Umayyad conquest of Hispania
Encyclopedia
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islam
ic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom
of Hispania
, centered in the Iberian Peninsula
, which was known to them under the Arabic
name al-Andalus
.
The conquest began with an invasion by an army that (according to traditional accounts) consisted largely of Berber
Northwest Africans and was commanded by Tariq ibn Ziyad. They disembarked in early 711 at Gibraltar
and campaigned their way northward. After the decisive Battle of Guadalete
against the usurper Roderic
and the defection to the Saracens of the legitimate heirs to the throne, the Visigothic kingdom splintered into client-kingdoms of the Ummayads and over the following decade most of the Iberian Peninsula was further occupied and brought under Muslim
sovereignity, save for mountainous areas in the north-west (Galicia, Asturias
) and northern mountainous areas defended successfully by the Basques with the assistance of the Franks
. The successfully retained conquered territory became the Caliphate of Córdoba
, part of the expanding Umayyad empire.
The invaders initially had moved northeast across the Pyrenees to occupy Septimania
, then under the client-king Ardo
, only to be temporarily halted by Odo the Great´s Aquitanians in the Battle of Toulouse (721)
. However, massing a larger army they resumed their advance to the northwest, defeating king Odo at the Battle of Bordeaux. Charles Martel
at the time held the high office of mayor of the palace
in Francia and Odo saw no choice but to seek the help of his former enemy, swear an oath of loyalty to him and join the Frankish military forces, who after a forced march defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Tours
(Poitiers
) in 732. Muslim control of territory in what became France was intermittent and ended in 759.
Though Muslim armies dominated the Iberian Peninsula for centuries afterward, Pelayo of Asturias
's victory at the Battle of Covadonga
in 722 preserved at least one Christian principality in the north. This battle later assumed major symbolic importance for Iberian Christians as the beginning of the Reconquista
.
Perhaps because of the Muslim perception of Christians and Jews as People of the Book
, numerous Jewish and Christian communities survived through the centuries of Muslim rule in al-Andalus.
(which ends on that date), regarded as reliable but often vague. There are no contemporary Muslim accounts. What Muslim information there is comes from later compilations, which are much coloured by the writers' sense of what was proper, and by contemporary politics — the most prominent such compilation is that of Al-Maqqari, which dates from the 17th century. This paucity of sources means that any specific or detailed claims need to be regarded with caution.
What are available are a number of stories that might more properly be described as legends. The manner of King Roderic
's ascent to the throne is unclear; there are accounts of dispute with the son of his predecessor Wittiza
, and accounts that Wittiza's family fled to Tangier
and solicited help from there. Numismatic
evidence suggests some division of royal authority, with several coinages being struck. There is also a story of one Julian, count of Ceuta
, whose wife or daughter was raped by Roderic and who also sought help from Tangier. However, these stories are legendary and not included in the earliest accounts of the conquest.
As to the initial nature of the expedition, historical opinion takes four directions: (1) that a force was sent to aid one side in a civil war in the hope of plunder and a future alliance; (2) that it was a reconnaissance
force sent to test the military strength of the Visigothic kingdom; (3) that it was the first wave of a full–scale invasion; (4) that it was an unusually large raiding expedition with no direct strategic intentions.
According to traditional Islamic accounts, in the early 8th century an army estimated at some 10,000–15,000 combatants led by one Tariq Ibn Ziyad crossed from North Africa. Ibn Abd-el-Hakem
reports, one and a half centuries later, that "the people of Andalus did not observe them, thinking that the vessels crossing and recrossing were similar to the trading vessels which for their benefit plied backwards and forwards." They defeated the Visigothic army, led by King Roderic, in a decisive battle at Guadalete
in 712. Tariq's forces were thence reinforced by those of his superior, the Emir
Musa ibn Nusair, and went on to take control of most of Iberia.
During the period of the second (or first, depending on the sources) Arab governor Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa
(714-716) the principal urban centres of Catalonia surrendered, at which time Muslim troops reached Pamplona. This submitted too, after a compromise was brokered with Arab commanders to respect the town and its inhabitants, a practice that seems to have been common in many towns of the Iberian Peninsula
. The Muslim troops found little resistance and, given the situation of the communications, 3 years seems to have been a reasonable lapse of time to cover the distance to almost the Pyrenees after making the necessary arrangements for the towns' submission and their future governance.
The Chronicle of 754 states that 'the entire army of the Goths, which had come with him fraudulently and in rivalry out of hopes of the Kingship, fled'. This is the only contemporary account of the battle, and the paucity of detail led many later historians to invent their own. The location of the battle is not totally clear, but was probably the Guadalete River
.
