The Making of Spain: Conquest

BBC Worldwide Learning

This episode spans the early years when Iberia was a minor province of Carthage, through to the glories of Spain's Moslem age and the Cordoba Caliphate. Simon Sebag Montefiore travels to Cadiz with Spain's first invaders and visits a sacred island where the Carthaginian warrior Hannibal received the blessing of the Gods. We learn how early Spain was a battleground for empires, and visit Italica - a perfectly preserved Roman city with one of the finest amphitheatres outside Rome. From there this episode covers the early, brazen Christian Martyrs, the Visigoths and the Moslem conquest.

The Making of Spain: Reconquest

BBC Worldwide Learning

Christianity in the North re-awakens, and one by one the Moslem states fall. Attempts are made by pious Islamic sects from North Africa to win back Spain. By the mid-15th century only the city-state of Granada remains, which is beseiged by the warrior Catholic King and Queen - Ferdinand and Isabella. Granada falls in 1492, and 700 years of Muslim rule comes to an end. The Jews are expelled and the inquisition is launched. Simon Sebag Montefiore finds out some distressing information about his own family.