Reconquista facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Reconquista |
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Moorish and Christian Reconquista battle, taken from the Cantigas de Santa María |
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The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest"; Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing") was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which the several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula expanded themselves (grew) by fighting the Muslim states of al-Andalus (Arabic الأندلس), the Muslim states on the Iberian Peninsula, and pushing them out of the peninsula.
The Reconquista began shortly after the Islamic conquest. Much of the ideology of the Reconquista was common to most Crusading: soldiers from all Christendom travelled to Spain to fight the Muslims as an act of Christian repentance.
The Reconquista came to an end on the 2 January 1492 with the capture of Granada. The last Muslim ruler of Granada surrendered (gave up) his kingdom to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic kings (los Reyes Católicos). This event marked the end of Muslim rule in Iberia.
Images for kids
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The Islamic Almohad dynasty and surrounding states, including the Christian Kingdoms of Portugal, Leon, Castile, Navarre, and the Crown of Aragon, c. 1200.
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Ceramic of the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI
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The Moors request permission from James I of Aragon
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Capture of Seville by Ferdinand III of Castile (painted by Francisco Pacheco)
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Forces of Muhammed IX, Nasrid Sultan of Granada, at the Battle of La Higueruela, 1431
See also
- In Spanish: Reconquista