The Arab Conquest of Spain - full documentary

in 7-eleven a muslim army crossed from north africa into spain and proceeded to conquer most of the peninsula in 1212 a coalition christian army decisively defeated the last great muslim power on the iberian peninsula the al moads finally in 1492 the catholic monarchs of aragon and castile subdued grenada the last muslim holdout on the southeastern sliver of the peninsula this long period of history encompasses one of the truly great contests of the middle ages the battle for spain waged between muslim and christian powers thus the history of medieval iberia has become almost legendary as the rei conquista beginning with the muslim invasion in 7-eleven and finally concluding with the fall of granada in 1492 the ray conquista coincides with many key developments over the whole of medieval history the first phase from 7 11 to 1031 was an era of almost unquestioned muslim dominance in which the emirs and caliphs of cordoba were the hegemonic power on the peninsula [Music] this echoes the broader flourishing and triumph of islamic civilization across the mediterranean world during the early middle ages the second phase from 1031 to 1212 saw the rise of the northerly christian states which recaptured considerable territories from the muslims and presented a real existential threat to the remaining islamic regions meanwhile militant berber movements from north africa gave the christians a run for their money fighting back and gaining crucial successes this mirrors wider developments with the latin christian west on the rise across europe and the muslim world suddenly faced with a powerful and expanding competitor the third phase from 1212 to 1492 was an era of christian hegemony beginning with a mopping up of the great swathe of the muslim lands during the mid 13th century after this a small muslim territory held out in the emirate of granada which endured for two more centuries before finally being liquidated by isabella castile and fernando of aragon here now the spanish situation doesn't reflect so neatly with more general developments in the holy land a newly triumphant islam was defeating the crusades while the ottoman turks were beginning their long history as a great world power without question the history of the arab conquest and the subsequent ray conquista greatly impacted the broader character of the nations that would become spain and portugal it's a fascinating story and we will cover it in full in this series [Music] the iberian peninsula when the arabs conquered it in ad711 could already boast a long and rich history saint isidore of sevilla one of the most influential figures of the early medieval church and a giant of visigothic literature wrote in ad624 of all the lands from the west to the indies you spain o sacred and always fortunate mother of princes and peoples are the most beautiful rightly are you now the queen of all provinces from which not only the west but also the east borrows its shining lights you are the pride and the ornament of the world the most illustrious part of the earth in which the gothic people are gloriously prolific rejoicing much and flourishing greatly iberians celts carthaginians and greeks had all settled spain long before the romans began their conquest in 218 bc the roman impact proved enduring spain became latin in its language law and culture during the days of the roman peace a massive network of roads was established and the economy flourished this resulted in a thriving urban civilization with romanization came christianization the religion of christ came to dominate spain in the late roman era and would endure as a powerful force from then on at the start of the century vandals allens and swathi occupied the south west and north visiting war and destruction on the hispano-romans who seemed incapable of defending themselves by the century's end the visigoths the most vigorous of the germanic tribes to enter spain settled in old castile where their legacy has echoed ever since in the local genetics language and place names over time they subdued the other tribes and took control of the remaining roman outposts finally in the 7th century their rule extended across the peninsula the great failure of the visigoths was their inability to establish a hereditary succession civil war was a constant feature of their rule and played a key role in the rather rapid collapse of the kingdom to the muslim invaders the visigoths remained a minority of perhaps two to three hundred thousand ruling over a hispano-roman population of some six to nine million under such conditions the concord exerted considerable influence over the conqueror the germanic visigoths who admired roman civilization became thoroughly latinized visigothic kings emulated the old roman emperors and the visigothic chieftains took on the role of hispano-roman aristocrats the persistence of the term hispania for the region rather than a germanic name is testimony to the enduring latin influence most visigoths became peasant farmers in the upper duero valley using old germanic names like alfonso and fernando singing their epic poems and maintaining their customary laws in other places roman systems endured virtually unchanged however muslim and vandal piracy broke down the ancient mediterranean trade routes and the visigothic kings found it difficult to unify their subject peoples during this period a claim to