Roderic is believed to have been killed, and a crushing defeat would have left the Visigoths largely leaderless and disorganized. In this regard, the ruling Visigoth population is estimated at a mere 1 to 2% of the total population, something which facilitated the apparently nearly instant demise of the Visigothic kingdom. The resulting power vacuum, which may have indeed caught Tariq completely by surprise, would have aided the Muslim conquest immensely.
The conquering army was made up mainly of Berbers, who had themselves only recently come under Muslim influence and were probably only lightly islamized. It is probable that this army represented a continuation of a historic pattern of large-scale raids into Iberia dating to the pre–Islamic period, and hence it has been suggested that actual conquest was not originally planned. Both the Chronicle and later Muslim sources speak of raiding activity in previous years, and Tariq's army may have been present for some time before the decisive battle. It has been argued that this possibility is supported by the fact that the army was led by a Berber and that Musa, who was the Ummayad Governor of North Africa, only arrived the following year — the governor had not stooped to lead a mere raid, but hurried across once the unexpected triumph became clear. The Chronicle of 754 states that many townspeople fled to the hills rather than defend their cities, which might support the view that this was expected to be a temporary raid rather than a permanent change of government.
, dominated by Muslim rulers, and with only a handful of small Christian states surviving in the mountainous north. In 756 Abd ar-Rahman I
, a survivor of the then-recently overthrown Umayyad Dynasty, seized power in Al-Andalus, founding an independent dynasty that survived until the 11th century. Muslim domination lasted longer: until the defeat of the Almohads in the 13th century, after which the Christian Reconquista
became irresistible.
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom
Visigothic Kingdom
The Visigothic Kingdom was a kingdom which occupied southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to 8th century AD. One of the Germanic successor states to the Western Roman Empire, it was originally created by the settlement of the Visigoths under King Wallia in the province of...
of Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, centered in the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, which was known to them under the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
name al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
.
The conquest began with an invasion by an army that (according to traditional accounts) consisted largely of Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
Northwest Africans and was commanded by Tariq ibn Ziyad. They disembarked in early 711 at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and campaigned their way northward. After the decisive Battle of Guadalete
Battle of Guadalete
The Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and an invading force of Muslim Arabs and Berbers under Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Arab-Berber...
against the usurper Roderic
Roderic
Ruderic was the Visigothic King of Hispania for a brief period between 710 and 712. He is famous in legend as "the last king of the Goths"...
and the defection to the Saracens of the legitimate heirs to the throne, the Visigothic kingdom splintered into client-kingdoms of the Ummayads and over the following decade most of the Iberian Peninsula was further occupied and brought under Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
sovereignity, save for mountainous areas in the north-west (Galicia, Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
) and northern mountainous areas defended successfully by the Basques with the assistance of the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
. The successfully retained conquered territory became the Caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and part of North Africa, from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous...
, part of the expanding Umayyad empire.
The invaders initially had moved northeast across the Pyrenees to occupy Septimania
Septimania
Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...
, then under the client-king Ardo
Ardo
Ardo was "the last of all the Visigothic kings" of Hispania, reigning from 713 or, more probably 714, until his death...
, only to be temporarily halted by Odo the Great´s Aquitanians in the Battle of Toulouse (721)
Battle of Toulouse (721)
The Battle of Toulouse was a victory of an Aquitanian army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine over an Umayyad army besieging the city of Toulouse, and led by the governor of Al-Andalus, Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani...
. However, massing a larger army they resumed their advance to the northwest, defeating king Odo at the Battle of Bordeaux. Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
at the time held the high office of mayor of the palace
Mayor of the Palace
Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....
in Francia and Odo saw no choice but to seek the help of his former enemy, swear an oath of loyalty to him and join the Frankish military forces, who after a forced march defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Tours
Battle of Tours
The Battle of Tours , also called the Battle of Poitiers and in Battle of the Court of the Martyrs, was fought in an area between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, located in north-central France, near the village of Moussais-la-Bataille, about northeast of Poitiers...
(Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
) in 732. Muslim control of territory in what became France was intermittent and ended in 759.
Though Muslim armies dominated the Iberian Peninsula for centuries afterward, Pelayo of Asturias
Pelayo of Asturias
Pelagius was a Visigothic nobleman who founded the Kingdom of Asturias, ruling it from 718 until his death. Through his victory at the Battle of Covadonga, he is credited with beginning the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors, insofar as he established an...
's victory at the Battle of Covadonga
Battle of Covadonga
The Battle of Covadonga was the first major victory by a Christian military force in Iberia following the Muslim Moors' conquest of that region in 711...
in 722 preserved at least one Christian principality in the north. This battle later assumed major symbolic importance for Iberian Christians as the beginning of the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
.
