Reconquista

717 to 1492

Christian Kingdoms of Spain — versus — Moslem Moors

Introduction : 

Boabdil surrenders Granada to Isabella and Ferdinand

The Moorish Empire was firmly established on the Hispanic Peninsula in 711 after the Battle of Guadalete. The conquering Mohammedan armies vanquished the Visigoth kingdom in a stroke, and quickly over-ran much of the Iberian Peninsula. Their expansion was not permanently checked until they contended with the Frankish kingdom north of the Pyrenees, twenty years hence. By that time, the Moors controlled all of the Iberian Peninsula outside of the mountainous Christian Kingdom of Asturia in the Northwest. The subsequent wars fought between Christian and Moslem powers on the Iberian Peninsula, over the next 750 years are often collectively referred to as the Reconquista, because the general trend over time was for the Christian kingdoms that originated in Asturia to gain territory from the Moslem Moors. But it took the Christians nearly 8 centuries to regain the region they had lost in one blow, and very few significant gains in territory were made until the 11th century.

The Wars of the Reconquista are relatively difficult to follow for those unfamiliar with Spanish history. They occurred intermittantly and were complicated by civil wars within both the Christian and Moslem kingdoms, so many of the battles were regional conflicts rather than part of a united Christian or Moslem front. There were Moslems subjects living in Christian domains and Christian subjects living in Moslem domains; treachery and politicking abounded, and independent Christian princes sometimes allied themselves with Moors against their Christian enemies, and visa versa. The battles considered here are primarily those between Christian and Moorish powers. Civil wars within the Christian and Moorish kingdoms that occurred contemporaneously are dealt with elsewhere.

The region under Moorish control on the Iberian Peninsula was referred to as Andalusia, and within a few years of the Moslem conquest it included all of Spain except the Northwesternmost corner. In 756 a new Emirate was formed, independent of the Caliph of Baghdad and Cordova was maintained as the Moorish capital. This city became a center for Moorish civilization and commerce, and for much of the ninth and tenth centuries, it was one of the most prosperous and cultured cities in Europe. It remained the Moslem capital until the early 11th century when Caliphate of Cordova collapsed entirely and the Moorish empire broke up into independent kingdoms. Soon afterward two empires arose and fell in Moslem North Africa (the Almoravids, and the Almohads), and their leaders attempted to gain control of the Moorish kingdoms in Iberia. These Berber princes held court in Seville for much of the 12th and 13th centuries, but never consolidated all of the Moslem kingdoms under their control. They spent much of their time fighting with Christian kingdoms to the north, and also with rival Moslem kingdoms. During these centuries the Christians made great gains against the divided Moors, and when Seville finally fell in 1248, the moslem kingdom of Granada, which had already been established as a vassal state of Castile became the last remaining Moslem stronghold. Granada continued to thrive for over two centuries before the last of the Moorish kingdoms was driven from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492 by Isabella and Ferdinand.

Early Conflicts : 717 to 778

Baronial castle in old Castile.

When the Moslems over-ran Spain in the early 8th century, a band of Christians, led by a Visigoth prince, took refuge in the mountain fastnesses of Northern Spain. In about 717, the Moors made an attempt to drive them out, but were soundly defeated, and chose to allow them to remain unmolested. This historic battle at the Cave of Covadonga, is probably more properly considered as part of the Moorish Conquest of Spain that of the Reconquista—except for the fact that it was a Christian victory, and assured the survival of a sovereign Christian realm within Hispania. It is therefore often considered the first battle of the Reconquista even though almost all serious contention between the Christian kingdoms of Spain and the Moorish powers was delayed for at least 200 years.

