Editing History of Catalonia (section)

=== Visigothic and Muslim rule ===
[[File:Tortosa - La Suda.jpg|thumb|Military fortress (suda) of Tortosa]]
In the 5th century, as part of the invasion of the Roman Empire by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribe]]s, the [[Visigoths]] led by [[Athaulf]], installed themselves in the Tarraconensis (Ebro basin, 410) and when in 475 the Visigothic king [[Euric]] formed the kingdom of Tolosa (modern [[Toulouse]]), he incorporated the territory equivalent to present-day Catalonia. Later, the Visigothic kingdom lost most of its territory north of the Pyrenees and shifted its capital to [[Toledo (Spain)|Toledo]]. The [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania]] lasted until the early 8th century. The Visigothic Kingdom respected and adopted the provincial system inherited from the Romans, the Tarraconense was maintained, but after the establishment of the new province of Cantabria its extension was reduced to the Valley of the Ebro and the current Catalonia. Beginning in 654, king [[Recceswinth]] ordered the promulgation of the ''[[Liber Iudiciorum]]'' ("Book of the Judges"), which was the first law code that applied equally to the Goths and to the Hispano-Roman population. This compilation will be in vigor in Catalan counties until the compilation of the [[Usages of Barcelona]] by count Ramon Berenguer I, largely based on the same ''Liber Iudiciorum''. Between 672 and 673, the eastern part of the Tarraconenis (modern Catalonia) and the province of Septimania rebelled against king [[Wamba (king)|Wamba]], appointing dux [[Flavius Paulus]] as king in [[Narbonne]].<ref>Bishop Julian of Toledo, in his History of King Wamba, accuses Paul of crowning himself with a votive crown King Reccared (the king who converted the Visigoths from Arianism to Catholicism) had dedicated to the body of St. Felix in Girona. Historia Wambae Regis in MGH, Scriptorum rerum Merovingicarum t. V, p. 522.</ref> The rebellion was crushed by Wamba.

In 714, the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Umayyad forces]] reached the northeastern part of the peninsula, where some important clashes took place (Zaragoza, possibly Barcelona). In 720, Narbonne fell to the joint Arab-Berber forces, followed by the conquest of what remained of the Visigothic kingdom, [[Septimania]]. The last Visigothic king [[Ardo]] died in battle in 721 and Nîmes was captured four years later.<ref name="Collins1998">{{cite book|author=Roger Collins|title=Charlemagne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05IVoPSfb48C&pg=PA29|year=1998|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-8218-3|page=29}}</ref><ref name="Reilly1993">{{cite book|author=Bernard F. Reilly|title=The Medieval Spains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NdJjn1HpSy4C&pg=PA53|date=3 June 1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-39741-4|page=53}}</ref>

In the time of the [[Caliphate of Córdoba]] in the 10th century, the northern border stabilized against the Frankish-ruled counties along the [[Llobregat]] and [[Cardener]] rivers and the [[Montsec Range]]. [[Lleida]] and [[Tortosa]], the two main cities of the Muslim ruled area of today's Catalonia (historiographically known as "New Catalonia"), formed the centers of defense. Many of the predominantly Christian inhabitants of these Muslim border regions converted to [[Islam]]. Especially the inhabitants of the valleys of Ebro, Segre, and Cinca as well as the plain of Lleida took over the way of life and achievements of the Muslims like the highly developed irrigation techniques. The most important Muslim cities in Catalonia were Lleida, [[Balaguer]] and Tortosa. They developed an old town (Medina) in North African style with mosque, administrative headquarters and court. They also had large markets (Suq) with workshops and homes of artisans. In some cities there were open places of worship (Musallā) and – as in Tortosa – including a military fortress. Goods were exported via the port of Tortosa. Although there were peace treaties between the caliph in Córdoba and some Catalan counts, the mutual attacks accumulated so, in 985 [[Almanzor]], de facto ruler of the Caliphate, sacked Barcelona and captured thousands of its inhabitants.<ref>Roger Collins, ''Caliphs and Kings, 796-1031'', (Blackwell Publishing, 2012), 191.</ref>