# Travis Bruce, "Constructing the Medieval Maritime State: Identity, Violence, and Connection in the Mediterranean" (Oxford UP, 2026)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-military-history-435149/travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-military-history-435149/travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026.md
Podcast: [New Books in Military History](https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-military-history-435149)
Published: 2026-08-23T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/military-history/
Audio file: https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/adebe220-0377-46b7-a4c7-0b19a9c05667/episodes/c25a4834-db0f-4747-a253-eca9f1b8eedc/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=adebe220-0377-46b7-a4c7-0b19a9c05667&awEpisodeId=c25a4834-db0f-4747-a253-eca9f1b8eedc&feed=TLBd5Iy4
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-military-history-435149/episodes/travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026
Duration seconds: 2313

## Resource

Constructing the Medieval Maritime State: Identity, Violence, and Connection in the Mediterranean (Oxford University Press, 2026) by Professor Travis Bruce explores how the small medieval kingdom of Denia in Spain became a powerful maritime state after the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate. Its rulers built authority, not only through war and seafaring raids but also by connecting Denia to wider Mediterranean trade, diplomacy, and culture. The rise and evolution of the taifa of Denia is a powerful case study for understanding the construction of medieval maritime states in the Mediterranean. Dr. Bruce situates Denia within the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate and explores how its rulers forged legitimacy through identity formation, maritime violence, and regional connectivity. Denia's identity was negotiated through rulership, unfreedom, and cultural hybridity, and violence — particularly predatory warfare and maritime jihad — 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 state'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. This narrative reframes Mediterranean history beyond Eurocentric paradigms and underscores the significance of Islamic maritime states within the wider medieval world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Ango…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-military-history-435149/episodes/travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-military-history-435149/travis-bruce-constructing-the-medieval-maritime-state-identity-violence-and-connection-in-the-mediterranean-oxford-up-2026.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.