Daughter of Abū Zayd, Last Almohad Ruler of Valencia: The Family and Christian Seigniory of AIda Ferrándis 1236-1300

• Published in: Viator (Berkeley) 1993-01, Vol.24, p.143-188
• Main Author: Burns, S.J., Robert I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0083-5897; 2031-0234
• DOI: 10.1484/J.VIATOR.2.301245

"Daughter of Abū Zayd, Last Almohad Ruler of Valencia: The Family and Christian Seigniory of Alda Ferrándis 1236-1300." Abū Zayd, last ruler of Almohad Valencia, allied with invading crusaders and later converted to Christianity. His Christian daughter Alda Ferrándis became "feudal lord" of his many-castled Arenós seigniory and founded a major noble dynasty. Lacking documentation and perplexed by contradictory historiographic traditions, historians (and even local encyclopedias) virtually ignore Alda, even with the rise of gender history. Alertness in the archives can uncover dozens of random charters, tracing her personal and public life, her numerous children, her mercantile investments, her seigniory (populated mostly by Muslims), her marriages early and late, her Franciscan daughters, and her disputes with church and crown. She claimed high governance (merum et mixtum imperium), church patronage, and the right to name notaries. In the twilight of her life, as an active member of the nobles' Union revolt in the 1280s, she proudly signed herself "daughter of the former noble king of Valencia," Abū Zayd. (Eighteen charters are transcribed in full from four archives, 1263-1300).