Arab conqueror of Spain. Conquest of Spain by the Arabs. Conquest of Rus' by the Tatar-Mongols
It began in 711 at the very dawn of the Arab state that had recently converted to Islam. The history of Spain widely reveals the events of that time.
Starting at the beginning of the 6th century, the Mohammedans (Arabs) rapidly increased their military power. This affected the rapid conquest of Syria, the richest country at that time, in 636. Literally two years have passed since Jerusalem was conquered and Iran was conquered. Egypt was also annexed by the caliphate. The time had come to conquer northern Africa, which was completed by 689 with the fall of Carthage. Only Ceuta, located near the coast of Gibraltar, was not captured at that time. And even then only for the loyalty of the local ruler. Musa ibn Nusair (hereinafter simply Musa) was able to subjugate the local Berber residents with persuasion and promises of untold wealth. Subject to accepting Islam and joining his army to participate in Arab campaigns.
The legend of that time tells us that the king who ruled Spain at that time, Senor Rodrigo, was the mortal enemy of the ruler of Ceuta, Julian, and he, thirsting for revenge, offered help and a fleet to the Arabs.
Musa gave the Berbers the opportunity to rob and rape women, thereby resolving all the issues with Julian. This was a gift of fate for Musa. 9,000 ruthless Berber warriors became the basis of his army for the campaign against Spain, which was initially planned as just a predatory raid. 
At the same time, on the Iberian Peninsula they did not even imagine the conquest of Spain by the Arabs and an attack from that side.
Modern Spain was conquered back in 500 (5th century) by the Visigoths, who became the highest military-administrative power.
They were good warriors, but politicians? For two centuries, the Visigoths were never able to find a common language with the local population, and even managed to achieve irritation and hatred among the aborigines.
Military power allowed them to remain at the top of a society they viewed with contempt. The Visigoths did not approve of marriages with local women. The Romano-Iberians, the old Roman nobility, the inhabitants of the Basque country and the Asturians, always remembered and did not forget that the Visigoths here were just invaders who only took advantage of the achievements of the Roman civilization without contributing anything.
Therefore, as soon as the Arabs arrived, the local population was in no hurry to help the Visigoths. Deciding to let them deal with a strong enemy themselves. There was no unity among the Visigoths themselves, who were ruled by King Rodrigo, who some time ago seized power by force and without right. He did not enjoy the support of his environment.
In 711, the Arab-Berber army, led by Tariq ibn Ziyad (hereinafter referred to as Torik), easily captured the coast of Spain and began to plunder the local population. In a very short time, the Arab treasury was replenished with a large amount of treasures. Seeing this, Musa gave more than five thousand soldiers. This force was simply not interested in robbery; they thirsted for power on such a generous land.
At the same time, King Rodrigo in the province of Toledo (at that time there was no Madrid) gathered up to 33,000 people under his banner.
It seemed that with such power the Arabs had no chance of the Arabs conquering Spain.
The battle began, according to some sources, on July 23, 711, in the area of the Guadalete River. Unfortunately, very little information about the battle itself has survived to this day. It is known for sure that the Rodrigo brothers left their political rival, hoping that the Arabs, who would soon leave anyway, would solve the problem of the Spanish throne.
Arab historians paint a heroic picture of how King Rodrigo was killed.
Ahmed, an Arab historian, describes that event as follows: “Tariq noticed Roderick, he said to his entourage: “This is the king of the Christians,” and rushed to the attack with his men. 
The warriors from Roderick's troops were poorly trained and did not have the same combat experience as the Arabs. Having seen and analyzed, Tariq went to break through the ranks of the enemies until he reached the king, while wounding him in the head with a sword, but did not kill him. Roderick's war saw the king fall and his personal guards lost, the retreat became a general madness and victory went to the Muslims. Deprived of a military leader, the army was unable to offer real resistance and was defeated.
Whether this battle is described truthfully or not, we will no longer know. One thing is true in this story, that the Christian Visigoths suffered a complete defeat.
The Visigothic kingdom fell. The resistance of the few Visigoths was broken, the dominant Ibero-Romans were unable to provide serious resistance to the conquerors, and a significant Jewish minority even welcomed him, hoping to thus gain equal rights with Christians.
The Arab rulers had no plan to conquer Visigothic Spain.
In fact, most of the population of the Maghreb, from where the conquerors came, were then Berbers who had only recently begun to convert to Islam. The Berbers made repeated raids into the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula after the fall of Roman power.