visigothic blood was a marker of high status and also highlighted social divisions the most troublesome obstacle to visigothic rule in the peninsula was religion the visigoths were aryans and the vast majority of their subjects followed the orthodox catholic rite of rome the issue was finally resolved in 587 when the visigothic king announced his conversion to catholicism at the death of king rexvint in 672 visigothic spain was at the height of its development the peninsula was united religious conflict had been overcome and cultural achievements were higher than those of any other post-roman germanic successor state yet the government still grappled with essential weaknesses previous kings had tried but failed to make the monarchy hereditary the crown remained elective encouraging rebellion and feuding among the nobles after the death of recosm the bishops and magnates were eager to prevent the late king's family from making a bid for the throne and so they gathered immediately for an election the crown was granted to vamba but just as he assumed the throne rebellion erupted in septemenia the new king dispatched duke paul to quell the uprising but the duke instead made common cause with the rebels and proclaimed himself king bombo was dealing with a basque revolt in the north when he heard of duke paul's betrayal at once he moved on septemenia and succeeded in defeating the duke who was condemned to lifelong imprisonment vamba's success had almost been thwarted by the old bane of spain's visigothic kings a difficulty in raising troops the nobles were often reluctant or downright hostile to supporting their king in the field and the peasants were disinterested in the endless civil wars to remedy the situation vamba decreed that all nobles freeman and clergy were bound by law to answer a summons from the king this was the revival of an old custom but it was greatly resented by the clergy as well as the nobility bomba had shown impressive energy during his reign which ended abruptly in 680 when the king fell ill the courtiers assumed he was dying in keeping with visigothic custom julian bishop of toledo tauntured the king and clothed him in penitential garb some sources described the whole affair as a plot hatched by bishop julian and aravig a grand nephew of the late king kindesvith recovered and found himself legally deprived of the right to rule and so he renounced the throne to aravig aravig's crowning was not accepted by the whole of the visigothic elite to combat doubts about his legitimacy he summoned a council in toledo in 681 under bishop julian the council released all of the spanish magnates from their obligations to vamba aravik tried to neutralize any remaining resistance by marrying his daughter to vamba's nephew ekika whom aravig named as his successor but no sooner had aravic died that ekike repudiated aravig's daughter and renounced his alliance with the late king's family he then set about punishing all those that he suspected of treachery hardening resistance among aravig's faction eggica made a bid to secure his own family as the monarchy's hereditary bloodline he named his son whideza his heir and promoted his family to key power positions this aroused resentment which was compounded when vidiz approved a poor ruler concerned primarily with carrying on affairs with women we can see then how the visigothic monarchy in its final years was in a truly poor state the chronic factionalism and civil conflict culminated with the disastrous reign of vitiza this vindictive hedonistic and ineffective king's rule came to an end in 710 the next year north african armies would destroy completely the visigothic state the story of how all this came about makes for one of the most intriguing and confusing chapters in spanish history watissa king of visigothic spain died in 710 having spent much of his reign attempting to solidify a hereditary monarchy his son akilah was proclaimed king in the northeast but most of the nobles opposed this what opponents controlled the royal city of toledo and they recognized roderick grandson of the late king kindest vent as the new monarch of the visigothic realm wattiza's faction seemed defeated but rather than accept the situation and recognize roderick they attempted to find another route to the throne one strategy they employed was dispatching messengers to the muslims of africa asking for assistance in staging a rebellion for centuries the enigmatic count julian has figured prominently in accounts of the arab conquest of spain his exact identity remains mysterious arab chronicles of the events mention him but christian accounts do not various modern writers have identified him as a byzantine exart governing seyuta on the coast of north africa as a christian berber who defended tangier against the arabs or as a gothic nobleman with lands on the spanish side of the straits of gibraltar none of these can be confirmed or entirely discounted the arab chroniclers identify him as an opponent of the last visigothic king of spain roderick they claim that the count's opposition began after his daughter was ravished by the king thus julian contacted the muslims of north africa and plotted with them to overthrow the visigoths regardless of the truth of this backstory the iberian peninsula was naturally attractive to the long triumphant arabs having so rapidly expanded across north africa spain was a logical destination for islam