711 CEmajor
Muslim Conquest of Spain (Al-Andalus)
فتح الأندلس
Map: Gibraltar/Andalusia (36.14, -5.35)
Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the strait with 7,000 soldiers and defeated the Visigothic King Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete. Within seven years, most of the Iberian Peninsula was under Muslim rule. Al-Andalus became one of the most advanced civilizations in medieval Europe.
Sources
- al-Maqqari
- Ibn al-Athir