The Expulsion of Jews From Spain

 

The Expulsion of Jews from Spain 

The Reconquista—a term later applied to the centuries-long Christian expansion against Muslim-ruled al-Andalus—was a mix of military, political, and cultural change on the Iberian Peninsula. It is often dated from the Battle of Covadonga (c. 718/722), when the Kingdom of Asturias won an early victory, and it is traditionally said to end in 1492 with the Catholic Monarchs’ capture of Granada, the last Muslim-ruled kingdom in Iberia.

Over time, the political landscape shifted repeatedly. After the Caliphate of Córdoba fragmented in the early 11th century into smaller taifa kingdoms, northern Christian states expanded southward, sometimes through warfare and sometimes by extracting tribute. In the 12th and 13th centuries, major powers such as Castile, León, Portugal, and the Crown of Aragon advanced in waves—helped by military orders and, at times, by crusading ideology—until only Granada remained as a tributary enclave. After Granada surrendered, Christian rulers controlled the entire peninsula, and policies increasingly pressured remaining Muslim communities through forced conversion, legal discrimination, and social restrictions that culminated in the creation of the Moriscos.

Modern historians note that medieval people did not use the word Reconquista the way later writers did. Periods of conflict existed, but so did long stretches of negotiation, coexistence, and alliance-making across religious lines. The idea of an uninterrupted “reconquest” became especially influential in 19th-century nationalist history writing and was later reinforced in 20th-century political propaganda, even as many scholars today treat it as a retrospective framework rather than a single unified campaign.

Within this broader transformation, 1492 stands out not only for the fall of Granada but also for the start of a new phase of religious uniformity under the Spanish monarchy—one that soon included measures aimed at removing or forcibly converting minority communities, including the Jews.