Editing History of Spain (section)

==Islamic ''al-Andalus'' and the Christian ''Reconquest'' (8th–15th centuries)==
{{Main|Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Al-Andalus|Spain in the Middle Ages|Reconquista}}
[[File:Hispania 700 AD.PNG|thumb|[[Visigoth]]ic Hispania and its regional divisions in 700, prior to the Muslim conquest]]
[[File:Map Iberian Peninsula 750-en.svg|thumb|[[al-Andalus]] at its greatest extent, 720]]
The [[Umayyad Caliphate]] dominated most of North Africa by 710 AD. In 711 an Islamic [[Berber people|Berber]] conquering party, led by [[Tariq ibn Ziyad]], was sent to Hispania to intervene in a civil war in the [[Visigothic Kingdom]].<ref>''[[Akhbār majmūʿa|Akhbār majmūa]]'', p. 21 of Spanish translation, p. 6 of Arabic text.</ref> Crossing the [[Strait of Gibraltar]], they won a decisive victory in the summer of 711 when the Visigothic King [[Roderic]] was defeated and killed on July 19 at the [[Battle of Guadalete]]. Tariq's commander, Musa, quickly crossed with Arab reinforcements, and by 718 the [[Muslim]]s were in control of nearly the whole [[Iberian Peninsula]]. The advance into [[Western Europe]] was only stopped in what is now north-central France by the West Germanic [[Franks]] under [[Charles Martel]] at the [[Battle of Tours]] in 732.

The Muslim conquerors (also known as "Moors") were [[Arabs]] and [[Berbers]]; following the conquest, conversion and arabization of the Hispano-Roman population took place,{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|pp=41–42}} (''muwalladum'' or ''[[Muwallad]]'').{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|p=43}}<ref name="Fernández-Morera2016">{{cite book|first=Darío|last=Fernández-Morera|title=The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=PJNgCwAAQBAJ|page=286}}|date=2016|publisher=Intercollegiate Studies Institute|isbn=978-1-5040-3469-2|page=286}}</ref> After a long process, spurred on in the 9th and 10th centuries, the majority of the population in Al-Andalus converted to Islam.{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|p=47}} The Muslim population was divided per ethnicity (Arabs, Berbers, Muwallad), and the supremacy of Arabs over the rest of group was a recurrent cause for strife, rivalry and hatred, particularly between Arabs and Berbers.{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|pp=43–44}} Arab elites could be further divided in the Yemenites (first wave) and Syrians (second wave).{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|p=45}} Male Muslim rulers were often the offspring of female Christian slaves.<ref name="O'Callaghan152,293" /> Christians and Jews were allowed to live as subordinate groups of a stratified society under the [[Dhimmi|''dhimmah'' system]],{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|p=46}} although Jews became very important in certain fields.{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|p=49}} Some Christians migrated to the Northern Christian kingdoms, while those who stayed in Al-Andalus progressively arabised and became known as ''musta'arab'' ([[mozarab]]s).{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|p=48}} Besides slaves of Iberian origin,<ref name="O'Callaghan152,293">{{cite book|first=Joseph F.|last=O'Callaghan|title=A History of Medieval Spain|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=cq2dDgAAQBAJ|page=152}}|date=2013|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-6872-8|pages=152, 293}}</ref> the slave population also comprised the ''[[Saqaliba|Ṣaqāliba]]'' (literally meaning "slavs", although they were slaves of generic European origin) as well as [[Sudan (region)|Sudanese]] slaves.{{Sfn|Marín-Guzmán|1991|p=50}} The frequent raids in Christian lands provided Al-Andalus with continuous slave stock, including women who often became part of the harems of the Muslim elite.<ref name="O'Callaghan152,293" /> Slaves were also shipped from Spain to elsewhere in the [[Ummah]].<ref name="O'Callaghan152,293" />

