Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims, or Moors, at various times in the period between 711 and 1492. From 711 to750, it refers to the Umayyad Caliphate province, (from 750 to 929, tp the Emirate of Cordoba and from 929 to 1031 to the Caliphate of Cordoba and its successor kingdoms. As the Iberian Peninsula was eventually regained by Christians re-expanding southward in the process known as the Reconquista, the name Al-Andalus came to refer to the Muslim-dominated lands of the former Visigothic Hispania.

In 1236, the Reconquista progressed to the last remaining Islamic stronghold, Granada, achieved by the forces of Ferdinand III of Castile. Granada was a vassal state to Castile for the next 256 years, until January 2, 1492, when Boabdil surrendered complete control of Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella, Los Reyes Catolicos ("The Catholic Monarchs"). The Portuguese Reconquista culminated in 1249 with the conquest of Algarve by Afonso III.