Moor

Any member of the Muslim population of Spain, of mixed Arab, Spanish, and Berber origins. North African Muslims (called by their Latin name Mauri—i.e., natives of Roman Mauretania) invaded Spain in the 8th century and, under the Umayyad and Almoravid dynasties, created the great Arab Andalusian civilization in such cities as Córdoba, Toledo, Granada, and Sevilla. The Christian reconquest of Spain under Alfonso VI began in the 11th century; from then until the Moors' final defeat in 1492 and for another century thereafter, many Moors settled as refugees in North Africa. See also Mudejars.