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428 to reform the government, and there issued the fuero of Leon and other general laws. His son Bermudo III succeeded in 1027, and through his marriage with a sister of Garcia, Count of Castile, whose other sister was married to Sancho the Great of Navarre, the relations between the rulers of the three kingdoms became far more intimate. Castile, despite the occasional intervention of Leon, had been independent since the days of Fernan Gonzalez. The happy understanding which prevailed among the Christian states was broken up through the murder of Garcia of Castile. Garcia's brother-in-law, Sancho of Navarre, seized the territories of Castile, and a dispute over the frontier led to war with Bermudo III of Leon, which was ended by the marriage of Bernudo's sister with Sancho's eldest son, Ferdinand, the future King of Castile. On the speedy renewal of the war the Castilians and Navarrese conquered the whole of Leon, Bermudo only retaining Galicia. Navarre then became the dominant power from the frontier of Galicia to the county of Barcelona, and Sancho ruled over Leon, Castile, Navarre, Aragon and all the Basque country. But shortly before his death he divided the kingdom among his sons, He left Navarre and the Basque provinces to Garcia, Castile to Ferdinand, Aragon to Ramiro, and the lordship of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza to Gonzalo. Bermudo III continued to reign in Galicia, but after the death of Sancho (1035) he was defeated at Tamaron by Ferdinand in 1037, who thus united under his sceptre all Leon and Castile.

The counts of Barcelona who succeeded Wifred I had extended their dominions beyond the river Llobregat and, despite invasions by Almanzor (986) and his son Muẓaffar, they recovered their lost territory through their intervention in the civil wars of the Muslims after the fall of the Almanzors. The break up of the Caliphate was taken advantage of by Count Raymond-Berengar I (1035-1076), to consolidate his power.

With the fall of the Caliphate there began for Spain the great period of Christian conquest, when the leadership passed from the Caliphate to the Christian kingdoms. The Muslim supremacy had been due partly to higher military efficiency, which was never recovered after the collapse of the Caliphate, and even more to the brilliance of its civilisation compared with the backward condition of the Northern States. This Arab civilisation claims especial notice.

The great variety of races in the country hindered the immediate development of Muslim civilisation, and despite the efforts at union of Abd-ar-Raḥmān III the conflict between the different peoples and tribes still persisted. The Arabs refused to regard the Persians, Berbers and other conquered races as their countrymen, while even among the Arabs themselves Syrians, Yemenites, and other tribes were in constant feud. Inside the tribes there were freemen, divided into aristocracy and people, and slaves. Under 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān III the unbroken struggle with the emirs all but destroyed the Arab