The Iberian Peninsula, today home to Spain and Portugal, was overrun in the 5th century A.D. by the Visigoths, a Teutonic tribe from northern Europe and the conquerors of the Roman Empire. In 711, however, the Visigoths fell to the Moors, North African Muslims of mixed Berber-Arab heritage with roots in Mauritania. Their regime became one of the most culturally advanced in Europe. Religious toleration was established, but many of the indigenous people converted to Islam.
