The Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula (commonly known as the Spanish Reconquest, despite the fact that this term refers to the political unity of Spain, which did not yet exist) is the stage in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Battle of Covadonga , in 722 , and the conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada, in 1492 .

The Reconquest was the response to the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and the destruction of the Visigothic kingdom, between the years 711 and 718. Only a few strongholds located around the region of Asturias and the Pyrenees were spared from this invasion, which gave origin to Al-Andalus  as part of the Umayyad Caliphate.

The resistance against the Muslims became strong in Asturias, where the Reconquest began in 722, after the victory obtained by the hosts of King Pelayo in the Battle of Covadonga. The victory of the Franks over the Muslims at the Battle of Poitiers (732) and the creation of the Hispanic Brand (795), in the time of the Emperor Charlemagne , also helped to put a stop to the invaders.

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From then on, a continuous struggle was unleashed between the Muslims and the Christian kingdoms that were pushing the border towards the south, with momentary setbacks due to economic weakness due to bad harvests or epidemics, or invasions from North Africa. Causes and consequences of Spanish Reconquest

The end point of the Reconquest was staged by the Catholic kings , when in 1492 they conquered the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, which was the last remaining Muslim stronghold in peninsular territory.

Characteristics of the Spanish Reconquest

The main characteristics of the Reconquest were the following:

• It spanned almost 8 centuries, from 722 to 1492 .
• Its main protagonists were the Christian kingdoms of Asturias-León , Castilla , Navarra , Aragon and Portugal . The advance of these kingdoms was a slow and discontinuous process in which stages of expansion alternated with others of stabilization of the borders.
• Since the end of the 11th century the reconquest was animated by the spirit of the crusade that the Papacy preached from 1095. For this reason, during the 12th and 13th centuries the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula received the help of the Knights Templar and the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem.
• The centuries of the Reconquest were times of wars and conflicts between Christians and Muslims, but also of peaceful coexistence, commercial exchanges and fusion of the Spanish Visigoth, Arab, Andalusian and North African cultures.

Stages of the Reconquest

Historians usually divide the Reconquest into 5 phases or stages:

• First stage (8th-10th centuries) : after the Christian victory in Covadonga (722) the kingdom of Asturias advanced slowly towards the south, reaching the Duero River in 910. This led García I (910-914) to move the capital of the kingdom from Oviedo to León. From then on, people began to speak of the Asturian kingdom and then the kingdom of León, from which Castile became independent in 1065.
• Second stage (11th century and first half of the 12th century) : taking advantage of the Muslim weakness, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba (1031) in some thirty states (the Taifa kingdoms), León and Castilla occupied the Tagus river basin. After the brake imposed by the invasion from North Africa of the Almoravids (1086) and the Almohads (1145), the advance towards the south was reactivated in Aragon, which conquered Zaragoza in 1118. The county of Barcelona occupied Tortosa (1148) and Lleida (1149). On the other hand, Portugal, constituted as an independent kingdom in 1143, conquered Lisbon in 1147.
• Third stage (second half of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th) : Castilla-León managed to dominate the Guadiana valley and the passes of the Sierra Morena. This process culminated in the defeat of the Almohads in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), which opened the Christian advance to the south. At this stage, Castilla absorbed León and part of the Kingdom of Navarra, while Aragon encompassed the county of Barcelona.
• Fourth stage (13th-mid- 14th century ) : characterized by the rapid occupation of the Guadalquivir valley by the King of Castile Fernando III el Santo (1217-52) and of Valencia and the Balearic Islands by Jaime I of Aragon (1213- 76). Causes and consequences of Spanish Reconquest
• Fifth stage (mid-fourteenth century-late fifteenth century ) : from 1360 the Iberian peninsula was divided into 4 Christian kingdoms, Castile, Aragon, Navarra and Portugal; and a Muslim kingdom, that of Granada, which fell in 1492.

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Causes and consequences of the Spanish Reconquest

Causes

The main causes of the Reconquest were the following:

• The resistance against the Muslim invasion carried out by some Visigoth nobles and Asturian and Cantabrian caudillos in the extreme north of the Iberian Peninsula.
• The founding of the Hispanic Brand as an administrative division of the Carolingian Empire.
• The support provided by the Papacy and by French, German, Italian and English crusaders, to the struggle of the peninsular Christian kingdoms against the Muslims of the Taifa kingdoms, the Almoravids and the Almohads.

Consequences

The main consequences of the Reconquest were the following:

• The Muslims were definitively expelled from the Iberian Peninsula . Those who remained in the Christian kingdoms had to convert to Christianity or go into exile.
• The Jews , who had lived peacefully with Christians and Muslims for much of the Reconquest, were expelled by the Catholic kings in 1492.
• The Christianity was strengthened and made up with the conquest of the kingdom of Granada, the fall of Constantinople (1453) and the advance of the Ottoman Turks on the Balkan Peninsula.
• The Christian kingdoms repopulated the lands conquered from the Muslims with Christian populations from the mountainous areas of the north and the Pyrenees.
• Muslim mosques were destroyed or transformed into Christian temples.
• The end of the Reconquest opened the way to the unification of Spain , which took place in 1516 after the arrival to the throne of Carlos I, grandson of Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón.
• The Reconquest was prolonged in the conquest of Ceuta, Tangier, Melilla and other cities on the North African coast, as a consequence of the continuation of the spirit of the crusade against the Muslims.

Protagonists of the Reconquest

The main protagonists of the Reconquest were the following:

• Don Pelayo (…. – 737) : first king of Asturias, who won the battle of Covadonga in 722.
• Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, el Cid (1048 – 1099) : Castilian military leader who managed to conquer the city of Valencia in 1094. His exploits are narrated in the Song of Mine Cid. Causes and consequences of Spanish Reconquest
• Jaime I, the Conqueror (1208 – 1276) : King of Aragon, conquered Valencia and the Balearic Islands.
• Catholic Monarchs (1479 – 1504) : marriage made up of Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón. They united their kingdoms, concluded the Reconquest and gave impetus to overseas expansion.