What events led to the outbreak of the Granada War?

The Granada War was primarily sparked by the violation of the Treaty of 1491 by the Nasrid dynasty of Granada.

The Granada War, also known as the War of Granada, was a series of military campaigns that took place between 1482 and 1492, culminating in the conquest of the Emirate of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. The primary trigger for the war was the violation of the Treaty of 1491 by the Nasrid dynasty of Granada. This treaty, which had been established to maintain peace between the Christian Kingdom of Castile and the Muslim Emirate of Granada, was broken when the Nasrids failed to pay the annual tribute to Castile and attacked Zahara, a frontier town under Castilian control.

The Nasrid dynasty's failure to honour the terms of the treaty was seen as a direct affront to the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. This, coupled with the attack on Zahara, provided the Catholic Monarchs with a casus belli, or justification for war. The Catholic Monarchs had long desired to complete the Reconquista, the Christian re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, and the violation of the treaty provided them with the perfect opportunity to do so.

In addition to these immediate causes, there were also underlying tensions that contributed to the outbreak of the war. The Catholic Monarchs were keen to consolidate their power and unify Spain under a single religion, Catholicism. The existence of a Muslim state within their borders was seen as a threat to this goal. Furthermore, the Catholic Monarchs were under pressure from the Papacy to wage war against the Muslims, as part of the broader Christian effort to push back against the expansion of Islam.

The Granada War was therefore the result of a combination of immediate triggers and long-term factors. The violation of the Treaty of 1491 by the Nasrids provided the immediate spark, while the desire of the Catholic Monarchs to complete the Reconquista and unify Spain under Catholicism, along with pressure from the Papacy, created the underlying conditions for war.