Introduction: When the invading Muslim army arrived in the Iberian Peninsula (modern day Spain and Portugal) in AD 711 they found a country largely ruled by Visigoths who had themselves occupied the area after the fall of the Roman Empire. It was a Christian land and even today substantial remains of Visigothic churches, monasteries and religious artefacts can still be seen.
Of the military buildings of the pre-Islamic period however, little now survives. What is clear though is that resistance to the invading Muslim army was slight. Largely because of the fragmentation of a central authority in Iberia and the absence of any co-ordinated response to the arrival of the Muslims their initial success quickly spread throughout the peninsula.
By Peter Burton
The Castle Studies Group Journal, No 21 (2007-8)
Introduction: When the invading Muslim army arrived in the Iberian Peninsula (modern day Spain and Portugal) in AD 711 they found a country largely ruled by Visigoths who had themselves occupied the area after the fall of the Roman Empire. It was a Christian land and even today substantial remains of Visigothic churches, monasteries and religious artefacts can still be seen.
Of the military buildings of the pre-Islamic period however, little now survives. What is clear though is that resistance to the invading Muslim army was slight. Largely because of the fragmentation of a central authority in Iberia and the absence of any co-ordinated response to the arrival of the Muslims their initial success quickly spread throughout the peninsula.
Click here to read this article from the Castle Studies Group
Subscribe to Medievalverse
Related Posts