Battle of Guadalete

Rio Guadalete - Toulouse - Covadonga - Tours and Poitiers - Avignon - Berre

The Battle of the River Guadalete southern Andalucia was held in July 711 between the invading army of Arabs and Berbers and the Visigoths and ended with the defeat of the latter. This defeat was decisive for the further course of the fighting and led to the downfall of Western Goth and the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors in the following years.

Course and consequences

Sources for the Battle of the River Guadalete are scarce and partially unclear. Somewhat secured is the date: the battle began on July 19, 711 and lasted for eight days until July 26. The exact place of slaughter is unknown, it is probably south of Arcos de la Frontera ( Cádiz ).

The largely composed of Berber Muslim army under the command of Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in the spring of 711, and was so penetrated to the Iberian peninsula (see Islamic expansion). Whether a conquest of the area was planned from the beginning, or whether it was rather the Muslims to secure North Africa, is unclear. At this time, the Visigothic king Roderick was on a campaign against the Basques in the north; from there he moved to induce defense of the Muslim invasion. According to the information of late Arab sources, the Muslim army were about 12 000 men, which is a plausible time for this indication; the Visigoth squad should have been much stronger ( there are numbers of up to 100 000 men called ), but this information is not credible, because the Arab authors tended to exaggerate the strength of the opponent wildly; such a large army would have been impossible to supply at that time. More likely, therefore, is a strength of about 8,000 to 12,000 warriors. The only certainty is that the defeat of the defenders was devastating and that King Roderick died in the battle. The remains of the Gothic army fled north. They took Roderick corpse and buried him in the city of Viseu in today's northern Portugal. Roderick former spatharius Pelagius ( Pelayo ) was able to defend a small, inaccessible terrain in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, which should be much later to the starting point of the Reconquista, but the largest part of the country fell after the defeat of 711 for centuries at the assailants.

Background and legend

Roderich had only 710 proclaimed Gothic king or rex, the sons of his predecessor Witiza were passed. The choice was not carried unanimously, and the defeated supporters of Witizas family apparently took in the period following an oppositional stance; a civil war between them and the party Roderick has not given it, but the opposition supporters fought on the Rio Guadalete with the king against the attackers. An indication of the Mozarabic Chronicle via an internal dispute among the Visigoths refers to the time after Roderick death.

Christian medieval historian claimed on 9-10. Century, the destruction of the Western Goth was caused by treason. According to her, the sons Witizas had invited the Muslims to invade and their advance support to get revenge on Roderick, who had brought her to the throne. In this entire tradition, it is but as a thorough source-critical investigation has since found a tendentious invention. The betrayal legend was spread mainly by an Asturian source group, which also offers proven otherwise false information with which Witizas family is in a bad light. This tradition is based the later medieval historiography.

This betrayal legend circulated in the Muslim part of the Iberian Peninsula. Witness them being there for the first time in the 977 deceased historian Abū Bakr ibn al - Qūṭīya ( Abenalcotia ), who wrote a " History of the Conquest of al -Andalus ". He was a descendant Alamunds, the oldest of the three sons Witizas. Ibn al - Qūṭīya told Witizas sons were underage when her father's death. At the time of the Muslim invasion but that they had been able to ride and had therefore been asked by Roderich to participate in the Battle of the River Guadalete. The day before the battle they had decided together to commit treason, and committed to this end with Tariq in conjunction. They would have agreed with him the change of front after he had assured them that they could keep the huge possessions of her father. The following morning they were defected with their troops to the Muslims, and this was the cause of the downfall of the Western Goth been. Later Caliph al- Waleed I have received the three sons Witizas and closed with each of them a contract in which he confirmed the commitments Tariq. Also here is based on current knowledge a free invention.