Visigoth survival, Byzantine Collapse

[Roach]

I'm writing a timeline that starts in the 700's. The key POD's in the beginning are that Visigothic Hispania is left largely unscathed by the Arab conquests of 711-712 and that Constantinople falls to the Umayyad Caliphate in 717-718. Essentially this would be the opposite of what happened in OTL.

However, I'm extremely picky about my timelines being plausible and realistic and so I'm curious as to what other members on the board think about the following:

1. How plausible is Visigothic survival? How can it be accomplished realistically? Is it as simple as having Roderic defeat the Berbers/Arabs in southern Spain, in a battle akin to the 'Battle of Tours' or the 'Battle of Toulouse', or is that unrealistic?
2. Would the Roman Empire fall apart if the Arabs are able to take Constantinople, and subsequently defeat the Bulgarian Khan Terval, who by 718 was moving south to relieve the city? Would the collapse be slow or fast?
3. With the Roman Empire out of the way, how much of Southern and Eastern Europe becomes Islamic? Would the Slavic peoples, who were a mix of pagan and christian at the time, convert to Islam?

 

[Roach]

To go along with my post, here is what I have written so far:

Disclaimer: This is a very rough draft, I also don't profess to be the best writer.

North Africa, 698-711

In 698 Musa bin Nusayr became governor of Ifriqiya. For the first decade of his rule, he cemented Umayyad lordship over Morocco by capturing the cities of Tangiers and Sous. From 700-704, he brutally subjugated the Berber tribes, attempting to bend them into loyal subjects of the Caliphate. In late 711, Musa received envoys from nobles supporting King Agilla II, asking for military assistance.[1] After sending a small raiding party during the spring of 712, that of which returned with a large amount of treasure, Musa began preparations to send a larger force into Hispania. That summer some 7,000 Berbers, led by Tariq bin Ziyad, crossed the Mediterranean, intent on conquering Iberia in the name of Allah.

Meanwhile, in Visigothic Hispania

In 711 King Wittiza died, killed by the nobleman Roderic, who proclaimed himself king and seized Toledo. Civil war erupted after this move with Wittiza's heir, Agilla II, being whisked away to the northern city of Barcino by nobles who supported King Wittiza. Meanwhile, Julian of Ceuta, a Visigoth noble who supported Wittiza's son over Roderic, travelled to the court of Musa bin Nusayr to ask for assistance against Roderic. In July of 711, after multiple inconclusive skirmishes, Roderic met Tariq bin Ziyad on the plains near La Janda Lake. The resulting battle ended in a decisive Visigoth victory, due to the shield wall withstanding repeated charges by Berber cavalry. Both Ziyad and Julian of Ceuta perished during the final hours of the battle.

During the chaos of summer, Pelagius, a Visigoth noble and governor of Asturias, also breaks off from Roderic, although remaining separate from Agilla's faction of nobles based in Barcinio. From 712-713, Roderic travelled across Lusitania and Gallaecia, ensuring the loyalty of the people who dwelled in those provinces. In spring of 714, Toledo was captured by forces loyal to Agilla, forcing Roderic to rush south east. It would take till the summer of 715 for Roderic to push back the armies loyal to Agilla, although he would not take back Toledo. After the fall of Toledo, Roderic would move is headquarters to Cordoba, and by the summer of 716 as successfully regained control of Asturias. For the rest of the year Roderic would spend most of his time fending off small Arab raids into southern Hispania.

Ifriqiya and the Berber Revolt, 712-715

After Tariq bin Ziyad's defeat and death at the 'Battle of Janda', the Berber tribes rebelled against the harsh rule of Musa bin Nusayr. The revolt by the Berbers probably resulted for two reasons, the first being the death of Ziyad, who was a friend of Musa and helped him keep the Berbers under control. Second, Musa's harsh conquest of the Berber tribes and subsequent treatment (compounded by higher taxes on non-Muslims) drove them to rise up. It would take Governor Nusayr two years to crush the Berbers. In 715 he would send a small force to seize the poorly defended Balearic Islands, but this would not be enough to save face, and he was recalled to Damascus, being replaced as governor of Ifriqiya in August of the same year.

