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During the Golden Age of Islam, Arab and Berber forces conquered most of Spain (which they called Al-Andalus) for the Umayyad Caliphate; when the Umayyads lost power to the Abbasids in Arabia, a surviving prince of the dynasty established himself in Spain as an independent emir, with his successors ultimately claiming the title of Caliph. The Caliphate of Cordoba remained a wealthy and powerful kingdom from 755 to its collapse in the 11th century, when a power struggle between the Caliph and his right-hand man, Al-Mansur, resulted in its fragmentation into taifas (petty regional states). This left Muslim Spain vulnerable to conquest by the Christian Spanish to the north and (for a time) by North African Muslims to the south, and ultimately the Christians would successfully complete the Reconquista in 1492. Cordoba has been hailed as a beacon of tolerance and culture in the modern West; the reality is not nearly as rosy (see "The Myth of the Andalusian Paradaise" by Dario Fernandez-Moreno) but nevertheless, its survival would certainly have an impact on the history of the peninsula.

Even before the Umayyads relocated to Spain, Muslim hegemony had already begun to weaken in the north; Charlemagne's Frankish empire had expanded into the "Spanish Marches" across the Pyrenees, while the Kingdom of Asturias (a surviving successor to pre-Islamic Visigothic Spain) had "reconquered" Leon and Galicia. There were two major states that emerged in the former Spanish Marches in our timeline - the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre - and we can assume that Aragon would not become such a great power without the Reconquista. Navarre and Aragon would both remain petty Pyrenean kingdoms, and Aragon would essentially just be a little Catalan kingdom sandwiched between France and Al-Andalus. The western Iberian kingdoms, on the other hand, would probably still become something of a powerhouse, even if they remained dwarfed by Al-Andalus; the Crown of Castille might still be formed eventually, uniting the Kingdoms of Leon, Castille, and Galicia as well as the Principality of Asturias and the three autonomous Basque Lordships (which might still be conquered from Navarre). These kingdoms were all successor states of the Kingdom of Asturias, and the Crown would continue to claim successor status to Visigothic Spain, though if Muslim power remained strong their success in this would be limited. The kingdoms would be reorganized into a messy collection of provinces, based around autonomous cities, though Galicia would retain some of its own institutions, as would the Basque countries. Without the conquest of Lisbon, Portugal would likely remain a County (rather than an independent kingdom) though it would remain autonomous within Castille.

I honestly don't know how things would go for Al-Andalus. As I said, they were not the beacon of tolerance and civilization that they are often said to be, but they were a considerable power nevertheless, and I could picture them undertaking new conquests in North Africa and the Mediterranean. It's possible that they would end up being a maritime power, perhaps even exploring discovering the Americas, though I'm not sure they would actually try it; they wouldn't have the same pressing need the Christians had to acquire new trade routes to avoid Mongol and Ottoman control of the Middle East, but they might still want to have their own routes, and they might want an alternative to the Venetians as middle-men. It's more probable that they would sail around Africa to the Indian Ocean, as the Portuguese did, and they would simply be satisfied with this and avoid the risky endeavor of sailing west (something Castile only did to out-do Portugal). The Muslims already had a trade network in the Indian Ocean, but if Cordoba entered that market it would bring this wealth home to Europe, and this in turn would have a major impact on relations between different religious powers. The Muslims, rather than the Christians, would be the ones to bring riches home from the East, and European powers might have to accept Cordoba's place in their neighborhood in order to reap the rewards (though they might still seek to try their hand at seafaring for themselves).

Description

During the Golden Age of Islam, Arab and Berber forces conquered most of Spain (which they called Al-Andalus) for the Umayyad Caliphate; when the Umayyads lost power to the Abbasids in Arabia, a surviving prince of the dynasty established himself in Spain as an independent emir, with his successors ultimately claiming the title of Caliph. The Caliphate of Cordoba remained a wealthy and powerful kingdom from 755 to its collapse in the 11th century, when a power struggle between the Caliph and his right-hand man, Al-Mansur, resulted in its fragmentation into taifas (petty regional states). This left Muslim Spain vulnerable to conquest by the Christian Spanish to the north and (for a time) by North African Muslims to the south, and ultimately the Christians would successfully complete the Reconquista in 1492. Cordoba has been hailed as a beacon of tolerance and culture in the modern West; the reality is not nearly as rosy (see "The Myth of the Andalusian Paradaise" by Dario Fernandez-Moreno) but nevertheless, its survival would certainly have an impact on the history of the peninsula.

Even before the Umayyads relocated to Spain, Muslim hegemony had already begun to weaken in the north; Charlemagne's Frankish empire had expanded into the "Spanish Marches" across the Pyrenees, while the Kingdom of Asturias (a surviving successor to pre-Islamic Visigothic Spain) had "reconquered" Leon and Galicia. There were two major states that emerged in the former Spanish Marches in our timeline - the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre - and we can assume that Aragon would not become such a great power without the Reconquista. Navarre and Aragon would both remain petty Pyrenean kingdoms, and Aragon would essentially just be a little Catalan kingdom sandwiched between France and Al-Andalus. The western Iberian kingdoms, on the other hand, would probably still become something of a powerhouse, even if they remained dwarfed by Al-Andalus; the Crown of Castille might still be formed eventually, uniting the Kingdoms of Leon, Castille, and Galicia as well as the Principality of Asturias and the three autonomous Basque Lordships (which might still be conquered from Navarre). These kingdoms were all successor states of the Kingdom of Asturias, and the Crown would continue to claim successor status to Visigothic Spain, though if Muslim power remained strong their success in this would be limited. The kingdoms would be reorganized into a messy collection of provinces, based around autonomous cities, though Galicia would retain some of its own institutions, as would the Basque countries. Without the conquest of Lisbon, Portugal would likely remain a County (rather than an independent kingdom) though it would remain autonomous within Castille.

I honestly don't know how things would go for Al-Andalus. As I said, they were not the beacon of tolerance and civilization that they are often said to be, but they were a considerable power nevertheless, and I could picture them undertaking new conquests in North Africa and the Mediterranean. It's possible that they would end up being a maritime power, perhaps even exploring discovering the Americas, though I'm not sure they would actually try it; they wouldn't have the same pressing need the Christians had to acquire new trade routes to avoid Mongol and Ottoman control of the Middle East, but they might still want to have their own routes, and they might want an alternative to the Venetians as middle-men. It's more probable that they would sail around Africa to the Indian Ocean, as the Portuguese did, and they would simply be satisfied with this and avoid the risky endeavor of sailing west (something Castile only did to out-do Portugal). The Muslims already had a trade network in the Indian Ocean, but if Cordoba entered that market it would bring this wealth home to Europe, and this in turn would have a major impact on relations between different religious powers. The Muslims, rather than the Christians, would be the ones to bring riches home from the East, and European powers might have to accept Cordoba's place in their neighborhood in order to reap the rewards (though they might still seek to try their hand at seafaring for themselves).