Timeline Medieval Spain

408 A.D.
The Roman Empire is in decline and Hispania is invaded by Germanic tribes.
415 A.D.
The Iberian Peninsula is invaded by the arian Visigoths who drive out the Germanic tribes. Only the Vascones (Basques) are never fully beaten.
485 A.D.
The Visigoths' Kingdom of Toledo stretches from Asturias to Morocco , controlling the entire Iberian Peninsula
568 A.D.
The Visigoth empire reaches its zenith during the reign of King Leovigild.
589 A.D.
King Reccared converts to the Roman Catholic faith thus creating unity between the church and the crown.
653 A.D.
The council of Toledo approves the "Great Legal Code".
707 A.D.
The Byzantines (Greeks) lose the Balearic Islands to the Moors (When the Roman Empire fell the Islands where first conquered by the Vandals followed by the Byzantines and finally the Moors )
711 A.D.
The Arab governor of Tangier ( Tariq Ibn Ziyad ) invades Spain, landing at Gibraltar with approximately 10,000 troops ( Mainly Berbers along with some Vizigoth allies from Ceuta). King Roderick is defeated near Medina Guadelete in Andalusia. This marks the start of the Muslim conquest of Spain.
713 A.D.
Toledo soon falls and within 2 years the Moors (Muslims) take control of the entire Iberian Peninsula as far north as the Pyrenees.
722 A.D.
The Christian noble Don Pelayo defeats a Moorish army at the battle of Covadonga and is declared king of Asturias.
756 A.D.
Muslim Spain becomes an independent emirate called Al-Andalus controlled from Cordoba by Abd al-Rahman I.
778 A.D.
Charlemagne, king of the Francs, (Carlomagno in Spanish) begins to invade Spain but is beaten by Basque tribes in the Battle of Roncesveaux Pass ( Roncesvalles , Navarra) and returns Briefly to France.
800 A.D.
Charlemagne is crowned Imperator Augustus by the Pope and he and his army (led by his son) take Barcelona before pressing south into Catalonia.
812 A.D.
Charlemagne conquers the rest of Catalonia as far south as the River Ebro and the Balearic Islands.
824 A.D.
Basque chief Iñigo Arista is crowned King of Pamplona, subsequently giving rise to the kingdom of Navarra.
878 A.D.
Wilfred “the Hairy” (Guifré el Pilós in Catalan) becomes count of Barcelona, gaining control of Urgell, Cerdanya, Girona, Besalú and Asusona (Catalunya).
910 A.D.
The Christian Princes of Asturias move their capital from Oviedo and establish the kingdom of León.
929 A.D.
Abd al-Rahman III is proclaimed Caliph of al-Andalus, which breaks from central Muslim control.
931 A.D.
Castile, under Count Fernán González, wins partial independence from the Kingdom of Leon.
1028 A.D.
Sancho III of Navarra (which includes the county of Aragón) marries the sister of count Garcia Sanchez of Castile. When his brother-in-law later dies he inherits Castile.
1031 A.D.
Hisam III is deposed and the Caliphate of Cordoba collapses. Al-Andalus collapses and is divided into 23 Muslim principalities or Taifas.
1035 A.D.
Aragon and Castile become independent kingdoms when Sancho III of Navarra gives them to his sons ( Ramiro I and Ferdinand I)
1043 A.D.
The weakened taifas form alliances both within and outside Spain as they come under threat from the northern Christian kingdoms.
1085 A.D.
King Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon conquers Toledo, thus gaining control of the centre of the Iberian Peninsula.
1086 A.D.
Al-Mutamid (King of Seville) asks for help from the Almoravids (from Morocco) and other kingdoms from across Al-Andalus in order to beat King Alfonso VI in the battle of Sagrajas.
1092 A.D.
The Almoravids take control of the Andalusian taifas.
1094 A.D.
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ( “El Cid” ) takes Valencia from the Almoravids.
1102 A.D.
After the death of El Cid the Almoravids retake Valencia and dominate all of Al-Andalus except for the Balearic Islands.
1115 A.D.
The Almoravids conquer the Balearic Islands.
1118 A.D.
King Alfonso I of Aragon (also known as “Alfonso the Battler”) retakes Zaragoza from the Moors.
1147 A.D.
Almeria is conquered by a joint army from: Castile, León, Aragon and Catalonia.
1148 A.D.
Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona conquers Lleida and Tortosa from the Moors
1164 A.D.
Alfonso II of Aragon (Alfonso I of Catalonia and Provence) Inherits both the county of Barcelona and the kingdom of Aragon.
1195 A.D.
Alfonso III of Castile is beaten by the Almohades in The Battle of Alarcos (near Ciudad Real).
1212 A.D.
The Almohades are beaten in The Battle of Navas de Tolosa by the combined armies of Alfonso VII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarra, Pedro II of Aragon and Alfonso II of Portugal. The Battle , which took place near the town of Bailen, is considered to have been a turning point in the Christian "Reconquista" of Spain.
1229 A.D.
James I of Aragon conquers Majorca, soon to be followed by the other Balearic Islands of Minorca and Ibiza.
1236 A.D.
Ferdinand III of Castile conquers Cordoba.
1238 A.D.
James I of Aragon conquers Valencia. Al-Andalus breaks up and Granada becomes a tributary state of Castile (paid with gold from Africa)
1252 A.D.
King Ferdinand III of Castile dies and the throne passes to his son King Alonso X “The Wise”
1294 A.D.
Mohammed II (King of Granada) lays siege to Tarifa (Near Gibraltar) but is turned back by Alonso Perez de Guzmán ( Guzman “the Good”)
1340 A.D.
A combined army from Castile and Portugal defeats a combined Moorish army from Granada and the Masnid dynasty from Africa in The Battle of Rio Salado. This is a decisive victory in an extended period of wars with the Muslim kingdom of Granada
1391 A.D.
The Jewish population comes under attack and there are massacres in cities throughout Spain. This leads to forced conversions and finally the “Edict of Expulsion” 100 years later.
1410 A.D.
Ferdinand I of Aragon takes Antequera during wars with the Muslim kingdom of Granada. He is later crowned king Ferdinand I of Aragon ( Fernando el Justo in Spanish )
1469 A.D.
Ferdinand II of Aragon marries Isabel I of Castile ( half sister of King Henry IV of Castile)
1474 A.D.
Isabel I is Crowned Queen of Castile. However her niece Juana of Castile, aided by King Alfonso V of Portugal, disputes her right to the throne and The War of Castilian Succesion ensues.
1478 A.D.
The Spanish Inquisition is formed to "Maintain Catholic orthodoxy"
1479 A.D.
Ferdinand II is crowned King of Aragon and Isabel I wins the War of Castilian Succession and the two powerful kingdoms are united. The Pope names them "Los Reyes Católicos" ( The Catholic monarchs ) and they set out to finish the Reconquista of Spain from the Moors.
1482 A.D.
The “Reyes Católicos” retake Alhama in what turns into a 10 year war to retake Granada.
1492 A.D.
The fall of Granada marks the end of the Reconquista and the end of the Middle Ages. It is also the Year in which Christopher Columbus "discovers" the Americas.