714

V

Valdemar I the Great SeeWALDEMARI THEGREAT.

Valdemar II the Conqueror SeeWALDEMARII THE
CONQUEROR.

Valencia Medieval Valencia was the capital of the agri-
culturally rich Valencia region in eastern SPAINon the
Mediterranean. The VISIGOTHS conquered this Roman
colony in 413. The Muslims captured it in 714 and made
it the capital of a Muslim kingdom on the eastern coast of
the Iberian Peninsula. It was attacked by the Christians in
1065 and taken by RODRIGODÍAZ DEVIVAR, the Cid, in
1094 but was lost to the ALMORAVIDSin 1102. It fell per-
manently into the hands of the Aragonese in 1238 under
JAMESI the Conqueror and became the center of a new
Christian kingdom of Valencia. The city and region were
incorporated into the state of CASTILEand ARAGONin
1479.
Muslims remained numerous in the city there,
though their number slowly shrank over the centuries.
They maintained links with other Muslims on the coast
of North AFRICAand the kingdom of GRANADA. Jewish
communities in the city and region were weakened by the
riots of 1391 and the conversions of 1412–13. King FER-
DINANDII was more tolerant of both minorities, but as his
kingdom became more integrated with that of ISABELI OF
CASTILE, conditions for these minorities deteriorated
markedly and ended in expulsion on March 31, 1492.
Assisted by the lingering presence of the commercial
links of the expelled JEWSand Muslims, the economy of
Valencia prospered in the period before 1500, especially
in commerce, trade in foodstuffs, shipbuilding, and paper
making.

The first printing press in Spain was established in

Valencia in 1474. MERCHANTSdominated the local gov-

ernment and put heavy restrictions on the local craft

GUILDSand artisans, generating considerable class and

social tension. The tax burden increased greatly over the

last years of the 15th century to pay for the conquest of

Granada in 1492.

See alsoIRRIGATION.

Further reading:Robert Ignatius Burns, The Cru-

sader Kingdom of Valencia: Reconstruction on a Thirteenth-

Century Frontier, 2 vols. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard

University Press, 1967); Robert Ignatius Burns, Islam

under the Crusaders, Colonial Survival in the Thirteenth-

Century Kingdom of Valencia(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton

University Press 1973); Robert Ignatius Burns, Medieval

Colonialism: Postcrusade Exploitation of Islamic Valencia

(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1975);

Robert Ignatius Burns, Muslims, Christians, and Jews in

the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia: Societies in Symbiosis

(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984); Thomas

F. Glick, Irrigation and Society in Medieval Valencia(Cam-

bridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University

Press, 1970); Mark D. Meyerson, The Muslims of Valencia

in the Age of Fernando and Isabel: Between Coexistence and

Crusade(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991).

Valhalla (Valhöll, the Hall of the Slain, Carrion Hall)

The mythical Valhalla was the great hall of the high

god Odin in Asgard, the citadel of gods, and the home to

the souls of brave warriors killed in battle. Chosen by

Odin and led to Valhalla by the VALKYRIES, they were

welcomed by Bragi, the Norse god of poetry. Valhalla’s

roof was made of spears, and the interior of the hall itself