In what should not have amounted to much more than a skirmish (later magnified by [[Spanish nationalism]]),<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Second Battle of Covadonga: The Politics of Commemoration in Modern Spain|first=Carolyn P.|last=Boyd|journal=History and Memory|volume=14|issue=1–2|year=2002|pages=37–64|doi=10.2979/his.2002.14.1-2.37|quote=The battle cannot have amounted to much more than a minor skirmish between a small band of Asturian warriors and the Muslim expeditionary force sent to crush their resistance|jstor=10.2979/his.2002.14.1-2.37}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|page=166|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2016|isbn=978-0-415-82494-1|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=nIa9CgAAQBAJ}}|title=The Crusader World|editor-first=Adrian J.|editor-last=Boas|first=Luis|last=García-Guijarro Ramos|chapter=Christian expansion in medieval Iberia: ''Reconquista'' or crusade?|quote=Traditional Spanish nationalism converted a skirmish, the Battle of Covadonga (718–722) and the figure of Pelayo, reckoned as first king of Asturias (718–737), into symbols of the will to recover the Visigothic unity and reinstate Christianity only a few years after the rout of Guadalete}}</ref> a Muslim force sent to put down the Christian rebels in the northern mountains was defeated by a force reportedly led by [[Pelagius of Asturias|Pelagius]], known as the [[Battle of Covadonga]]. The figure of Pelagius, a by-product of the Asturian chronicles of [[Alfonso III of Asturias|Alfonso III]] (written more than a century after the alleged battle), has been later reconstructed in conflicting historiographical theories, most notably that of a refuged Visigoth noble or an autochthonous [[Astures|Astur]] chieftain.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://e-spacio.uned.es/fez/eserv.php?pid=bibliuned:ETF69E0AA15-BB37-F500-0A2D-47FB322D7224&dsID=Documento.pdf|pages=90–92|title=¡Pelayo vive! un arquetipo político en el horizonte ideológico del reino astur-leonés|volume=10|year=1998|journal=Espacio Tiempo y Forma. Serie III, Historia Medieval|first=Arsenio|last=Dacosta|location=Madrid|publisher=[[UNED]]|issn=0214-9745}}</ref> The consolidation of a Christian polity that came to be known as the [[Kingdom of Asturias]] ensued later. At the end of Visigothic rule, the assimilation of Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was occurring rapidly. An unknown number fled and took refuge in Asturias or Septimania. In Asturias they supported Pelagius's uprising, and joining with the indigenous leaders, formed a new aristocracy. The population of the mountain region consisted of native [[Astures]], [[Galicians]], [[Cantabri]], [[Basques]] and other groups unassimilated into Hispano-Gothic society.<ref name="O'Callaghan2013"/> In 739, a rebellion in Galicia, assisted by the Asturians, drove out Muslim forces and it joined the Asturian kingdom. In the northern Christian kingdoms, lords and religious organizations often owned Muslim slaves who were employed as laborers and household servants.<ref name="O'Callaghan152,293"/>

[[Caliph]] [[Al-Walid I]] had paid great attention to the expansion of an organized military, building the strongest navy in the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] era (the second major Arab dynasty after Mohammad and the first Arab dynasty of [[Al-Andalus]]). It was this tactic that supported the ultimate expansion to Hispania. Islamic power in Spain specifically climaxed in the 10th century under [[Abd-ar-Rahman III|Abd-al-Rahman III]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Fletcher|first=Richard|title=Moorish Spain|year=2006|publisher=University of California Press|location=Los Angeles|isbn=0-520-24840-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/moorishspain00rich/page/53 53]|url=https://archive.org/details/moorishspain00rich/page/53}}</ref> The rulers of [[Al-Andalus]] were granted the rank of [[Emir]] by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I in [[Damascus]]. When the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]] overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate, [[Abd al-Rahman I]] managed to escape to al-Andalus and declared it independent. The state founded by him is known as the [[Emirate of Cordoba]]. Al-Andalus was rife with internal conflict between the Islamic Umayyad rulers and people and the Christian Visigoth-Roman leaders and people.

