Key Idea: In 711 Muslim armies crossed from North Africa and conquered nearly all of Spain, creating a rich land they called Al-Andalus. For almost 800 years the Christian kingdoms of the north fought south to take it back — a struggle called the Reconquista — until the last Muslim city, Granada, surrendered in 1492. That victory united Spain under one Catholic crown, expelled or forced the conversion of Jews and Muslims, and gave Isabella and Ferdinand the confidence to fund Columbus the very same year.
🗺️ 2.1.1 — Why the Christians kept fighting
When Muslims conquered Spain in 711, only a thin strip of the far north stayed Christian. From there small kingdoms grew into powerful states like Castile and Aragon, and slowly pushed the border south, decade by decade.
Historians ask why the fighting lasted so long, and the honest answer is that several motives mixed together at once. Religion gave the wars a holy purpose (from the 1000s the Pope treated the fighting like a crusade), politics let ambitious kings grow bigger and more famous, and conquered land brought farms, taxes and tribute — regular payments a weaker state makes to a stronger one to avoid attack.
- 711 — Muslim conquest creates Al-Andalus; Christians hold only the far north.
- Three motives: religion (a Pope-blessed holy war), politics (bigger, more prestigious kingdoms), and land/wealth (farms, taxes and tribute).
- 1085 — Castile captures Toledo, a prestige victory showing Christian power was rising.
- Tribute kept Christian kings rich even without fighting — weaker Muslim states paid to be left alone.
- By the 1200s only one Muslim state was left: the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, founded in 1238.
⚔️ 2.1.2 — Key events and people
The Reconquest is easiest to hold in your head as three stages: a slow start, a decisive middle, and a fast finish. It began symbolically around 718 at Covadonga, a small mountain victory by a noble named Pelayo that saved a Christian foothold in the north.
The turning point came in 1212 at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, where a combined Christian army crushed the Almohads (a North African empire) and broke Muslim military power for good. Then in 1469 Isabella I of Castile married Ferdinand II of Aragon, joining Spain's two biggest kingdoms — together they were called the Catholic Monarchs — and aimed their combined strength at Granada.
- ~718 Covadonga — Pelayo's victory, the symbolic start of the Reconquest.
- 1212 Las Navas de Tolosa — Christians beat the Almohads and break Muslim power in Spain.
- 1469 — Isabella and Ferdinand marry, uniting Castile and Aragon as the Catholic Monarchs.
- 1482–1492 War of Granada — a ten-year campaign that closed in city by city.
- 2 January 1492 — the last emir Boabdil (Muhammad XII) surrenders under the Treaty of Granada, which promised his people could keep their faith.
🔥 2.1.3 — What 1492 changed
The fall of Granada did far more than move a border. A useful way to sort its effects is R-P-P: Religion, People, Power. For the first time the whole peninsula (apart from Portugal) was ruled by Christians who wanted one religion across their lands.
The surrender promise was quickly broken. Just weeks later, on 31 March 1492, the Alhambra Decree ordered every Jew to convert or leave Spain, forcing out tens of thousands. From around 1500 Muslims were also pressured to convert, becoming the Moriscos — converts who often kept their old customs in secret. Meanwhile the united, confident monarchy funded Christopher Columbus, who reached the Americas in October 1492, opening a vast overseas empire.
- Religion — Spain became strictly Catholic and stopped tolerating other faiths.
- 31 March 1492 Alhambra Decree — Jews forced to convert to Christianity or leave.
- Moriscos — Muslims forced to convert from around 1500 (fully expelled much later, in 1609).
- Power — Castile and Aragon fused into one strong monarchy.
- Empire — the same 1492 victory paid for Columbus's first Atlantic voyage.
✍️ Exam-ready answers
A source is an extract from a Castilian royal chronicle of the 1490s, written for the court, praising Isabella and Ferdinand for driving 'the enemies of the faith' out of Granada. With reference to its origin, purpose and content, suggest one value and one limitation of this source for a historian studying how the monarchy presented the conquest.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Examine the reasons why the kingdom of Granada was finally conquered in 1492.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
🎯 One-glance recall
What was the Reconquista? The centuries-long Christian campaign, from the Muslim conquest of 711 to the fall of Granada in 1492, to retake Spain from Muslim rule.
Why did the Christians fight? (three motives) Religion (a crusade blessed by the Pope), politics (bigger, more prestigious kingdoms for ambitious kings), and land/wealth (farms, taxes and tribute payments).
The turning points and people Covadonga (~718) starts it, Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) breaks Muslim power, the 1469 marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand unites Spain, and Boabdil surrenders Granada on 2 January 1492.
The triple impact of 1492 (R-P-P) Religion: Spain turns strictly Catholic. People: Jews expelled by the Alhambra Decree (31 March 1492), Muslims forced to convert into Moriscos from ~1500. Power: a united monarchy funds Columbus, launching an empire.