THE territories of the Kingdom of Valencia were conquered by Catalonia-Aragon in stages. A small part of the Muslim Kingdom of Valencia north of the river Xúcar or Júcar was conquered as early as 1151. In 1238-44 the rest of Valencia was conquered and the Crusading Kingdom of Valencia was established as the third major component of the Crown of Aragon. Part of the Kingdom of Murcia was annexed to the Crown of Aragon after final agreement was reached in 1305. Alicante, Eiche, and Oriola remained permanently in the Crown of Aragon. Jewish inter-communal organization in Valencia was influenced by these political developments.

THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN COMMUNITIES

The way in which political development occurred in Valencia led to the emergence of two regional inter-communal frameworks. Following the annexation of the northern part of the Kingdom of Murcia in 1296 the Valencian communities were grouped in two separate structures. The dividing line was the river Xúcar, but this was only a border in very general terms, as some Jewish communities and settlements south of the river belonged to the northern group. These communities, which included Jativa, Gandia, and Denia, were in the region that was conquered by 1244, fifty years prior to the renewed expansion in 1296. This division between the Valencian communities was parallel to the administrative division of the kingdom.

The regional inter-communal organizations of the north and south appeared for the first time in 1302. The division became a permanent feature after the treaty between Castile and the Crown of Aragon was signed in 1305. The two groups paid their taxes and subsidies separately. The earliest list of the communities in the two regions dates to 1274. The northern communities were headed by the aljama of Valencia. Alcira, south of the river, and Morella, San Mateo, Castellón de la Plana, Onda, Villareal, Burriana, Segorbe, Liria, Gandia, and Denia, all north of the river, belonged to the northern group. The southern communities included those of northern Murcia, annexed to the Crown of Aragon in 1296, Elche, Oriola, Ella, and Alicante, as well as Játiva, Gandia, and other Jewish settlements in southern Valencia. (During a certain part of the period, Jativa and Gandia were part of the northern communities.)