On July 20, the same hot summer day as the current one, only 1307 years ago, in the Battle of the Guadaletta River, an army of Christians who defended Spain met with a jihadist army that invaded the Iberian Peninsula from North Africa.
It all started with the fact that the tribal union of the Visigoths invaded the 4th century. ridge e. from the territory of the Lower Danube to the lands of the Roman Empire. Having defeated the Roman troops, the Visigoths entered the province of Spain, where they formed their own kingdom, which existed for 300 years.
In the course of their wanderings, this tribe, East Germanic in its essence, has absorbed both ethnic and cultural characteristics of various peoples with whom they met on their way - from the Slavs to the Romans and Iberians. And it is quite funny to meet among the ancient authors among the Visigothic names, for example, such as Tudimir, Valamir, Bozhomir, etc., usually considered Germanic by the official Western European science, but in fact, probably having a Slavic origin (the Goths lived nearby for a very long time with the Slavs).
Also, few people know, but the dominant religion in Visigothic Spain on the eve of Arab Muslim was Catholicism (before the appearance of which there were still 350 years) and not Arianism (after Spain's rejection of Arianism at the III Toledo Local Council in 589), but quite itself orthodox Orthodox Christianity.
And everything would have been nothing if the throne of the Visigothic kingdom, which then covered most of modern Spain and Portugal, had not ascended in 710 A. D. King Roderic (Roderic, lit. "red-haired", that is, probably, he was red, compared with the Old Slavic "ore" - "blood" or Scandinavian "rauda" - "red").
This last ruler of the Visigothic kingdom was born ca. 687 A. D. and was the son of Theodifridus (Theodefred), a Visigothic aristocrat from a very noble, almost royal family and Rikkila, a Visigothic woman of royal origin.
When Roderick was still a boy, then King Egika, who ruled in "Westgotenland", fearing a possible rebellion from Roderick's father, sent him into exile, but of course not to Siberia, but only from Toledo to Cordoba. Vitica, the son of Egiki, who became king after the death of his father, was even more afraid of the possible rebellion of Theodifred, arrested him, forcing him to sign a renunciation of his claims to the throne, and ultimately blinded him, although he did not execute him.
At that time, the young son of Theodifred was away from his father, performing the official service of the military governor (Latin duxe, yes, the word "duce", which gained wide popularity in the 20th century, comes precisely from the name of this late Roman title) in the region of Betik, which remained even after the punishment that fell upon his parent.
However, in 710, the still young king Vititsa unexpectedly dies, and Roderick, having gathered his loyal companions, according to the Mosarabian Chronicle 754, "violently invaded the capital with the support of the State Senate." Apparently, being one of the most notable contenders for the throne, Roderick, still a young man himself, carried out a coup d'état, depriving Vitica's young sons of power.
However, this act was the beginning of a civil war - the Visigothic kingdom, in fact, fell into three parts. The provinces of Betica, Lusitania and Carthage remained in the hands of Roderic; under the power of the opposition, who raised a rebellion against the new usurper king, the lands of Tarraconica and Septimania passed, and a number of regions (such as Asturias, Cantabria, Vasconia, etc.) declared their neutrality and independence. So political instability led to a civil war and a split of the country, and then to its destruction by an external enemy.
Perhaps Spain would have overcome this crisis, as it had happened before, but this time a new force was growing beyond the Strait of Gibraltar: the troops of the extremely expansionist Arab Umayyad Caliphate just (in 707-709) completed the conquest of North Africa and reached the Atlantic Ocean …
The last Christian possession there remained the strategic fortress of Ceuta, which blocked the Strait of Gibraltar (de ure belonging to Byzantium, but de facto under the protectorate of Visigothia). The conquerors under the green banners of jihad repeatedly tried to storm this fortress, but were repulsed. The city stood firm for several years, not intending to surrender and skillfully defending itself. Its rulers and townspeople hoped not so much for the already mythical help from Constantinople, as for the support of the nearby Visigoth state, which did come periodically.
However, instead of the usual help with soldiers and supplies in 710, news of a completely different kind came from the other side of Gibraltar. The fact is that Count Julian (don Juan of late Hispanic sources) who ruled Ceuta had no sons. Therefore, as a hostage, guaranteeing an alliance with the Visigothic kingdom, or a court maid of honor, shortly before the start of the Muslim aggression, his daughter was sent to Toledo, whose name was Florinda (Chlorinda), better known by her nickname la Cava.
What happened to her in the capital of Spain, no one knows for sure. According to one version, King Roderick allegedly fell madly in love with a beautiful maid of honor and, despite strong protests, took her by force. After that, the unfortunate woman managed to escape, get to her father's yard and tell him about her misfortune.
