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charles martel and his frank stopped the
muslim invasion
during the battle of tours in 732
and because of this they are often
lauded as the saviors of europe
but it was the peoples of the pyrenean
peninsula who despite early setbacks
resisted the muslims for centuries
eventually the spaniards and the
portuguese started taking back their
lands and what was called the
reconquista
or the reconquest welcome to our new
video on the reconquista
and the battle of los navas de tulosa in
the kings and generals
documentary series
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the muslim caliphate conquered vast
territories from central asia to north
africa
in less than a century by 708 the
muslims had reached and conquered
modern-day morocco
the warriors of islam were now just 50
kilometers away from europe
and in 711 berber general tariq launched
an invasion into hispania
at this point the old roman province was
under control of a visigothic kingdom
muslim forces landed in gibraltar which
in translation for arabic means
the mount of tariq although their forces
only numbered around twelve
thousand strong they started conquering
the land and decisively defeating the
visigoths of king rodrick in 712 at the
battle of guadalete
shortly after the capital toledo was
occupied
the visigoth kingdom collapsed and in
just seven years all of the pyrenees
were subdued
saved for some remote mountainous
regions
the ancestors of the basques the people
called the vascons
were not eager to surrender their small
force led by noblemen pelagius
defeated the muslims in 718 at the
battle of kovadunga
pelagius was able to form a new state in
the northern part of the peninsula
and it was called asterius his victory
is considered the event that kickstarted
the reconquista
the muslims saw very little gain in
attempting to pacify this inhospitable
region
and set their eyes on france between
719 and 759 their forces tried to invade
the franks on
multiple occasions but every time were
stopped
back in spain the new king of asterius
alfonso the first
took pamplona and then most of galatia
by 750
the muslims also had their share of
internal problems as in the same year
the ruling yumiya dynasty
was toppled by the abbasids one of the
last remaining members of the umed's
al-rahman managed to save his life and
take over cordoba in 756.
he formed an independent emirate and
unified most of muslim spain under his
control within the next
25 years the emirs attempted to take
over the northern part of the peninsula
but were stopped in 794 during the
battle of lutos muslim forces were wiped
out by king alfonso ii
of asturias
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to the east christians formed a new
kingdom of pamplona
eventually this state would transform
into the kingdom of navarre
while asturias became known as the
kingdom of leon
two countries were allied in their
attempts to drive back the emirate
but this alliance was defeated during
the battle of alden cuera
this defeat would be the greatest the
christian suffered during the
reconquista
the emirates of cordoba felt influential
enough to declare itself a caliphate
this was a symbol showing that they were
just as great as the abbasid or fatimid
caliphates
despite this the king of leon romero ii
managed to defeat cordovan forces in 939
at the battle of cemuncus unfortunately
the situation in the kingdom of lyon was
not stable
and soon after this victory castilia
rebelled and that didn't allow the
christians to continue their re-conquest
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eventually the situation would become
more dire in the late 10th century
the caliph started to spend less time in
the state affairs
and nobleman almanzor became the de
facto ruler of the caliphate
he completely changed the situation in
the peninsula
as between 978 and 1002
he managed to defeat all christian
domains on multiple occasions
these kingdoms were forced to pay
tribute to cordoba
after their crushing defeat at the
battle of savera in 1000
his death in 1002 plunged caliphate into
a civil war
that ended with its own collapse muslim
domain was divided into dozens of war in
states called typhas
which can be translated as tribes
it seemed to be the perfect moment for
the christians to strike
and take the peninsula back and so the
neverese king
sancho iii succeeded in the unification
of castile
leon and aragon however upon his death
his realm
was divided amongst his many sons this
resulted in a number of wars between
castile lyon aragon and navarre
non-stop raids in chaos marked the 11th
century
the central figure of the events that
took part during the time
is rodrigo diaz de vivar who is also
known
as el sid this military leader entered
the collective mythos of spain in the
whole of christendom through
his actions one of the kings he served
alfonso vi
managed to unite leon castile and
galicia
by 1077 alfonso was strong enough to