Historians claim that in April 711, Tariq with 9,000 of his warriors landed in the Iberia region with the aim of committing another large-scale predatory raid, taking advantage of the split in the Visigothic kingdom into the western part (Rodrigista) and the eastern (Vititian). The predatory version is indicated by the fact that his ships resembled merchant ships, and when it became clear for what purpose these “traders” had arrived, Christian residents of nearby cities abandoned their property and tried to hide in the hills, that is, they did what residents usually did in case of a short-term pirate raid, not a siege.
The following year, another 18,000 Arabs arrived in Spain, and the Arab conquest of Spain began.
The local population did not wage a large-scale struggle against the conquest of Spain by the Arabs. The cities surrendered immediately; the Arabs did not even need to besiege them. It took the Mohammedans literally 5 years to establish control over the main part of Spain; only the Basque country and the Asturians offered serious resistance to the invaders. The wise policy of the Arabs allowed them to quickly, easily and practically bloodlessly strengthen themselves where the Visigoths could not during 200 years of rule. Good relations with local residents and tax discounts very quickly brought the inhabitants of the Spanish peninsula to the Arab side.
The Arabs, rapidly moving in a northern direction, were stopped only in the south of France at the Battle of Poitiers in 732, where they were defeated by the army of Charles Martel, the grandfather of the future king Charlemagne. 
Most likely, if the Westgonians had won in 711, it is quite possible that the Arabs would have abandoned the plunder of Spain and its further conquest. And Christians would have retained their influence and presence in the Mediterranean to a much greater extent. Than after the loss of the Iberian Peninsula.
Although we know very little about the battle itself in this era.
The historical consequences of this event and the Arab conquest of Spain are exceptional in their scope.
The fate of many historical processes (some of which are still ongoing) was laid here, by the Arabs, in the 710s.
The small surviving Christian kingdoms of Spain fought the Arabs for many more centuries, the last Mohammedan ruler was defeated and expelled only in 1492 by Ferdinand II and Isabella I. For centuries, war-oriented, Spanish society accumulated colossal military and ideological potential, which it now used not for reconquista, and already for the conquest in the New World.
The power of the Spanish Empire would remain incredibly enormous for almost two centuries after 1492, when Columbus's first voyage truly opened America to the world. 
In addition, the Arab conquest of Spain completed the process of Muslim control over large parts of the Mediterranean. The famous Belgian historian Henri Pirenne. In his seminal work, The Empire of Charlemagne and the Arab Caliphate, he showed the significance of what happened at the beginning of the 8th century. The ancient Mediterranean world, based on the unity of culture, methods of management and maritime trade, was disrupted by the Arabs. The connection with ancient tradition, cultural and economic, was severed. The economy of the former Western Roman Empire, ruled by the Germans, was also based on urban growth and trade. With the arrival of the Arabs in the region, agriculture, and therefore the landed aristocracy, became increasingly important. Royal power weakened. The Middle Ages began. Conditions developed for the feudal, medieval appearance of Western Europe. With political fragmentation, the high role of subsistence farming, a specific knightly military organization, etc.
The Arab conquest of Spain occurred in a fairly short period of 711-714, which was not surprising, given that in such or even a shorter period of time the Arabs united Arabia into a single Muslim state (628-634), conquered Syria (634-638), conquered Egypt (638-643), etc.
The Visigothic kingdom fell.
The Maghreb dynasty of the Umayyads took power in Iberia into their own hands, maintaining the dominant role of Islam with the help of Berber mercenaries.
Only in the Pyrenees mountains did two small, inaccessible regions, inhabited by Basques and Romanized Asturs, retain their independence.
The Battle of Covadonga (722), in which the Christians won their first victory, marked the beginning of the so-called Reconquista.
However, until 732, the Arabs carried out raids throughout the south of France as far as the Loire River, until they were defeated at Poitiers.
Nevertheless, an Islamic state was formed on the lands conquered in Iberia, which experienced a number of transformations and existed until 1492.
Prerequisites
The Arab rulers of the Maghreb did not have a well-thought-out plan to conquer Visigothic Spain.
In fact, most of the population of the Maghreb, from where the conquerors came, were then Berbers who had only recently begun to convert to Islam.
The Berbers made repeated raids into the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula after the fall of Roman power.
There is information that on April 27, 711, with 9 thousand of his soldiers, he landed in Iberia with the aim of committing another large-scale predatory raid, taking advantage of the split in the Visigothic kingdom into the western part (Rodrigista) and the eastern (Vititian).
