1292: Sancho IV of Castile Takes the Straits of Gibraltar

In the late thirteen and early fourteenth centuries, Castile, the Marinids of Morocco and the Nasrids of Granada fought for the control of the Strait of Gibraltar. This "battle" (Spanish: la Cuestión del Estrecho) is a major chapter in the history of the Christian reconquest of Spain.  

1292 Christian reconquest of Tarifa, key to the control of the Strait of Gibraltar. "In 1292, in his pursuit of controlling the Strait, the troops of Sancho IV of Castile laid siege to Tarifa and easily took it. Under the governorship of Guzmán el Bueno, "the Good", Tarifa was unsuccessfully besieged by the Marinids two years later. As a result, the North African rulers decided to retreated to Magreb and sell their remaining ports to the sultans of Granada."

Iberia in 1360 (source). The five kingdoms of Iberia in 1360. The territory of the Emirate of Granada was reduced by 1482, as it lost its grasp on Gibraltar and other western territories.

1274 Gibraltar given along with Algeciras in 1274, by the Nasrid sultan Muhammad II to Abu Yusuf Yaqub, the Marinid sultan of Morocco, as payment for his intervention in Spain on Granada's behalf against Castilian encroachments.

1230 Crown of Castile formed as permanent union of Castile and León " Castile and León, with their southern acquisitions, came to be known collectively as the Crown of Castile,

1220–40 Implosion of the Almohad Caliphate and the onslaught  of the Reconquista. North shore of the Strait of Gibraltar came under the jurisdiction of the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, a reduced successor state to al-Andalus.

1212 Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Important turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain. The Christian forces of King Alfonso VIII of Castile were joined by the armies of his rivals, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal, in battle^[ against the Berber Almohad Muslim rulers of the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. The crushing defeat of the Almohads significantly hastened their decline both in the Iberian Peninsula and in the Maghreb a decade later. This would give further momentum to the Christian Reconques.

1140-1204 Composition date of El Cantar de Mio Cid. "the oldest preserved Castilian epic poem (epopeya). Based on a true story, it tells of the Castilian hero El Cid, and takes place during the Reconquista, or reconquest of Spain from the Moors."

1094 El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar) defeats the Almoravid Berbers on the plains of Caurte, pushing them further south. "The Moors called him El Cid, which meant the Lord, and the Christians, El Campeador, which stood for Outstanding Warrior. He was born in Vivar, a town near the city of Burgos. After his death, he became Castile's celebrated national hero and the protagonist of the most significant medieval Spanish epic poem, El Cantar de Mio Cid."

1085 Christian conquest of Toledo. "after skilfully managing to pit the several Muslim kings against each other and defeating a coalition of the taifas of Seville, Badajoz and Zaragoza, Alfonso VI was able to enter the city of Toledo; the latter's taifa was incorporated with Castile and the city was made the capital of León and Castile."

1065 Ferdinand the Great dies. The Kingdom of Castile and Kingdom of León divided between his heirs of Ferdinand the Great.

1029 Ferdinand I (el Magno)(b. 1015) becomes Count of Castile. upon assassination of his uncle. Beginning of the Jiménez Dynasty.

1029 Garcia Sánchez, Count of Castile, is assassinated.  Last independent Count of Castile. "With the death of Garcia Sánchez, Sancho III of Pamplona, because of his marriage to Mayor of Castile — García Sánchez's sister and heir to the county — became the de facto ruler of Castile, although he was never its count^. It was his son Ferdinand I of León who inherited the county and appears as such and never as the monarch of Castile. The first King of Castile was Fernando's firstborn, Sancho, who ruled as Sancho II of Castile."