[[File:506-Castile 1210.png|thumb|The Christian kingdoms of Hispania and the Islamic [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad empire]] c. 1210|alt=]]

The Vikings invaded Galicia in 844, but were heavily defeated by [[Ramiro I of Asturias|Ramiro I]] at [[A Coruña]].<ref name=Haywood/> Many of the Vikings' casualties were caused by the Galicians' [[ballista]]s – powerful torsion-powered projectile weapons that looked rather like giant crossbows.<ref name=Haywood/> 70 Viking ships were captured and burned.<ref name="Haywood">{{cite book|last1=Haywood|first1=John|title=Northmen|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=JGmoCgAAQBAJ|page=189}}|isbn=978-1781855225|date=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=A History of the Vikings|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=7Hh0DwAAQBAJ|page=207}}|isbn=978-1136242397|last1=Kendrick|first1=Sir Thomas D.|date=2018|publisher=Routledge}}</ref> Vikings returned to Galicia in 859, during the reign of [[Ordoño I of Asturias|Ordoño I]]. Ordoño was at the moment engaged against his constant enemies the Moors; but a count of the province, Don Pedro, attacked the Vikings and defeated them,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Keary|first=Charles|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1189372710|title=The Viking Age|date=20 April 2018|publisher=Ozymandias Press|isbn=978-1-5312-9114-3|oclc=1189372710}}</ref> destroying 38 of their ships.

In the 10th century [[Abd-ar-Rahman III|Abd-al-Rahman III]] declared the [[Caliphate of Córdoba]], effectively breaking all ties with the Egyptian and Syrian caliphs. The Caliphate was mostly concerned with maintaining its power base in North Africa, but these possessions eventually dwindled to the [[Ceuta]] province. The first navy of the Emir of Córdoba was built after the [[Viking]] ascent of the [[Guadalquivir]] in 844 when they [[Viking raid on Seville|sacked Seville]].<ref name="zum.de">{{cite web|url=http://www.zum.de/whkmla/timelines/wh/tlvikings.html|title=Timelines – Vikings, Saracens, Magyars|date=7 April 2024}}</ref>

In 942, [[Hungarian raid in Spain (942)|Hungarian raids on Spain]], especially in [[Catalonia]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Font|first1=Gemma|last2=Rams|first2=Josep M. Llorens i|last3=Pujadas|first3=Sandra|date=1994-01-11|title=Santa Coloma de Farners a l'Alta Edat Mitjana: La vila, l'ermita, el castell|url=https://raco.cat/index.php/AnnalsGironins/article/view/54130|journal=Annals de l'Institut d'Estudis Gironins|pages=355–377|issn=2339-9937}}</ref> took place, according to [[Ibn Hayyan]]'s work.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Elter|first=I.|year=1981|title=Remarks on Ibn Hayyan's report on the Magyar raids on Spain|journal=Magyar Nyelv|issue=77|pages=413–419}}</ref><ref name="zum.de"/> Meanwhile, a slow but steady migration of Christian subjects to the northern kingdoms in Christian Hispania was slowly increasing the latter's power.

Al-Andalus coincided with ''[[La Convivencia]]'', an era of relative religious tolerance, and with the [[Golden age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Granada – JewishEncyclopedia.com|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6855-granada|access-date=2022-08-17|website=jewishencyclopedia.com|first1=Richard|last1=Gottheil|first2=Meyer|last2=Kayserling|date=1906}}</ref> Muslim interest in the peninsula returned in force around the year 1000 when [[Almanzor|Al-Mansur]] (''Almanzor'') sacked Barcelona in 985, and he assaulted [[Zamora, Spain|Zamora]], [[Toro, Spain|Toro]], [[León, Spain|Leon]] and [[Astorga, Spain|Astorga]] in 988 and 989, which controlled access to [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]].<ref>Sánchez Candeira 1999 P. 24</ref> Under his son, other Christian cities were subjected to numerous raids.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libro.uca.edu/rc/rc1.htm|title=Ransoming Captives, Chapter One|first=James William|last=Brodman|website=libro.uca.edu}}</ref> After his son's death, the caliphate plunged into a [[civil war]] and splintered into the so-called "[[Taifa]] Kingdoms". The Taifa kings competed in war and in the protection of the arts, and culture enjoyed a brief renaissance. The ''aceifas'' (Muslim military expeditions made in summer in medieval Spain) were the continuation of a policy from the times of the emirate: the capture of numerous contingents of Christian slaves, the ''saqáliba'' (plural of ''siqlabi'', "slave").{{sfn|Lirola Delgado|1993|p=217}} These were the most lucrative part of the booty, and constituted an excellent method of payment for the troops, so much so that many ''aceifas'' were hunts for people.
The Almohads, who had taken control of the Almoravids' Maghribi and al-Andalus territories by 1147, surpassed the Almoravides in fundamentalist Islamic outlook, and they treated the non-believer ''[[dhimmi]]s'' harshly. Faced with the choice of death, conversion, or emigration, many [[Jews]] and Christians left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Medieval/IntergroupTO/JewishMuslim/Almohads.htm|title=The Almohads|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213223723/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Medieval/IntergroupTO/JewishMuslim/Almohads.htm|archive-date=2009-02-13}}</ref>