The predatory version is indicated by the fact that his ships resembled merchant ships, and when it became clear for what purpose these “traders” had arrived, Christian residents of nearby cities abandoned their property and tried to hide in the hills, that is, they did what residents of coastal regions usually did in case of a short-term pirate raid, not a siege.
Tariq captured Algeciras, and, having waited for reinforcements from Africa, moved further to the north, where on July 19, 711, the Battle of Guadalete took place, in which King Roderic was defeated.
The Visigothic warriors, already outnumbered, were defeated. Only a small part of them took refuge in the Ecija fortress near Seville, but it was soon forced to surrender.
In 713, the fortresses of Merida and Segoyuela showed some resistance.
Tariq carried out the invasion without permission, but, according to one version, having learned about the initial success of the Berbers in Spain, Musa ibn Nasir, an Arab governor from Ifriqiya, hastened to their aid, whose main goal was to secure the captured lands for the Arab world.
Major expeditions
The main body of the Pyrenees was conquered by the Arabs in just three years, from 711 to 714.
During this period, Muslims organized three major military expeditions:
- 711-712: Tariq ibn Ziyad
- 712-713: Musa
- 714: Abd al-Aziz
By 719, the Arabs reached Toulouse, and by 720 - to the Rhone River delta.
Visigothic resistance
In 714, after Abd al-Aziz made his campaign against Murcia, the Visigothic commander Theodemir managed to agree on the creation of an autonomous principality here.
The Umayyads made concessions, apparently wanting to gain the favor of local Christians.
The Kingdom of Teodemir lasted until the 740s.
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands, nominally belonging to the Byzantine Empire as a remnant of Justinian's long-lost Byzantine Spain, initially remained aloof from the Arab invasions.
In 798 the Franks gained power over them.
Only in 902 did the fleet of the Emirate of Cordoba conquer the islands of Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca.
Minorca fell in 903. Despite the later conquest, the Islamization of the islanders was very deep.
Photo gallery
Start date: 711
End date: 714
Useful information
Arab conquest
Consequences
Muslim settlers began to arrive on the peninsula.
At the same time, a few Arabs from Syria and Arabia chose the large cities of the south and southeast of the country, and the Berbers mainly populated the less favorable interior regions of the country.
The Christian population remained, but numerous bans were imposed on it, emphasizing its second-class status as dhimmi.
In the Christian environment, the processes of consolidation of various ethno-religious groups (Visigoths and Ibero-Romans) gradually began to intensify in the face of a common enemy.
A number of Christians (muwallads) converted to Islam in order to avoid Jizya.
The territories captured by Muslims (Al-Andalus) became part of the Umayyad Caliphate.
However, already in 756, with the strengthening of proto-feudalism, the independent Emirate of Cordoba was formed here (756-929).
In the northeast, in the valley of the Ebro River, by the end of the 8th century. The buffer emirate of the Muwallad dynasty of Banu Kasi was formed.
Arab conquest of Spain and the Reconquista
How much do we know about this dramatic period in European history? very little. And today you can read on the Internet versions that reflect not a Christian, but a Muslim view - they say that the Arab conquest was a blessing for the backward Iberian Peninsula. Some even agreed that the enlightened caliphate should have conquered all of Europe...
We consider it fundamentally important to give a sober assessment of the centuries-long difficult struggle of European peoples against Muslim invaders.
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By the 40-60s of the 5th century. After the fall of the Roman Empire, all of Spain found itself occupied by the “barbarian” tribes of the Visigoths, Suevi and Vandals who crossed the Pyrenees. The Vandals crossed further to North Africa, the Visigoths and Suevi remained in Spain, which was at the end of the 5th century. under the Visigothic king Eurich (466–485) it was included in the vast Visigothic state (Visigothic mark). It occupied, in addition to Spain, all of Southern Gaul to the Loire in the north, the Bay of Biscay in the west, the Mediterranean Sea and the Rhone River in the southeast. The memory of the Visigothic mark remained in the name of the province of Catalonia (Gotholonia).
In the 8th century, during a period of strife and weakening of the Visigothic state, the Muslim conquest began on the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslims advanced generally successfully, although in some places they met very stubborn resistance.
