Fall of Granada

The Fall of Granada marked the end of nearly eight centuries of Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula. The Nasrid Emirate of Granada had survived for over 250 years as the last Muslim polity in Iberia, sustained partly by internal Castilian conflicts and partly by tributes and diplomacy. Sultan Muhammad XII (known to Spaniards as Boabdil) faced the combined might of Ferdinand and Isabella — the 'Catholic Monarchs' — who had united their kingdoms and were determined to complete the Reconquista. Granada was besieged, and after resisting for about a year, Muhammad XII surrendered the keys to the Alhambra on January 2, 1492. He reportedly wept as he left, and the pass where he turned to look back at Granada became known as 'The Pass of the Moor's Sigh.' The terms of surrender guaranteed religious freedom for the Muslim population, but these guarantees were broken within a decade. By 1502, Muslims were given the choice between conversion and expulsion. The same year Granada fell, Columbus sailed westward under Spanish patronage.