It was the Frankish kingdom in Gaul, rather than the isolated and overwhelmed Christians of northern Spain, that opposed the Moorish expansion over the Pyrenees. Even after their decisive victory over the Moors at Tours in 732, the Franks continued to fight the Mohammedans, particularly over the coastal region of Catalonia. In 778 however, the Franks, under the command of the great Christian warrior Charlemagne, withdrew all of their forces from Spain due to conflicts in Saxony. During their retreat over the pass of Roncevalles the rear guard was attacked, and this formed the basis of the legend of the "Death of Roland". With the retreat of the Franks, the king of Asturia was officially recognized by the Pope as a sovererign Christian kingdom within Spain. From this beginning, the kingdoms of Leon and Castile, which were to eventually reconquer all of Spain and Portugal for Christiandom, eventually emerged.

Wars of Cordova : 756 to 1031

Spoils from the capture of Leon

The Moorish kingdom of Cordova was founded in 756 by Abderrahman I, a prince of the Umayyad family who had fled from the Abbasids in Syria. A civil war between the two families was raging in the Moslem world, and he was welcomed in Spain, where the Umayyad dynasty still held sway. There he worked to establish a centralized government independent of the Abbasid family, which had assumed the Caliphate in the middle east. He was successful as a military leader as well as an administrator, and Cordova became an important commerical and cultural center. There were few major conflicts between Moors and Christians during the 8th and 9th centuries. During much of this time the prestige and power of Cordova was at its height, and the Kingdom of Asturia was able to defend its borders, but could not serious contend with the Moslems over disputed territory.

By the early tenth century however, the power of Cordova was beginning to wane, and the Kingdom of Asturia was becoming more powerful. Over a thirty year period, between 910 and 940, Asturia split into the two kingdoms of Leon and Castile, and in 939 Ramiro II of Leon succesfully stood against Abderrahman III at the battle of Alhandega (a.k.a Simancas). The caliphs that followed Abderrahman III were not of a high calibur, and infighting among the Moors continued until the rise of Almansur, a leading Moorish general, in 977. For the next 25 years Almansur reigned supreme, regained all Moslem territory lost to the Christians, and sacked many important cities. He fought other Moslem princes as well as Christians and succeeded again in bringing all of Moorish Spain under his dominion. We have few details of most of his battles but he is said to have fought in 57 campaigns was was victorious in almost all. Finally the Christian kingdoms united against him, and at the Battle of Calatanazor, he was defeated and killed.

The death of Almansur changed the aspect of things considerably. The royal family from whom he had usurped power was effectively dispossessed of the throne, and Almansur left no worthy heir. After his death his empire began to disintegrate, and thirty years later (1031), the Caliphate of Cordova collapsed entirely. With the Moorish leadership in dispute, the Christian kingdoms of Leon and Castile sought to regain the territory they had lost to Almansur, and when it was opportune, made alliances with Berber moslems to defeat the Moorish princes. Castilians fought alongside the Berbers when they sacked Cordova in 1010. And during the following century, the Christian kingdoms began to make their first real headway against the disunited Moorish kingdoms on their borders.

Wars of the Almoravids : 1031 to 1130

Mohammedan Kings fleeing before the body of el Cid.

Almanzor, the Moorish general who conquered all opponents and brought the Moorish empire in Hispania to its greatest extent, made use of Berber armies from Africa in his wars against Leon and Castile. After his death in the early eleventh century, these Berber mercenaries did much to keep the Moors in a state of disarray, to the benefit of the Christian kingdoms. With the fall of Cordova in 1011, and the complete collapse of the Caliphate in 1031, the Moorish empire split into a dozen independent, and often warring, kingdoms. These independent fiefdoms were far more vulnerable to Christian encroachment than a united Moorish empire, and they suffered as much from internal divisions and civil war as they did from the Christians.

The early elevenths century, saw much civil war in both Moslem and Christian realms, and complicated skirmishes between various Berber, Christian and Moorish factions, but eventually, under Ferdinand I (the Great), the combined kingdoms of Castile and Leon began to rise to a dominant position among the Christian states, and expand its borders at the expense of both its Moorish and Christian neighbors. Alfonso VI was the son of Ferdinand, and after fighting his brothers to gain control of all of his father's dominions, he began to make serious incursions into Moorish territory.

