Moors
General term for tribes in North Africa descended from Arabs and Berbers. They were Christians for several centuries, but upon their conquest by Arabs in 647 they embraced Islam. Moors seized and settled Spain in the early 8th century, introducing a civilisation much more advanced than that of Europe. They maintained strong rule until the 11th century when Spaniards gradually reconquered the peninsula. Toledo was taken in 1085, Saragossa in 1118, Valencia in 1238, Seville in 1248, Murcia in 1260, and Granada in 1492; the last Moors were banished in 1609.