📜 1212 to 1492 | The Reconquista | Part III What you’re seeing: After Las Navas de Tolosa, the Almohad empire (a North African Muslim empire ruling much of Muslim Iberia) began to collapse. Castile took Córdoba in 1236, Aragon took Valencia in 1238, and Castile took Seville in 1248. Muslim refugees moved south to Granada, the last Muslim kingdom in Iberia. Granada surrendered on 2 January 1492. Why did Granada survive for so long? Geography helped. Granada was a mountain kingdom between the Sierra Nevada and the sea. Its founder became a vassal of Castile, paid tribute, and even sent his horsemen to fight beside Castile at Seville. After that, Granada sometimes paid tribute, sometimes fought and sometimes made peace. For much of this period, the frontier barely moved. Who built the Alhambra? Granada was ruled by the Nasrids. Their founder, Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar, began the Alhambra on the red hill above the city, and his dynasty expanded its palaces. Who was the last king of Granad...