The document summarizes the emergence and expansion of Christian kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula following the Muslim conquest. New Christian states formed in the mountainous northern regions not controlled by Muslims. The Kingdom of Asturias was founded after Pelagius defeated Muslims at Covadonga in 722. Over subsequent centuries, the Kingdom of Asturias gradually extended its control south and west, changing its name to the Kingdom of Leon. Meanwhile, Christian states also formed in the Pyrenees region, including the Kingdom of Pamplona. By the 11th century, the Christian kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal had taken shape and began pushing further south against Muslim rule in al-Andalus, taking

1. THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS AND THE
“RECONQUEST”

2. THE IBERIAN PENINSULA IN THE 8th CENTURY
After the Muslim conquest of the Peninsula, the mountainous areas of the North were the only
territories to remain out of the Muslim control. These regions had experienced a superficial
Romanization and the Visigoths hadn’t controlled them much either. New Christian States
appeared around the Cantabrian Mountain Range and the Pyrenees.

3. THE FIRST CHRISTIAN STATES
PYRENEES
Kingdom of Pamplona
Aragonese counties
Catalan counties
CANTABRIAN MOUNTAINS
Kingdom of Asturias

4. KINGDOM OF ASTURIAS
In 722 Pelagius, an Asturian nobleman, defeated
the Muslims in the Battle of Covadonga,
probably only a skirmish, and was chosen king of
Asturias (722-737). This was the origin of the
Kingdom of Asturias. Cangas de Onís was the
first capital city.
PELAGIUS (718-737)
Proclamation of Pelagius,
painted by Madrazo in 1856
Battle of Covadonga (722)
Extension of the Kingdom of Asturias

5. ALPHONSE I
(739-757)
ALPHONSE II
(791-842)
Discovery of the tomb of Saint James in
Compostela Bishop Theodemir went to Oviedo
and told Alphonse II about the discovery.
Alphonse I (739-757) extended the kingdom outside the mountains. He conquered Galicia and
León and brought the population who lived between the mountains and the river Duero to the
North. A no man’s land or demographic desert appeared there. At the end of the century
Alphonse II (791-842) moved the capital city to Oviedo. According to tradition, during Alphonse
II’s reign the tomb of Apostle Saint James was supposedly discovered in Compostela.

6. ALPHONSE III (866-910)
- 9th century: the Kingdom of Asturias extended to Galicia in the West and Álava in the East. They
occupied these lands and founded cities such as Zamora, Burgos and Coimbra. The maximum
expansion happened during Alfonso III the Great´s rule. The first attempt to link the Visigothic
kingdom and the kingdom of Asturias appeared during his reign and was written in the Chronicle
of Alphonse III.
- 10th century: the capital city of the kingdom was moved to León and the kingdom of Asturias
changed its name to Kingdom of León. In the county of Castile, located in the Eastern part of the
kingdom, count Fernán González took advantage of León’s weakness and converted his county
into hereditary. The kingdom of León started declining at the end of this century and it fell under
Navarre´s influence.

7. PYRENEAN AREA
Spanish March
Charlemagne
In the 8thcentury the territories around the Pyrenees fell under the control of the Carolingians:
they formed the Spanish March, border province which extended from Pamplona to
Barcelona.

8. - 9th century: at the beginning the
area continued to be controlled by
the Carolingian Empire. After the
disintegration of the Carolingian
Empire, three regions appeared: the
Kingdom of Pamplona, created by
Íñigo Arista in 824, the Aragonese
counties and the Catalan counties.
The count of Barcelona Wilfred the
Hairy was the last to swear
allegiance to the Frankish kings and
left his county to his children.
- 10th century: the crisis of the Emirate of Córdoba led to the consolidation of the States created in the
Pyrenees:
• In Navarre, a new dynasty, the Jimena, was enthroned and they extended their influence to La
Rioja and Álava.
• The Aragonese counties fell under the influence of Navarre.
• The Catalan counties consolidated their independence. At the end of the 10th century, after Al-
Mansur’s attack to Barcelona, count Borrell II unified the Catalan counties and decided to declare
them independent from France.

9. THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS DURING THE CALIPHATE OF CÓRDOBA
In the 10th century, during the Caliphate of Córdoba, Abd-al- Rahman III and Al-Mansur launched
several expeditions against the Christian kingdoms and stopped their expansion.

10. BEGINNING OF THE 11th CENTURY
At the beginning of the 11th century Navarre was the
most powerful Christian kingdom: king Sancho III the
Great created a big kingdom that included Castile, the
Aragonese counties and had big influence in León.

