THE \VESTER:\ MEDITER~~NEAJ\' KINGDOMS 1200-1'>00barons, who complained, rather, of raids from Muslim Valen-
cia into their lands, and who were anxious to take advantage
of the instability within the kingdom of Valencia. Valencia
was one remnant of a now fragmented Almohad empire,
and within its borders there were already, on the eve of the
Catalan-Aragonese invasion, large areas that owed no loyalty
to the ruler Abu Zayd.^27 One warlord managed to carve out
a statelet of his own which even embraced Valencia City.
Because Abu Zayd was still master of the north, it is hardly
surprising that he looked for support against his southern
foes to his northern neighbour, James of Aragon. The alli-
ance of Muslim and Christian against Muslim was a well
established routine in Spanish diplomacy. In the end, Abu
Zayd's desperation or gratitude reached the point where he
had himself baptised.
A combination of clever diplomacy and border skirmishes
brought James several key castles on the Valencian fron-
tier, notably Peiiiscola ( 1233), while the fall of Burriana the
same year offered an indication of the fate that would befall
those who resisted: expulsion and resettlement by Catalans
and Aragonese. The conquest of the north was not difficult,
especially in view of Abu Zayd's handsome concessions of
major strongpoints. But, by contrast with the Majorcan war,
which was over quickly, the conquest of central and southern
Valencia proceeded at a snail's pace until 1245, with fund-
raising (at a Cortes in Monzon), the grant of a crusade tithe,
appeals for help to reluctant Catalan shipowners, and the
installation of an Aragonese garrison above Valencia on the
Hill of the Onion, Puig de Cebolla. When Valencia City surren-
dered in September 1238, the Muslims had to pay the price
for their resistance: the Muslims were exiled to a Moorish
quarter ( moreria) in the suburbs but there was no significant
pillaging, and the town became the focus for settlement by
Catalans. Indeed, the presence of Catalans steered the king-
dom of Valencia away from Aragonese baronial domination;
Catalan law became prevalent, and so did Catalan speech.
Yet this mainland kingdom was far harder to tame than the
compact Balearic islands; Muslim lands, Murcia and Granada,
lay to the south, and Catalan settlement was far thinner than
- P. Guichard, Les musulmans de Faleru:P et Ia raonqufte, Xle-XI/le sihles,
2 vols (Damascus, 1990-91).