88 Atlantic African, American, and European Backgrounds to Contact, Commerce, and EnslavementMuslim forces were defeated, and again it was treated as
a skirmish, while Christian commentators invested great
signifi cance to the Frankish victory over the “infi dels.” Al-
though there is no clear consensus from modern historians,
many argue that this battle is responsible for checking the
Muslim advance across Europe.
In 740 Alfonso I, who followed Pelayo and was pos-
sibly his son-in-law, solidifi ed the kingdom of Asturias.
Berber troops revolted against the Caliph, abandoning the
northern expanses of Spain. Alfonso incorporated some of
these vacated lands into Austria. Unable to hold all of the
abandoned area, he ordered the Duero River valley to the
south devastated, turned into a barren region that separated
Asturias and the rest of Spain.
In 750 the Abbasids, a rival Muslim dynasty, overthrew
the Umayyads in a bloody revolt. One of the Umayyad
royal family, Abd-ar-Rahman I, escaped and by exploiting
existing dissent was able to reclaim power for his family in- In a political decision he appointed himself emir of the
Emirate of Córdoba—although this was a lesser title, for all
purposes ar-Rahman ruled Spain.
Disaff ected Muslim nobles invited Charlemagne in
778 of the neighboring Frankish kingdom to take part of an
expedition against ar-Rahman in exchange for fealty. Th is
agreement quickly disintegrated with the factions fi ghting
against each other, and Charlemagne’s forces retreated, the
rearguard of his army destroyed at the action of the Battle of
Roncesvalles Pass, an event that produced the famous epic
Th e Song of Roland.
Th e separate Christian kingdoms did not always enjoy
harmonious relationships with each other. Th ere was sub-
stantial in-fi ghting, which led to interfaith alliances. One
such example is the confrontation between Ramiro I, King
of Aragon, a Christian king, against al-Muktadir, the king of
Zaragoza. Another Christian kingdom, Castile, allied with
al-Muktadir and took part in the battle. One of the Castil-
ian participants was Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, better known
to history as El Cid. Cid’s later exploits on behalf of the Re-
conquista cause would give the world another famous epic.
For the next several centuries the struggle between
Christian rebels and Muslims continued. Th e Christian
realms grew and multiplied. From the period of 970–1035,
Sancho III the Great, King of Navarre, unifi ed most of
Christian Spain. Th e balance of power shift ed sharply
back toward the Muslim occupiers in the latter half of the
10th century. Recognizing that they were still not strong
Reconquista
“Reconquista” is a term that is traditionally used to describe
the centuries-long struggle of Christian forces, beginning
roughly 718 and ending in 1492, to reclaim land under
Muslim domination in Spain. In 711, Muslim forces crossed
the Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco in North Africa into
the territory now identifi ed as Spain. Th is expeditionary
army defeated the Visigoths, the Germanic rulers of Spain,
at the decisive Battle of Guadalete. Th e capital of Toledo fell
to the invaders before the end of 711. Within a decade the
Muslims dominated most of the Iberian Peninsula. Th ese
conquerors would come to be identifi ed in later literature as
Moors, an inexact term that loosely described the Arab and
North African invaders, as well as their later descendants.
With these new sovereigns came many changes. Th ere
was the introduction of a new state sponsored religion
(Islam), new systems of government (the Emir, Caliphate,
and Taifa kingdoms), a new capital (Córdoba), and a new
title for the occupied land, al-Anadlus. Th is new designa-
tion was possibly a reference to the earlier Vandal inhabit-
ants of Spain, or perhaps a reference to the Atlantic region.
Al Walid I of the Umayyad Caliphate Dynasty, which
ruled the Muslim world, oversaw governing the occupied
land. Th e Umayyad Caliphate suff ered from internal and
external dissent, and was unable to successfully expand the
Muslim reach into Spain’s northern provinces. In 718 the
standard of rebellion was raised under Pelagius or Pelayo,
a Visigoth noble. Pelayo’s forces clashed with their Muslim
adversaries multiple times over the years, culminating at
the Battle of Covadonga, ca. 718–725. Although the Mus-
lim forces were defeated, this defeat and the continued ex-
istence of Pelayo’s rebels was seen as of little signifi cance
to the reigning Caliph. Christian chroniclers, however, es-
pecially in the later centuries, placed great importance on
the battle, and it is oft en marked as the beginning of the
Christian reconquest, or Reconquista. Pelayo was crowned
king in the independent kingdom of Asturias.
Approximately 20 governors were placed at the helm of
Spain, in just 40 years aft er the initial conquest. Th is series
of brief rules, some lasting just months, destabilized the re-
gion further. Th is internal strife limited expansion. Raids
were conducted across the boundaries of Spain by 717, and
into neighboring Frankish territory. Th ese confl icts led to
the Battle of Poiters, also called the Battle of Tours in 732.