as the Order of Christ in 1319. Denis believed that the Order's assets should by
their nature stay in any given Order instead of being taken by the King, largely for the Templars'
contribution to the Reconquista and the reconstruction of Portugal after the wars.

Kingdom of Castile (10371230)[edit]

Main article: Kingdom of Castile
Ferdinand I of Len was the leading king of the mid-11th century. He conquered Coimbra and
attacked the taifa kingdoms, often demanding the tributes known as parias. Ferdinand's strategy was
to continue to demand parias until the taifa was greatly weakened both militarily and financially. 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 traitorBellido
Dolfos (also known as Vellido Adolfo) in 1072. His brotherAlfonso VI took over Len, Castile and
Galicia.
Alfonso VI the Brave gave more power to the fueros and repopulatedSegovia, 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.
Alfonso VI was first 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). Alfonso's
more aggressive policy towards the Taifas worried the rulers of those kingdoms, who called on the
African Almoravids for help.

Christian In-fighting[edit]
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 Taifakings to fight against their
neighbours. Indeed, El Cid's first battle experience was gained fighting 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 alMuqtadir, 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. [18]
Following the disastrous defeat of Alfonso VIII, King of Castile, atAlarcos, Kings Alfonso IX,
of Kingdom of Len, and Sancho VII, ofNavarre, 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 fidelity and his dominion by authority of the apostolic
see."[18]
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 finally forced to sue for peace in October
1197.
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.

Christian repopulation of the Iberian Peninsula[edit]

Further information: Medieval demography and Repoblacin
The Reconquista was a process not only of war and conquest, but alsorepopulation. Christian kings
took their own people to locations abandoned by Muslims, in order to have a population capable of
defending the borders. The main repopulation areas were the DouroBasin (the northern plateau), the
high Ebro valley (La Rioja) and centralCatalonia.
The repopulation of the Douro Basin took place in two 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).Fueros were used
even south of the Central Range.
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 freepeasants. 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.
During the 10th century and onwards, cities and towns 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 first 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 fueroof 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 over the system contributed to
the war against Charles I (Castilian War of the Communities).

Muslim decline and defeat[edit]

Fall of the Caliphate[edit]
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 theAbbasids in Baghdad. He took all the military,
religious and political power and reorganised the army and the bureaucracy.
After regaining control over the dissident governors, Abd-ar-Rahman III tried to conquer the
remaining Christian kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula, attacking them several times and forcing
them back beyond the Cantabric range.

The Battle of the Puig at El Puig de Santa Maria in 1237

Later Abd-ar-Rahman's grandson became a puppet in the hands of the great VizierAlmanzor (alMansur, "the victorious"). Almanzor waged several campaigns attacking and sacking Burgos, Leon,
Pamplona, Barcelona andSantiago de Compostela before his death in 1002.
Between Almanzor's death and 1031, Al-Andalus suffered many civil wars which ended in the
appearance of the Taifa Kingdoms. The taifas were small kingdoms, established by the city

governors establishing their long 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 of the Moorish presence, had no qualms about attacking their neighbouring kingdoms
whenever they could gain advantage by doing so.
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. Mortified by the concept of being surrounded by the enemy, taifa rulers sent a desperate
appeal to the Berber chieftain Yusuf b. Tashufin, leader of the Almoravids.

Almoravids[edit]
Main article: Almoravid dynasty
The Almoravids were a Muslim militia, their ranks mainly composed of Berber and African Moors,
and unlike the previous Muslim rulers, they were not so tolerant towards Christians and Jews. Their
armies entered the Iberian peninsula on several occasions (1086, 1088, 1093) and defeated King
Alfonso at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086, but initially their purpose was to unite all the Taifas into a
single Almoravid Caliphate. Their actions halted the southward expansion of the Christian kingdoms.
Their only defeat came at Valencia in 1094, due to 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 WasqatHuesca 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 andLrida, and also from
internal disputes, as Barcelona suffered 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.

Almohads[edit]

Extent of the Reconquista into Almohad territory as of 1157.

