Moves away from legends like "La Cava" or the "treason of Count Julian" to focus on logistics and structural failures.
" Espada, hambre y cautiverio " (Sword, Hunger, and Captivity) is a highly-regarded historical study by Yeyo Balbás that investigates the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (Spania) and the collapse of the Visigothic Kingdom.
💡 This topic represents a shift toward "Global History," showing that the fall of Spania was a result of systemic internal weakness, environmental stress, and a highly efficient external military machine. Download File 56.Espada, hambre y cautiverio.mu...
Balbás places the conquest within the broader context of Umayyad expansion across the Mediterranean rather than viewing it as an isolated event.
Integrates archaeological finds and climate science with traditional textual chronicles. Moves away from legends like "La Cava" or
The "hunger" refers to recent scientific findings—such as pollen and paleoclimate data—suggesting that severe droughts between 695–725 CE weakened the Visigothic state’s resilience before the invasion.
The work challenges traditional, often mythologized accounts of the conquest by providing a rigorous, evidence-based analysis: Balbás places the conquest within the broader context
"Captivity" highlights the human cost, including the displacement of elites and the enslavement or subjugation of local populations during the transition to Al-Andalus. Significance in Modern Research