The first and currently only serious timeline written by MNP, this medieval Spanish timeline is noted for adhering to a regular update schedule and for updates detailing social as well as political and technological changes. At some point MNP hopes to turn the first part of the timeline into a historical novel.

Won the AH.Com 2010 Turtledove Award for Best New Medieval Timeline.

Won the AH.Com 2011 Turtledove Award for Best Continuing Medieval Timeline.

Launched June 3, 2009 and updated at irregular intervals, on Sept. 25, 2009 it switched to a Tuesday/Friday update schedule until the conclusion of Volume 1 on Dec. 27, 2009 at which time it went on a temporary hiatus. Returning on Jan. 19, 2010 and updating Mondays, posts are longer and more detailed to compensate for the slower update schedule. The second hiatus began on Dec. 10, 2010 in the middle of Volume 2 and ended on February 15, 2011. A third hiatus began in August, 2011 and ended in January of 2012.

Currently updates are on a relaxed schedule, and any regular update system has broken down entirely.

On Nov. 30, 2009 the timeline was ported to Counter-Factual.net and is updated there at irregular intervals. However a number of board crashes led to the weekly updates being abandoned.

Timeline Link

A Revised version of “The Raptor of Spain” was posted in the Timelines and Scenarios forum on March 25, 2010. It incorporates additional research and criticism from the main timeline and clears up some discrepancies from the original timeline. It is written in a style of a narrative history in short sections, interspersed with novella fiction from the point of view of certain characters. Currently Part XII has been posted, taking the timeline up through the end of the Third Roman War in 974. New research and information however have inspired him to go back and rework the first 100 years of the timeline a third time, but this has not been posted. As such, revised version updates have been discontinued.

Revised Version Link

This is a rebooting of the first 100 years of the timeline. It began April 23, 2012. Version 3.0 is structured more like a novel with volumes and chapters. In an attempt to improve his writing, the main characters will be Abd ar-Rahman and his grandson Ramiro. Secondary POV characters may also emerge. MNP hopes to bring the early parts of the timeline more in line with the later while improving the realism and plausibility. Only the prologue first chapter have been posted so far.

Version 3.0 Link

This timeline is unusual in that there is no hard and fast point of divergence. The premise is that when Abd ar-Rahman is born in 731, his Berber-Christian mother has greater influence on his upbringing making him more sympathetic to Christianity. When the Abbasid Revolution is launched as per OTL, Abd ar-Rahman flees Damascus with his sister and two servants eventually arriving in Al-Andalus a few years ahead of OTL. With his attempted take over a failure, his only option is take service with Alfonso the Catholic (r. 739-757) and eventually takes the kingship of Asturias, converting to Christianity and leading a conquest of Iberia with the help of Charlemagne.

A more thorough description of the story thus far is provided by the Timeline Synopsis.

While the timeline itself explores social and political ramifications through a omniscient narrative and points of view of various fictional characters, a succinct listing of events is slowly being produced. This list lists only events, not their causes and is a work in progress.

Link to Chronology of the Raptor of Spain

Medieval Timelines