Back in North Africa during this time, a new Berber dynasty, the Almoravids, had taken over Morocco and was increasing their sphere of influence. In 1085 Alfonso VI succeeded in capturing Toledo and its surrounding areas, and at that point, the Moslem princes of the Iberian Peninsula called upon the Almoravids to help them defend themselves against their Christian enemies. Another Berber army then arrived en force, led by the great Almoravid conqueror Yusuf, and dealt the Christians a serious blow at the battle of Zalaka (a.k.a Sagrajas). It was only a temporary set back however. The Christians recovered and spent much of the next century battling the Moors with considerable success.

The great hero of this era was El Cid, a loyal knight who first served Ferdinand I, and later his sons Sancho and Alfonso VI. Although many of his legendary feats have no reliable historical corroboration, he was undoubtedly the greatest military hero of his age, and an exemplar of all of the best traits of medieval chivalry. It is known with certainty that during the lifetime of El Cid, the Christian Kingdoms captured much Moorish territory, including the great Moorish strongholds of Toledo and Valencia.

Even after the death of Cid the the Moors continued to lose ground to the Christians. The Almoravids in Iberia never succeeded in uniting all of the Moslem princes under their sway, and in 1147, the Almoravids of Africa fell to the Almohad dynasty just as the disunited Moors in the far west surrendered Lisbon to Afonso I, the conquering Christian King of Portugal.

Wars of the Almohads, and Collapse of Moorish Spain : 1147 to 1350

Alfonso VIII haranguing his troops on the eve of battle.

The in 1147, the Almoravids of Africa fell to the Almohads, another war-like Berber dynasty whose early years were marked by extensive conquests and buchery. The Almohads sought to establish a presence on the Iberian peninsula and became involved in several civil wars between Moorish princes. They ended up taking Seville (1148), and Granada(1155), and in 1170 moved their capital to Seville. The Moorish empire remained divided however, and the Christians continued to attack Moorish territory. In 1195, the Castilians raided the province of Seville, and the Almohad Caliph of Morrocco crossed the sea with a large army, and dealt the Castilians a terrible blow at Alarcos.

For a time the tide turned in favor of the Almohads, but the next Almohad Caliph began to persecute infidels and conquer Christian cities, and so alarmed all of Christian Europe. In 1211, when the Almohads raised an enormous army of over 100,000 Berbers and Moors, Alfonso VIII of Castile led a united army of Spaniards and European Christians against them. The largest and most decisive battle of the Spanish Reconquista was fought July 16, 1212 near the plain of Las Nava de Tolosa in southern Spain. Alfonso VIII surprised the Mohammedans and caught them off guard. The entire Moslem army was slain and the power of the Almohads was nearly crushed in one blow. During the following forty years the Christian kingdoms of Castile, Portugal, and Aragon, under the leadership of (Saint) Ferdinand III all made significant gains at the expense of the Moors. They permanently captured the cities of Badojoz(1228), Majorca(1229), Jaen (1232), Cordova(1236), Valencia (1238), and Seville(1248), and gained almost all of the Iberian Peninsula, save Granada, a region on the southern coast.

The Moorish exiles who left the conquered cities fled south towards Granada. The ruler of Granada at the time was Mohammed ibn Nar and instead of fighting the Christians he sought to make an alliance with them. He agreed to become a vassal state and help the Castilians in their wars, including the overthrow of Moorish Seville. By proving his loyalty by taking arms against the his Moslem brethren, he won a reprieve from the King of Castile who thought it useful to have a Moslem "buffer" state in his realm. Mohammed founded the Nasrid dynasty, which lasted over 250 years and during his lifetime maintained peaceful relations with Ferdinand III, the victorious monarch of Castile.

Wars of Granada : 1300 to 1492

Gonsalvo de Cordova finding the corpse of the Duke of Nemours.

Granada had become a vassel state of the kingdom of Castile in 1236, and relations between the two kingdoms remained relatively stable while Mohammed Alhamar, the founder the kingdom of Granada, lived. After the deaths of Ferdinand III of Castile and Mohammed Alhamar however, both Castile and Granada suffered from palace intrigue and infighting. Conditions did not break out into serious warfare, however, until 1319 when a Castilian army attacked Granada, but was soundly defeated by the Moorish general.