Although some counts submitted, others continued to fight valiantly. The Asturs and Goths took refuge in the inaccessible mountains of the Picos de Europa and, after some time, leaving their refuge, dealt a cruel blow to the Arabs. The following description was given to the Spaniards by their enemies: “They defend their fortresses like lions and rush into battle on war horses like eagles. They do not miss the slightest opportunity if it is favorable for them, and, being defeated and scattered, they hide under the protection of impregnable gorges and forests, so that they can then rush into battle with even greater courage.”
Ruler Al-Hurr believed that the conquest of the peninsula was already completed and that the resistance of the Spaniards had been overcome during seven years of fighting (712-718). So he crossed the Pyrenees and invaded Gaul. However, Al-hurr was mistaken. It was at this time that a new and not defensive, but offensive war began against the Arab conquerors.
The Arabs were in no hurry to convert the Spaniards to their faith. They imposed heavy taxes on Christians; it was profitable for them to rob the local population.
But already in the middle of the 9th century. There were outbreaks of Muslim fanaticism, which became more frequent from the 11th century.
The process of feudalization developing in the Emirate of Cordoba led to the fact that Arab and Berber feudal lords increasingly exploited the defeated population (peasants and townspeople), even those groups that converted to Islam. The heavy oppression of the conquerors and their religious fanaticism led to repeated uprisings of the conquered population. Particularly significant was the uprising of the Spanish-Roman peasantry in the mountainous region of Ronda, which began in 880.
The struggle between the Arab feudal lords and the local peasantry continued after the suppression of this uprising. As a result, there was a constant outflow of the local population from villages and cities to the north, where Spanish-Christian regions independent of the Arabs remained.
The Reconquista began immediately after the conquest of most of the Iberian Peninsula by the Arabs in the first half of the 8th century.
In the summer of 718, the noble Visigoth Pelayo, supposedly the former bodyguard of King Roderic, who was held hostage in Cordoba, returned to Asturias and was elected the first king of Asturias. In 722, the emir of Andalusia sent a punitive detachment under the command of Alcama to Asturias. The bishop of Seville or Toledo Oppa (Vitica's brother) was also with the punitive forces, called upon to convince Pelayo to surrender. Alkama, moving through Tarna along the banks of the Nalin River, arrived at Lukus Asturum. From there the Arabs entered the Covadonga Valley in search of Christians. However, Alkama's detachment was met by Christians in the gorge and defeated, and Alkama himself died.
When news of the death of Alcama's detachment reached Munusa, he left Gijon with his detachment and moved towards Pelayo. The battle took place near the village of Olalla (near modern Oviedo), where Munusa’s detachment was completely destroyed and Munusa himself was killed. From this moment, historians count the beginning of the Reconquista.
In 721, al-Samha's army marched towards Toulouse and besieged it. Duke Ed of Aquitaine had to free her. The Duke did not have sufficient forces to meet the Arab army in open battle, but he managed to take the Arab army by surprise. On June 9, 721, he defeated the enemy, and the Vali was mortally wounded, after which the remnants of his army fled, lifting the siege of the city. The remnants of the Arab army besieging Toulouse took refuge in Narbonne.
But within a few years, the Arabs began a new offensive campaign in Aquitaine. In 725 and 726, the Duke of Aquitaine twice defeated the army of the new wali (governor) - Anbasa ibn Suhaim al-Kalbi - and the wali himself was killed in 725 by an arrow while crossing the Rhone.
At this time, ships of the Northern European people, the Normans, appeared off the coast of Spain. The Normans, attacking the coastal areas, encountered the Moors. At the end of the 8th century. The Normans act in the war against the Moors as auxiliary troops of Alphonse the Chaste.
The Arab takeover of the Pyrenees was dramatic.
Wali Abd ar-Rahman was able to gather a huge army; he hoped to continue the conquests begun by his predecessors. He divided the army into two factions. One army of Abd al-Rahman invaded from Septimania and reached the Rhone, capturing and plundering Albigeois, Rouergue, Gevaudan and Velay. Legends and chronicles also speak of the destruction of Autun by the Moors and the siege of Sans. But unlike his predecessors, who attacked the Frankish state from the east, Abd ar-Rahman dealt the main blow from the west.
Passing the Pyrenees through the Roncesvalles Pass, he initially suppressed the resistance of the Basque highlanders, taking them by surprise. Then he moved along the old Roman road in the direction of Bordeaux. Along the way, he devastated the provinces of Bigorre, Comminges and Labourg, destroyed the episcopal cities of Oloron and Lescar, and also captured Bayona. Then Auch, Dax and Eure-sur-Adour were destroyed, and the abbeys of Saint-Sever and Saint-Savin were burned.
