Taifa of Valencia in the context of "Valencian Community"

For the majority of the Middle Ages, Valencia was a constituent part of larger polities. From the time of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, Valencia was controlled by the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus and the Emirate/Caliphate of Cordoba. Following the latter's collapse, Valencia became the seat of a Taifa state ruled by a succession of local dynasties from 1010 until it was conquered by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, in 1095. He ruled until his death, when his widow swore fealty to Castile, but was forced out in 1102 and Valencia fell back under the control of a Muslim Caliphate.

Again in the 1140s, Caliphate collapse led to the return of local rule, but following four changes of leadership in two years it fell under the control of neighboring Murcia, and later the Almohad Caliphate. A third time, in 1229, Valencia saw almost a decade of local rule before being conquered by Aragon in 1237. Valencia was reorganized into an administrative 'Kingdom of Valencia' within the Crown of Aragon, ruled by Governors appointed by the Aragonese monarch. This arrangement continued until the formal creation of the Crown of Spain and abolition of the previous administrative kingdoms by the Nueva Planta Decrees in 1714.

Alfonso VI (c. 1040/1041 – 1 July 1109), nicknamed the Brave (El Bravo) or the Valiant, was king of León (1065–1109), Galicia (1071–1109), and Castile (1072–1109).

After the conquest of Toledo in 1085, Alfonso proclaimed himself victoriosissimo rege in Toleto, et in Hispania et Gallecia (most victorious king of Toledo, and of Spain and Galicia). This conquest, along with El Cid's taking of Valencia would greatly expand the territory and influence of the Leonese/Castilian realm, but also provoked an Almoravid invasion that Alfonso would spend the remainder of his reign resisting. The Leonese and Castilian armies suffered decisive defeats in the battles of Sagrajas (1086), Consuegra (1097) and Uclés (1108), in the latter of which his only son and heir, Sancho Alfónsez, died, and Valencia was abandoned but Toledo remained part of an expanded realm that he passed to his daughter.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific as-Sayyid ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve into El Çid (Spanish: [el ˈθið], Old Spanish: [el ˈts̻id]), and the Spanish honorific El Campeador ("the Champion"). He was born in Vivar, a village near the city of Burgos.

As the head of his loyal knights, he came to dominate the Levante of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 11th century. He reclaimed the Taifa of Valencia from Moorish control for a brief period, ruling the Principality of Valencia from 17 June 1094 until his death in 1099. His wife, Jimena Díaz, inherited the city and maintained it until 1102 when it was reconquered by the Moors.