Editing Reconquista (section)

====Landing in Visigothic Hispania and initial expansion====
{{Further|Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Battle of Guadalete}}

In 711, North African [[Berber people|Berber]] soldiers with some [[Arab]]s commanded by [[Tariq ibn Ziyad]] crossed the [[Strait of Gibraltar]], engaging a Visigothic force led by King [[Roderic]] at the [[Battle of Guadalete]] (July 19–26) in a moment of severe in-fighting and division across the [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nick |date=2022-11-10 |title=Battle of Guadalete: 2 Reasons It Changed History |url=https://thehistoryace.com/battle-of-guadalete-2-reasons-it-changed-history/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=The History Ace |language=en-us}}</ref> Many of Roderic's troops deserted, leading to his defeat. He drowned while crossing the [[Guadalquivir River]].

After Roderic's defeat, the Umayyad governor of [[Ifriqiya|Ifrikiya]] [[Musa ibn Nusayr|Musa ibn-Nusayr]] joined Tariq, directing a campaign against different towns and strongholds in Hispania. Some, like [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]], [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordova]], or [[Zaragoza]] in 712, probably [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], were taken, but many agreed to a treaty in exchange for maintaining autonomy, in [[Theodemir (Visigoth)|Theodemir]]'s dominion (region of Tudmir), or [[Pamplona]], for example.{{sfn|Collins|1989|pp=38–45}} The invading Islamic armies did not exceed 60,000 men.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fletcher|first=Richard|title=Moorish Spain|year=2006|publisher=Los Angeles: University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24840-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/moorishspain00rich/page/43 43]|url=https://archive.org/details/moorishspain00rich/page/43}}</ref>