with their numbers bolstered by the newly converted berbers the muslims of the madrid were in a powerful position count julian may have defended tangier from them in 708 only to be forced to acknowledge their overlordship in 709 that same year julian apparently conducted a reconnaissance of the spanish mainland reporting back to the arabs that the peninsula was poorly defended and beset by civil conflict the case north africa's muslim governor musa ibn nussar consulted the caliph of damascus on the idea of an invasion the caliph recommended caution musa assigned tariff ibn maluk to conduct an exploratory expedition in july 710 tariff led 400 men across the straits of gibraltar they landed on the coast of tarifa which to this day bears his name after raiding al jazeera's tariff crossed back to africa with considerable booty and a promising report musa wanted to learn more after some months he organized a far larger expeditionary force of 7 000 led this time by tariq ibn ziyad between april 27 and 28 of 7-11 tariq landed on the rock of gibraltar which he gave his name at the time roderick king of the visigoths was campaigning in basque territory when he heard of the southern invasion he rushed to cordoba and gathered an army tariq reacted with admirable caution rather than press inland and expose his army to attack he remained at al jazeera's reinforcements arrived from africa increasing his army to a total of around 12 000 troops soon after king roderick's host faced off against tariq's invasion force at the battle of guadalupe the date was july 19 7-eleven roderick had the numerical advantage but his coalition was not sound sisbert and oppas members of watissa's faction commanded the wings of roderick's army and during the battle they pulled back and retired leaving roderick's center to face the muslims alone according to some sources sisper andopas were in contact with tariq and planned this betrayal ahead of time the visigoths were entirely routed roderick himself was lost in the fighting afterward the muslims found the fallen king's white steed adorned with a golden saddle studded with rubies and emeralds the battle-hardened berbers fought with unity and undaunted spirit for tariq the victory was total by this single battle alone the visigothic monarchy was essentially wiped out wattiza's sons were mistaken if they believed their betrayal would gain them the throne islam had triumphed and with it a new order arose tariq understood that he had smashed the head of the visigothic establishment his mission originally meant as a reconnaissance was now poised to capture spain this was one of the truly great victories in the history of islam the fractured state of the visigothic monarchy left little institutional strength to resist the arab invaders with roderick dead the fragile state all but collapsed and the muslims were able to expand their control of the peninsula fairly quickly near essiha tariq defeated the remnants of the visigothic army then dispatched forces to seize cordoba and to ravage and plunder the territories around granada and malaga he then marched on toledo where much of the citizenry including the archbishop had fled in a panic at his arrival he encountered no significant opposition and toledo passed into muslim hands the arab sources provide elaborate descriptions of all the wealth and gold found by tariq's men in the city included among the booty was an ancient solid gold table ornamented with jewels reported to have once adorned the temple of solomon the chronicler ibm describes the scene the table was valued at two hundred thousand dinars because of its precious stones tariq took all the jewels armor gold silver and plate he found there and besides that acquired wealth such as had not been seen before the local hispano-roman population demoralized by long years of visigothic infighting offered little resistance as berber contingents subdued the countryside tariq rewarded with his sons by granting them their ancestral estates other visigothic nobles sought similar deals in the past the visigothic nobility had frequently feuded over the crown and the kingdom lacked the structure for regional resistance to a determined invader thus the nobles mostly did what they'd done in the past tried to cut deals grasping at what they could of the spoils after disaster except this time they made deals with the arab conquerors rather than with a rival ruling dynasty now when it was too late the chronic ailments of the visigothic state were all too obvious meanwhile back in north africa musa was enraged by tariq's success he dispatched a mission of reconnaissance not conquest and he viewed tariq's subjugation of spain as an act of defiance he feared the berber chieftain would try to set himself up as spain's independent ruler this was a dark omen forecasting centuries of internal conflict among spain's muslim powers which would endure until the last emirs were defeated in the 15th century assembling an army of eighteen thousand arabs musa crossed the straits of gibraltar in june of 712 arriving at al jazeera's immediately he targeted towns that tariq had bypassed sevilla fell to him after a siege of several months he then pressed on to merida where he encountered fierce resistance from visigothic nobles the visigoths held out through the winter but finally surrendered in june of 713 a visigothic nobleman called duke theodomer agreed to terms with musa the