The following years saw continued hostilities between Granada and Castile and after the defeat of Mohamed IV at the battle of Teba, he made an alliance with the emir of Morocco. The Moroccans took Gibralter and helped Granada in its wars against Castile, and in 1340 an enormous army from Africa crossed the straight. This was the first real threat to the Christian kingdoms' domination of Hispania, and resulted in a great battle at Rio Salado, in which the united Christians prevailed over the Moslem invaders.

For the following century, Granada and Castile settled in to a series of truces, occasionally interrupted by assassinations, or skirmishes, but both kingdoms suffered more from civil wars and internal dissention than from conflict between them. The second half of the fourteenth century saw Europe ravaged by the black death, and appallingly corrupt rulers, including the Infamous Pedro the Cruel, on the throne of most of the kingdoms of Spain. Granada therefore had over a century of reprieve while the Christians fought largely among themselves.

In 1474 Isabella and Ferdinand came to the throne, combining the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. They spent the first years of their reign putting down divisions within their empire and with other Christian kingdoms, but by 1482 were prepared to undertake a concerted war against Granada, and to drive the last Moorish kingdom off the Iberian Peninsula. Granada was wracked at this time by internal divisions between Muley Abdul Hussan and Boabdil, and Spain was greatly strengthened by both the courageous military leadership of Ferdinand, and the astute statesmenship of Isabel. The army of Spain also included several of the most renowned soldiers of the age including Gonsalvo de Cordova, Hernan Perez del Pulgar and Ridgrigo Ponce de Leon.

The Castilian War against Granada lasted for over ten years years, and was carried on by a series of systematic attacks on fortifications, and seiges of cities. Granada is the Moorish word for Pomegranate, and Ferdinand famously said he would "pluck the pomegranate, seed by seed." The fighting between Christian and Moslem was furious when it occurred, but most of the war was marked by long seiges, and chivalric skirmishes between the two armies. The important port city of Malaga fell in 1487 and with it, the last chance for help from Africa. The ongoing conflict between the two rival claiments to the throne of Granada greatly impaired the kingdom's ability unite in resistance to Ferdinand. Granada, the capital city was finally besieged in 1491 and a year later, Boabdil, the last Moorish king, surrendered the city to the Spaniards.

The Moors who continued to live in the region under Spanish rule were called Moriscoes and pockets of resistance continued for several years after the fall of Granada. For a time many of the Moriscoes lived peaceably, but under worsening oppressions. Isabella and Ferdinand sought to drive non-Christians from their realm and in 1492 expelled all Jews from their dominions. The final expulsion of the Moriscoes was delayed until 1610, after a severe and bloody uprising. But the loss of both the Jews and Moriscoes, who were largely of the urban, craftsman, and merchant classes, was a great blow to Spain economically, especially over the long term.

	Image Links
Chivalric encounter between the Christians and Moors.  in Romance of Spanish History	Moorish homage to the Christian Queen.  in Romance of Spanish History	The last sigh of the Moor  in Romance of Spanish History
A Moorish Camp  in Child's History of Spain	The surrender of Granda  in Child's History of Spain	Boabdil surrenders  in Famous Men of Modern Times
After a Moorish Victory  in Famous Men of Modern Times	The spoils from the capture of Leon brought before Almanzor  in Greatest Nations: Spain	King James the Conqueror setting out for the Balaeric Isles  in Greatest Nations: Spain
Alfonso VIII. Haranguing His Troops upon the Eve of Battle  in Historical Tales: 7—Spanish	Gonsalvo De Cordova Finding the Corpse of the Duke of Nemours  in Historical Tales: 7—Spanish	The Mohammedan Kings Fleeing Before the Body of the Cid  in European Hero Stories
The Cid overcame this knight  in Story of the Cid for Young People	And Muno turned to Suero as he lay on the ground, and lifted his spear against him  in Story of the Cid for Young People