Umayyad Caliphate · 711-732

711: across the strait into Spain

In 711 a Berber commander crossed a narrow strait and a kingdom fell. Students follow the conquest of Iberia to the Battle of Tours in 732 and weigh what that battle really meant.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 711 to AD 732
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 711 a Berber commander crossed a narrow strait and a kingdom fell. Students follow the conquest of Iberia to the Battle of Tours in 732 and weigh what that battle really meant.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Strait of Gibraltar, Toledo, Córdoba and the battlefield of Tours on the map.
  • Describe how al-Andalus began between 711 and about 720.
  • Compare two views on the importance of the Battle of Tours.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 711

The narrow strait

Open the map in 711 and zoom in on the Strait of Gibraltar. How wide is the sea between Africa and Europe here? Why was it easy to cross?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 720

Across Iberia

Zoom out and move to 720. Turn on the Cities layer and find Córdoba on the Guadalquivir river. Why would a river valley matter to an army and to traders?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 732

A battle in France

Move to 732 and turn on Historical Events. Find the Battle of Tours. How far is it from the Pyrenees? What does that tell you about this campaign?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Tariq ibn Ziyad was a Berber, from the peoples of North Africa. Why does it matter who actually did the conquering?
  2. The Visigothic kingdom collapsed within a few years. What could make a kingdom fall so quickly?
  3. Gibraltar is named after Tariq: Jabal Tariq, "Tariq's mountain". What else can place names tell us about the past?
  4. Older historians said the Battle of Tours saved Europe; many historians today think it stopped one raid among many. How would you decide?
  5. For almost 800 years there was Muslim rule somewhere in Iberia. How might that shape Spain and Portugal today?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Charlemagne, grandson of Charles Martel, who won at Tours in 732. Discuss: after the battle, how did the Franks and the rulers of al-Andalus deal with each other, in war and in diplomacy?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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