1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,500 Al-Andalus and the Spanish Reconquest 2 00:00:03,500 --> 00:00:09,000 Al-Andalus is the name the Muslims gave to the conquered land in the Iberian Peninsula 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,560 during the Middle Ages between 711 and 1492, 4 00:00:14,039 --> 00:00:17,579 when they were eventually defeated by the Catholic kings. 5 00:00:18,059 --> 00:00:21,440 In the period of maximum splendor of the Caliphate of Cordoba, 6 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:25,079 the Muslims dominated all of the Iberian Peninsula, 7 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,780 with the exception of an area situated on the Cantabrian coast. 8 00:00:30,239 --> 00:00:34,159 Taking advantage of the fragility of the Visigoth monarchy in Hispania, 9 00:00:34,719 --> 00:00:41,280 in the year 711, Muslim troops under the Berber general Tariq landed in Gibraltar. 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:47,600 The Visigoth king, Don Rodrigo, tried to stop the invasion but he was defeated at the battle 11 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:54,079 of Guadalete. This defeat brought about the disintegration of the Visigoth kingdom of Toledo 12 00:00:54,079 --> 00:01:00,880 and its easy conquest in only five years the muslim armies advanced towards the north until 13 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:08,480 they were stopped in 732 by the french armies of carlos martel in the french city of poitiers 14 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:15,840 forcing them to retreat to the iberian peninsula hispania became a province of the islamic empire 15 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:24,480 known as Al-Andalus, with the capital in Cordoba. In the year 756, Abd al-Rahman I 16 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:30,239 proclaimed himself emir, becoming politically independent from the rest of the Muslim empire. 17 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:37,280 Almost two centuries later, in the year 929, the maximum splendor of the period of the 18 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:44,560 Caliphate of Cordoba arrived. In this period, Abd al-Rahman II was proclaimed caliph, 19 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,200 which meant the definitive breakdown of relations with the Caliphate of Baghdad 20 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,579 and his proclamation as the Prince of the Believers. 21 00:01:53,519 --> 00:01:58,799 The years of the government of Abd al-Rahman III and of his son al-Hakam II 22 00:01:58,799 --> 00:02:02,980 made up the period of major splendor of al-Andalus. 23 00:02:03,620 --> 00:02:07,840 Indeed, it might be said that Cordoba was the cultural capital of the world. 24 00:02:08,439 --> 00:02:12,979 The appearance of the leader, al-Manthur, was a landmark in the history of the Caliphate, 25 00:02:12,979 --> 00:02:19,360 Caliphate, as he was a warlord, so managed to have more power and prestige than the Caliph himself. 26 00:02:20,319 --> 00:02:25,099 At the head of his troops, his victorious campaigns took him to Catalonia in the east 27 00:02:25,099 --> 00:02:31,199 and Santiago de Compostela in the north, from where he took the bells of its famous cathedral. 28 00:02:32,259 --> 00:02:38,479 In the year 1002, after the death of Almanzor, the Caliphate of Cordoba became embroiled in a 29 00:02:38,479 --> 00:02:44,659 period of great instability that resulted in the division of Al-Andalus into a series of small 30 00:02:44,659 --> 00:02:51,979 kingdoms known as Taifa kingdoms. There were specifically 27 kingdoms, among which Toledo, 31 00:02:52,340 --> 00:02:58,840 Zaragoza, Valencia, and Sevilla stood out, and some kingdoms became economically and culturally 32 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:03,840 prosperous. In order to guarantee their independence, they paid tributes to the 33 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:12,060 Christian kingdoms. In the year 1085, after the fall of the Taifa of Toledo kingdom, several Taifas 34 00:03:12,060 --> 00:03:18,120 asked for help from the Almoravides, a tribe from the north of Africa that eventually settled in 35 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:25,039 the Iberian peninsula, incorporating Al-Andalus into their empire and slowing the advance of 36 00:03:25,039 --> 00:03:31,479 Christianity. However, the internal divisions favored a new Christian upswing at the start of 37 00:03:31,479 --> 00:03:37,080 the 12th century, which led the kingdoms to ask for help again, this time from the Berber 38 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:44,620 dynasty of the Almohades, who having landed in the peninsula in 1145, unified the Taifas 39 00:03:44,620 --> 00:03:47,800 and managed to slow the Christian reconquest again. 40 00:03:49,020 --> 00:03:56,039 In the year 1212, the decisive battle of Navas de Tolosa, these days in the province of Jaen, 41 00:03:56,439 --> 00:04:00,060 proved a turning point in the Christian reconquest of the peninsula. 42 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:07,020 The kingdoms of Castilla, Nevada and Aragon, led by King Alfonso VIII of Castilla, 43 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:13,419 and counting on the support of the military orders of Santiago, Galatrava and the Knights Templar, 44 00:04:14,060 --> 00:04:19,879 defeated the troops of the Armada Elida, known by the nickname of Mira Mamolin. 45 00:04:21,199 --> 00:04:24,540 The reconquest had started in Asturias in the 8th century, 46 00:04:24,540 --> 00:04:29,839 when Don Pelayo, a Goth nobleman, won the first victory against Islam 47 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,279 at Covadonga in 722. 48 00:04:33,459 --> 00:04:35,519 Pelayo founded the Astur Kingdom, 49 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,339 which expanded into Galicia and Cantabria. 50 00:04:39,180 --> 00:04:42,779 Years later, his son-in-law and successor, Alfonso I, 51 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:46,360 united the Christians who lived in the Duero Valley 52 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,439 and therefore consolidated the Christian dominance 53 00:04:49,439 --> 00:04:51,720 in the northwest region of the peninsula. 54 00:04:52,860 --> 00:04:55,339 Later, this kingdom became the Kingdom of Leon 55 00:04:55,339 --> 00:04:57,279 after the conquest of this city. 56 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:04,579 From this kingdom emerged the counties of Portugal and Castilla, both of which later became kingdoms. 57 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:13,579 Further to the east, the kingdoms of Pamplona, later Navarra, Aragon, and the county of Barcelona were created, 58 00:05:14,199 --> 00:05:17,720 which would form part of the Aragonese crown in the 12th century. 59 00:05:18,500 --> 00:05:25,519 The crown of Aragon directed its conquest towards the east, while the kingdom of Castilla did the same towards the south. 60 00:05:25,519 --> 00:05:28,819 The great achievements of the Aragonese crown 61 00:05:28,819 --> 00:05:31,120 were the conquest of the Kingdom of Mallorca 62 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,399 by Jaime I in 1229 63 00:05:33,399 --> 00:05:38,480 followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Valencia in 1245 64 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:40,920 The Kingdom of Castilla y León 65 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:45,980 definitively unified under the figure of Fernando III, the Saint 66 00:05:45,980 --> 00:05:48,819 occupied what is now Extremadura 67 00:05:48,819 --> 00:05:52,480 and the area of Cordoba around 1236 68 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:58,939 With the union of the kingdoms of Castilla and Aragon, thanks to the marriage between 69 00:05:58,939 --> 00:06:05,379 Isabel and Fernando, the reconquest was completed through the surrender of the Nazari kingdom 70 00:06:05,379 --> 00:06:07,579 of Granada to the Christian troops. 71 00:06:08,180 --> 00:06:15,740 On the 2nd of January 1492, with the surrender of the keys to the city by the Sultan Boabdil 72 00:06:15,740 --> 00:06:21,899 to Fernando the Catholic, the reconquest was finalized and with it the presence of Muslim 73 00:06:21,899 --> 00:06:27,579 power in the Iberian Peninsula that had lasted for more than 700 years.