Fall of Constantinople, 717AD
Fall was approaching, the cold air quietly whistled. Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik walked slowly through the streets of Constantinople, the smell of death and smoke filled his nose. As he turned the corner he gazed upon the Hagia Sofia in the distance. Only seven hours before, the seat of the Roman Caesars had fallen to the masses of Arab soldiers. The people of the city were told to leave their homes and come out in the open, as no harm would befall them and those who lost property would be compensated. Maslamah leaned against the Roman church, looking up briefly as a group of soldiers ran inside. He gazed down again, looking back on the siege, he thought it a miracle they had breached the walls, such a small gap, exploited to its maximum, allowed his warriors to push inside the city. He breathed a long sigh, thanked Allah, and then turned to enter the cathedral.

Khan Terval, Lord of Bulgaria, sat in a makeshift throne some five miles outside the city of Constanta. Night had fallen an hour ago and the Bulgarian leaned forward intently staring at the light, flickering off of nearby tents. A missive had arrived some five hours ago, personally written by General Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik. Terval had been marching towards Constantinople earlier in the day to relieve the city, only to learn that it had fallen to Arab forces. Now, as the night drew on, the Bulgarian Khan contemplated what to do with his army of almost fifty thousand. Suddenly Terval crumbled the message in his hand and hurled it into the blazer that sat out before him.

Two days later, on the plains outside Adrianople, the armies of Khan Terval and Maslamah ibn al-Malik met. The Bulgarians numbered 50,000 while the Arabs numbered 120,000. An hour passed until the sun was at its highest point in the sky, that is when the two armies clashed. Three hours later, Maslamah felt like he was back in Constantinople, for the smell of death again filled his nostrils. Most of the Bulgarians had been killed, some fled to the walls of Adrianople, begging to be let in. Khan Terval fled the battle, rushing north with his personal retinue. Some weeks later Maslamah would learn that the Bulgarian King was murdered by a group of nobles, who placed Bezmer from the Vokil clan on the Bulgarian throne.[2]

The disintegration of the Roman Empire followed the seizure of Constantinople by the Arabs. Maslamah campaigned throughout Macedonia and Thrace from 719-720, using Thessalonica as his winter quarters. By the fall of 721, the Umayyad general had pushed the Bulgarians back across the Danube. Meanwhile, Epirus came under the control of a wealthy landlord, Nikephoros Palaiologos[3], who set up residence at Ioannina. Morea, known for its extensive silk cultivating status-hence it's name, was lead by a man whose name is lost to records. He was referred to amongst the people as "Basielius"[4] The city of Athens fell to an obscure Roman army official named Kassandros Temistokos. In Ravenna, the Exarch Scholasticus would proclaim himself Roman Emperor. Cyprus and Crete also struck out on their own after the loss of the Roman government, but were shortly annexed by the Umayyad Caliphate in 720 and 722 respectively. In 722, Maslamah was recalled to northern Syria by Caliph Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, who was jealous of his exploits in Macedonia.[5]

Italia, 717-722

Two weeks after the fall of Constantinople, Exarch Scholasticus would proclaim himself Roman Emperor before the court at Ravenna. Scholasticus, knowing he needed to legitimize his proclamation, journeyed to Rome to meet with Pope Gregory and the nobility. Records do not tell us what came out of the meeting, although it is known that Scholasticus did not receive papal support. However the nobles of Rome decided to support the self-proclaimed Roman Emperor with financial as well as military aid. Scholasticus began to tax the Exarchate heavily, putting down a riot in Rome with the utmost cruelty. The unpopular 'Roman Emperor' of Ravenna ruled his subject like this for the next three years, until June of 720, when Pope Gregory II sent a letter to Liutprand, King of the Lombards, asking him to rescue the Roman people from Scholasticus.

Liutprand received Pope Gregory's pleas while he was campaigning against the Bavarians in the north. Late in July, Liutprand moved south, capturing Classis, the Exarchate of Ravenna's chief port. He then put Ravenna under siege. Scholasticus rallied a well mannered defense, but during the second week of the siege, he was butchered by the citizens of Ravenna and his corpse hung over the walls of Ravenna for Liutprand to see. The next day, around noon, the city gave up with barely a fight. Liutprand was kind to the civilians, left a garrison, and then moved towards Rome along the 'via Flaminia'. When Liutprand arrived in Rome, a thankful Gregory proclaimed Liutprand 'Consul of Rome'. In 721 Liutprand established Lombard control over Corsica, while Arab forces from the Balearic Isles would go on to conquer Sardinia in 722. That same year Sicily became independent, calling itself the 'Exarchate of Sicily'.