details of their agreement have survived shedding light on similar deals struck between visigothic elites and the muslim conquerors musa granted the ottoman rule over his duchy promising not to harm his subjects or their churches in return the ottoman and his followers were not to harm the muslims or help their enemies or harbor fugitives the ottoman agreed to pay an annual tribute finally musa moved on toledo near talavera he encountered tariq whom he struck on the head with his riding crop upgrading him for greed rebelliousness and disobedience it must have been unsettling to many of the troops to witness the public humiliation of spain's great conqueror at the hands of his overlord and yet musa and tariq seemed to set aside their differences they settled together in toledo and dispatched messengers to the caliph in damascus to inform him of the miraculous conquest of spain in 714 musso was in zaragoza consolidating muslim control of the region when he received a summons from the caliph he was to report to damascus at once musa may have been unnerved by such a command but he dared not disobey that summer he left his son abad al-aziz to govern spain and made the journey across north africa wearing golden crowns and bearing an immensity of booty and slaves from spain musa and tariq arrived at the great muslim capital there the khalif stripped musa of his honors charging him with corruption the caliph was so enraged he nearly had musa crucified but he settled instead with fining the unfortunate governor heavily neither of spain's muslim conquerors would ever again see their cherished prize both would die in syria in obscurity a strange end for the men who achieved one of the truly outstanding triumphs in the history of islam spain was now a part of the dharal islam and cordoba would shine as one of the epicenters of muslim civilization al-andalus was the name given by the arabs to this new territory they'd captured however the muslims never managed to subdue the whole of the peninsula far to the north christian resistance would solidify around a daring and defiant visigothic nobleman palaio of the astorias the bold actions of this palayo would ensure the survival of christian sovereignty in a remote outpost and would launch the centuries-long struggle known as the rey conquista after the umayyad conquest of spain known as alandalus to the muslims the caliph in damascus took steps to ensure that the peninsula would remain under his control he wanted to prevent an ambitious muslim adventurer from setting himself up as an independent king of allendulus in 715 he had his men assassinate musa's son abba al-aziz in the mosque of sevilla from now on the caliph appointed governors emirs directly and only for brief terms these emirs enforced umayyad rule in regions where musa had only made a show of force this allowed the umayyads to dominate essentially all of the iberian peninsula only one region effectively resisted muslim rule the astorian mountains in the north the legal status of the conquered was determined by religion according to islamic law christians and jews were considered people of the book those who had received some divine revelation through sacred writings [Music] these two groups were not compelled to convert in return they were required to submit to umayyad rule and pay a poll tax known as the jizya to the muslim authorities those that had capitulated were often allowed to retain their lands those who had been subdued by force were deprived of their property and could be reduced to slavery confiscated lands as well as church and state properties were divided among the muslim elite with one fifth being reserved for the caliph himself [Music] christians subject to muslim rule began to adopt some of the customs of the arabs they came to be called mos arabs that is like arabs most arab communities existed in toledo gorda sevilla merida and other cities they were governed by their bishops who were accountable to the muslim administrators over time many christians and jews converted to islam converts and their children were no longer subject to the jizy attacks thus the muslim authorities were often less than enthusiastic about conversions slaves could also gain freedom by converting however the descendants of converts were long held in contempt by the original class of arab conquerors for many years only those related to the first muslim settlers were eligible for the highest positions in society and government [Music] during this early period the umayyads of spain began penetrating into france at the time france was ruled by the decadent merovingian dynasty soon to be usurped by the carolingian franks under charles martell by 717 the muslims ruled barcelona from which armies could more easily be launched across the pyrenees narbonne fell to the umayyads in 720 from there the muslims raided as far as to lose though in 721 they were defeated while battling odo duke of aquitaine four years later the muslims captured carcassonne and even plundered into burgundy [Music] from the days of tariq and musa muslim garrisons held fortresses in the upper reaches of the iberian peninsula but in the remote stretches of the central pyrenees umayyad rule could scarcely penetrate amid the craigs of the northwest christian rebels congregated these were visigoths fleeing umayyad domination as well as the mountaineers of cantabria and galicia together these tough and resilient