Point of Divergence

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What Is Andalusada? | Point of Divergence | As Our Story Begins
Differences | Science and Technology | How Things Are

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Note: This is Canon, but it's incredibly obscure. You don't need to know about it. Most people ITTL don't.

Andalusada's story begins with a Spanish knight named Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, who (for reasons that remain somewhat unclear) is exiled in 1080. Homeless and penniless, he spends the winter in Barcelona, hosted by Count Ramon Berenguer II, but by the time he leaves in 1081 the two hate each other. Whatever the reason, Rodrigo Diaz leaves Barcelona in 1081, still exiled, homeless, and penniless, and offers his services to al-Muqtadir, the emir of the Taifa of Zaragoza and a former ally at the Battle of Graus.
In Andalusada, for reasons that remain unclear, his offer is turned down. This is its Point of Divergence, the moment when Andalusada's history stops conforming to OTL, and inside of ten years the repercussions of this rejection will have spectacular consequences.

• Without a job in Zaragoza, Rodrigo Diaz is still exiled, homeless, and penniless. Thus, he looks south, and finds a patron in al-Mu'tamid instead.
• When al-Muqtadir dies in 1082, a civil war erupts between his sons al-Mu'tamin (who controls Zaragoza) and his brother al-Hayib (who controls Lérida and Tortosa.) IOTL, Rodrigo Diaz sided with al-Mu'tamin, and earned the nickname "El Cid" for his role in Zaragoza's defense. Because his absence weakens Zaragoza enough that Aragon captures it in 1083.
• Later in 1085, Alfonso VI is wounded in a border dispute with Aragon (as happened IOTL, though bugger if I can find the source.) ITTL his wound becomes infected, killing him; he is survived by his wife (Constance of Burgundy) and five-year-old daughter Urraca. Rodrigo Diaz is recalled from exile to deal with the Léonese succession crisis, which takes a full century to recover from. (A side effect is that Galicia slips free of Léon altogether.)
• With the fall of Toledo, only a handful of outlying taifas remain; none last to the turn of the century. Spain has once again stabilized into a Muslim south (now ruled from Seville), and a Christian north (struggling with succession crises and border disputes.)

This has longer-term consequences over the ensuing centuries:

• Because the Almoravid invasion doesn't happen. Almohad fundamentalism (and the Almohads do invade ITTL; this ends the Abbadid dynasty, although the capital stays in Seville) is a radical departure from Andalusi custom, and is thoroughly rejected after the Almohad Caliphate's collapse.
• Aragon rises to become the dominant force in Christian Spain, and (very much like IOTL) concentrates on being a naval power and building a sprawling Mediterranean empire. While the Reconquista continues, its focus (and most of the fighting) shifts to control over the eastern seaports, rather than reclaiming every acre of the interior.

Their Timeline and Ours

Phrases like "the real world" and "what actually happened" are complex and often confusing when used in alternate history. Andalusada, which is at least slightly metafictional, makes them even less useful. Thus, I'm borrowing two acronyms from AH.com. These will be used throughout Andalusada, but are probably introduced to you in this article.
(I)TTL means "(in) This/Their Timeline" - the world where Andalusada is history.
(I)OTL, by contrast, means "(in) Our Timeline" - the timeline where Andalusada is an alternate history.