By the mid-13th century, the [[Emirate of Granada]] was the only independent Muslim realm in Spain, which survived [[Granada War|until 1492]] by becoming a [[vassal state]] to Castile, to which it paid [[parias|tribute]].

=== Warfare between Muslims and Christians ===
[[File:Cantigas battle.jpg|thumb|A battle of the ''Reconquista'' from the ''[[Cantigas de Santa Maria]]'']]
[[Spain in the Middle Ages|Medieval Spain]] was the scene of almost constant warfare between Muslims and Christians.

The Taifa kingdoms lost ground to the Christian realms in the north. After the loss of Toledo in 1085, the Muslim rulers reluctantly invited the [[Almoravides|Almoravids]], who invaded Al-Andalus from North Africa and established an empire. In the 12th century the Almoravid empire broke up again, only to be taken over by the [[Almohad]] invasion, who were defeated by an alliance of the Christian kingdoms in the decisive [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in 1212. By 1250, nearly all of Hispania was back under Christian rule with the exception of the Muslim kingdom of Granada.

===Spanish language and universities===
[[File:Antonio de Nebrija Introductiones latinae 1550.jpg|thumb|right|The title page of the ''[[Gramática de la lengua castellana]]'' (1492), the first grammar of a modern European language to be published.]]
In the 13th century, many languages were spoken in the Christian kingdoms of Hispania. These were the Latin-based [[Romance languages]] of [[Spanish language|Castilian]], [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Galician language|Galician]], [[Aranese language|Aranese]], [[Asturian language|Asturian]], [[Leonese language|Leonese]], and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and the ancient [[language isolate]] of [[Basque language|Basque]]. Throughout the century, Castilian (what is also known today as Spanish) gained a growing prominence in the Kingdom of Castile as the language of culture and communication, at the expense of Leonese and of other close dialects.

One example of this is the oldest preserved Castilian epic poem, ''[[Cantar de Mio Cid]]'', written about the military leader ''[[El Cid]]''. In the last years of the reign of [[Ferdinand III of Castile]], Castilian began to be used for certain types of documents, and it was during the reign of [[Alfonso X of Castile|Alfonso X]] that it became the official language. Henceforth all public documents were written in Castilian.

At the same time, Catalan and Galician became the standard languages in their respective territories, developing important literary traditions and being the normal languages in which public and private documents were issued: Galician from the 13th to the 16th century in Galicia and nearby regions of Asturias and Leon,<ref name="Paz1999">{{cite book|first=Ramón Mariño|last=Paz|title=Historia da lingua galega|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=78x6QgAACAA }}|access-date=19 August 2013|year=1999|publisher=Sotelo Blanco Edicións|isbn=978-84-7824-333-4|pages=182–194}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and Catalan from the 12th to the 18th century in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia, where it was known as Valencian. Both languages were later substituted in its official status by Castilian Spanish, till the 20th century.

In the 13th century many universities were founded in León and in Castile. Some, such as the Leonese [[University of Salamanca|Salamanca]] and the Castilian Palencia, were among the earliest universities in Europe.

In 1492, under the [[Catholic Monarchs]], the first edition of the ''[[Grammar of the Castilian Language]]'' by [[Antonio de Nebrija]] was published.