[1] This fact is disputed, some sources say Visigoth envoys never went to Musa bin Nusayr.

[2] Ending Clan Dulo's hold on the Bulgarian throne.

[3] At this time an obscure, minor noble family from Macedonia prior to their rule of Epirus.

[4] Surely not an Emperor of Rome, it is theorized that he was a relative of the late Emperor Leo III.

[5] In later Arab records we see Maslamah campaigning in the Caucus region and then later retiring in 732.

 

[Basileus Giorgios]

1. How plausible is Visigothic survival? How can it be accomplished realistically? Is it as simple as having Roderic defeat the Berbers/Arabs in southern Spain, in a battle akin to the 'Battle of Tours' or the 'Battle of Toulouse', or is that unrealistic?

Very plausible. I'm of the opinion that an Arab conquest of Constantinople means that for a good fifty years or more the Arabs are kept busy attempting to subdue the Balkans. The expansionary energy that went into North Africa and Spain IOTL would, in my view, largely be absorbed by the Balkans.

2. Would the Roman Empire fall apart if the Arabs are able to take Constantinople, and subsequently defeat the Bulgarian Khan Terval, who by 718 was moving south to relieve the city? Would the collapse be slow or fast?

Pretty quickly, I'd think. Though the Exarch of Ravenna may proclaim himself Emperor, and is far enough away from the Arabs to have a not entirely unreasonable chance of establishing some sort of new WRE for a period.

3. With the Roman Empire out of the way, how much of Southern and Eastern Europe becomes Islamic? Would the Slavic peoples, who were a mix of pagan and christian at the time, convert to Islam?

I think some of the Slavs certainly would. I'd guess the Bulgars and Serbs will, but beyond that, it's difficult to be sure. Also, it's worth bearing in mind that the Arabs in Constantinople are likely to be very, very strongly Byzantinised, as much as the OTL Caliphate was Persianised.

 

[Roach]

Thanks for the insight Basileus, and to be off topic for just a moment, I think 'Isaac's Empire 2.0' is wonderful timeline -one of the best on the board.

Though the Exarch of Ravenna may proclaim himself Emperor, and is far enough away from the Arabs to have a not entirely unreasonable chance of establishing some sort of new WRE for a period.

That's a very interesting idea, thank you. I had planned on the Lombard King, Liutprand to devour most of Italy, but that seemed somewhat boring and uninteresting.

Also, it's worth bearing in mind that the Arabs in Constantinople are likely to be very, very strongly Byzantinised, as much as the OTL Caliphate was Persianised.

That's exactly what I was planning to do with the lands of the old Roman Empire. Essentially they'll be Muslim but speak and write in Greek. However, how do you think Roman converts to Islam will respond to the customs of disdaining pork, and the wearing of Hijab? Do you have a specific idea of what a very 'Byzantinised' Islam would look like?

 

[Basileus Giorgios]

Thanks for the insight Basileus, and to be off topic for just a moment, I think 'Isaac's Empire 2.0' is wonderful timeline -one of the best on the board.

Thank you very much- I look forward to seeing your comments on the thread at some stage!

That's exactly what I was planning to do with the lands of the old Roman Empire. Essentially they'll be Muslim but speak and write in Greek. However, how do you think Roman converts to Islam will respond to the customs of disdaining pork, and the wearing of Hijab? Do you have a specific idea of what a very 'Byzantinised' Islam would look like?

I think the Hijab would be adopted- IIRC, the tradition comes from Byzantine practise anyway. Pork too, probably, the main meats in Byzantium were beef and lamb, IIRC. Anatolia is very suitable for cattle ranching. For what a Byzantinised Islam would look like, I would guess it'll place a lot of emphasis on the figure of the Caliph/Emperor, who may well end up being referred to simply as Basileus. It could resemble some of the more out-there groups of OTL Islam by giving a lot of prominence to Christian saints, and I think that the role of the Virgin Mary would be very important here. Byzantine administrative traditions would likely be adopted too, especially when the Caliphate splinters (an inevitability, in my view).

