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James I of Aragon
Photo: Google Arts & Culture — QAGIaj-RXqZ15g, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons21

James I of Aragon

King of Aragon from 1213 to 1276

James I the Conqueror (Catalan: Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor; Aragonese: Chaime I o Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was the 11th King of Aragon, 38th Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and King of Valencia from 1238 to 1276. His long reign of 62 years is not only the longest of any Iberian monarch, but one of the longest monarchical reigns in history, ahead of Hirohito of Japan but remaining behind Elizabeth II of Britain, Queen Victoria of Britain, Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, and King Louis XIV of France.2

From Wikipedia’s article on James I of Aragon (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Feb 9, 1208, died Aug 3, 1276.1

About

King James I saw the expansion of the Crown of Aragon in three directions: Languedoc to the north, the Balearic Islands to the southeast, and Valencia to the south. By a treaty with Louis IX of France, he achieved the renunciation of any possible claim of French suzerainty over the County of Barcelona and the other Catalan counties, while he renounced northward expansion and taking back the once Catalan territories in Occitania and vassal counties loyal to the County of Barcelona, lands that were lost by his father Peter II of Aragon in the Battle of Muret during the Albigensian Crusade and annexed by the Kingdom of France, and then decided to turn south. His great part in the Reconquista was similar in Mediterranean Spain to that of his contemporary Ferdinand III of Castile in Andalusia. One of the main reasons for this formal renunciation of most of the once Catalan territories in Languedoc and Occitania, and any expansion into them, is that he was raised by the Knights Templar Crusaders, who had defeated his father, who was fighting for the Pope alongside the French. It was thus effectively forbidden for him to try to maintain the traditional influence of the Count of Barcelona that previously existed in Occitania and Languedoc.

As a legislator and organiser, he occupies a high place among the European kings. King James I compiled the Llibre del Consolat de Mar, which governed maritime trade and helped establish Aragonese supremacy in the western Mediterranean. He was an important figure in the development of the Catalan language, sponsoring Catalan literature and writing a quasi-autobiographical chronicle of his reign: the Llibre dels fets.

From Wikipedia’s article on James I of Aragon, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

James was born at Montpellier as the only son of Peter II of Aragon and Marie of Montpellier. As a child, James was made a pawn in the power politics of Provence, where his father was engaged in struggles helping the Cathar heretics of Albi against the Albigensian Crusade led by Simon IV de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who were trying to exterminate them. Peter endeavoured to placate the northern Crusaders by arranging a marriage between his two-year-old son James and Simon's daughter, Amicie de Montfort. He entrusted the boy to be educated in Montfort's care in 1211, but was soon forced to take up arms against him, dying at the Battle of Muret on 12 September 1213. Montfort would willingly have used James as a means of extending his own power had not the Aragonese appealed to Pope Innocent III, who insisted that Montfort surrender him. James was handed over to the papal legate Peter of Benevento at Carcassonne in May or June 1214.

James was then sent to Monzón, where he was entrusted to the care of Guillem de Montredó, the head of the Knights Templar in Aragon and Provence; the regency meanwhile fell to his great-uncle Sancho, Count of Roussillon, and his son, the king's cousin, Nuño. The kingdom was given over to confusion until, in 1217, the Templars and some of the more loyal nobles brought the young king to Zaragoza.

In 1221, he was married to Eleanor, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile. The next six years of his reign were full of rebellions on the part of the nobles. By the Peace of Alcalá of 31 March 1227, the nobles and the king came to terms.

From Wikipedia’s article on James I of Aragon (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: warrior, politician, ruler.13

  • 1242 to 1276Count of Roussillon12
  • 1238 to 1276King of Valencia12
  • 1234 to 1276Count of Urgel12
  • 1230 to 1276King of Majorca12
  • 1213 to 1276Lord of Montpellier12
  • 1213 to 1276King of Aragon12
  • 1213 to 1276Count of Barcelona12
  • 1213 to 1276Monarch of the Crown of Aragon12
  • Date not recordedFounded Municipal Archive of Valencia3
  • Date not recordedFounded Mayor of Mallorca4
  • Date not recordedFounded Fira d'Agost, Xàtiva5
  • Date not recordedFounded la Ral6
More of their career (5)
  • Date not recordedFounded Villarreal7
  • Date not recordedFounded Studium Generale of Montpellier8
  • Date not recordedFounded Gran i General Consell9
  • Date not recordedFounded Lleida City Council10
  • Date not recordedFounded Casa de Ganaderos de Zaragoza11

Known for: Llibre dels fets.14

Personal life

  • BornFeb 9, 1208, Montpellier15
  • DiedAug 3, 1276, Valencia16
  • CitizenshipCrown of Aragon17
  • ResidenceMonzón Castle18
  • SpousesAurembiaix19; Christina of Norway, Infanta of Castile19; Eleanor of Castile 1221 to 122919; Violant of Hungary 1235 to 125119; Teresa Gil de Vidaure 1255 to 126519

James first married, in 1221, Eleanor, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England. Though he later had the marriage annulled, his one son by her was declared legitimate:

Alfonso (1229–1260), married Constance of Béarn, Viscountess of Marsan

In 1235, James remarried to Yolanda, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary by his second wife Yolanda of Courtenay. They had numerous children:

Yolanda, also known as Violant, (1236–1301), married Alfonso X of Castile

Constance (1239–1269), married Manuel of Castile, son of Ferdinand III

Peter III (1240–1285), successor in Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia

James II (1243–1311), successor in Balearics and Languedoc

Ferdinand (1245–1250)

Sancha (1246 – c. 1275), possible carer at the ospital de Acre, died in Acre.

Isabella (1248–1271), married Philip III of France

Maria (1248–1267), nun

Sancho (1250–1275), Archbishop of Toledo

Eleanor (born 1251, died young)

James married thirdly Teresa Gil de Vidaure, but only by a private document, and left her when (as he claimed) she developed leprosy.

James (c. 1255–1285), lord of Xèrica

Peter (1259–1318), lord of Ayerbe

The children in the third marriage were recognised in his last will as being in the line of succession to the throne, should the senior lines fail.

James also had several lovers, both during and after his marriages, and fathered several illegitimate sons.

By Blanca d'Antillón:

Fernán Sánchez (or Fernando Sánchez) (1240–1275), Baron of Castro

By Berenguela Fernández, daughter of Alfonso of Molina:

Pedro Fernández, Baron of Híjar

By Elvira Sarroca:

Jaume Sarroca (born 1248), Bishop of Huesca from 1273 to 1290

From Wikipedia’s article on James I of Aragon (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

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