Main article: Almohad dynasty

After a brief period of disintegration (second Taifaperiod), 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 AlAndalus in the following decades. By 1252 only the Kingdom of Granada remained as sovereign
Muslim state in the Iberian peninsula.

Granada War and the end of Muslim rule in Iberia [edit]

The Surrender of Granada byFrancisco Pradilla Ortiz

Main articles: Granada Warand Treaty of Granada (1491)

Ferdinand and Isabellacompleted the Reconquista with a war against the Emirate of Granada that
started in 1482 and ended with Granada's 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 Granada's former Emir Muhammad XII, who had been given the area of
the Alpujarrasmountains as a principality, found life under Christian rule intolerable and emigrated
to Tlemcen in North Africa.[19]

Conversions and expulsions[edit]

Main articles: Treaty of Granada (1491), Alhambra decree andExpulsion of the Moriscos
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.

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 non-Christians and gave them rights, such
as in the Treaty of Granada (1491) only for Moors in recently Islamic Granada. In July 30, 1492, all
the Jewish community some 200,000 people were forcibly expelled.[20] The very next year
the Alhambra decree underArchbishop 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.[21] Many local officials took advantage of the
situation to seize property.

Spanish Inquisition[edit]
Main article: Spanish Inquisition
Most of the descendants of those Muslims who submitted to conversion to Christianity rather than
exile during the early periods of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition, the Moriscos, were
later expelled from Spain after serious social upheaval, when the Inquisition was at its height. The

expulsions were carried out more severely in eastern Spain (Valencia and Aragon) due to local
animosity towards Muslims and Moriscos where they were 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, with the
final expulsion of the Moriscos from Castile taking place in 1609; they were driven fromAragon at
about the same time.
Making things more complex were the many former Muslims and Jews known
as Moriscos, Marranos Conversos who shared ancestors in common with many Christians,
especially among the aristocracy, causing much concern over loyalty and attempts by the
aristocracy to hide their non-Christian ancestry. Those that the Spanish Inquisitionfound to be
secretly practicing Islam or Judaism were executed, imprisoned or expelled. Those descended from
Muslims or Jews practicing at the time of the Reconquista's close were perpetually suspected of
various crimes against the Spanish state including continued practice of Islam or Judaism, and any
survivors were finally all expelled.

Classifications and later consequences[edit]

The many advances and retreats created several social types:

The Muladi: Christians under Islamic rule who converted to Islam after
the arrival of the Moors.

The Mozarabs: Christians in Muslim-held lands. Some of them

migrated to the north of the peninsula in times of persecution bringing
elements of 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.

The Mudjar : Muslims in Christian-held lands.

Moriscos: Muslim conversos. Muslims who were compulsorily
converted to Catholicism. Most were Crypto-Muslims who continued
practicing Islam secretly. They ranged from successful skilled artisans,
valued and protected in Aragon, to impoverished peasants in Castile.
After the Alhambra Decree the entire Islamic population was forced to
convert or leave, and within a century most were expelled.

Legacy[edit]
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See also: History of Spain, History of Portugal and Portugal in the period of discoveries
Real, legendary, and fictional episodes from theReconquista are the subject of much of
medieval Galician-Portuguese, Spanish, andCatalan literature such as the cantar de gesta.
Some noble genealogiesshow the close relations (although not very numerous) between Muslims
and Christians. For example, Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir, whose rule is considered to have marked the
peak of power for Moorish Al-AndalusIberia, married Abda, daughter of Sancho Garcs II of Navarra,
who bore him a son, named Abd al-Rahman and commonly known in pejorative sense
asSanchuelo (Little Sancho; in Arabic: Shanjoul).
After his father's death, Sanchuelo/Abd al-Rahman, as a son of a Christian princess, was a strong
contender to take over the ultimate power in Muslim al-Andalus. A hundred years later, KingAlfonso
VI of Castile, considered among the greatest of the Medieval Spanish kings, designated as his heir
his son (also a Sancho) by the refugeeMuslim princess Zaida of Seville.
The Reconquista was a war with long periods of respite between the adversaries, partly for
pragmatic reasons and also due to infighting among the Christian kingdoms of 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.

