Battle of Covadonga | |||||||
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Part of the Reconquista | |||||||
The proclamation of Pelagius of Asturias († 737) as king of Asturias in Covadonga and the beginning of the Reconquista of Spain by the Christians of the north of the Iberian Peninsula. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Asturias | Umayyad Caliphate | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Pelagius of Asturias |
Munuza † Alqama † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
300 (according to Ahmad al-Maqqari) |
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
290 |
184,000 (exaggerated) 1104 (according to Codex Vigilanus)[3] |
The Battle of Covadonga took place in 722 between the army of Pelagius the Visigoth and the army of the Umayyad Caliphate.[4][5][1] Fought near Covadonga, in the Picos de Europa, it resulted in a victory for the Christian forces of Pelagius. It is traditionally regarded as the foundational event of the Kingdom of Asturias and thus the initial point of the Christian Reconquista ("reconquest") of Spain after the Umayyad conquest of 711.[6]