AD 800-1250 Medieval

In AD 756, the Muslim Umayyad dynasty established a unified state, al-Andalus, over most of Spain that lasted for 250 years. Only a cluster of small Christian states survived in the north of the peninsula. The Umayyads introduced new farming methods, built magnificent palaces and mosques, and encouraged the arts and sciences.

The power of the caliphs (rulers) fluctuated and in 1031 the Umayyad caliphate fell. Al-Andalus fractured into small independent states, taifas (Arabic for ‘party’ or ‘faction’). Over the next 150 years two successive Berber (non-Arab Muslim) dynasties from North Africa, the Almoravids (1086-1147) and the Almohads (1147-73), achieved short periods of unity. From the 11th century, the Christian states began to expand southwards and by the 12th century four major kingdoms emerged: Portugal, Castile, Navarre and Aragon (including Catalonia).

The start of the Crusades in Europe (1095) encouraged Spanish Christians to unite against the Moors, as the Berber Muslims were called. During the Reconquista (reconquest) of the peninsula, victories against the Almohads in 1147-9 were achieved with the help of Anglo-Norman, Flemish and German Crusaders. In 1212, at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, the Almohads were finally defeated. By the mid-13th century, only the small southern kingdom of Granada was left of Islamic Spain.