Abd al-Rahman's army paused near Bordeaux to plunder the surrounding area. The city itself was captured and ravaged, its surroundings completely devastated. According to Frankish chronicles, the churches were burned and most of the inhabitants were exterminated. The Chronicle of Moissac, the Chronicle of Mozarab and the Arab historians say nothing of the kind, but some of them make it clear that the assault on Bordeaux was one of the bloodiest. It is unknown which important person, vaguely identified as a count, was killed among others, probably the burgrave of the city.
Arriving at Poitiers, the Moors found the gates locked and the townspeople on the walls, fully armed and determined to defend themselves boldly. Having put the city under siege, Abd el-Rahman took one of its suburbs, where the famous church of St. Gilarius was located, and plundered it along with the nearby houses and finally set it on fire, so that a heap of ashes remained from the entire suburb. But that was the extent of his success. The brave inhabitants of Poitiers, prisoners in their city, continued to bravely hold on.
Meanwhile, Ed and Charles Martell were able to unite and gather an army. The opponents met between Tours and Poitiers. Neither the exact place nor the date of the battle has yet been unambiguously established by historians; according to the currently prevailing version, the battle is attributed to October 732. This battle went down in history as the Battle of Poitiers (or the Battle of Tours).
The result of this battle was the defeat of the Arab army and the death of Abd ar-Rahman. The remnants of the Arab army took advantage of the falling night and fled.
The Arab army rolled south beyond the Pyrenees. In subsequent years, Martell continued to expel them from France.
The first stage of the reconquista (VIII-XI centuries) ended under the Castilian king Alfonso VI with the conquest of the city of Toledo, which before the Arab invasion was the capital of the Visigothic kingdom. By this time (1085), León and Castile had united under the rule of one king, and this single kingdom had greatly expanded its territory, especially after taking possession of the Tagus River basin. The Arabs retained only part of the Iberian Peninsula south of the Tagus and Guadiana rivers. In the northeast, the possessions of the Arabs at the end of the 11th century. extended to the borders of Aragon.
A little chronology:
759 - Pepin the Short takes Narbonne. The Umayyad dynasty is expelled from France to al-Andalus.
791-842 - reign of Alfonso II of Asturias. Numerous clashes between Christians and Muslims occur with varying success, but in the end the Christians manage to gain a foothold on the banks of the Duero River.
874 - Wifredo the Shaggy, Count of Barcelona, achieves virtual independence from the Franks and begins active opposition to the Moors, whose possessions are located to the south and southwest of modern Catalonia. This is how a new focus of the Reconquista arises.
905-925 - Basque king Sancho Garcés strengthens the Kingdom of Pamplona. This is another outpost of the Reconquista in the northeast of the peninsula.
1000-1035 - consolidation of another part of Christian Iberia. Sancho III the Great, King of Navarre, expands the borders of his possessions to the south. True, after his death many of his achievements were lost again. Regular pilgrimages of Christians to the relics in Santiago de Compostela begin.
1031 - collapse of the Cordoba Caliphate.
Around 1030 to 1099 - the life and exploits of Count Ruy Diaz de Bivar, nicknamed Cid Campeador, the legendary warrior of the Reconquista, the hero of the epic “Song of My Cid,” as well as numerous later works by Corneille, Herder and others.
Around 1140 - the appearance of the Spanish national epic “The Song of My Cid”.
1151 - Third and final wave of Muslim invasion of Spain. This time the Almohads (“united”) came - adherents of a special teaching within Islam known as “unitarianism.” Manifestations of extreme Islamic fanaticism. Persecution of Christians.
1162 - Alfonso II of Aragon simultaneously becomes Count of Barcelona. Thus, the northeastern "corner" of Spain is also united into a powerful state.
1195 - the last heavy defeat of Christians during the Reconquista - the battle of Alarcos. Almohad troops attacked the sleeping Castilian camp.
July 16, 1212 - the climax of the Reconquest. The famous Battle of Las Navas de Tolos. The united Castilian-Leonese, Navarrese, Aragonese, and Portuguese troops crush the Muslim army. Many knights who came from all over the Christian world also took part in the battle.
During the Crusades, the struggle against the Moors was perceived as a struggle for the entire Christian world. Orders of chivalry, such as the Knights Templar, were created to fight the Moors, and the Papacy called upon European knights to fight the Saracens, as Arabs were called in Europe at the time, in the Iberian Peninsula.