declare himself the emperor of spain
indeed many muslim typhas were forced to
pay him tribute
and in 1084 he was able to take control
of the ancient capital
toledo this act worried muslim entities
all over the peninsula and they asked
their southern neighbors the alma ravid
berbers for help
the berbers came to spain soon and
delivered a decisive defeat to alfonso
in 1086
at sagradas the almora vids decided to
use the weakness of the typhus
and by 11 10 they occupied the southern
part of the peninsula
however it was too late as the christian
kingdoms were now receiving significant
help from their brethren
and it was showing itself all over the
region
in 1139 portugal was established as a
kingdom
and with the aid of the crusaders lisbon
was reconquered in 1147
the berbers were also having problems to
the south as a new sect called the alma
had started to take over morocco in
spain
and by 1173 this process was concluded
the alma had represented a more
fanatical sect of islam
while the muslims were fighting each
other in the north spanish kingdoms were
building a strong alliance
the kingdom of castile led by alfonso
viii launched a campaign into almahad
territory
but during the battle for alarcos in
1195
he was heavily defeated and any dreams
of reconquista was postponed for now
neither the al-muhads nor the christians
were fond of a new balance
and in 1211 the cow of muhammad al nasir
launched across the strait of gibraltar
with an army seventy thousand strong
pope innocent iii called for a new
crusade
with more than forty thousand crusaders
coming together in toledo by the spring
of twelve twelve
the kingdoms of castile aragon portugal
and navarre
along with the knights templar santiago
and calatrava orders
were part of this army and this army
would be led by the castilian king
alfonso viii never before had christians
or muslims fielded such
large armies in spain and this campaign
was going to be decisive
muslim strategy was simple al-nasir
moved most of his forces fast to block
passages in the sierra moreno mountains
while sending groups to besiege enemy
castles in the area
he thought that the knights will not be
able to effectively fight in the
mountains
and would soon run out of provisions
alfonso attempted to cross the mountains
in multiple locations
but was blocked the legend tells that
alfonso's army was approached by a
shepherd
who promised to guide them by in an
undefended passage
this maneuver seemingly surprised
al-nasir who didn't have his whole army
under his command
the armies were now in an area called
las novas de tulosa
where the decisive battle for spain
would take
place
the spaniards had to fight uphill their
army was divided into three groups
with alfonso in this center with knights
from his orders the king of aragon pedro
to the left
and the king sancho of navarre to the
right
each of the groups were divided into
three lines with infantry in the first
cavalry in the third and a mix of the
two within the second
the muslims fortified a small position
for the caliph and his guard
the alma hads had all of their cavalry
on the left and right
with center occupied by the infantry
consisting of local muslims in the front
line
and moroccans in the second the vanguard
of the army consisted of light
skirmishers
everything began with the muslim cavalry
attack on the left and the right
after some initial success the muslim
riders were counter-attacked by
knights in the second line the calips
cavalry was pushed back
uphill and muslim skirmishers in the
center retreated on contact
but the second line joined the attack
and the christian lines were dangerously
close to breaking
it is said that at this point alfonso
even panicked
as he remembered the quraishing defeat
at alarcos
and only after encouragement from the
clergy he managed to come to his senses
and lead his center in a counter-attack
the spaniards stopped their retreat the
situation was still
shaky however they would be saved by a
brave tactical maneuver of king
sancho himself the navaris ruler saw
that most of the enemy was engaged in
the center
and on the flanks so he led his knight
uphill to attack the caliph himself
the guard did not expect this move and
the knights were closing in
on the calendar the caliph lost heart at
this moment and decided to run
as soon as muslim forces saw that his
banner was not present anymore
they broke their lines and attempted to
withdraw sources claimed that the
majority of the alma had army was killed
or taken hostage
and the spaniards were victorious
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although this victory did not bring any
immediate results
it was a turning point the alma had soon
collapsed
and the muslims never mounted a serious
offensive into the christian spain
and gradually region by region city by
city
the reconquista reclaimed all of the
peninsula
with granada being the last to be
reconquered in 1492
by the united spanish kingdom
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