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Place must be 18 or over. Welcome to a history of Europe, the Ford of Toledo in 1085 Part 4 of 4

By the 1080s, the various taifa states of Muslim Spain

had consolidated into less than a dozen in number.

The largest four being Seville, Badachoth, Toledo and Zaragoosa.

The most wealthy, Sevel, having devoured the smaller taifers of Huelva, Alajasira, Algarve, Cordova and Mercia, now stretched from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean.

A similar process of expansion had occurred to the Taifa of Toledo,

which occupied a large amount of territory in the centre of the peninsula.

Its rulers were from a dynasty by the name of Banu Dilanun, who descended from a Berber family

who had arrived in Spain at the time of the Islamic conquest.

The king of Toledo from 1043 to 1075, named Al-Mamun, ruled his kingdom well, and brought it to its greatest heights.

The Christian rulers of Spain, meanwhile, did their best to take advantage of the incessant fighting between the Muslim kingdoms.

The insatiable demands of the Christians for tribute was beginning to severely weaken the Taifers.

The payment of Periers brought short-term benefits for the Muslim states, but long-term problems. As the Spanish say, pan para oi, andri para manana, i.e. bread for today, but hunger for tomorrow.

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