According to another, probably more believable version, the young charming woman who arrived from the provinces to the court decided to try to achieve good luck and fall in love with the young king. However, nothing more than bodily pleasures and promises on his part someday to make her the queen of Spain, la Cave failed. Probably, offended by this, the young provincial tried to make a scandal, but achieved only that she was exiled in shame to her native Ceuta.
However, presenting everything in due form to her father, "kahba Rumiyya" - "Christian prostitute", as even Islamic sources call her with contempt, achieved a terrible decision for all - for the sake of revenge for his daughter, Count Julian announced that he was refusing an alliance with the king. Roderick, declares war on him and will do everything to destroy both himself and his kingdom …
Perfectly aware of the weakness of his capabilities for the realization of this goal, the ruler of Ceuta turned to his recent enemies - the North African jihadists, offering to conclude peace, surrender the fortress to them on the basis of autonomy, as well as all kinds of cooperation in conquering the lands of Europe.
Musa ibn-Nusayr, the conqueror of modern Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, literally taken aback by such unexpected luck, turned with a proposal to conquer Spain to the very Caliph Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (on the throne in 705-715 AD). The "Lord of all Muslims" immediately approved such a project, but recommended "Wali Ifrikiyya" to proceed with caution, first conducting a reconnaissance landing, since Islamist forces in North Africa at that time did not yet have experience of crossing the sea.
Then Musa ibn-Nusayr ordered Count Julian to transport a detachment of 400 soldiers with 100 horses under the command of Abu-Zura at-Tarifa to a small island, now called Green Island, located in the province of Cadiz, on the 4 ships he had in his possession.
The landing of the Muslim conquerors was successful for them - the Christian settlement on the island was plundered and burned, the inhabitants were partly killed, partly taken prisoner.
After that, the governor of Africa ordered to prepare a major invasion of Spain: he began to collect money and troops, as well as information about the country on the other side of the strait.
According to Christian chronicles, the Jews, who were expelled from Spain by the Visigoth kings some time ago, rendered significant assistance to the Muslim conquerors at that time. Thanks to developed trade relations, they received information from visiting merchants about the current situation in Spain, sometimes they themselves went there, supposedly on commercial matters, but in fact performing the functions of intelligence agents, and even lent money to Islamic commanders who were preparing an invasion.
Gathering his strength and learning that King Roderick had led an army to the north of the country, against the Basques, Musa ibn-Nusayr began an invasion in the early summer of 711. However, fearing for the result, he did not stand himself at the head of the army, but ferried on the same ships of Count Julian an army of 7,000 people, consisting mainly of soldiers less valuable than the Arabs - the Berbers who had converted to Islam.
He appointed the commander of this contingent Tariq ibn-Ziyad, a professional commander, but with whom he had a difficult relationship, and whose loss, in case of failure, the governor of Africa would not regret.
The sea crossing was successful. The jihadists landed and founded the first Muslim military camp in southwestern Europe - near the Rock of Gibraltar, which since then began to bear not the name of the Pillars of Hercules, but the name of Jabal al-Tariq (Mount Tariq, Gibraltar).
Having ferried all his army across the strait, the Muslim commander moved to the city of Krateya, captured it, then besieged and took Algeciras.
At this time, the governor of the province of Betica, the count, whose pagan name was Bowid or Bogovid (in baptism - Alexander, Don Sancho of late Spanish sources), tried to strike at the disembarking invaders. However, faced with fanatical resistance from the Islamists and their unusual "battle lines" tactics, a small detachment of Visigothic border forces was defeated, although it inflicted some losses on the invading army.
After these successes, the army of Tariq ibn Ziyad marched on Seville ….
Basic sources and literature
Álvarez Palenzuela, Vicente Ángel. Historia de Espana de la Media. Barcelona: "Diagonal", 2008
Collins, Roger. La Espana visigoda: 474-711. Barcelona: "Critica", 2005
Collins, Roger. España en la Alta Edad Media 400-1000. // Early Medieval Spain. Unity and diversity, 400-1000. Barcelona: "Crítica", 1986
García Moreno, Luis A. Las invasiones y la época visigoda. Reinos y condados cristianos. // En Juan José Sayas; Luis A. García Moreno. Romanismo y Germanismo. El despertar de los pueblos hispánicos (siglos IV-X). Vol. II de la Historia de España, dirigida por Manuel Tuñón de Lara. Barcelona, 1982
Loring, Mª Isabel; Perez, Dionisio; Fuentes, Pablo. La Hispania tardorromana y visigoda. Siglos V-VIII. Madrid: "Síntesis", 2007
Patricia E. Grieve. The Eve of Spain: Myths of Origins in the History of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Conflict. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009
Ripoll López, Gisela. La Hispania visigoda: del rey Ataúlfo a Don Rodrigo. Madrid: Temas de Hoy, 1995.
