During the period of Moorish domination a number of small
independent kingdoms were formed in opposition to Moslem rule.
These comprised Castile, Leon, Navarre and Aragon, and sometimes
separately, sometimes in combination, they were in constant war
with the common enemy. The age of the great crusades came, and all
Christendom was absorbed in the struggle against the infidel, both
in the East and West. Spain, like Palestine, had its crusading
orders, which vied with the Templars and the Hospitallers both in
wealth and military distinction. The decisive battle was fought in
July, 1212, when the combined forces of Castile, Leon, Navarre,
Aragon and Portugal met the Mohammedan army, and gained the most
celebrated victory ever obtained by the Christians over their
Moslem foes, the latter losing, according to the account
transmitted to the pope, 100,000 killed and 50,000 prisoners. The
king of Grenada was speedily forced to become a vassal of Castile,
and from this period all danger from Moorish rule was over.

Following this time until the different kingdoms became as one,
there is nothing in their history deserving a detailed account.
The history of Spain as a united state dates from the union of
Castile and Aragon by the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand, the
respective rulers of those kingdoms, in 1469. Grenada, the last
remaining possession of the Moors, fell before the Spanish forces
in 1492, and Navarre was acquired in 1512.

DISCOVERIES IN AMERICA.

The year 1492, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella,
witnessed the discovery of America. Spain had become consolidated