warriors would lay the groundwork for the upstart kingdom of astorias and the future ray conquista of spain the first leader of this christian resistance was a visigothic nobleman called palayo our earliest sources for his life are sparse and he remains a figure of obscure origin supposedly he was a grand nephew of king roderick later accounts claimed that he was born of the royal house but this may have been an attempt to establish the historian kingdom as the valid successor state to the extinct visigothic monarchy more than likely palaio was simply a motivated and daring nobleman who threw up the banner of rebellion and rallied a band of christian warriors to his cause account of palaio's uprising comes to us from a late source the 9th century chronicle of alfonso iii the chronicle describes palaio as the sword bearer of the visigothic kings [Music] palaio like many visigothic nobles had submitted to munuza one of tariq's lieutenants and the governor of gihon munuza became attracted to pelayo's sister and so he dispatched palaio to cordoba on a diplomatic mission after palayo set off on this journey munuza took palayo's sister as one of his wives [Music] when pelayo heard of this he was enraged at once he renounced his submission to the umayyads gathered a band of rebels around himself and struck off into the mountains to launch a resistance since it comes to us from a later account this story cannot be confirmed nor entirely discounted historians have often noted that it seems too good a tale to be true and if it is not entirely legendary it might contain later embellishments but then again if we were to discover one day that the tale was indeed based in fact it wouldn't be the first legend that surprised us for being factual [Music] what history does confirm is that sometime in the first years after the arab conquest palaio launched a christian rebellion in the astorian mountains and the umayyads took actions to crush him the emir launched an expeditionary force to the north led by the general alcama accompanied by bishop oppas of sevilla one of the visigoths who betrayed roderick at the battle of guadalajara the chronicle of alfonso iii provides details of the encounter though our understanding of the battle that followed remains obscure palio and his forces took a position at a cave on mount auseva there they were surrounded by the muslim army alcama sent bishop oppas to negotiate with palayo oppas urged palayo to surrender insisting that he would be rewarded with great riches if only he submitted to the umayyads palaio refused alcama now launched his forces against pelayo's men and the battle began there amid the steep ledges and craigs the christian mountaineers overcame their attackers defeated the muslims fled through the treacherous terrain elayos men gave chase slaying many of them many of algama's troops were killed in an avalanche or drowned in the river alcama himself was slain and bishop oppas was captured munuza abandoned his forts in the astorias and palayo's rule was confirmed in the region he established a shrine to the virgin mary at calvadonia where a church still stands today in her honor [Music] this is our most detailed account of the battle of calvadonia won by palayo in 722 again the details of the battle come to us from a later source the chronicle of alfonso iii however the basic details of the events a christian rebellion in the cantabrian mountains led by palaio and resulting in the establishment of the astorian kingdom are supported by a charter from 812 the prophetic chronicle of 883 and muslim sources as well ibn haiyan tells us that the christians of spain did not resist the umayyads until stirred up by quote a despicable barbarian named palais who fled with his followers to a high mountain where they fed on wild honey isa ibn ahmad al-rasi gives virtually the same account and there are other muslim authors who describe similar events muslim historians from the period gloss over palayo's victory at capadonia stating merely that the muslim troops had difficulty penetrating the mountains and so they withdrew leaving palaio and his men to hold the region one muslim chronicler dismisses palaeo's rebellion as insignificant writing what are 30 barbarians perched on a rock they must inevitably die in hindsight this dismissal strikes us as foolish not only would palaio survive but his kingdom would expand and in time drive the muslims out of spain entirely and yet we can understand how the muslim chroniclers of the early period would hold these christian upstarts in contempt the umayyad emirs of cordoba scarcely thought it worth their time to take note of this tiny christian principality in the mountainous north palayo's victory at caledonia had been a setback but a minor one only by the close of the eighth century the muslims dominated the vast sweep of spain and palayo's heirs and the astorias still seemed unimportant [Music] to the east of palaio's lands one duke pedro ruled cantabria his son alfonso married palaio's daughter airmessinda uniting the two realms civil war among the umayyads prompted the berbers to abandon the northern plains in 741 this allowed palaio's son-in-law alfonso the first of astorias to drive southward as far as korea by 754 alfonso captured all the towns abandoned by the berber garrisons across the broad plains of the duero as far south as salamanca avila and segovia and as far east as miranda de ebro