1309 - Fernando IV of Castile (1295-1312) plants the Christian banner on the Cape of Gibraltar.
1469 - Isabella I of Castile and Fernando (Ferdinand) II of Aragon enter into a marriage alliance. The actual foundation of the Kingdom of Spain, the establishment of an absolute monarchy.
January 2, 1492 - the fall of Granada and the flight of the last emir of Granada, Boabdil. Ferdinand and Isabella renounce the title of monarch of three religions and proclaim themselves Catholic Kings. Muslims and Jews who do not want to convert to Christianity are expelled from Spain, and the rest are forced to convert to Catholicism.
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During the Reconquista, the small early feudal states of the northwestern and northeastern parts of the Iberian Peninsula (Asturias, Galicia, Leon, the County of Portugal, Castile, Aragon, the County of Barcelona, the Principality of Navarre, etc.) began to merge and expand. As a result of this process, such large states of medieval Spain as Castile, Aragon and Catalonia grew up. During the reconquista, the foundations of future nationalities - Spanish and Portuguese - were laid.
All classes of the emerging feudal society took part in the reconquista; the peasantry was the essential driving force in this liberation struggle. As they moved south, the peasants of Northern Spain settled the newly conquered lands that had been devastated by constant wars, and thus the reconquista simultaneously acquired the character of a colonization movement. By moving to the border regions, many peasants sought personal liberation from serfdom.
The invincible commander El Cid Campeador - Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar - is considered the legendary hero of that era by the Spaniards.
Sid's sword, which, according to legend, has mystical powers, was called Tisona. After the death of the Cid in 1099, it went to the ancestors of King Ferdinand II of Aragon. In 1516, Ferdinand II granted the sword to the Marquis de Falces for his devoted service to the Spanish crown. According to legend, the marquis could choose a gift for himself, but he preferred a sword to lands and palaces. It is believed that the sword was the most valuable family heirloom in the family of the Marquises de Falces and therefore has survived to this day. In 1944, with the permission of the owners, the sword was put on display at the Royal Military Museum of Madrid and remained there for the next 63 years. In 2007, the legal owner of the sword, Marquis José Ramon Suarez, sold the sword to the region of Castile and Leon. The regional authorities transferred the sword to the cathedral of the city of Burgos, where it is currently on display next to the grave of Sid.
The Arab conquest of Spain at the beginning of the 8th century. led to the creation of the powerful Emirate of Cordoba (from the 10th century - caliphate) on the Iberian Peninsula. Arabs and North African tribes - the Berbers, who later received the common name - Moors, took possession of almost all of Spain, with the exception of the mountainous regions in the north of the peninsula. The areas richest in natural resources and economically developed since Roman times fell into Muslim hands.
The conquest of Gothic Spain by the Arabs took place at a stage of its development when an intensified process of feudalization was underway there. This process was accelerated by the strong Romanization of Spain: slaves and colons made up the bulk of the direct producers here. The ancestral nobility of the barbarians by the 7th century. either took the place of the slave-owning class or merged with it. The Visigothic free communities quickly submitted to the nobility, who soon became large landowners after the conquest of southern Gaul and Spain. The feudal dependent peasantry was formed mainly at the expense of the serfs and libertines (Spanish-Roman and German), as well as the colons. The Arabs captured the lands of the Visigothic and Spanish-Roman nobility, the church and the royal fisc. Many Visigothic feudal lords fled north to the mountainous regions of Asturias and the Pyrenees. The peasantry, in most cases, remained in their former places and even experienced some relief at first. But the peasants remained in personal and land dependence and paid feudal rent. In addition, they paid taxes to the conquerors. The oppression of feudal duties and state taxes became increasingly heavier over time. Its severity was subsequently aggravated by outbreaks of Muslim religious fanaticism towards the conquered Christian population.
The Arabs of Spain, who maintained ties with the more highly developed countries of the East, enriched its agriculture. They introduced a number of new crops: rice, sugar cane, date palms, pomegranates, mulberries. Under the Arabs, the system of irrigation canals expanded, which greatly contributed to the rise of agriculture, and viticulture and winemaking flourished. Cattle breeding also developed (mainly transhumance sheep breeding). Mining and various crafts (silk production, cloth making, weapons, glass, ceramics, leather goods, luxury goods, and rag paper) played a significant role in the economy.
