Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This book examines the rise and evolution of the taifa of Denia as a case study for understanding the construction of medieval maritime states in the Mediterranean. It explores how its rulers, Mujāhid al-ʿĀmirī and his son ʿAlī, forged legitimacy through identity formation, maritime violence, and regional connectivity. It shows how Denia’s identity was negotiated through rulership, unfreedom, and cultural hybridity, and how violence functioned as both statecraft and economic extraction. At the same time, Denia’s entanglement in commercial, diplomatic, and intellectual networks positioned it as a key node linking the Islamic Mediterranean and the Latin West. The study emphasizes that Denia’s trajectory cannot be reduced to narratives of decline or simple religious conflict, but instead reveals a process of negotiation shaped by mobility, interdependence, and the fluid boundaries between public and private power. In doing so, it reframes Mediterranean history beyond Eurocentric paradigms and underscores the significance of Islamic maritime states within the wider medieval world.</jats:p>