however alfonso was concerned that he wouldn't be able to hold these towns in the event of a muslim counter-attack and so he devastated the region burning all the fortifications and taking the local christians back with him to his northern domain thus alfonso left to his south some hundreds of square miles of devastated territory for centuries the duero valley would remain a no man's land dividing the christian and muslim domains in the early years after the arab conquest of spain the umayyads maintained a toehold in lower france centered around septemenia but frequent turnover of the emirs and cordoba precluded the muslims paying much serious attention to the land beyond the pyrenees but finally in 732 the emir abdal rahman assembled a large army at pamplona first the emir defeated a muslim rebel munuza in the mountains of the eastern pyrenees munuza had sought help from duke odo of aquitaine and al-rahman decided to march north to punish the duke with his troops the emir crossed the path of rancho's vias into france he defeated duke odo on the banks of the garonne determined to continue the pursuit al rahman sacked bordeaux and then burned the famous church of saint hillary at poitiers the emir now pressed northward along the old roman road intending to sack the shrine of saint martin at tour on the loire while advancing on the road between foitier and tours al rahman came face to face with charles martell and his franks charles was responding to a plea for assistance from duke odo martel was a veteran commander and his warriors had honed their skills in years of campaigning he was an opponent very much unlike the ill-disciplined visigoths the umayyads had faced in spain our earliest accounts of the battle that raged that day between the umayyads and the franks come to us from the most arabic chronicle of 754. it was written in spain in the two decades following the events and seems to have been based primarily on the testimonies of muslim veterans from the campaign this is the account given by the chronicle after each side had tormented the other for almost seven days with raids they finally prepared their battle lines and fought fiercely the northern peoples remained immobile like a wall holding together like a glacier in the cold regions and in the blink of an eye annihilated the arabs with the sword the franks greater in number of soldiers and formidably armed killed the emir abdal rahman when they found him striking him on the chest but suddenly within sight of the countless tents of the arabs the franks despicably put up their swords saving themselves to fight the next day since night had fallen during the battle rising from their own camp at dawn the franks saw the tents of the arabs all arranged according to their canopies just as the camp had been set up before not knowing that they were all empty and thinking that inside them were phalanxes of saracens ready for battle they sent scouts to reconoider and discover that all the troops of the arabs had left they had all fled silently by night in tight formations returning to their own country the franks worried lest the saracens deceitfully attempt to ambush them in hidden paths were slow to react and searched in vain everywhere around having no intention of pursuing the saracens they took the spoils and the booty which they divided up fairly back to their country and were overjoyed this is the brief description of the battle it comes to us from the most arabic text written in loose our earliest frankish source from the continuator of frediger is even more iconic here is that excerpt prince charles boldly deployed his troops against the arabs and warrior that he is fell upon them with christ's help he pulled down their tents rushing into battle to grind them to pieces and when he had prostrated and killed their emir abdal rahman he defeated their forces and so he triumphed a victor over his enemies these two early accounts are brief but they do provide us with crucial information about the battle it's clear that the franks were not employing cavalry in any great numbers charles martel's force was composed mainly of infantry he arrayed them in a strong shield wall on high ground with a river on their flank martel selected the terrain for his stand well and the most arab author's image of a glacier is a powerful metaphor for a phanlance of warriors fighting on foot the mozareb chronicle also makes it clear that the franks were highly disciplined for seven days charles held his position refusing to be drawn out by the skirmishing of the arabs finally when al rahman launched his cavalry an uphill attack the franks cut down and destroyed the arab forces frankish discipline is also shown in their conduct after the battle far from being a sign of weakness the hesitance of the franks to pursue the defeated arabs indicates a disciplined and experienced army given a little success an ill-disciplined force is prone to break up and rush after plunder only to be ambushed by a hidden detachment of their foes martel's men refrain from such recklessness only in the morning when it was confirmed that the enemy had been destroyed did charles allow his troops to plunder the muslim camp both accounts also agreed that al-rahman was slain in the fighting this points to the scope of the frankish victory this was a large scale and serious defeat for the umayyads even during the 8th century martel's victory at tour became