What event in 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in Iberia and signaled a broader global shift?

• A. The capture of Granada
• B. The fall of Constantinople
• C. The discovery of America
• D. The Battle of Tours

Answer: (A)

The end of Muslim rule in Iberia is marked by the capture of Granada in 1492, which completed the Reconquista. Granada was the last Muslim-ruled kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, and its fall to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile ended centuries of Christian-Muslim conflict in that region and removed Muslim political power from Iberia.

This moment also signals a broader global shift because it solidified a unified, Catholic monarchic state ready to sponsor overseas ventures. In the same year, Columbus’s voyage opened sustained European contact with the Americas, helping to launch the era of global exploration, empire, and long-lasting cultural and economic exchanges between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Other events happened around the same era but for different reasons. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 changed the balance of power between Christian Europe and the Muslim world, yet it occurred well before the Iberian end of rule. The discovery of America is a crucial turning point, but it highlights exploration rather than the end of Muslim rule in Iberia. The Battle of Tours occurred centuries earlier and did not mark Iberian politics in 1492.