Zayd Abu Zayd

Zayd Abu Zayd (ابو زيد, c. 1195 – 1265/1270) was the last Almohad governor of Valencia.[1]

He succeeded as governor of Valencia to his uncle Abū 'Abd Allāh Muhammad. At the death of the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur, he gained complete autonomy thanks to dynastic struggle that ensued. However, due to its position surrounded by enemies, in 1225 he decided to declare himself a vassal of King James I of Aragon. In 1227 he recognized al-Mamun, former governor of Córdoba and Seville, as legitimate Almohad caliph. Two years later, after having been expelled from the Taifa of Valencia (Balensiya) by Zayyan ibn Mardanish, he fled to Aragon, where he obtained by James the right to invade the Muslim territory of Valencia.

Abu Zayd remained a loyal ally of James I, and in 1236 he converted to Catholicism,[2][3] adopting the name of Vicent Bellvis,[4] a fact which he however kept secret until the fall of Valencia. Under the protection of the Christian king, he held the seigniory over several localities in the Sierra de Espadán, which were inherited by his son Fernando after his death.

See also

References
  1. Kennedy, Hugh (2014). Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus. Routledge. p. 269. ISBN 9781317870418.
  2. Fancy, Hussein (2016). The Mercenary Mediterranean: Sovereignty, Religion, and Violence in the Medieval Crown of Aragon. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780226329642. Abū Zayd, who had converted to Christianity after the kingdom's conquest
  3. T. Abate, Mark (2018). Convivencia and Medieval Spain: Essays in Honor of Thomas F. Glick. Springer. p. 215. ISBN 9783319964812. Abu Zayd, who married María Ferrández, although this was only after converting to Christianity in secret
  4. A. Catlos, Brian (2014). Muslims of Medieval Latin Christendom, c.1050–1614. Cambridge University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780521889391. Overthrown in 1229, Abu ̄ Zayd went over to Jaume, eventually converting to Christianity in 1236 under the name of Vincent

General references
  • Diccionari d'història de Catalunya (in Catalan). Edicions 62. 1999. p. 4.
  • Burns, p. 112.
  • Barceló Torres, María del Carmen. El Sayyid Abu Zayd: Príncipe musulmán, señor cristiano. Awraq. Studies in Contemporary Islam and the Arab World, 3 (Madrid: Institute for Cooperation with the Arab World, 1980), p. 101-109.
  • Burns, Robert I. Príncipe almohade y converso mudéjar: Nueva documentación sobre Abū Zayd. Sharq al-Andalus: Estudios árabes, 4 (Alicante: University, 1987), pp. 109–122.


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