widely known and celebrated within a few years in far away northumbria the venerable bead had heard of the battle and remarked the saracens who had devastated gaul were punished for their perfidy the battle of tours has long been the subject of intense study and discussion on the one hand it has been regarded as a key victory for christendom over islam which prevented france from falling to the muslim forces that had absorbed spain on the other hand some commentators have argued that the umayyad caliphate had reached a natural limit in spain and lacked the resources to dominate france two years later a muslim army again ravaged their own valley capturing aryl and avignon but charles martel again marched out and pushed them back into narban martel and his troops then defeated an arab relieving force dispatched from spain nevertheless the defeat of the muslims at tours in 732 effectively marked the end of large-scale umayyad raids into france it was clear that they would not be able to easily conquer or even continue raiding the region charles martel and his franks were a force to be reckoned with and a serious deterrent to future umayyad commanders but also the muslims were short of manpower since the north african and spanish conquests had stretched their resources then civil conflict within the emirate of cordoba would weaken muslim rule in septemenia martell's son pep in the short captured narbonne from the umayyads in the 750s with that muslim rule was extinguished in france and the franks were now positioned to push into northeastern spain real crusades history is teaming up with christianchannel.com the christian channel provides the very best christian content supporting thousands of movies children's programs and other entertainment the christian channel is also the home of knights of the cross an upcoming live-action historical drama series about the crusades written by yours truly j stephen roberts if you pre-order a subscription now to christianchannel.com using the promo code knights you'll get 10 percent off plus your contribution will go straight toward funding season 1 of the series click on the link down below for details and don't forget to use the promo code knights [Music] in the middle of the 8th century events in the wider muslim world had a dramatic impact on islamic rule in spain the umayyad dynasty which had ruled islam since 661 was overthrown in 750 by the abbasids who ruthlessly hunted down their rivals however one umayyad abdal rahman grandson of the caliph hisham escaped the abbasid swords he fled across north africa and then established contacts with his family's partisans in spain by august 755 al-rahman was assembling an army and preparing to establish his power on the iberian peninsula however the current governor of al-andalus yusuf was on the verge of establishing himself as an independent ruler he had no intention of surrendering power to al-rahman the decisive encounter came when al-rahman marched with an army on cordoba the two muslim rivals met in battle outside the city on may 15 756 yusuf's army was destroyed abdal rahman marched triumphant into cordoba where he proclaimed himself emir the era of an independent emirate of cordoba had begun over the next 30 years abdal rahman worked diligently to secure his position he invited refugee umayyads to spain showering them with favors he organized an army of mercenaries loyal only to him initially the berbers supported him but they eventually rebelled becoming the chief anxiety of his reign berber guerrilla attacks would plague the emir until 776. during this period the tiny christian state of astorias scarcely snagged the emir's notice however during this period the astorian kingdom developed both territorially and culturally christian refugees from the sprawling muslim lands continued to trickle northward growing the populations of historian villages abbots and monks arrived from the muslim cities and settled as whole communities in christian territory the growing self-confidence of astorias was manifested in oviedo where one abbot maximus founded an important monastery in 761 [Music] far more dangerous to cordoba's power were independent muslim lords and their frontier fortresses especially in the northeast governors in zaragoza barcelona and hirona had long tried to hold cordoba's authority at bay now they could proclaim the emir as an unlawful rebel against the abbasid caliph abbasid agents approached suleiman ruler of zaragoza who agreed to collaborate with them seeking other allies to bolster his rejection of umayyad dominion suleiman even appealed to one of the major christian powers of the era charlemagne king of the franks suleiman traveled to paterborne where he promised to submit zaragoza to frankish overlordship charlemagne welcomed this appeal his concerns lay chiefly in germany and italy but this seemed to be an opportunity for a quick success and expansion of his own power assembling his army the frankish king prepared to march out against the umayyads and secure zaragoza for his new abbasid ally in may 778 the frankish army marched south and crossed the pyrenees after occupying pamplona charlemagne moved on zaragoza but the city gates remained closed to him hussain ibnaya suleiman's lieutenant left in charge of the city reneged on suleiman's terms and chose to resist the franks although charlemagne's army was not equipped for a long siege the franks did make an