Recreations in modern Spain[edit]

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 fights as colorful parades with elaborate garments and lots of fireworks, especially on
the central and southern towns of the Land of Valencia, like Alcoi, Ontinyent or Villena.

Timeline of major dates[edit]

Main article: Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula

Notes[edit]

711: The invasion of Christian ruled Iberia by Arab-Berber armies of

the Umayyad Caliphate begins.
717: First Umayyad foray over the Pyrenees into Visigothic Gaul.
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.[citation needed]
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 presentday 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.[22]:124
868: Conquest of the city of Porto, leading to the establishment of
the County of Portucale (Latin for later Portugal).
871: Capture of Coimbra by the Asturians, County of
Coimbraestablished.
914: Iberian Muslims briefly retake Barcelona.
1085: Landmark conquest of Toledo by Castilian forces. Over half of
Iberia conquered by Christian-ruled kingdoms.
1097: First Crusade; two-thirds of the Iberian peninsula conquered by
Christian-ruled kingdoms.
1118: Navarro-Aragonese troops capture the Muslim strongholds
ofTudela 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: Cadiz and the former capital of the caliphate Crdoba are
conquered by Castilian forces.
1249: King Afonso III of Portugal takes Faro (in the Algarve), ending
the Portuguese Reconquista in 1249.[23]
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.

1.

Jump up^ While spelled largely the same, the pronunciation differs
among the different 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]
Catalan: [rkukest] or [rekokesta], spelled Reconquesta.
Colloquially also known and spelled
as Reconquista (pron. [rkukist] or [rekokista]).
Basque: [erekokista], spelled Errekonkista

References[edit]
This article includes a list of references, butits
sources remain unclear because it
has insufficient inline citations. Please help
to improve this article by introducingmore
precise citations. (January 2009)
1.

Jump up^ 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.

^ Jump up to:a b McKitterick, Rosamond; Collins, R. (1990). The New

Cambridge Medieval. History 1

. Cambridge University Press. p. 289.ISBN 9780521362924.

Retrieved July 26, 2012.

3.

Jump up^ O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (2003). Reconquest and Crusade in

Medieval Spain

. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 18.ISBN 0812236963.

Retrieved August 26, 2012.

4.

Jump up^ Kinoshita, Sharon (2001-01-31). ""Pagans are wrong and

Christians are right": Alterity, Gender, and Nation in the Chanson de
Roland"

. Duke University Press. Retrieved 12 February 2013.

5.

Jump up^ DiVanna, Isabel N. (2010). "Politicizing national literature: the

scholarly debate around La Chanson de Roland in the nineteenth
century".Historical research (Institute of Historical Research) 84 (223):
26.doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.2009.00540.x

6.

Jump up^ "La reconquista es un

mito"http://www.diariodeburgos.es/noticia/ZD86B418D-DD64-54008FBA1220E9A23524/20131102/reconquista/es/mito

7.

Jump up^ "Los inicios de la Reconquista, Derribando el

Mito"http://www.celtiberia.net/articulo.asp?id=806

8.

Jump up^ "La santina burgalesa y el mito de la

reconquista,"http://www.museodeburgos.com/index.php?option=com_co
ntent&task=view&id=179&Itemid=121

9.

Jump up^ "La Reconquista: un estado de la

cuestin", https://www.durangoudala.net/portalDurango/RecursosWeb/DOCUMENTOS/1/2_1945_6.pdf

10. Jump up^ Eugnia de Pags, "La 'Reconquista', all que mai no va
existir", La Lamentable, July 11, 2014, http://lamentable.org/lareconquista-allo-que-mai-no-va-existir/

11. Jump up^ Martn M. Ros Saloma, "La Reconquista. Gnesis de un mito
historiogrfico", Historia y Grafa, 30, 2008, pp. 191216,http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/589/58922939009.pdf

, retrieved 10-12-2014.
12. Jump up^ "Yo no entiendo cmo se puede llamar reconquista a una
cosa que dura ocho siglos" ("I don't understand how something that
lasted eight centuries can be called a reconquest"), in Espaa
invertebrada. Quoted by De Pags, E. July 11, 2014.
13. Jump up^ Fletcher, Richard (2006). Moorish Spain. Los Angeles:
University of California Press. p. 43. ISBN 0-520-24840-6.

