Background Edit

Invasion Edit

New territorial and civil administration Edit

Northwestern al-Andalus, the Pyrenees and southern Gaul at the time of the Berber rebellion (739–742) In 713, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa subdued the forces of the Visigothic count Theudimer (or Tudmir), who had taken over southeastern Iberia from his base in Murcia after the power vacuum following king Roderic's defeat. Theudimer then signed a conditional capitulation by which his lands were made into an autonomous client state under Umayyad rule ("the rule of God"). His government and the Christian beliefs of his subjects were respected; in exchange, he pledged to pay a tax (jizya) and to hand over any rebels plotting against Umayyad rule or the Islamic religion. In this way, the life of many inhabitants remained much the same as before Tariq's and Musa's campaigns. The treaty signed with Theudimer set a precedent for the whole of Iberia, and towns surrendering to Umayyad troops experienced a similar fate, including probably the muwallad Banu Qasi based in the Ebro valley, and other counts and landowners. In exception to this pattern, some towns (Cordova, Toledo, etc.) were stormed and captured unconditionally by the Umayyads, to be governed by direct Arab rule. In the area thought to be part of King Roderic's territory, Mérida also staged a prolonged resistance to the Umayyad advance, but was ultimately conquered in mid-summer 712. As of 713 (or 714), the last Visigothic king, Ardo, took over from Achila II, with effective control just over Septimania, and probably the eastern Pyrenean threshold and coastal areas of the Tarraconense. Islamic laws did not apply to all the subjects of the new rulers. Christians were ruled by their own Visigothic law code (Forum Iudicum) as before. In most of the towns, ethnic communities remained segregated and newly arriving ethnic groups (Syrians, Yemenites, Berbers and others) would erect new boroughs outside existing urban areas. However, this would not apply to towns under direct Umayyad rule. In Cordova, the Cathedral was partitioned and shared to provide for the religious needs of Christians and Muslims. This situation lasted some 40 years until Abd ar-Rahman's conquest of southern Spain (756). An early governor (wali) of al-Andalus, al-Hurr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Thaqafi, spread the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate up to the Ebro valley and the northeastern borders of Iberia, pacifying most of the territory and initiating in 717 the first forays across the Pyrenees into Septimania. In addition, he laid out the foundations of Umayyad civil administration in Iberia, by sending civil administration officials (judges) to conquered towns and lands guarded by garrisons established usually next to the population nuclei. Moreover, al-Hurr restored lands to their previous Christian landowners, which may have added greatly to the revenue of the Umayyad governors and the caliph of Damascus, since only non-Muslims were subject to taxation. The task of establishing a civil administration in conquered al-Andalus was essentially completed by the governor Yahya ibn Salama al-Kalbi 10 years later. The period following al-Hurr's office saw the establishment of the Arabs in southern Septimania during Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani's tenure as wali. Narbonne fell (720), and no sooner had he garrisoned it than the Arab commander led an offensive against Toulouse. During this Umayyad thrust or its aftermath, King Ardo died (721).

Ethnic groups and internal tensions Edit

Aftermath Edit

The Iberian Peninsula was the westernmost tip of the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus and was under the rule of the governor of Ifriqiya. In 720, the caliph even considered abandoning the territory. The conquest was followed by a period of several hundred years during which most of the Iberian peninsula was known as Al-Andalus, dominated by Muslim rulers. Only a handful of new small Christian realms managed to reassert their authority across the faraway mountainous north of the peninsula. In 756, Abd ar-Rahman I, a survivor of the recently overthrown Umayyad Dynasty, landed in al-Andalus and seized power in Cordova and Seville, and proclaimed himself emir or malik, removing any mentions of the Abbasid Caliphs from the Friday prayers. In the wake of these events, southern Iberia became de jure and de facto independent from the Abbasid Caliphate. Although this was not accepted outside al-Andalus and those North African territories with which it was affiliated, Abd ar-Rahman, and especially his successors, considered that they were the legitimate continuation of the Umayyad caliphate, i.e. that their rule was more legitimate than that of the Abbasids. It seems that Abd ar-Rahman never considered establishing a separate principality. (See Caliphate of Córdoba.) During the unification of al-Andalus in the reign of Abd ar-Rahman before his death in 788, al-Andalus underwent centralization and slow but steady homogenization. The autonomous status of many towns and regions negotiated in the first years of the conquest was reversed by 778, in some cases much earlier (Pamplona by 742, for example). The Hispanic Church based in Toledo, whose status remained largely undiminished under the new rulers, fell out with the Roman Church during the Adoptionist controversy (late 8th century). Rome relied on an alliance with Charlemagne (in war with the Cordovan emirs) to defend its political authority and possessions, and went on to recognize the northern Asturian principality (Gallaecia) as a kingdom apart from Cordova, and Alfonso II as king. The population of al-Andalus, especially local nobles who aspired to a share in power, began to embrace Islam and the Arabic language. However, the majority of the population remained Christian (using the Mozarabic Rite), and Latin (Mozarabic) remained the principal language until the 11th century. Abd ar-Rahman I founded an independent dynasty that survived until the 11th century. That line was succeeded by a variety of short and small emirates (taifas) unable to stop the push of the expanding northern Christian kingdoms. The Almoravids (1086–1094) and the Almohads (1146–1173) occupied al-Andalus next, and the Marinids in 1269, but that could not prevent the fragmentation of Muslim-ruled territory. The last Muslim emirate, Granada, was defeated by the armies of Castile (successor to Asturias) and Aragon under Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492. The last wave of expulsions of Spaniards of Muslim descent took place in 1614.

Chronology Edit

See also Edit

Sources Edit