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994-1230 - Leon

What began as a matter of survival in Asturias became a crusade to rid Spain of the Muslims and an imperial mission to reconstruct a united monarchy in Spain. Pelayo's successors, known as the kings of Leon, extended Christian control southward from Asturias, tore away bits of territory, depopulated and fortified them against the Muslims, and then resettled these areas as the frontier was pushed forward. The kingdom's political center moved in the direction of the military frontier.

The reign of Sancho Sancho "the Fat" is typical of the times. Sancho became the king of Leon in 955, but was soon dethroned by his nobles, who alleged among other things that because of his corpulence he cut a ridiculous figure as a king. Sancho went to the court of Abd-er-Rahman III, and got not only a cure for fatness but also a Moslem army. Aided, too, by the Christian kingdom of Navarre he was able to regain his throne. He had promised to deliver certain cities and castles to the caliph, but did not do so until compelled to by the next caliph, Hakem. Civil wars between the nobles and the crown continued, and many of the former joined with Moslem Almansor in his victorious campaigns against their coreligionists and their king.

Alfonso V (994-1027) of Leon and his uncle Sancho "the Great" (970-1035) of Navarre pushed their frontiers southward, Alfonso crossing the Douro in Portugal. The counts of Castile, too, now aiding one Moslem faction, now another, now remaining neutral, profited by each new agreement to acquire additional territory or fortified posts. Shortly after the death of the Alfonso V, Sancho the Great intervened successfully in the wars of the Christian kingdoms, and united Castile and Leon under his authority. Since he was also king in Navarre, Aragon, and the Basque provinces of France and Spain, only Galicia, where the kings of Leon took refuge, and the counties of Catalonia remained free from his rule in the north. Here seemed to be an important moment in the history of Spain, - one which might have had tremendous consequences. But it was as yet too early, not alone for Spanish nationalism, but even for the conception of a Spanish state. Sancho the Great undid his own work, and consigned himself to a place only a little short of oblivion by dividing his kingdom among his sons. The three most important regions resulting from this act were the kingdoms of Navarre, Castile, and Aragon. Castile and Leon were reunited periodically through royal marriages, but their kings had no better plan than to divide their lands again among their heirs. The two kingdoms were, however, permanently joined as a single state in 1230 by Ferdinand III of Castile (d. 1252).