Cities experienced a great boom in Arab Spain. Already in the 10th century. there were up to 400 of them. The capital of the Arab state - Cordoba - became in the 10th century. one of the largest craft, trade and cultural centers in Europe. Arab Spain had a strong navy, which contributed to the cities' brisk trade with Africa, Italy, Byzantium and the Levant; overland trade was carried out with southern France and Lombardy. Spanish goods reached India and Central Asia. The main export items were agricultural products, mining products and handicrafts. The slave trade was of great importance. Internal trade also developed.
The economic successes of Arab Spain were accompanied by its cultural rise. There was a huge library and university in Cordoba. Many other cities in the country were famous for their libraries. Higher schools in Arab Spain were among the first in Europe. The sciences are experiencing significant growth: medicine, mathematics, geography. Arab Spain is the birthplace of the most prominent progressive philosophers of their time: Ibn Roshd (Averroes) and Maimonides. The flowering of art and literature, especially poetry, in Spain occurred at a time when the level of culture in the rest of Western Europe was still very low; some Europeans came to study at the universities of Cordoba, Seville, Malaga, and Granada.
Arab culture in Spain influenced not only Europe; it occupies an important place in the history of world culture. Through the Kbrda Caliphate, European countries became acquainted (in translation) with the works of Arab scientists in mathematics, astronomy, geography, physics, alchemy, medicine, anatomy, zoology, and philosophy. The West learned (mainly in Latin translations from Arabic) many works of ancient Greek thinkers and scientists. The construction industry has reached a high level in Spain. Magnificent monuments of Arab-Spanish architecture have survived to this day: the famous mosque in Cordoba, built in the 8th-10th centuries, and in the 13th century. converted into a Christian temple, the palace of the rulers of Granada Alhambra (XIII-XV centuries), the Alcazar palace-fortress in Seville (XII century), etc.
There are many famous medieval battles that changed the course of history. Poitiers, Hastings, Crecy, Grunwald... But there are few battles so deprived of the attention of the general public and with such exceptional force that influenced the fate of the world as the Battle of Guadalete in 711. Several mistakes of the greedy King Rodrigo resulted in countless casualties and decided the fate of Europe.
The advent of Islam inspired colossal strength for that time in the nomads of Arabia. Neither the Iranian state nor the Roman Empire ever expected serious danger from these places. Now from here began the great conquests of the Mohammedans, who rapidly, on the wings of a new religion, conquered the provinces of the eastern part of the empire. By 636, the richest Syria finally fell, 2 years later - Jerusalem, Mesopotamia and Iran, and a little later Egypt were also brought under the control of the caliphate. It was the turn of all of northern Africa, and the Caliphate decided this matter by 689, when Carthage finally fell.
Only the small town of Ceuta on the coast near Gibraltar was not taken, but this was already a matter of time. The Caliph's deputy, Musa ibn Nusayr, subjugated the local Berbers and led them to Islam. To achieve their submission, Musa promised them participation in Arab campaigns and countless treasures. According to legend, the king of the Visigoths who ruled Spain, Rodrigo, had shortly before inflicted a mortal insult on the ruler of Ceuta, Julian, and he, thirsting for revenge, offered help and a fleet to the Arabs. Giving the Berbers the opportunity to plunder, thereby fulfilling promises and resolving the issue with Julian, was a gift of fate for Musa. 7,000 Berbers became the basis of the army for the campaign, which was initially planned as just a predatory one.
The ancient world was destroyed not by German conquests, but by Arab ones
What was there at that time on the other side of Gibraltar, where such an attack was not expected at all? The Iberian Peninsula was captured by the Visigoths back in the 5th century, who became the highest military-administrative power. They were better warriors than politicians - for two centuries the Visigoths did not become close to the local population, they even managed to isolate themselves from them even more and cause irritation. Military power allowed them to remain at the top of a society they viewed with contempt. The Visigoths did not even practice marriages with locals. The Romano-Iberians, the old Roman nobility, the Basques and Asturs remembered and clearly saw that the Visigoths were invaders here, only taking advantage of the achievements of the Roman civilization. Therefore, as soon as the Arabs arrived, the local population gave the Visigoths the opportunity to deal with a strong enemy themselves. There was no unity among the Visigoths themselves, who were ruled by King Rodrigo, who some time ago seized power by force and without right. He did not enjoy genuine support from those around him.