Perhaps because of the Muslim perception of Christians and Jews as People of the Book
People of the Book
People of the Book is a term used to designate non-Muslim adherents to faiths which have a revealed scripture called, in Arabic, Al-Kitab . The three types of adherents to faiths that the Qur'an mentions as people of the book are the Jews, Sabians and Christians.In Islam, the Muslim scripture, the...
, numerous Jewish and Christian communities survived through the centuries of Muslim rule in al-Andalus.
Background
Precisely what happened in Iberia in the early 8th century is subject to much uncertainty. There is one contemporary Christian source, the Chronicle of 754Chronicle of 754
The Chronicle of 754 was a Latin-language history in ninety-five chapters with the narrative theme "the ruin of Spain", which was composed in the year 754, in Toledo or Córdoba...
(which ends on that date), regarded as reliable but often vague. There are no contemporary Muslim accounts. What Muslim information there is comes from later compilations, which are much coloured by the writers' sense of what was proper, and by contemporary politics — the most prominent such compilation is that of Al-Maqqari, which dates from the 17th century. This paucity of sources means that any specific or detailed claims need to be regarded with caution.
What are available are a number of stories that might more properly be described as legends. The manner of King Roderic
Roderic
Ruderic was the Visigothic King of Hispania for a brief period between 710 and 712. He is famous in legend as "the last king of the Goths"...
's ascent to the throne is unclear; there are accounts of dispute with the son of his predecessor Wittiza
Wittiza
Wittiza was the Visigothic King of Hispania from 694 until his death, co-ruling with his father, Ergica, until 702 or 703.-Joint rule:...
, and accounts that Wittiza's family fled to Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
and solicited help from there. Numismatic
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
evidence suggests some division of royal authority, with several coinages being struck. There is also a story of one Julian, count of Ceuta
Julian, count of Ceuta
Julian, Count of Ceuta was a legendary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in North Africa who had a role in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania — a key event in the history of Islam, in which al-Andalus was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and...
, whose wife or daughter was raped by Roderic and who also sought help from Tangier. However, these stories are legendary and not included in the earliest accounts of the conquest.
As to the initial nature of the expedition, historical opinion takes four directions: (1) that a force was sent to aid one side in a civil war in the hope of plunder and a future alliance; (2) that it was a reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
force sent to test the military strength of the Visigothic kingdom; (3) that it was the first wave of a full–scale invasion; (4) that it was an unusually large raiding expedition with no direct strategic intentions.
Invasion
Ibn Abd-el-Hakem
Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam was an Egyptian chronicler who wrote the History of the Conquest of Egypt and North Africa and Spain.His work is invaluable as the earliest Arab account of the Islamic conquests of those countries. This work was written about 150-200 years after the events it describes, and...
reports, one and a half centuries later, that "the people of Andalus did not observe them, thinking that the vessels crossing and recrossing were similar to the trading vessels which for their benefit plied backwards and forwards." They defeated the Visigothic army, led by King Roderic, in a decisive battle at Guadalete
Battle of Guadalete
The Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and an invading force of Muslim Arabs and Berbers under Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Arab-Berber...
in 712. Tariq's forces were thence reinforced by those of his superior, the Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
Musa ibn Nusair, and went on to take control of most of Iberia.
During the period of the second (or first, depending on the sources) Arab governor Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa
Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa
Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr was the first governor of Al-Andalus, in modern-day Spain and Portugal. He was the son of Musa ibn Nusayr, the governor of Ifriqiya...
(714-716) the principal urban centres of Catalonia surrendered, at which time Muslim troops reached Pamplona. This submitted too, after a compromise was brokered with Arab commanders to respect the town and its inhabitants, a practice that seems to have been common in many towns of the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. The Muslim troops found little resistance and, given the situation of the communications, 3 years seems to have been a reasonable lapse of time to cover the distance to almost the Pyrenees after making the necessary arrangements for the towns' submission and their future governance.
The Chronicle of 754 states that 'the entire army of the Goths, which had come with him fraudulently and in rivalry out of hopes of the Kingship, fled'. This is the only contemporary account of the battle, and the paucity of detail led many later historians to invent their own. The location of the battle is not totally clear, but was probably the Guadalete River
Guadalete River
The Guadalete River is a small stream located in the Spanish province of Cádiz, arising in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park at an elevation of about 1000 m, and running for 172 km into the Bay of Cádiz at El Puerto de Santa Maria, south of the city of Cádiz...
.
