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The Muslims came to the Iberian Peninsula in 711 and defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Guadalete. A new army continued advancing north. Muza, governor of North Africa, led this advance.
There were 2 reasons why the Muslims came to the Iberian Peninsula:
1. The Visigoths were in a civil war.
2. Context of Islamic expansion. -
They took 7 years to occupy almost the entire territory of the Iberian Peninsula. Only a few regions within the Cantabrian Mountains resist. Some Visighotic nobles and clerics took refuge in this regions.
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From 711, during the Umayyad Caliphate, Al-Andalus was a dependent emirate of the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus, and an emir governed it.
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Visigoth and Muslim submission treaties In the name of God,the merciful and compassionate. This is a document granted by Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa to Theodemir establishing a treaty of peace, and the promise. That his situation and that of his people won't change, that they won't be killed,nor taken prisoner, nor separated from their women and children nor prevented from practising their religion. -
A number of Visigoths, mainly from the nobility, sought refuge in the mountains after fleeing the Muslims. Finding protection, they mixed with the local populations. Don Pelayo was a Visigothic noble who became the first king of the Kingdom of Asturias in 718. He led the Christian resistance during the Battle of Covadonga in 722. -
The Muslim troops came to the Iberian Peninsula but were stopped by the Franks in the Battle of Poitiers. -
In 756, Abd al-Rahman I, escaping death at the hands of the Abbasids, fled to the Iberian Peninsula. He seized power, proclaimed himself Emir and refused to recognise the political authority of the Caliph. He continued to recognise their religious superiority. Al-Andalus was an independent emirate of the Islamic Empire.
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This region was the southern border of the Kingdom of the Franks. In 778, the Basques attacked Frankish troops in the region during the Battle of Roncesvalles. Their victory led to the creation of the Kingdom of Pamplona. Only eastern parts of the Pyrenees remained under Frankish rule. These represented the Hispanic March and included the Catalan counties. -
In 929, Abd al-Rahman III proclaimed himself Caliph of the Caliphate of Córdoba. In addition to political power, he also held the highest religious authority. The golden age of Al-Andalus developed.
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After its disintegration, the caliphate divided and became Taifa kingdoms, which former governors of the territories ruled. The Taifa kingdoms were weak, so they had to pay parias to the Christian kingdoms to stop them invading. Despite this agreement, Alfonso VI captured Toledo from the Muslims in 1085.
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To stop the Christian advance, the Muslims asked for help from the Almoravids. The Almoravids controlled a large empire in North Africa with its capital in Marrakech. They came to the Iberian Peninsula in 1086.
In the 12th century, the Almohads defeated the Almoravids. They were another North African Muslim dynasty. They came in 1146 and dominated Al-Andalus. They made Seville the capital. The Christians defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. -
They took Al-Andalus for their empire
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The Almohads conquered Almoravid territories so they was a period of greatness (Al-Andalus capital in Sevilla).
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Eventually, the Christian advance limited the Muslim territory on the Iberian Peninsula to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. For the next two centuries, it paid parias to Castile to avoid military confrontation. The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada was eventually conquered by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492.
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The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada was conquered by the Catholic Monarchs. -
There were defeated by the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa so they were a fragmentation of Al-Andalus.