In this episode we discuss when the Crusades first started. Although it is a complicated concept, we dive into the intimate details of what prompted Christan peoples to take up the Cross and wage war against Islamic forces not just in the Holy Lands but really, all across the Mediterranean basin. Despite what historians claim the process of Crusading began as early as the mid 8th century and continued onward for hundreds of years.

In this episode of the Dead Warrior Society podcast, we explore the remarkable yet brief rise and fall of the Umayyad Caliphate in Al-Andalus.

Once centered in the magnificent city of Córdoba, the Caliphate was hailed by contemporaries as the crown jewel of the early medieval world—rivalling imperial centers such as Rome, Alexandria, and Baghdad. Historians often describe it as a beacon of cultural sophistication, economic vitality, and religious tolerance, particularly toward the Christian and Jewish communities living under Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula.

Yet, despite its grandeur, the Caliphate survived barely eight decades before collapsing into civil war and internecine conflict. If it was indeed a cosmopolitan powerhouse committed to pluralism and prosperity, why did it so quickly unravel? Was its downfall a contradiction of its supposed ideals—or a revelation of deeper fractures within?

In this episode, we confront the often-romanticized narrative surrounding the Umayyad Caliphate. We delve into the complexities behind its administration, the ambiguous treatment of non-Arab Muslims, Christians, and Muwalladun and the internal divisions that ultimately led to its demise. We also examine how its fall helped ignite the forces that would later drive the Christian Reconquista across the Iberian Peninsula.

In this first installment of our series on the Reconquest of Spain, we set the stage for one of the most defining struggles in European and World history—the fight to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula by the indigenous Catholic Hispanic-Roman peoples.

We delve into who these people were before the invasion: a tapestry of Romanized Christian cultures rooted in centuries of Hispano-Roman tradition. Then, we examine the sudden and forceful Islamic incursion from North Africa in 711 AD—an invasion marked by speed, ferocity, and strategic brilliance. Within a decade, nearly the entire peninsula had fallen under Muslim control.

But all was not lost. As cities fell and Christian kingdoms crumbled, resistance began to stir in the rugged northern regions of Asturias and Galicia. Displaced warriors, local nobles, and devout leaders began to forge the early seeds of the Reconquista.

Join us as we explore this dramatic turning point in Iberian history—a clash of civilizations, faiths, and destinies. The Reconquest begins here.