The more I think about it, the more I feel that a better POD for you would be to have the City fall in the siege of the 670s- it opens out a more interesting range of possibilites for you. There are still Byzantine Exarchs in both Ravenna and Carthage at this date, and the migration of the Slavs into the Balkans is by no means complete. To have the Arabs take Constantinople in, say, 676, opens up a lot of interesting possibilities.

 

[MNP]

The more I think about it, the more I feel that a better POD for you would be to have the City fall in the siege of the 670s- it opens out a more interesting range of possibilites for you. There are still Byzantine Exarchs in both Ravenna and Carthage at this date, and the migration of the Slavs into the Balkans is by no means complete. To have the Arabs take Constantinople in, say, 676, opens up a lot of interesting possibilities.

This is also gives you more leeway to strengthen the Visigoths though that's going to be a difficult proposition at best.

I do wonder if they'll write in Greek letters though. I can see something similar to Persia with the Persian Alphabet. It's Persian, but written more like Arabic to over simplify.

 

[raharris1973]

I read some stuff recently suggesting that

Arab-Moorish conquest of Spain was in good part a result of good-timing, such that the Visigoths avoiding conquest from Africa is plausible under many circumstances, whether Byzantium falls or not.

 

[Tocomocho]

Well, first of all there was a civil war between the partidaries of just-elected Roderic (Rodrigo) and those of the late king Witiza's family. The Witizans called in the Muslims for support to gain power, then when they were in control they just said something like "haha, no".

(well, actually they said they couldn't do anything unless the Caliph in Damascus told them so. So the Witizans went to Damascus and the Caliph told them "haha, no" then)

Second, the first invasion of Tariq was done ignoring his superior Mussa's orders to not cross the straits.

It's almost disturbing to see how many similarities were between the Muslim conquest of Spain and the Spanish conquest of Mexico 800 years later.

 

[LSCatilina]

Really interesting timeline. Consider me as suscribed.

1. How plausible is Visigothic survival? How can it be accomplished realistically? Is it as simple as having Roderic defeat the Berbers/Arabs in southern Spain, in a battle akin to the 'Battle of Tours' or the 'Battle of Toulouse', or is that unrealistic?

Well, the two battles are really differents : Tours was a battle to stop the advance of a Raid where the Christian had the advantages, Toulouse was a siege in order to conquer the S-W Aquitaine with a slightly Christian advantage.

Now, the Arabo-Berber troops are far from being invicible : just keep the visigoths as a ONE army without treachery of defection.
In EaH, a Guadalete-equivalent battle finished as a stalemate but mainly because of the death of Roderic.

Visigothic survival is possible, but keep in mind that visigoths distinguished themselves more and more from the population since Leovigild's reign. Furthermore the Gaul province of Septimania (and sometimes the Tarraconesan coast) wanted to keep the royal power far from them.
In fact Septimania could be concieved as a sort of unofficial autonomous province.

So, the more realistic visigothic survival would be that Roderic or Agila manage to crush definivly one of them, and that the winner manage to impose his law to the many autonomous peninsular lords that enjoyed semi-independence since 50 years (as Theudimir).

In a first time, they couldn't avoid periodic islamic raids in the betican coasts (and maybe that putting the Roderic's capital at Cordoba isn't a good idea because of both that reason and the hostility of betican lords, i would council you to put his capital at Emerita)

For fighting the islamic raids, don't forget that Hispania have maybe the most important fleet of the western Mediterranea. So, even if the Arabo-Berber can manage to raid the coast by using Sharshal as a base, it's doable.

I would just point some things before finishing this post

-Tanja/Tingis and Sapta/Septa must be reconquered as quickly as possible. A surviving visigothic kingdom needs the Arabo-Berber to be out of these harbours facing their coasts to avoid too much piracy (that could reach as far as Cordoba) but another invasion.

-The nothern borders aren't sure. The hostility of septimanian lords towards Hispania is a threat and two kingdoms could use that : The Duchy of Aquitaine and the Frankish Kingdom.

Odo of Aquitaine not only have an undisputed power north of Pyrenees and being liege of most of basque chiefdoms in Hispania, but already have raided Septimania. Some gaul lords could be tempted to call him to keep Septimania out of Visigothic range and Odo have indeed the ways to do that (mostly thanks to the gascon cavalry).