11. When Sancho III died in 1035, he divided his kingdom among his sons. His testament was the origin
of three of the big Christian kingdoms of the Middle Ages in the Peninsula:
·Ferdinand I inherited Castile and proclaimed himself king. When he defeated his brother-in-law
Bermudo III of León (who died fighting in the Battle of Tamarón in 1038), he became the king of
León as well. The Crown of Castile was created, although Castile and León became separated and
unified several times until the 13th century.
·Navarre was for his son García I Sánchez.
·Aragón was for his son Ramiro I, who also proclaimed himself king.
·The counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza were for his son Gonzalo, but when he died these
territories were added to Aragón.
FERDINAND I
GARCÍA I
RAMIRO I GONZALO

12. In the 2nd half of the 11th century Navarre was added
to Aragón when its king Sancho Garcés IV, known as
Sancho el de Peñalén, was killed and the Navarrese
decided to submit to Sancho I Ramírez, king of
Aragón. Navarre and Aragón were united between
1076 and 1134.
The Jimena dynasty
Killing of Sancho IV of Peñalén,
thrown by his brothers from a cliff
Sancho I Ramírez of
Aragón, who became
also king of Navarre,
known as Sancho V

13. “RECONQUEST”
- Not accurate term to refer to the advance od
the Christian kingdoms of the North to the
South. It was rather the conquest of the
territories occupied by the Muslims by the
Christian kingdoms of the North, mainly Aragón,
Portugal and Castile .
-Origin: in the 9th century the kings of Asturias-
León established a continuity with the Visigothic
Kingdom .
- Since the 11th century the conquest added a
connotation of “crusade” against Islam
-It started after the disintegration of the
Caliphate of Córdoba and the military weakness
of the Taifgas kingdoms
- It was not a continuous process. There were
long periods of truce and the impulse of the
conquests depended on the circumstances of
both Al-Andalus and the Christian Kingdoms

14. STAGES
8th-10th century: MUSLIM SUPERIORITY (Christians on the defensive)
11th- middle 13th century: CHRISTIAN INITIATIVE (Christian advance,
taking advantage of the Muslims’ weaknesss and disunity)
Middle 13th century- end 15th century: STABILITY: the Nasrid
Kingdom of Granada survived through the payment of parias

15. 11th CENTURY
Alphonse Vi of Castile and León,
conqueror of Toledo
Castile and León reached the River Tajo Valley and Aragón and the Catalan counties reached the
Ebro Valley, taking advantage of the internal problems of Taifas Kingdoms and their difficulties to
recruit soldiers. The first Christian success was the conquest of Toledo by Alphonse VI of Castile in
1085. Later the Catalans occupied Tarragona (1090) and the Aragonese conquered Huesca (1096).
This first advance to the South was stopped by the arrival of the Almoravids, who defeated the
Castilians in Sagrajas (1086) and Uclés (1108) and reunified the Taifas kingdoms.

16. 12th CENTURY
Urraca I of Castile and
León
Alphonse I Enríquez,
first king of Portugal
This was a complictated period for the
kingdom of Castile. After Alphonse
Vi’s death:
-his daughter Urraca I became the queen,
but her marriage with Alphonse I the
Battler of Aragón caused a lot of problems
in the kingdom and was finally dissolved.
-Portugal separated from Castile in 1139.
Alphonse I Enríquez, Alphonse VI’s
grandson was his first king. The Portuguese
occupied Lisbon in 1147.

17. In Aragón, Alphonse I the Battler
conquered Zaragoza (1118) and
consolidated his control over the Ebro
Valley.
When he died without descendants in
1134, a succesory crisis took place in
the kingdom. The Aragonese and
Navarrese nobles didn’t accept his
testament, where he had decided to
leave his kingdom to the military
orders:
-the Navarrese decided to separate
from Aragón and chose a new king,
García IV Ramírez, the Restorer
-the Aragonese took Ramiro, Alphonse
I’s brother, out from the monastery
and obliged him to accept the crown,
look for a spouse and give a heir to
Aragón. Ramiro II married Agnes of
Poitou and they had a baby girl called
Petronila in 1136
Alphonse I the Battler Ramiro II the Monk

18. In 1137, when Petronila was one year old, her parents married her
to Ramón Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona. After this, Ramiro II
the Monk went back to the monastery and Ramón Berenguer IV
was in charge of the kingdom, with the title of prince of Catalonia.
When Petronila was of age (14 years old), their marriage was
consummated. Ramón Berenguer IV conquered Tortosa (1148) and
Lleida (1149) and reached the mouth of the River Ebro. Petronila
and Ramón Berenguer IV´s son, Alphonse II (1164-1196), became
the first king of the Crown of Aragón.
Petronila and Ramón Berenguer IV
Alphonse II of Aragón

