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This is episode 20 called Muslim Umayyad conquest of Spain and in this episode you will learn:

SHOW NOTES

- Introduction to a new and complex era of the history of Spain, the Medieval Spain of Muslims and Christians
- What was Pre-Islamic Arabia like
- A brief history of the rise of Islam, from the reveleations of the Prophet Muhammad to the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates
- Why the conquest of Spain was the logical step to follow after the conquest of North Africa and what was the Iberian Peninsula like before their conquest
- Introduction to the main characters of the initial conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom: Tariq ibn Ziyad and Count Julian
- How the Muslim forces of Tariq crushed the Visigothic army of Roderic in the Battle of Guadalete, and the betrayal of the brothers of former King Wittiza, Oppas and Sisebut
- Why the weak military system was a cause of the abrupt fall of the Visigothic Kingdom
- How Tariq ibn Ziyad took advantage of his victory and transformed the expedition from a large-scale raid to a full-scale invasion
- The probably brief proclamation of Oppas as King and the fall of Toledo, that eliminated the possibility of a centrally organized resistance
- Why Musa ibn Nusayr, governor of Ifriqiya, prepared a second expedition to Spain
- The resistance of Mérida and the Treaty of Orihuela, as an example of the numerous treaties of capitulation signed between the Muslim conquerors and the Christian nobles, priests and towns
- The Muslim conquest of the Ebro Valley, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia under Musa and Tariq
- What was the strategy followed to conquer the Iberian Peninsula
- The unhappy ending of Musa and Tariq
- How was the success of the Muslim conquest interpreted by both Muslims and Christians
- Reflection on the common motivations that all conquests have