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Hispanic Chiristian Kingdoms:
-Castilla:The Kingdom of Castilla was formed when Sancho III bequeathedthis county to one of his sons, Fernando I. During his reign, as he was married to a Princess of León, the Kingdom of Castilla was linked to the Kingdom of León -
In the 11th century, after al-Andalus fragmented into taifas, the Christian kingdoms initiated a process of expansion that lasted until the 13th century.
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Al-Andalus:
-The most important taifa in 1031 were Sevilla, Toledo, Badajoz and Zaragoza.
-The Christians took advantage of the differences between the Muslims to conquer territory and collect taxes paid in gold coins, known as parias. -
Hispanic Chiristian Kingdoms:
-Navarra: it was difficult to expand towards the south. It was ruled by the kings of Aragón between 1076 and 1134. -
Hispanic Chiristian Kingdoms:
-Aragón: This was inherited as a kingdom by Ramiro I, a son of Sancho III el Mayor. This monarch added the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza to the Kingdom of Aragón. -
- Al-Andalus: After the Christian conquest of the Kingdom of Toledo (1085), the taifa kings were forced to seek help from the Almoravids, Muslims that had established an empire in North Africa. Their arrival stopped the Christian advance and achieved the reunification of the Andalusian territory until the early 12th century.
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-In 1118, Alfonso I of Aragón and Navarra conquered Zaragoza.
-In 1137, the marriage of Ramón Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, and Petronila, the young Queen of Aragón, led to the union between the Catalan counties and Aragón -
-The Christian kingdoms faced the Almohad invasion.
- The Almohads Empire hindered the expansion of the Christian kingdoms, mainly in the areas between the Tajo and the Sierra Morena, until the Christians’ victory in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). -
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) was a major victory for the Christian kingdoms and made the occupation of the Guadalaquivir valley possible. In this battle, the kings of Castilla, Navarra and Aragón fought together.
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-In 1250, there was only one Andalusian kingdom, the Kingdom of Granada, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. -Aragón lost nearly all its land in the Midi after the defeat by the French in the battle of Muret (1213), in which Pedro II died. His successor, Jaime I of Aragón, conquered the Islas Baleares (1235) and Valencia (1245), which were added to the Crown of Aragón as kingdoms.
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The 14th and 15th centuries were marked by conflicts between Christian kingdoms and civil wars caused by rivalry between the nobility and the monarchy. On one hand, nobles sought to protect and increase their privileges. On the other hand, kings wanted to restrict the power of the nobility.
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Castilla
-One of the bloodiest civil wars was that between king Pedro I of Castilla and his step-brother Enrique of Trastámara, who aspired to the throne.
-Enrique II was victorious and acceded to the throne of the Trastámara dynasty -
In the Crown of Aragón, King Martín I died without an heir in 1410. Therefore, in 1412, representatives of institutions from every state in the Crown were convened to choose a new king. The resolution reached at this meeting, the Compromise of Caspe, meant that the House of Trastámara was put in place to rule Aragón.