Resilience and its limits: the Banū ʿĪsā and the making of the Kingdom of Valencia, 1244–1278

In the 1220s, eastern (Sharq) al-Andalus was plunged into upheaval following the collapse of Almohad central authority, leaving countless Muslim communities vulnerable to the expansionist ambitions of both the Kingdom of Castile and the Crown of Aragon. By 1245, most of them had negotiated their submission under Christian rule and sought to preserve communal autonomy, economic resources, and religious identity amid the far-reaching transformations that reshaped the better part of the region into the Kingdom of Valencia. This article examines these processes through the case of the Banū ʿĪsā, a dynasty of Muslim commanders (quwwād) who governed Xàtiva and later Montesa and Vallada. It will be shown how their flexibility and adaptability in confronting these challenges enabled them to maintain power for nearly half a century, while also revealing the structural and political limits of Muslim resilience under Christian rule.