attempt on the city zaragoza held out charlemagne at last gave the order to withdraw destroying pamplona on his way back on august 15 778 charlemagne's army was at rancous vias thick forests cover the jagged hillsides so narrow was this pass that the frankish army was strung out for miles and thin columns from the ledges above a force of basks hid and watched they waited until twilight when the bulk of the army had moved through the pass then fell upon the rear guard peppering them with boulders and arrows as the rear guard broke in confusion and was separated from the main army the basques rushed upon them though the franks stood and fought fiercely the basques overwhelmed them it was in this ambush that died rolling lord of the breton marches roland's heroism at this impossible moment would become the stuff of a legend in european literature by the time charlemagne realized what had happened it was over and the basques had vanished into the night the epic song of roland records charlemagne's lament over the loss of his friend and comrade my friend roland god lay your soul on flowers in paradise with all the glorious hosts you came to spain with a cruel overlord no day shall pass henceforth that i'll not mourn charlemagne's iberian campaign was a rare disappointment in his long career of triumphs abdal rahman benefited the most from it after the departure of the franks hussain killed suleiman just before abdal rahman arrived with a vast umayyad army to subdue zaragoza once the city fell hussain was dragged before the emir and executed for rebellion zaragoza became the emir of cordoba's most important northern fortress however frankish designs on the iberian peninsula continued charlemagne realized that progress on his southern border would require a bit more patience he captured hirona from the moors in 785. this was the first step in the frankish advance toward barcelona three years later in 788 ab dal ramen emir of cordoba was dead a ruler of remarkable energy and foresight he succeeded in carving out an independent and powerful umayyad spain despite abbasid opposition he also laid the groundwork for cordoba's future glory as one of the jewels of the muslim world beginning work on the great mosque despite his success he refused to take on the title of caliph and his successors would shrink from such an assertion for almost 200 years for the time being the abbasid caliph was commemorated in the mosque of cordoba the new emir was al-rahman's son hisham the first who took the throne in 788 renowned for his piety and his charitable works his reign was a period of general stability a well-educated ruler hisham cooperated closely with the malachite jurists who adopted a rigorous approach to the quran and law the malachite school came to dominate the juridical and theological thought of the emirate wielding great influence in public affairs general peace in the muslim domain allowed hisham to dispatch annual raiding parties into the christian north these raids were devastating to the rural panuras christian territory astorian forces were often hopelessly outmatched towns were left ruined and thousands of christians were taken as slaves into umayyad territory so overwhelming was muslim military power at this time that the astorian king ramura abdicated in favor of his cousin alfonso ii known to history as the chaste alfonso ii has long been regarded as one of the outstanding monarchs of the astorian era he certainly assumed the throne during a period of crisis and he proved himself in the face of trial in 794 two separate umayyad armies entered astorian territory ravaging alava and oviedo respectively alfonso ii rallied his forces he met the muslims in battle at los lodos and defeated them slaying the moorish general abid al-malik determined to avenge this loss hisham dispatched another army against astorias in 795. the muslims ravaged central astorias while alfonso was forced to retreat with his troops into the nalon valley the umayyads returned again in 797 to raid castile in 796 ishaam died he was succeeded by alhakam the first whose reign would provide a respite to the christian north from the incessant raids of the umayyads farahcam's rule was a period of turbulence for the emirate of cordoba plagued by rebellions from the powerful muslim lords on the frontiers thus after 797 cordoba was less capable of dispatching large raiding expeditions into christian territory i am creating a live-action historical drama tv series about the crusades called knights of the cross available exclusively on the new streaming service christianchannel.com you guys can help us make it happen click the link down below go to christianchannel.com sign up for a one-year subscription use the promo code knights you'll get 10 off plus your subscription goes straight toward helping us fund knights of the cross this is an exciting project this is our chance to finally create an accurate and powerful portrayal of the crusades help us make it happen click the link down below

Channel: Real Crusades History

Views: 71,815

Rating: 4.819653 out of 5

Keywords: medieval spain, umayyad spain, umayyad conquest of spain, muslim conquest of spain 711, battle of guadalete, visigothic spain, visigothic spain history, umayyad history, tariq, charles martel, spain middle ages, umayyads documentary

Id: vFbHVzIkmiY

Length: 50min 9sec (3009 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 28 2020