The Frankish Kingdom, if everything goes as OTL would be soon reunited under the person of Charles Martel. If he manage to do that and to conquer Provence, he could be tempted to raid and take Septimania.

 

[Fredrick II Barbarossa]

Umm... One question... how the heck did Constantinople fall to Arabs....
You do realize that the walls of Constantinople in 700s were quite tough to break especially with the work of Anastasias. You see he Arabs have no idea about Greek fire so you cant just butterfly that away. Regardless the Arab will lose their fleet due to Greek fire. Unless you start with an earlier POD where the Arabs know greek fire. Better yet make it so Anastasias never fixes the walls and makes them more powerful than before. Plus the guy leading Constantinople at the siege is Leo III. Really you cant just change the character and will of Leo unless you start with an earlier POD. Now im not saying Constantinople cant fall, it can if the Arabs know beforehand the workings of Greek fire, successfully crush the bulgars, Byzantium run by a weak emperor, maybe an earthquake or some disaster to weaken the walls, or a successful sea invasion by pulling an Ottoman and just puling the ships across the sea chain. But really unless you have an earlier POD dealing with Byzantium it really is implausible for Constantinople to fall. Now for the Balkans to be taken.. sure but Constantinople itself.... unlikely and impossible so long as they dominate the straits. The defenses were formidable. You cant dehydrate city due to fact that their are cisterns underneath which hold hundreds of thousands maybe millions of water.
SO you should clarify on the fall of Constantinople.

Other than this it is a good timeline just the part of Constantinople falling with this pod is unlikely.

By the way about a small gap in the wall... err how... you see did the arabs have any weaopon that could seriously dent the wall. Also by gap you do realize their was a huge moat in beetween right and after that was ane even higher wall right... so by saying he exploited a gap.. that doesnt make much sense. The walls were not just two walls. Not it was 900 towers in this case fully garrisoned a huge sea moat seprating one wall form the next. One wall higher than the other. And the walls were made in such a way that to take them you had to destroy a ton of the towers. Plus it had elevated ridges and mny other defenses.

SOrry with just few gaps the walls cant be breached. In 1204 the crusaders breached the walls because they were undermanned(not like this case)
and they had trebuchets and such siege weoponry. SO unless you tell me the arabs have invented a counterwieght trebuchet or equivelent making a dent in the walls or getting a gap in both walls and getting through all its other defenses is virtually unlikely. Read up on the walls a bit more hey were an engineering marvel.

 

[Roach]

I think the Hijab would be adopted- IIRC, the tradition comes from Byzantine practise anyway. Pork too, probably, the main meats in Byzantium were beef and lamb, IIRC. Anatolia is very suitable for cattle ranching. For what a Byzantinised Islam would look like, I would guess it'll place a lot of emphasis on the figure of the Caliph/Emperor, who may well end up being referred to simply as Basileus. It could resemble some of the more out-there groups of OTL Islam by giving a lot of prominence to Christian saints, and I think that the role of the Virgin Mary would be very important here. Byzantine administrative traditions would likely be adopted too, especially when the Caliphate splinters (an inevitability, in my view).

The more I think about it, the more I feel that a better POD for you would be to have the City fall in the siege of the 670s- it opens out a more interesting range of possibilites for you. There are still Byzantine Exarchs in both Ravenna and Carthage at this date, and the migration of the Slavs into the Balkans is by no means complete. To have the Arabs take Constantinople in, say, 676, opens up a lot of interesting possibilities.

Thank you for the insight. I was not aware that the Hijab was a tradition/cultural idea the Arabs borrowed from the Byzantines. As for the 670's POD, that was my original plan but I went between it and Constantinople falling in 711. I'll have to look into the earlier date of 676.

Really interesting timeline. Consider me as suscribed.

Thank you very much LSCatilina, however the timeline wont be starting in this thread. What I had posted was a very rough draft, meant to be there so others could get a feel for what I'm going for and give constructive criticism.
I'm still deciding on what date to start the actual timeline (In the 670's or early 700's), however, after doing some research on my break at work it seems Constantinople may have been more likely to fall during the first siege in the 670's, if some advantages such as Greek Fire are butterflied away.
Also, thank you for the insight into the socio-politcal situation of Gaul and Hispania at the time, I wasn't aware of Septimania's eagerness to estrange themselves from the Visigoths. However I had the idea of eventually having Odo the Great take interest in Septimania, what he does with it I havent thought of yet, thought it would most likely mean annexation into Aquitania. Also any more information you have on the autonomous peninsular lords, like Theudimir, would be most welcome.