Roderic is believed to have been killed, and a crushing defeat would have left the Visigoths largely leaderless and disorganized. In this regard, the ruling Visigoth population is estimated at a mere 1 to 2% of the total population, something which facilitated the apparently nearly instant demise of the Visigothic kingdom. The resulting power vacuum, which may have indeed caught Tariq completely by surprise, would have aided the Muslim conquest immensely.
The conquering army was made up mainly of Berbers, who had themselves only recently come under Muslim influence and were probably only lightly islamized. It is probable that this army represented a continuation of a historic pattern of large-scale raids into Iberia dating to the pre–Islamic period, and hence it has been suggested that actual conquest was not originally planned. Both the Chronicle and later Muslim sources speak of raiding activity in previous years, and Tariq's army may have been present for some time before the decisive battle. It has been argued that this possibility is supported by the fact that the army was led by a Berber and that Musa, who was the Ummayad Governor of North Africa, only arrived the following year — the governor had not stooped to lead a mere raid, but hurried across once the unexpected triumph became clear. The Chronicle of 754 states that many townspeople fled to the hills rather than defend their cities, which might support the view that this was expected to be a temporary raid rather than a permanent change of government.
Aftermath
The conquest led to a period of several hundred years in which the Iberian peninsula was the province of Al-AndalusAl-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
, dominated by Muslim rulers, and with only a handful of small Christian states surviving in the mountainous north. In 756 Abd ar-Rahman I
Abd ar-Rahman I
Abd al-Rahman I, or, his full name by patronymic record, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was the founder of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba , a Muslim dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries...
, a survivor of the then-recently overthrown Umayyad Dynasty, seized power in Al-Andalus, founding an independent dynasty that survived until the 11th century. Muslim domination lasted longer: until the defeat of the Almohads in the 13th century, after which the Christian Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
became irresistible.
Chronology
As discussed above, much of the traditional narrative of the Conquest is more legend than reliable history. Some of the key events and the stories around them are outlined below.- 6th century – Visigothic noblemen had grown into territorial lordsFeudalismFeudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
. - 612 – Royal decree issued enjoining all Jews to be baptized, under penalty of banishment and confiscation of property
- 710 – Tariq ibn Ziyad (Malluk?), a Berber freedman, landed with 400 men and 100 horses on the tiny peninsula of the European continent now called isle of TarifaTarifaTarifa is a small town in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, on the southernmost coast of Spain. The town is located on the Costa de la Luz and across the Straits of Gibraltar facing Morocco. The municipality includes Punta de Tarifa, the southernmost point in continental Europe. There are five...
after his name. ("Gibraltar" also derives from his name.) - 711 – Musa ibn Nusair, Governor of IfriqiyaIfriqiyaIn medieval history, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria. This area included what had been the Roman province of Africa, whose name it inherited....
in North Africa, dispatched Tariq into the Iberian Peninsula, encouraged by the earlier success and the dynastic trouble in Hispania. - July 19, 711 – Tariq, with 7,000 men, and Julian, count of Ceuta, with 12,000 men, confronted King Roderick, with 25,000 men, by the Barbate (Salado) River on the shore of a lagoon. Roderick's army was utterly routed (see Battle of GuadaleteBattle of GuadaleteThe Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and an invading force of Muslim Arabs and Berbers under Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Arab-Berber...
). - June 712 – SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
ns rushed to Hispania and attacked towns and strongholds avoided by Tariq. - 715 – Abd al-Aziz ibn MusaAbd al-Aziz ibn MusaAbd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr was the first governor of Al-Andalus, in modern-day Spain and Portugal. He was the son of Musa ibn Nusayr, the governor of Ifriqiya...
was announced first Emir of Andalus and married the widow of King Roderick, EgilonaEgilonaEgilona was the wife of the last Visigothic King Roderic in the early years of the 8th Century during the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. When he died in the Battle of Guadalete she was captured by the Moorish leader Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa...
. SevilleSevilleSeville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
became the capital. - 717–18 – Lured by the rich treasures of convents and churches of France and encouraged by the internal dissension between the chief officers of the Merovingian court and the dukes of AquitaineAquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
, Al-Hurr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-ThaqafiAl-Hurr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-ThaqafiAl-Ḥurr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Thaqafī was an early Umayyad governor who ruled the Muslim province of Al-Andalus from between 716 to 718. He was the third successor to Musa bin Nusair, the North African governor who had directed the conquest of Visigothic Spain several years earlier in 711...
invaded SeptimaniaSeptimaniaSeptimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...
