Vikings and Al-Andalus

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

1. The Norse World: Geography, Society, and the Causes of Expansion. Scandinavian geography, society, and a cluster of pressures combined to launch the Viking Age around 793.
2. Longships, Raids, and the Conquest of England. Viking longships enabled raids from Lindisfarne (793) to the Danish conquest of England under Cnut (1016).
3. Vikings in France, Iberia, and the East: Normandy, al-Andalus, and Kievan Rus. Norse expeditions founded Normandy, raided the Iberian coast, and built the Rus principality centered on Kiev.
4. Atlantic Exploration and the Christianization of Scandinavia. Norse settlers reached Iceland, Greenland, and North America as Scandinavia itself converted to Christianity.
5. The Visigothic Collapse and the Muslim Conquest of Iberia (711-756). Visigothic weakness allowed a rapid Muslim conquest in 711-716, followed by an unstable emirate until 756.
6. The Golden Age: Emirate and Caliphate of Córdoba (756-1031). Umayyad Córdoba grew from independent emirate to caliphate, reaching a cultural peak before collapsing by 1031.
7. The Christian Kingdoms and the Reconquista to 1212. Christian resistance from Asturias grew, through Toledo (1085) and the Almoravids and Almohads, to Las Navas (1212).
8. The Great Conquests, the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, and 1492. Thirteenth-century conquests left Granada as the last Muslim kingdom, which fell to the Catholic Monarchs in 1492.