In 711, an Arab-Berber army led by Tariq ibn Ziyad landed in Spain and cheerfully plundered the coast. Seeing how easily fame and treasures were obtained, Musa gave reinforcements - at least five thousand soldiers. This force already wanted not just robbery, but to gain a foothold on such a generous land. Meanwhile, Rodrigo in Toledo gathered an army of up to 33,000 people. At first glance, the Arabs could not count on serious success.
The armies met on July 19 or 23, 711, near the Guadalete River. Little is known about the course of the battle. The Rodrigo brothers abandoned their political rival, apparently hoping to solve this problem at the expense of the robbers, who would soon leave anyway. Arab historians paint a heroic picture of how King Rodrigo was killed. Ahmed al-Makkari wrote: “Tariq noticed Roderick, he said to his entourage: “This is the king of the Christians,” and rushed to the attack with his men. The warriors surrounding Roderick were scattered; Seeing this, Tariq broke through the ranks of the enemy until he reached the king and wounded him with a sword in the head, and killed him. When Roderic's people saw that their king had fallen and his bodyguards were scattered, the retreat became general and victory remained with the Muslims. The army, deprived of a leader, did not offer real resistance and was defeated.
Whether this episode is described correctly or whether everything happened differently is unknown. One thing is certain - the Christian Visigoths suffered a complete defeat. The following year, another 18,000 Arabs arrived in Spain, and the capture of the peninsula began. The local population did not start a large-scale fight against the Arabs. The cities surrendered one by one, sometimes immediately, sometimes after a siege. For 5 years, the Mohammedans established control over most of Spain, only the Basques and Asturs offered even more or less serious resistance. The flexible policy of the Arabs allowed them to gain a relatively easy foothold in places where the Visigoths did not show wisdom for this - religious tolerance and tax breaks persuaded the population to the Arab side.
Arab actions in Spain
Within a few years, the Arabs conquered Spain. They were expelled for almost 8 centuries
The Arabs marching north were barely stopped in the south of France at the Battle of Poitiers in 732, when they were defeated by Charles Martell, the grandfather of Charlemagne. If the Visigoths had succeeded in doing this in 711, perhaps the Arabs would have abandoned the plunder and subsequent conquest of Spain, and the Christians would have had a chance to retain their influence in the Mediterranean to a much greater extent than after the loss of the Iberian Peninsula.
Although we know very little about the battle itself due to the paucity of sources in this era, the historical consequences of this event and the Arab conquest of Spain are exceptional in their scope. The fate of many historical processes (some of which are still ongoing) was laid here, by the Arabs, in the 710s. The small surviving Christian kingdoms of Spain fought the Arabs for many more centuries, the last Mohammedan ruler was defeated and expelled only in 1492 by Ferdinand II and Isabella I. For centuries, war-oriented, Spanish society accumulated colossal military and ideological potential, which it now used not for reconquista, and already for the conquest in the New World.
The power of the Spanish Empire would remain incredibly enormous for almost two centuries after 1492, when Columbus's first voyage truly opened America to the world. In addition, the Arab conquest of Spain completed the process of Muslim control over large parts of the Mediterranean. The famous Belgian historian Henri Pirenne, in his fundamental work “The Empire of Charlemagne and the Arab Caliphate,” showed the significance of what happened at the beginning of the 8th century. The ancient Mediterranean world, based on the unity of culture, methods of management and maritime trade, was disrupted by the Arabs. The connection with ancient tradition, cultural and economic, was severed. The economy of the former Western Roman Empire, ruled by the Germans, was also based on urban growth and trade. With the arrival of the Arabs in the region, agriculture, and therefore the landed aristocracy, became increasingly important. Royal power weakened. The Middle Ages began. Conditions developed for the feudal, medieval appearance of Western Europe - with political fragmentation, the high role of subsistence farming, a specific knightly military organization, etc.
The great Arab conquests predetermined the fate of Europe and Russia
In addition, the Arabs deprived Constantinople of the ability to protect and control the Pope. In the middle of the 8th century. Relations between the Pope and Constantinople were severed. Political life, following economic life, shifted from the Mediterranean coast to the north. The popes were now dependent on the support of the Frankish kingdom. This break between the Eastern Empire and the Pope foreshadowed the division of Christianity into Western and Eastern, which finally occurred in 1054, and the beginning of their confrontation. The consequences of this became decisive for our Russian history. Russia, finding itself in the camp of Eastern Christianity, became a counterweight to the Western Christian world for centuries.