Many have wanted control of the Iberian Peninsula. The area we know today as Spain and Portugal is strategically located southwest of the European continent, between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, partly protected by the Pyrenees mountain range in the north. But the natural barriers have not deterred adventurers, traders and conquerors from heading for the land.
Natural resources such as forests, minerals and arable land have attracted. Protected ports and the possibility of contact with new peoples in the north, south, east and west also attracted. Trade, migration, and rulers on the conquest have contributed to a rich history full of wars and conflicts.
Even the researchers disagree about certain peoples, civilizations, kingdoms and time periods but we have nevertheless tried to give as good a picture as possible of available material. If you have comments, input or questions about the overview, please contact us at info@findyourspain.com.
The Earliest History: Up to 4000 BC
New discovery fills gap in Atapuerca’s history of human evolution or, you can learn more about the early peoples of the peninsular in the museum of Human Evolution in Burgos: Museo de la Evolución Humana. Or check out: https://www.atapuerca.org/.
Remains of several early types of people have been found in Atapuerca.
In Andalusia there are both caves with paintings and early signs of agriculture.
In Altamira and several other places in the north there are beautiful cave paintings.
In the Basque Country, close to the Pyrenees, cave paintings have been found that are up to 25,000 years old.
In the Cueva de los Aviones, Murcia, shell jewelry and remains of Neanderthals have been found.
Asturias has several caves with paintings that date back as far as 20,000 BC.
From 4000 BC to 3000 BC
Los Millares is an early civilization / kingdom that had its home in the province of Almería. Traces have been found that date as far back as 3400 BC. (perhaps 3200 BC).
Other places in present-day Spain where you can see traces of such early civilizations are Alberite, Los Silillos, Cabrera, Cerro de la Virgen, Montefrío, Horno de Segura, Carigüela, Terrera Ventura and Moncín.
From 3000 BC to 2000 BC
Early cultures in the country continue to develop and we are gradually seeing the first urban centers emerge. Iberia may have given rise to the European Bell-Beaker’s culture, but researchers are still debating this.
There are relatively few archaeological finds and few known cultures during this millennium on the Iberian Peninsula. The Los Millares civilization based in the province of Almería (Andalusia) continues but, for unknown reasons, disappears. It is being replaced by the next civilization we know of in the southeast of Iberia, namely El Argar.
The Los Millares civilization continues until about the year 2250 BC.
El Argar is the heir to Los Millares and is located in the same area, but is significantly larger in extent.
The Bell-Beaker culture originates around 2800 BC and is named after a certain type of ceramic shaped like an upside-down clock. A bell beaker. The culture continues until between 2300 BC and around 1800 BC.
From 2000 BC to 1000 BC
The first urban centers have emerged but population on the peninsula is still small. The Bell-Beaker culture ends but an increase in trade between cultures along the Atlantic coast gives rise to what will be known as the Atlantic Bronze Age Culture.
Documented interested in Iberia from civilizations which both left distinctive clues and had their own written language is about to explode.
The El Argar civilization in the south-east of the peninsula develops successfully but finds its end somewhere between 1550 and 1400 BC. Probably caused by overpopulation and subsequent over-exploitation of natural resources in their areas.
Contemporary civilizations with El Argar exist but we know relatively little about these so far.
El Argar is the next culture to emerge. They may have been the heirs to the Los Millares civilization which disappeared about 2250 BC and was also located in the southeastern part of Iberia. We know the El Argar civilization were able to make the far stronger metal bronze, an alloy of copper (ca. 90%) and tin (ca. 10%) also called “classic copper”.
Other contemporary civilizations with El Argar include: Motillas, Cogotas I, Montelavar, Atalaia and Vila Nova de São Pedro (sometimes just named VNSP) in Portugal.
The Atlantic Bronze Age culture arises around 1300 BC due to increased trade in amongst other things, copper and tin, and continues to about the year 700 BC.
From 1000 BC to year 0
Iberia is discovered! During this period we see new peoples migrating to Iberia. The Celts come by land across the Pyrenees while the Phoenicians who were based in the eastern Mediterranean and their later heirs the Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans and even a nomadic people originating in present-day Denmark (Cimbrians) make their mark in the peninsula. It seems the world has suddenly gotten bigger. Iberia has been discovered and international markets are opening up.
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The Celts came to Iberia via the Pyrenees from about the year 1000 BC and settled in the north and west of the peninsula. Celtic settlements often have -briga in their name.
From ca. 1000 BC to 75 BC.
The Phoenicians came by sea and probably traded from the 12th century BC before establishing colonies in the 900s BC in Cadíz, west of the Strait of Gibraltar.
