Medieval Spain
As soon as the Moors
had conquered Spain in 711 AD, the
descendants of the Visigoths
and the Romans joined
forces to try to get the Moors out of Spain again. These Spanish people
gradually conquered more and more of Spain, beginning in the north near
France and fighting little by little toward the south.
After 1100 the Spanish people were helped by a lot
of French soldiers who went to fight in the Reconquest (as it was called)
once France became peaceful enough that the
French soldiers were not needed there anymore. Still they did not make
much headway against the Almohads
who ruled Spain, until rebellions and civil war weakened the Almohad
kingdom.
Once the Almohads
were weaker, the Spanish army was able to beat them pretty quickly.
The Christians took Toledo in 1212, then Cordoba in 1236, and by about
1250 the Moors only held the city of Granada in the very southernmost
part of Spain. In 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella finally succeeded
in reconquering all of Spain and Portugal. Most of the remaining Moors
fled to North Africa, where many of them settled in Tunisia.
The Jews fled to
Greece and Istanbul.
Visigoths
Islamic Spain
Almohads
Ottoman Empire
Main medieval history page
Main Middle Ages page
Tell a friend about this page
Did Kidipede answer your question?
Yes, thanks! / No, can you help me?
