Spain in the Middle Ages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
After the disorders of the passage of the Vandals and Alans down the Mediterranean coast of Hispania from 409, the history of Medieval Spain begins with the Iberian kingdom of the Arianist Visigoths (507–711), who were converted to Catholicism with their king Reccared in 587. Visigothic culture in Spain can be seen as a phenomenon of Late Antiquity as much as part of the Age of Migrations. The Moorish conquest, completed in the decade after 711, forms a more decisive cultural break with the Roman past.
The Middle Ages in Spain are often said to end in 1492 with the final acts of the Reconquista in the capitulation of Granada and the Alhambra decree ordering the expulsion of the Jews. Early Modern Spain was first united as an institution in the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as Carlos I of Spain.
See the relevant section of History of Spain.
For Early Medieval Spain, see:
- Hispania Baetica, and to a lesser extent the other Roman provinces, Hispania Tarraconensis and Lusitania.
- Vandals
- Alans, confederates of the Vandals
- Suevi in northern Hispania, 411–585
- Basques
- Visigoths: cultural developments can be followed in the careers of the major Visigothic kings:
The broadest cultural divisions in Hispania during the medieval period are between Islamic society and Christian.
For the Muslim Emirate (ca 750-929) and Caliphate of Córdoba (929-1031) in general, see Al-Andalus
- Umayyad Dynasty in Spain:
- Umayyad Emirs of Cordoba, 756– 912(929)
- Umayyad Caliphs of Cordoba, 929–1031
- Abd ar-Rahman III, as caliph, 929–961
- Al-Hakam II, 961–976
- Hisham II, 976–1008
- Mohammed II, 1008–1009
- Suleiman, 1009–1010
- Hisham II, restored, 1010–1012
- Suleiman, restored, 1012–1017
- Abd ar-Rahman IV, 1021–1022
- Abd ar-Rahman V, 1022–1023
- Muhammad III, 1023–1024
- Hisham III, 1027–1031
- Taifa kingdoms
For Northern Spain see individual kingdoms and polities:
- and histories of other individual provinces of modern Spain.
Medieval Spain was as much as a network of cities, which were cultural and administrative centers, the seats of bishops and sometimes kings, with markets and housing expanding from a central fortified stronghold. Medieval Spanish history can also be followed through its major cities:
- Almería
- Barcelona
- Bilbao
- Burgos
- Córdoba
- Granada
- León
- Málaga
- Oviedo
- Salamanca
- Santander
- Seville
- Toledo
- Valencia
- Zaragoza (Saragossa)
and at the great shrine of Santiago de Compostela.
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