From ca. 900 BC to 573 BC.
The Tartessians established an advanced culture from 900 BC at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River and environs. The mineral resources made them attractive.
From ca. 900 BC to 530 BC.
The Greeks came by sea and traded early with Iberia. The competition with the Carthaginians meant that the Greeks instead established colonies in the far north-east.
From 575 BC to 49 AD.
The Carthaginians took over the Phoenicians Iberian colonies. But, it was not until the conflict with Rome escalated in the 200s BC that they expanded further inland.
From 575 BC to 206 BC.
The Turdetani are considered the heirs to the Tartessians in south-western Iberia and were, according to Herodutus, the most advanced culture on the peninsula.
From 530 BC to 195 BC.
The Turduli were early on thought to be relatives of the Turdetani but later historians believe them to be Celtish people. They may even have been a combination of the two.
From 530 BC to 195 BC.
The Romans invaded Iberia in 218 BC, the start of the Second Punic War. The reason was that the Carthaginians had besieged and conquered Saguntum, Rome’s ally.
From 218 BC to 473 AD.
Cimbrians were a Germanic tribe from Jutland (Jylland, Denmark) who migrated through Europe and raided northern Iberia. They were defeated and returned to Gaul.
From 104 BC to 103 BC.
From year 0 to year 1000 AD
It is the era of the great migrations in Europe and despite its location far to the west, their effects are felt in Iberia as well. Following the weakening and fall of the Roman Empire, Germanic tribes such as the Vandals, Alans, Suebi and Visigoths and a few Franks cross the Pyrenees while the Byzantines and Moors arrive by sea. And from the mid 800s AD, Vikings start their exploration, trade and raiding efforts as well. International trade accelerates and new products and technology from various parts of the world find their way to the Iberian peninsula. But migrations, trade and cultural exchange may at times also bring conflict where control of lands and vital resources become increasingly important. And sometimes when humans gather, diseases come with them: as evidenced by the Byzantines under emperor Justinian who probably brought the first known pandemic to Iberia in the mid-500s AD. This millennium also sees the fragile beginning of the first new Christian kingdoms in Iberia since the Moorish invasion, kingdoms that will later play a dominant role in Europe.
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The Greeks had colonies in Iberia until 49 AD. The Romans took over the lands of the Greeks early in the new millennium, but were themselves pushed out by the Visigoths.
From 575 BC to 49 AD.
The Vandals migrated across the Pyrenees in 409 AD together with the Alans and Suebi. The Vandals and Alans were forced out of Iberia after only 20 years.
From 409 AD to ca. 429 AD.
The Byzantines, now the Eastern Roman Empire, invaded Iberia from about 552 AD in an attempt at Roman reconquest. They remained in the area until the year 624 AD.
From ca. 552 AD to 624 AD.
The kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre) was a Basque kingdom founded in 824 AD in the northwestern Pyrenees (on both sides of it) and on the front line between the Moors and the Franks.
From 824 AD to 1512 AD.
The Romans controlled most of Iberia since the wars with the Carthaginians, but internal strife and the great migrations from the east caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
From 218 BC to 472/473 AD.
The Suebi came to Iberia with the Alans and the Vandals. They established a kingdom in the northwest until they in 585 AD were annexed by the Visigoths.
From 409 AD to 585 AD.
The Moors invaded Visigothic Iberia in 711 AD and conquered most of the peninsula but not parts of the far north. The Moors ruled in the land until 1230 AD.
From 711 AD to 1230 AD.
Vikings have visited Iberia diligently but not established permanent bases. They first arrived in 844 AD and eventually raided almost the entire coastline including the Balearic Islands.
From 844 AD to the 1100s.
León was founded in 910 AD by Asturian princes. In 924 AD they incorporated Asturias and moved the capital of the new and greater empire to León.
From 910 AD to 1230 AD.
The Franks raided early in Iberia but did not establish themselves permanently. They have had an influence in the north-eastern parts of the peninsula since the 5th century.
From 250s/260s and 500 – 1659 AD.
The Visigoths invaded Hispania with the support of the Romans in 416 AD. They conquered all of Iberia and held the area until the Moors invaded in 711 AD.
From 416 AD to 711 AD.
Asturias was the first Christian kingdom to emerge (ca 720 AD) following the Moorish invasion. In 924 AD. The kingdom was merged into the kingdom of León.
From 720 AD to 924 AD.
Galicia has occasionally been an independent kingdom and was established by inheritance settlement in 910 AD. The kingdom was independent for two other, short periods before the year 1000.
Recurring from 910 to 985 AD.