Umm... One question... how the heck did Constantinople fall to Arabs....

I know it seems unlikely, in fact pretty much impossible. Since it was the POD, I figured I'd gloss over the semantics as to how the wall was breach and just say it happened so i could move onto other areas of the timeline. The final draft of the timeline will have a detailed and realistic capitulation of Constantinople and not just "there was a hole in the wall and people went through it"

----------------------------

I'm having a party tonight so I wont be able to get too much research of my own done until tomorrow, so some ideas to these few questions will help me a lot:

1. Greek Fire was brought to Constantinople by a Syrian Christian refugee. If the Arabs capture him enroute, then they potentially could gain the secrets of Greek Fire. Is that plausible or does it make more sense to simply kill him off/make it so he never gets to Constantinople somehow?
2. If I go with the POD of Constantinople falling in 676, I think it will have their momentum shift into the Balkans, rather than across North Africa. So, besides the areas held by the Exarchate of Africa, what was the situation in north Africa in the 670's?
3. Besides stopping Greek Fire, does anyone have any suggestions for other ways for the Arabs to take Constantinople? What would be the chance someone betrays the city? Does that seem to simple a plot?

Thanks again guys for all the insight so far.

 

[LSCatilina]

I wasn't aware of Septimania's eagerness to estrange themselves from the Visigoths

In fact, even the visigoths considered this province as foreign. We have text about how Septimania is "full of jews" because the royal decision regarding the Jews weren't observed there.
And we have at least 2 serious attempt to make the province plus hispanian coast of Meditteranea as a separate kingdom as the "Oriental Kingdom" of Count Paulus.

However I had the idea of eventually having Odo the Great take interest in Septimania, what he does with it I havent thought of yet, thought it would most likely mean annexation into Aquitania.

Yes and no. Remember, the local lords gained in power since the end of the "great" visigothic kings, 50 year earlier. Odo could or heavily raid everything in Septimania or make the septimanian lords call him as they call Charles Maretl OTL.
In the latter case, i would say that it depends on how people as Aitulf (count of Magalona) and the bishops of Septimania would have gained. If the Aquitains annex the province, i suspect they would only take Narbona (as the Arabo-Berbers did OTL) and maybe the Razès and Carcassona in order to control the roman way between Narbona and Tolosa.

Also any more information you have on the autonomous peninsular lords, like Theudimir, would be most welcome.

The problem is that our knowledge comes mainly from the treaties they passed with the Arabo-Berbers in the 710's. Theudimir and probably the Cassii of upper Ebre (the future Banu Qasi) were certailny already in charge.

But for the others : or it's members of Wittiza family, or it's people that didn't have a real autonom power before...as far we know.

We have maybe 6/7 places for we have still the treaties OR clues about it. Probably there is many that we don't know about.

Betica was probably the more semi-autonomous province regarding the divisions among the lords (both nobles and bishops as Oppa of Hispalis)
as it was the richer province. It's why i think that Roderic should use Emerita as capital : in fact i don't know why you made him move to Toletum from Emerita that was his "capital" OTL.

I wish i could council you books, but even for Eagles and Hawks, i worked almost exclusivly with french, catalan or occitan sources. If you could understand one of these, maybe could i direct you to some interesting sources?

 

[Roach]

Unfortunatly I cannot understand Catalan or Occitan, and my French will get me through "hello, how are you? Can I have a drink?"

Again LSCatilina, thank you for your wealth of information. Might I implore you shed light on the following for me?

1. What was the visigoth policy toawrds the Jews living in Hispania? I know Wittiza carried out a harsh persecution against them, from what I understand.
2.Is there a detailed map online somwhere that shows Visigotic Spain in detail close to or around the years 650AD-700AD? I'm trying to get an idea of the geopolitical situation for a map.

 

[Tocomocho]

I got this showing bishopries in the 7th century AD

As you can see the religious provinces closely match the old Roman provinces which were continued under the Goths.

