Andorra

Abstract

Excavations near St Julia de Loria near Andorra’s southern border have revealed Neolithic artifacts dating to around 4500 BC. The Andosini, a Basque-speaking tribe subdued by Hannibal in 218 BC, were the first recorded inhabitants of the Pyrenean state. By the early 5th century AD Roman garrisons in the area came under attack from Germanic tribes including the Vandals, Visigoths and Alans. They crossed the Pyrenees and controlled swathes of Iberia over the next three centuries, before succumbing to Moorish advances from North Africa. An Arab–Berber army led by Tariq Ibn Ziyad reached the Pyrenees in around 720 and pushed into France. The Moors’ defeat at Poitiers by Charles Martell in 732 forced them back towards Iberia; in Andorra, locals fought alongside Charlemagne’s forces led by his son, Louis I (the Pious). As a reward, a new feudal state, tasked with protecting France from Iberian raids, was established under the Count of Urgel.