14. Jump up^ Chris Lowney, A Vanished World: Muslims, Christians, and
Jews in Medieval Spain, (Oxford University Press, 2005), 40.
15. Jump up^ Roger Collins, Early Medieval Spain, (St.Martin's Press, 1995),
164.
16. Jump up^ (quote from 'The making of medieval Spain'),
17. Jump up^ T. D. Kendrick, Saint James in Spain, London, Methuen, 1960,
no ISBN (predates system).
18. ^ Jump up to:a b Joseph O'Callaghan, Reconquest and Crusade in
Medieval Spain, (Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press 2003), 62.
19. Jump up^ Kamen, Henry. "Spain 1469 - 1714 A Society of Conflict."
Third edition. pp. 37-38

20. Jump up^ "Modern Jewish History: The Spanish Expulsion (1492)"

, The Jewish Virtual Library.

21. Jump up^ Censorship and Book Production in Spain During the Age of
the Incunabula

, Ignacio Tofio-Quesada. Graduate Center, CUNY.

22. Jump up^ Collins, Roger (1990). The Basques (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK:
Basil Blackwell. p. 104. ISBN 0631175652.
23. Jump up^ Setton, Kenneth Meyer, A History of the Crusades: The
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, (University of Wisconsin Press,
1976), 432.

Bibliography[edit]

Bishko, Charles Julian, 1975. The Spanish and Portuguese

Reconquest, 10951492 in A History of the Crusades, vol. 3: The
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard,
(University of Wisconsin Press) online edition

Fletcher, R. A. "Reconquest and Crusade in Spain c. 1050-1150",

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 37, 1987. pp.
Garca Fitz, Francisco, Guerra y relaciones polticas. Castilla-Len y
los musulmanes, ss. XI-XIII, Universidad de Sevilla, 2002.
Garca Fitz, Francisco & Feliciano Novoa Portela Cruzados en la
Reconquista, Madrid, 2014.
Lomax, Derek William: The Reconquest of Spain. Longman, London
1978. ISBN 0-582-50209-8
Nicolle, David and Angus McBride. El Cid and the Reconquista 10501492 (Men-At-Arms, No 200) (1988), focus on soldiers
OCallaghan, Joseph F.: Reconquest and crusade in Medieval
Spain(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002), ISBN 0-8122-3696-3

O'Callaghan, Joseph F. The Last Crusade in the West: Castile and the
Conquest of Granada (University of Pennsylvania Press; 2014) 364
pages;
Payne, Stanley, "The Emergence of Portugal

", in A History of Spain and Portugal: Volume One.

Reuter, Timothy; Allmand, Christopher; Luscombe, David;McKitterick,

Rosamond (eds.), " The New Cambridge Medieval History",
Cambridge University Press, Sep 14, 1995, ISBN 0-521-36291-1.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan, The Atlas of the Crusades. Facts On File,
Oxford (1991)
Watt, W. Montgomery: A History of Islamic Spain. Edinburgh
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Watt, W. Montgomery: The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe.
(Edinburgh 1972).
Villegas-Aristizabal, Lucas, 2013, "Revisiting the Anglo-Norman
Crusaders Failed Attempt to Conquer Lisbon c. 1142, Portuguese
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Villegas-Aristizabal, Lucas, 2009, "Anglo-Norman Involvement in the

Conquest and Settlement of Tortosa, 1148-1180", Crusades 8,
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Crusades_8_2009_600_dpi_black_and_white_with_OCR

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