From the year 1000 AD to 2000 AD
After harrowing and chaotic periods including crusades, plagues and frequent conflicts between kingdoms on the peninsula, it finally became possible for a more or less united country to look beyond its own borders. The discoveries of new lands and new trade routes gave rise to what was to become a golden age lasting several hundred years for Spain (and Portugal). Colonies on several continents, new resources in the form of plants, minerals/metals, peoples and knowledge provided great economic boosts. But great international ambitions partly at the expense of their own country in the form of lack of investment, development and modernization led to the Spain’s decline from being the dominant power in Europe and the world to being called the continent’s “sick man”. Following a civil war and the end of dictatorship, In 1978, Spain became a democracy actively participating in the international community while working hard to create a modern society with a modern economy.
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The influence of the Franks which started in the 500s continued. They took Menorca in 1756 and took control of Spain (almost) between 1808 and 1813 AD.
Established in 910 AD, León became the dominant empire in the northwest. In 1230 AD León entered into a union with Castile, which until 1065 AD had been a county of León.
Galicia had two short periods of independence in the 11th and 12th centuries. The shortest period lasted only a few months and occurred in the year 1230 AD.
A former county under Asturias from the mid-ninth century. It gained independence from León and was established as a kingdom in 1139 AD. Portugal became a republic in 1910 which it still is to this day.
Mallorca was a former taifa kingdom which was conquered by Aragón and established as a separate kingdom in 1231 AD. Dissolved in 1715 AD in the Nueva Planta Decrees.
The Moorish kingdom of Iberia changed a lot and came to an end in 1230 AD. In 1250 AD, the Emirate of Granada was the only remaining Muslim land.
While some dates/years are uncertain, the Vikings returned several times as raiders until around the 1050s AD and later as crusaders in the 12th century AD.
Castile, part of León, became a separate kingdom in 1065 AD. Castile’s later union with León and then Aragón (Ferdinand & Isabella) established, de facto, Spain in 1479.
Castile and León was established in 1230 AD and continued its expansion on the penisula. In 1479 AD they established Spain through a personal union with Aragón due to Ferdinand’s & Isabel’s marriage.
A former taifa empire, at times independent. Castile eventually took over and established a diocese in 1258 AD which some see as the start of a Christian Murcia.
Founded in 824 AD, Pamplona/ Navarre was invaded by Castile and Aragón in 1512 AD and split. Lower Navarre was taken over by the Franks and Upper became part of “Spain”.
Aragón started out as a part of Navarre but became a kingdom in 1035 AD. Aragón entered into a union with Castile but was not formally dissolved until 1707 – 1715.
A former taifa kingdom, Valencia was conquered by El Cid in 1094 AD. It later became a subject to the Crown of Aragón and was dissolved under the Nueva Planta decrees in 1707 AD.
The emirate of Granada was established in 1230 AD. It became the last holdout for Muslim rulers in Iberia. In 1492 AD it surrendered to Castile and León which ended almost 800 years of Muslim rule in Iberia.
England invaded and captured Gibraltar in 1704 AD and Menorca in 1708 AD. Menorca was handed over to Spain in 1802 AD while Gibraltar is still British.
De facto established in 1479 AD through marriage between Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.
The Nueva Planta decrees, signed between 1707 and 1716 AD, established a common kingdom, Castile.
Spain’s first constitution in 1808 AD was a French initiative.
Spanish constitution drafted in 1812 AD included universal male suffrage, public schooling and freedom of the press.
Royal Statute of 1834 under Queen Maria Christina.
The constitution of 1837 was partially replaced by decrees between 1840 – 1843 AD.
The Constitution of 1845 AD introduced limited voting rights, weighted by societal status.
Proposal for a new constitution in 1856 AD was never approved.
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Spain has had many unification attempts throughout history. In 1978 AD the country’s current democratic constitution was approved.
Spain’s coat of arms bears the mark of a complex history. You can read more about the Spanish coat of arms here: Spain’s Coat of Arms explained.
A new constitution was introduced in 1869 AD. Parliament was elected by universal male suffrage.
The Constitution of 1873 established Spain as a republic for the first time. The republic collapsed before the constitution was introduced.
Constitution of 1876 AD re-establishes universal suffrage for men from the 1890s.
Dictatorship, Primo de Rivero, from 1923 to 1930 AD.
Spain’s Second Republic was established in 1931 but was replaced when the Republicans lost the Civil War.
Franco introduced dictatorship in 1938 and used medieval “fueros” as a constitution.
The constitution of 1978 was the country’s first democratic constitution.
With permission, the maps of Spain we have used and added to have been borrowed from Flashpoint History, which produces videos about important battles, eras and kingdoms.