Reconquista

What happened

After Muslim Umayyad conquest of Iberia (711), Christian kingdoms in the north preserved independence and gradually expanded south (Reconquista, 722-1492). Christian kingdoms—Asturias, León, Castile, Aragon, Portugal—fought Muslim Al-Andalus across eight centuries. Key battles: Covadonga (722, mythic Christian beginning), Las Navas de Tolosa (1212, Castilian victory), Granada's fall (1492, final Muslim kingdom conquered). By 1492, Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella unified Spain. Granada's conquest coincided with Columbus' voyage—Spanish power expanded globally just as Iberia was unified. Millions died through intermittent warfare; Andalusian Muslim populations were gradually displaced or converted.

Why it mattered

The Reconquista created Spain and Portugal as unified Christian states and generated Portuguese and Spanish imperialism (Age of Exploration). The Reconquista narrative became foundational to Spanish national identity and Islamic-Christian antagonism in the Mediterranean. Expulsion of Muslims and Jews (1492-1609) created Spanish religious homogeneity. The Reconquista's religious framing (holy war, crusade language) influenced how Spain's colonial conquests were justified religiously. The eventual Spanish Inquisition partly emerged from post-Reconquista concerns about heresy. Modern Spain's regional identities (Basque, Catalan) partly trace to medieval kingdoms formed during Reconquista.