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The Reconquista (Spanish and Portuguese for reconquest) was the conquest of the Moorish kingdoms of Spain by Christian rulers, culminating on January 2, 1492 when Ferdinand and
Isabella, Los Reyes Catolicos ("The Catholic Monarchs"), expelled the last of the Moorish rulers, Boabdil of Granada, from the Iberian peninsula, uniting most of what is now Spain under their rule (Navarre was not incorporated until 1512).
After the Muslim invasion of Iberia in 711 and the Battle of Guadalete the Moors had conquered most of Iberia within five years. The reconquest
begain in 718 with the defeat of the Muslim army at Alcama by the Visigoth Pelayo.
It was not until later centuries that the Christians started to see their conquests as part of a secular effort to restore the
unity of the Visigothic kingdom.
The battle against Moors did not keep the Christian kingdoms from battling among themselves or allying with Islamic kings. For
example, the earlier kings of Navarre were family of the Banu Qasi of Tudela. The Moorish kings often had wives or mothers born Christians. Also Christian champions like El Cid were contracted by Taifa kings to fight against
their neighbours.
In the late years of Al-Andalus, Castile had the military power to conquer the remains of the kingdom of Granada, but the kings preferred to claim the tribute of the parias. The commerce of Granadan goods and the
parias were a main way for the African gold to enter medieval
Europe.
In the High Middle Ages, the fight against the Moors in Iberia
was linked to the fight of the whole of Christendom. Military orders like the order of Santiago, Montesa and the Temple Knights were founded or called to fight in Iberia. The Popes called the knights of Europe to
the Crusades in the peninsula. French, Navarrese, Castilian and Aragonese armies united in the massive battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212).
The Christians called Saint James their protector
saint (today he is still the patron of Spain) under the rubric of Santiago Matamoros ("St.
James the Moor-killer").
The big territories awarded to military orders and nobles were the origin of the latifundia in today's Andalusia and Extremadura.
The mixing of Christians, Muslims and Jews was later officially ended by the limpieza de sangre rules
of ethnic purity of the Modern
Ages.
Social types under the Reconquista
The advances and retreats created several social types:
- the Mozarabs: Descendants of Visigothic or Romanic dwellers who did not convert
to Islam. Some of them migrated to the North in times of persecution.
- the Muladi: Christians who converted to
Islam after the invasion.
- the Renegade: Christian individuals
who embraced Islam and often fought against their former compatriots.
- the Jewish conversos: First Jews
who were forced to become Christians yet they kept on practicing Judaism and then
eventually all Jews became victims of the Spanish Inquisition and were forced to leave Spain in 1492 by
Ferdinand and Isabella.
- the Mudejar: Muslims dwelling in land
conquered by the Christians. They were usually peasants. Their characteristic architecture of adobe bricks was frequently employed in churches commissioned by the new lords. Their descendants after 1492 were called Moriscos
Currently, along the Mediterranean coast, the festivals of
moros y cristianos ("Moors and Christians") recreate
the fights as colourful parades with elaborate garments and lots of fireworks.
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Modern Uses of the Term
There has also, of late, been a movement in America to term some pro-immigration Latino politicians as reconquistas. Largely
this is used as a derogatory term and without substance, alleging that these politicians are actually part of a movement to
re-conquer America for Mexico.
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