Spain



The Muslims conquered Spain in the early 700's. Islamic accounts Taiq ibn Ziyad invaded Spain in 711 with an army of Arab officers and about 12,000 Berbers. An 18,000 man-force led by Musa ibn Nusayr.(the Arab governor of North America)occupied Sevill Saragossa and most of the rest of Spain.After Muslims viewed Spain as a launching place for the conquest of Europe, they seized the city Barcelona in northern Spain. Around 1000, the Spanish Muslims caliphate split into a patchwork of 20to30 principalities.Three major principalities were Bodajoz,Toledo and Saragossa. Under Islamic law Jews and Mozarabs were generally tolerated and allowed to associate with Muslims. Jewish and christian communities were self governing with their own leaders and laws. In 1805 the christian ruler Alfanso VI of castile conquered the border religion of Toledo. In Muslim Spain the population was full of a large ethnic religious mix. It included Arab elite mostly from Syria and Yemen, Jews and Mozarabs. The majority of the population was consisted of native spanish people who were born in converted Islam.

In the beginning if the middle ages a Germanic tribe,Visigoths controlled much if the Iberian Peninsula. During the late 7th century the Visigoths nobles warred among themselves are as well rebelling against monarchy. In 711 they captured almost the entire peninsula Seville,Toledo,Libson, and Valencia.

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