 

[LSCatilina]

1. What was the visigoth policy toawrds the Jews living in Hispania? I know Wittiza carried out a harsh persecution against them, from what I understand.
2.Is there a detailed map online somwhere that shows Visigotic Spain in detail close to or around the years 650AD-700AD? I'm trying to get an idea of the geopolitical situation for a map.

1) Basically : convert or be enslaved. Long answer : A jew in the Late visigothic Spain was less than a second-class citizen.
It begins at the end of VIII century, under the reign of Egica (that was probably a relative of Roderic).

The jews were forced to be reduced in slavery under the control of land owners. It was more a way to obtain conversions than having actually slaves, but it was really harsh, and distant Septimania didn't applied (more probably because the province was quite a commercial center, and because the nobles didn't to apply what they didn't)

During the Islamic conquest, Jews saw they could benefit of a better treatment, and often helped Muslims.

2) Well, i've made a OTL map for my TL. It's still not complete and i plan to remake it in a different fashion.

But i think it's quite correct regarding 710 situation.

I got this showing bishopries in the 7th century AD

As you can see the religious provinces closely match the old Roman provinces which were continued under the Goths.

They're wrong. It's almost correctly the "visigothic" provinces, but the eccesiastical ones were crossing political borders. Also, missing bishopries.

 

[Roach]

I got this showing bishopries in the 7th century AD

2) Well, i've made a OTL map for my TL. It's still not complete and i plan to remake it in a different fashion.

Thank you both for the maps and information, it should serve me well.

I think I'm going to begin the TL earlier than 711 and start it in 674-678 during the first Arab siege of Constantinople. I have some ideas to realistically have the Arabs take constantinople, one of them having the inventor of 'Greek Fire' never make it to Constantinople, perhaps having him die during the siege of Heliopolis in Phoenicia.

Another question: How fast will the native Greeks convert to Islam. how resistant will they be to the process? After Constantinople falls, what will Byzantine resistance be like throughout the rest of Greece? How long till the Umayyads are able to completely subjugate Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece?

 

[TyranicusMaximus]

It wasn't Greek fire that destroyed the Arab fleet. It was more likely fireships. It would probably be better to have the Arab fleet use fireships. I'm not sure what the Arab forces were in the first siege, but their best chance is to take Constantinople by assaulting from the sea. I don't think the Sea Walls were built yet.

 

[LSCatilina]

I think I'm going to begin the TL earlier than 711 and start it in 674-678 during the first Arab siege of Constantinople. I have some ideas to realistically have the Arabs take constantinople, one of them having the inventor of 'Greek Fire' never make it to Constantinople, perhaps having him die during the siege of Heliopolis in Phoenicia.

Personally, i think an Arab victory in 678 more unlikely than 710's. They didn't have enough logistic or organisation to do that. Greek fire was only a bonus.

I'm convinced that if someone could have taken the city, it would be Maslamah, at the condition he recieve more support from Dimashq, more troops too.

Another question: How fast will the native Greeks convert to Islam. how resistant will they be to the process? After Constantinople falls, what will Byzantine resistance be like throughout the rest of Greece? How long till the Umayyads are able to completely subjugate Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece?

They'll be slow to convert i think : remember that the Syrio-palestinian countryside was still mainly christian during the crusades.
It's more a matter of arabization rather than islamization.

I would say that the Macedonia and Thrace would remain roman more longer than Greece, but the macedonian and thracian cities would be islamized more quickly. Mainly because macedonian and thracian country side was more rich than Greek one, making the Arabs more interested on settleing these regions.

Nevertheless, the relative important population of these aeras could make the roman presence more lasting, while Greece would be likely divided between Slavic people, Albanians and Arabized Romans.

But it's a personal opinion, and it's most probable that someone knowing more about Rhomanion than me would have a more based one.

 

[Roach]

After doing research on the first and second Arab sieges of Constantinople, I've decided to go with Constantinople falling in early 717 to the forces of Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik. I just need to come up with a detailed and realistic way for the Arabs to take the city.

Let's say Constantinople has fallen: What is the Byzantine military situation in the Balkans during the early 8th century? How much resistance will it give to further Arab expansion? Were there any talented commanders who might at least bring Umayyad forces to a pause, whether it be in Thrace, Macedonia, Illyria, or Greece?