19. After the disintegration of the
Almoravid Empire in 1145, Alphonse
VII of Castile and León conquered
Almería in 1147 and Alphonse VIII of
Castile conquered Cuenca in 1177. This
advance was stopped by the
Almohads, a new people from the
North of Africa, who had crossed the
Gibraltar Strait in 1147 and reunified
the Taifas kingdoms, except for
Mallorca, which survived under
Almoravid rule until the end of the
century. In 1195 Alphonse VIII of
Castile’s troops were defeated in the
Battle of Alarcos, in present Ciudad
Real. The Castilians were obliged to
sign a truce with the Almohads. After
this victory the Almohads reconquered
several places, like Trujillo, Cáceres,
Plasencia, Talavera, Cuenca and Uclés.
Navarre became trapped between Castile and Aragón
and couldn’t advance more to the South. Since the 13th
century they were linked to France and in 1234
Theobald of Champagne became the first king from a
French dynasty with the name of Theobald I.

20. Alphonse VIII
of Castile
13th CENTURY
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212
Peter II of
Aragón
Sancho VII of
Navarre
Alphonse VIII of Castile led a coalition of Christian princes and monarchs against the Almohads,
who were defeated in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa en 1212. This Christian victory opened
path to the conquest of the Guadalquivir Valley. Although the Almohad Caliphate didn’t fall
immediately, Portugal and Castile conquered all the Guadalquivir Valley and Aragón reached the
Baetic Mountains

21. · Alphonse IX of León conquered
Cáceres (1227) and Badajoz
(1230)
· Ferdinand III the Saint of
Castile and León conquered
the main cities of the
Guadalquivir Valley: Córdoba
(1236), Jaén (1246) and Seville
(1248)
· James I the Conqueror of
Aragón conquered Mallorca
(1229) and Valencia (1238)
· Alphonse III of Portugal
conquered Faro in 1249 and
finished the Portuguese
expansion

22. Treaty of Almizra
Dates of the conquest of Valencia
In 1244 the Treaty of Almizra was signed between James I of Aragón and his future son-in-law
Alphonse X the Wise of Castile. They definitely fixed the limits of the Kingdom of Valencia and agreed
on the cession of Murcia to Castile. This treaty was signed after the unfulfillment of previous treaties
between Castile and Aragón, signed to establish the borders of both kingdoms (treaties of Tudilén in
1151 and Cazola in 1179).

23. MEDITERRANEAN EXPANSION OF THE CROWN OF ARAGON
After the inclusion of Murcia in Castile, the Crown of Aragón oriented its
expansion to the Mediterranean Sea. They conquered different territories
in the Mediterranean Sea:
-Sicily and Malta (1282)
-duchies of Athens (1311) and Neopatria (1319) in Greece (conquered by
the Almogavars, mercenary troops who fought in the Byzantine Empire)
- Sardinia (1324)
- Naples (1442)
The Kingdom of Mallorca
included the territories in
the South of France
The kingdoms of Mallorca and Sicily were ruled as independent kingdoms by members of the royal
family

24. THE IBERIAN PENINSULA IN 1265
After the big conquests of the 13th
century, the Nasrid kingdom of Granada
was the only Muslim territory that
remained in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Castilians conquered some territories
as a result of their fight against the
Marinids, a new Berber people who had
destroyed the Almohad Caliphate in the
North of Africa:
-Gibraltar in 1309 (lost in 1333 and
recovered in 1349)
- Victory against the Marinids in the Battle
of River Salado in 1340 (Alphonse XI of
Castile got the help of Portugal and
Aragón)
- Algeciras in 1344
The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada survived until 1492, when it was finally conquered by the
Catholic Monarchs.

25. “REPOPULATION” PROCESS
The Christians used different methods to
control the seized land conquered and
establish their political, economic and
social structures
- APRISIO OR PRESURA: Duero Valley and
Plana de Vic
-FUEROS (Charters of liberties given to
towns): between Duero and Tajo valleys.
-MILITARY ORDERS: between Tajo and
Guadiana valleys and the upper Júcar and
Turia valleys
-REPARTIMIENTOS (land distribution
between those who had contributed to
the conquest): Guadalquivir (donadíos and
heredamientos) and Mediterranean coast

26. Territories received by the military orders:
-Alcántara, Calatrava, San Juan and Santiago received land in Castile and Portugal
-Montesa received land in Aragón

27. Stages of the population of Castile-La Mancha

28. REMAINS OF THE “REPOPULATION”
Linguistic division of the
Valencian Community
Structure of the property of the
land in the 2nd half of the 19th
century
Structure of the property of the land at
present
The lands of the interior of the Valencian Community, populated by Aragonese, are Castilian-speaking
areas.
The structure of the property of the land also reflects the heritage of the Middle Ages:
-large estates in Extremadura, Castile La-Mancha and Andalusia
-small properties in the North and East