Muslim dynasties would rule Valencia for more than a century.
Christian Reconquest
In 1238, King James I of Aragon, with an army composed of Aragonese, Catalans, and Navarreseand crusaders from the Order of Calatrava, laid siege to Valencia and on 28 September obtained surrender. Fifty thousand Moors were forced to leave. Poets such as Ibn al-Abbarand Ibn Amira mourned this exile from their beloved Valencia. After the Christian victory and the expulsion of the Muslim population the city was divided between those who had participated in the conquest, according to the testimony in the Llibre del Repartiment (Book of Distribution). James I granted the city new charters of law, the Furs of Valencia, which later were extended to the whole kingdom of Valencia. Thenceforth the city entered a new historical stage in which a new society and a new language developed, forming the basis of the character of the Valencian people as they are known today.
On 9 October, King James, followed by his retinue and army, took possession of the city. The principal mosque was purified and the Mass was celebrated. James incorporated city and territory into the newly formed Kingdom of Valencia, one of the kingdoms forming theCrown of Aragon, and permitted all people that lived in the city, Jews, Muslims and Christians, to stay there and live as citizens of the kingdom.
According to historical data on the capitulation of the city, the kingdom of Valencia had a population of 120,000 Muslims, 65,000 Christians and 2,000 Jews, who by the terms of the capitulation and its covenants were mostly allowed to remain on their land. According to the Arab historian Hussein Mones of the University of Cairo, these were the words which King Zayan spoke to James I when he surrendered the keys to the city:
"In the city of Valencia live Muslims, the nobles of my people, along with Christians and Jews. I hope you continue to govern in
