The Reconquista (Reconquest), was a centuries-long series of campaigns by Christian states, mainly Spain and Portugal, to recapture territory seized by Moors (Muslims living in al-Andalus, now Spain and Portugal) who had captured most of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century.
Although the beginning of the Reconquista dates back to 718 AD with the Battle of Covadonga, only sporadic battles occurred within the first three centuries.
Fast forwarding to 1469, the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who came to be known as the “Catholic Monarchs”, united the Spanish crown and revitalized efforts towards reclaiming stolen lands. In 1482, the war between Castile and the Emirate of Granada, which belonged to the Nasrid dynasty, commenced. The decade-long siege of the territory, ended on January 2nd 1492, when Muhammad XII of Granada surrendered the land to the Castilian forces, marking the end of the Reconquista.
