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Spain in the Middle Ages
Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the history of what would eventually later become Spain that began in the 5th century following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the early modern period in 1492.
The history of Spain and Portugal is marked by waves of conquerors who brought their distinct cultures to the Iberian Peninsula. After the migration of the Vandals and Alans down the Mediterranean coast of Hispania from 408, the history of medieval Hispania begins with the Iberian kingdom of the Arianist Visigoths (507–711), who were converted to Catholicism along with their king Reccared in 587. Visigothic culture can be seen as a phenomenon of Late Antiquity as much as part of the Age of Migrations.
From Northern Africa in 711, the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate crossed into the Iberian Peninsula, at the invitation of a Visigothic clan to assist it in rising against King Roderic. Over the period 711–788, the Umayyads conquered most of the lands of the Visigothic kingdom of Hispania and established the territory known as Al-Andalus. A revolt during the conquest established the Christian Kingdom of Asturias in the north of the Peninsula.
Much of the period is marked by conflict between the Muslim and Christian states, referred to as the Reconquista, or the Reconquest (i.e., The Christians "reconquering" their lands as a religious crusade). The border between Muslim and Christian lands wavered southward through 700 years of war, which marked the Peninsula as a militarily contested space. The medieval centuries also witnessed episodes of warfare between the Christian states and between the Muslim taifas, successor states of the Caliphate of Cordoba. Wars between the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castile were sparked by dynastic rivalries or disagreements over tracts of land conquered or to be conquered from the Muslim south.
The Middle Ages in Hispania are often said to end in 1492 with the final acts of the Reconquista in the capitulation of the Nasrid Emirate 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 Charles I of Spain.
When the Germanic tribes invaded the provinces of the Roman Empire, the hordes, urged forward by the pressure of the Huns in their rear, hurled themselves for the first time upon the Pyrenean Peninsula – the Alani, a people of Scythian, or Tatar, ethnicity; the Vandals and Suebians, Germanic ethnicity. The Alani were, for the most part, quickly brought into subjection. The Vandals temporarily established themselves in Baetica and then passed on into Africa, while the Visigoths hemmed in the Suebi in Galicia until the latter were completely brought under control. These Visigoths, or Western Goths, after sacking Rome under the leadership of Flavius Alaricus (410), turned towards the Iberian Peninsula, with Flavius Ataulfus for their leader, and occupied the northeastern portion, after becoming part of the Empire themselves as foederati and Roman citizens (thanks to the Constitutio Antoniniana). Wallia extended his rule over most of the peninsula, keeping the Suebians shut up in Galicia. Theodoric I took part, with the Gallo-Romans and Franks (also foederati and Roman citizens), in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, where Attila was routed.
Flavius Euricus (466), who declared the independence of his kingdom from the western administration, may be considered the first monarch of Spain, though the Suebians still maintained their independence in Galicia. Euric was also the first king to give written laws to the Visigoths. In the following reigns the Catholic kings of France assumed the role of protectors of the Hispano-Roman Catholics against the Arianism of the Visigoths, and in the wars which ensued Alaric II and Amalaric lost their lives.
Athanagild, having risen against King Agila, called in the "Byzantines" (Eastern Romans) and, in payment for the succour they gave him, ceded to them the maritime places of the southeast (554). Flavius Leovigildus restored the political unity of the peninsula, subduing the Suebians, but the religious divisions of the country, reaching even the royal family, brought on a civil war. St. Hermengild, the king's son, putting himself at the head of the Catholics, was defeated and taken prisoner, and suffered martyrdom for rejecting communion with the Arians. Reccared, son of Liuvigild and brother of St. Hermengild, added religious unity to the political unity achieved by his father, accepting the Catholic faith in the Third Council of Toledo (589).
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Spain in the Middle Ages AI simulator
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Spain in the Middle Ages
Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the history of what would eventually later become Spain that began in the 5th century following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the early modern period in 1492.
The history of Spain and Portugal is marked by waves of conquerors who brought their distinct cultures to the Iberian Peninsula. After the migration of the Vandals and Alans down the Mediterranean coast of Hispania from 408, the history of medieval Hispania begins with the Iberian kingdom of the Arianist Visigoths (507–711), who were converted to Catholicism along with their king Reccared in 587. Visigothic culture can be seen as a phenomenon of Late Antiquity as much as part of the Age of Migrations.
From Northern Africa in 711, the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate crossed into the Iberian Peninsula, at the invitation of a Visigothic clan to assist it in rising against King Roderic. Over the period 711–788, the Umayyads conquered most of the lands of the Visigothic kingdom of Hispania and established the territory known as Al-Andalus. A revolt during the conquest established the Christian Kingdom of Asturias in the north of the Peninsula.
Much of the period is marked by conflict between the Muslim and Christian states, referred to as the Reconquista, or the Reconquest (i.e., The Christians "reconquering" their lands as a religious crusade). The border between Muslim and Christian lands wavered southward through 700 years of war, which marked the Peninsula as a militarily contested space. The medieval centuries also witnessed episodes of warfare between the Christian states and between the Muslim taifas, successor states of the Caliphate of Cordoba. Wars between the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castile were sparked by dynastic rivalries or disagreements over tracts of land conquered or to be conquered from the Muslim south.
The Middle Ages in Hispania are often said to end in 1492 with the final acts of the Reconquista in the capitulation of the Nasrid Emirate 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 Charles I of Spain.
When the Germanic tribes invaded the provinces of the Roman Empire, the hordes, urged forward by the pressure of the Huns in their rear, hurled themselves for the first time upon the Pyrenean Peninsula – the Alani, a people of Scythian, or Tatar, ethnicity; the Vandals and Suebians, Germanic ethnicity. The Alani were, for the most part, quickly brought into subjection. The Vandals temporarily established themselves in Baetica and then passed on into Africa, while the Visigoths hemmed in the Suebi in Galicia until the latter were completely brought under control. These Visigoths, or Western Goths, after sacking Rome under the leadership of Flavius Alaricus (410), turned towards the Iberian Peninsula, with Flavius Ataulfus for their leader, and occupied the northeastern portion, after becoming part of the Empire themselves as foederati and Roman citizens (thanks to the Constitutio Antoniniana). Wallia extended his rule over most of the peninsula, keeping the Suebians shut up in Galicia. Theodoric I took part, with the Gallo-Romans and Franks (also foederati and Roman citizens), in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, where Attila was routed.
Flavius Euricus (466), who declared the independence of his kingdom from the western administration, may be considered the first monarch of Spain, though the Suebians still maintained their independence in Galicia. Euric was also the first king to give written laws to the Visigoths. In the following reigns the Catholic kings of France assumed the role of protectors of the Hispano-Roman Catholics against the Arianism of the Visigoths, and in the wars which ensued Alaric II and Amalaric lost their lives.
Athanagild, having risen against King Agila, called in the "Byzantines" (Eastern Romans) and, in payment for the succour they gave him, ceded to them the maritime places of the southeast (554). Flavius Leovigildus restored the political unity of the peninsula, subduing the Suebians, but the religious divisions of the country, reaching even the royal family, brought on a civil war. St. Hermengild, the king's son, putting himself at the head of the Catholics, was defeated and taken prisoner, and suffered martyrdom for rejecting communion with the Arians. Reccared, son of Liuvigild and brother of St. Hermengild, added religious unity to the political unity achieved by his father, accepting the Catholic faith in the Third Council of Toledo (589).