Muslim Spain, the Reconquista, and Imperial Spain

Spanish history is strongly influenced by religious cohabitation. In the 8th century, Muslims invaded and conquered the predominantly Christian peninsula. For the next five hundred years, Córdoba was the capital of a caliphate and a center of medieval European learning and culture. Jews and Christians were allowed to continue practicing their beliefs, though Christian states to the north clashed with the Muslim empire in an effort to establish supremacy over the peninsula. With the union of Castile and Aragon in 1469 under “the Catholic monarchs,” Spain began its history as a Catholic nation. In 1492, the Christian Reconquista, or re-conquest, of the Iberian Peninsula was completed when the last Muslim stronghold fell, and the Spanish Inquisition demanded the conversion or expulsion of Spain’s Muslim and Jewish population. The same year marks the beginning of Spain’s colonial enterprise in the Americas, which led to the establishment of an enormous empire, the conversion of conquered native populations, and the seizing of vast riches from the New World. The 17th century saw Spain depleting the resources it had accumulated during its expansion, as it engaged in religious and political conflicts throughout Europe. The 19th century witnessed a series of political upheavals, which were both cause and consequence of Spain losing almost all of its colonies.