. - 719 – Al-Samh ibn Malik al-KhawlaniAl-Samh ibn Malik al-KhawlaniAl-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani was the Arab governor general of the Muslim occupied region of the Iberian Peninsula called Al-Andalus from between 718 and 721.He led a Muslim incursion into southern France in the early part of the 8th century...
, 4th Emir, transferred the seat of Governor from Seville to CordovaCórdoba, Spain-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
. - 721 – Battle of ToulouseBattle of Toulouse (721)The Battle of Toulouse was a victory of an Aquitanian army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine over an Umayyad army besieging the city of Toulouse, and led by the governor of Al-Andalus, Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani...
. An Umayyad army led by Al-Samh besieged the city of ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, and was crushed by the Aquitanian army led by Duke Odo of AquitaineOdo of AquitaineOdo the Great , Duke of Aquitaine, obtained this dignity by 700. His territory included the Duchy of Vasconia in the south-west of Gaul and the Duchy of Aquitaine , a realm extending from the Loire to the Pyrenees, with capital in Toulouse...
. - Spring 732 – Emir Abdul Rahman Al GhafiqiAbdul Rahman Al GhafiqiAbdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi , also known as Abd er Rahman, Abdderrahman, Abderame, and Abd el-Rahman, led the Andalusian Muslims into battle against the forces of Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours on October 10, 732 AD. for which he is primarily remembered in the West...
advanced through the western Pyrenees, crossed them, and vanquished Odo on the banks of the GaronneGaronneThe Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of .-Source:The Garonne's headwaters are to be found in the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees, though three different locations have been proposed as the true source: the Uelh deth Garona at Plan de Beret , the Ratera-Saboredo...
. ToursToursTours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
was a sort of religious capital for GaulGaulGaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
(France), the resting-place of the body of Martin of ToursMartin of ToursMartin of Tours was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints...
, the apostle of Gaul. - October 732 – Battle of ToursBattle of ToursThe Battle of Tours , also called the Battle of Poitiers and in Battle of the Court of the Martyrs, was fought in an area between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, located in north-central France, near the village of Moussais-la-Bataille, about northeast of Poitiers...
(Balat Al Shuhada`). Abd Al–Rahman Al–Ghafiqi, the Arab leader, met Charles MartelCharles MartelCharles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
, Mayor of the PalaceMayor of the PalaceMayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....
at the Merovingian court. Odo pledges allegiance to and joins Charles Martel against the Muslim army. After seven days of waiting anxiously to join the battle, Abd Al–Rahman took the initiative in the attack. Charles' army hewed the attackers down with their swords. Among the victims was Abd Al-Rahman. Under cover of night the Muslims had quietly vanished, and Charles came off victorious. - 734–42 – Open revolt from MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
to KairouanKairouanKairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...
(Al–Qayrawan) spread to the Iberian peninsula. Mudarites and YemenYemenThe Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
ites agreed on choosing alternately one of their numbers each year to rule Al–Andalus. - Governor Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-FihriYusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-FihriYusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri was Umayyad governor of Narbonne in Septimania and then from 747 to 756 governor of al-Andalus, ruling independently following the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate in 750...
, a Mudarite and descendant of Uqbah ibn Nafiaa`Uqba ibn NafiUqba ibn Nafi was an Arab hero and general who was serving the Umayyad dynasty, in Amir Muavia and Yazid periods, who began the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb, including present-day Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco in North Africa. He was the nephew of 'Amr ibn al-'As. Uqba is often surnamed...
, refused to give turn to the Yemenite candidate and ruled for nine years, 747–56. - 755 – Advent of the Umayyad Abd Al-Rahman Al DakhelAbd ar-Rahman IAbd al-Rahman I, or, his full name by patronymic record, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was the founder of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba , a Muslim dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries...
, "Saqr Quraysh". In late 755, he landed on the southern coast, in GranadaGranadaGranada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, and was on his way to conquer al–Andalus.
See also
- CrusadesCrusadesThe Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
- History of PortugalHistory of PortugalThe history of Portugal, a European and an Atlantic nation, dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia and...
- History of SpainHistory of SpainThe history of Spain involves all the other peoples and nations within the Iberian peninsula formerly known as Hispania, and includes still today the nations of Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain...
- Muslim conquestsMuslim conquestsMuslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
- Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsulaTimeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsulaThis is a timeline of notable events in the Muslim presence in Iberia, which started with the Umayyad conquest in the 8th century.-Conquest :...
- Timeline of Portuguese historyTimeline of Portuguese historyThis is a historical timeline of Portugal.*Timeline of Iberian prehistory*Pre-Roman Iberia *Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia *Germanic Kingdoms...