Spain and Portugal 1215 CE

What is happening in Spain and Portugal in 1215CE

The Muslim Caliphate descended into civil war after 1000, and fragmented into a number of independent emirates. These small states were unable to hold back the Christian tide, and so they invited the Almovarids, an Islamic movement from North Africa, to come to their aid (1080’s). The Almoravids controlled Muslim Spain until the Almohads, another North African Islamic movement, replaced them (1147).

The Christian kingdoms experienced a bewildering series of changes in the 11^th and 12^th centuries, but the dominant theme was the rise of new Christian kingdoms on the borders with the Muslims. These had their origins as counties which asserted their independence and expanded their borders at the expense of the Muslims, before claiming the status of kingdoms for themselves – Aragon in 1035 (after merging with Catalonia), Castile in 1037 and Portugal in 1139.

Next map, Spain and Portugal in 1453