The Crusades in the Iberian Peninsula

By Professor Helen Nicholson, published 6th March 2024

Chivalric Queens

The Iberian Crusades, often known as the Reconquista or the reconquest of al-Andalus, was the series of military campaigns that Christian kingdoms waged against the Muslim kingdoms following the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The beginning of the Reconquista is traditionally dated to the Battle of Covadonga (circa 718 or 722), in which an Asturian army achieved the first Christian victory over the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate since the beginning of the military invasion. Its culmination came in 1492 with the fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs.

In this podcast, Emeritus Professor Helen J. Nicholson (Cardiff University), provides a short introduction to the Crusades on the Iberian Peninsula and examines the important role of women in these crusades.

1. What was the situation in the Iberian Peninsula on the eve of the Crusades?
2. How did the Crusades in the Iberian Peninsula develop?
3. What role did women play in the reconquest?


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