The Iberian countries of Spain and Portugal are today overwhelmingly Catholic. For part of the Middle Ages though, much of their current territory fell within various Muslims states that medieval sources collectively referred to as al-Andalus. At one point, virtually all of the peninsula fell under the rule of the Muslim Ummayad Caliphate. Unknown to many, the Ummayads did not succeed in conquering the entire peninsula, leaving a small, obscure northern coastal strip to resist the expansion of Islam and provide the seeds for the survival of Christianity in Iberia and the eventual birth of a new nation.
The Kingdom of the Visigoths
In the 8th century, Iberia was part of the Kingdom of the Visigoths, which was based at the city of Toledo. This Germanic group had originated in Scandinavia and eventually found its way into Spain as the Roman Empire collapsed. These Germanic speakers, who followed Arian Christianity, found themselves a ruling minority lording over a mainly Latin speaking populace that followed Chalcedonian (today Catholic and Orthodox) Christianity. Over time, the Visigoths abandoned Arianism and embraced the Chalcedonian councils, bringing them into line with the rest of Western Christianity.
The Visigothic Kingdom managed to survive the religious strife of the seventh century. However, it would not survive the political strife that engulfed it between 710 and 712. Following Germanic custom, the Visigothic king was elected from among the nobles of the realm, a system that inevitably led to the formation of noble factions and civil war. King Vitiza had died in 710, either from natural causes or assassination. He left behind a son named Agila, who held sway in the northern parts of the kingdom, especially in Tarraconensis and Septimania. His opponent was Rodrigo, the dux of Betica (modern Portugal), who may have been responsible for Vitiza’s death. Regardless, Rodrigo’s seizure of the throne precipitated a civil conflict with Agila’s supporters and a Basque revolt in Northern Iberia.
The Ummayad Invasion
Across the Strait of Gibraltar, the governor of the Ummayad province of Ifriqiya (North Africa), Musa ibn Nusayr, saw an opportunity to lauch a razzia against Iberia, taking advantage of the revolts and civil war that had broken out. In 711, he sent a Berber convert to Islam, Tariq ibn Ziyad with a small army to attack Iberia with the intention of thoroughly raiding it. They met Rodrigo’s army at Guadalete in Southern Spain. Because of the treachery of the king’s opponents, namely Agila’s uncle Oppas, the Archbishop of Sevilla, who abandoned his flanks at a critical moment in the battle, the Ummayad forces won a resounding victory. Rodrigo was killed, and Tariq, noticing the chaos of the Visigothic Kingdom caused by the king’s death, set about conquering the peninsula.
Following his victory, Tariq decapitated the kingdom’s leadership by executing many of its leading nobles on trumped-up charges of murder and then set about plundering and razing towns that resisted and negotiating with those that surrendered. He was aided by Rodrigo’s opponents, such as Oppas, who benefited materially from his association with the Muslim conquerors. Some nobles fled to Southern France (Septimania), where the remnants of the Visigothic Kingdom resisted until 721. Others disappeared into the mountains in Asturias and Cantabria. A few even converted to Islam, while those who remained Christian agreed to pay the jizyah and several other taxes levied on non-Muslims. The center of administration was moved to Cordoba in 716, breaking the power of the nobility in Toledo and allowing for a new Muslim administration to coalesce around the new capital. Leaderless, most of the old Visigothic ruling class eventually submitted to Islamic rule. Only those in the north, forced to hide out in the mountains, refused to submit.
The Battle of Toulouse and its Aftermath
While Islam quickly conquered Iberia, consolidation proved to be much more difficult. Musa and Tariq were both recalled to Damascus where they died (they may have been executed). In the new province of al-Andalus, the Umayyads faced revolts from the local Christian population and intrigue among their own officials, resulting in the murder or deposition of two of the first three governors. Despite these problems, they continued their attacks against Septimania, extinguishing the remnants of the Visigothic Kingdom in 721 and threatening the Duchy of Aquitaine under Eudes. The same year, the governor al-Samh laid siege to the city of Toulouse. Unfortunately for al-Samh, Eudes arrived in time to relieve the city and trapped the Ummayad army between the garrison and his forces. Al-Samh’s forces were massacred and the governor was killed in what was an unexpected, but heroic victory for the Aquitainian duke. The aura of Islamic invincibility had been broken, giving the northern holdouts in Iberia a window of opportunity to revolt.
The new governor of al-Andalus, Anbasa, was faced with a slew of new revolts following the Battle of Toulouse. In addition, the caliph in Damascus demanded a tax increase on the newly conquered lands. As a result, Anbasa had to double taxes, a decree that was applied to Northern Spain. Northern Spain is a mountainous area where the writ of Ummayad authority barely ran. This barely-Christianized region, which still clung to its Celtic and proto-Iberian pagan customs, became the cradle of Iberian Christianity and of a new European nation.
To be continued…