Photo: Manuel Aguirre y Monsalbe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons¹⁴

James II of Aragon

Ruler of Aragon, Valencia, Barcelona and Sicily (1267-1327)

James II (Catalan: Jaume II; Aragonese: Chaime II; Spanish: Jaime II; 10 April 1267 or c. 1264 – 2 or 5 or 3 November 1327), called the Just, was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327.²

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

Born Aug 17, 1267, died Nov 10, 1327.¹

About

He was also the King of Sicily (as James I) from 1285 to 1295 and the King of Majorca from 1291 to 1295. From 1297 he was nominally the King of Sardinia and Corsica, but he only acquired the island of Sardinia by conquest in 1324. His full title for the last three decades of his reign was "James, by the grace of God, king of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica, and count of Barcelona" (Latin: Iacobus Dei gratia rex Aragonum, Valencie, Sardinie, et Corsice ac comes Barchinone).

Born at Valencia, James was the second son of Peter III of Aragon and Constance II of Sicily. He succeeded his father in Sicily in 1285 and his elder brother Alfonso III in Aragon and the rest of the Spanish territories, including Majorca, in 1291. In 1295 he was forced to cede Sicily to the papacy, after which it was seized by his younger brother, Frederick III, in 1296. Two years later rom Pope Boniface VIII returned the island to the king of Majorca along with rights to Sardinia and Corsica. On 20 January 1296, Boniface issued the bull Redemptor mundi granting James the titles of Standard-bearer, Captain General and Admiral of the Roman church.

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

Companies

University of LleidaFounder¹³

Career

Occupation: ruler, composer, poet, troubadour.⁸

1324 to 1327King of Sardinia⁷
1291 to 1295King of Majorca⁷
1291 to 1327Monarch of the Crown of Aragon⁷
Date not recordedFounded University of Lleida³
Date not recordedFounded Monastery of Pedralbes⁴
Date not recordedFounded Studium Generale de Lleida⁵
Date not recordedFounded Order of Montesa⁶
Date not recordedKing of Sicily⁷

Personal life

BornAug 17, 1267, Valencia⁹
DiedNov 10, 1327, Barcelona¹⁰
CitizenshipCrown of Aragon¹¹
SpousesIsabella of Castile, Queen of Aragon 1291 to 1295¹²; Blanche of Anjou 1295 to 1310¹²; Marie of Lusignan, Queen of Aragon 1315 to 1319¹²; Elisenda of Montcada 1321 to 1327¹²

Marriages, concubines and children

James married four times:

— Isabella of Castile, Viscountess of Limoges, daughter of Sancho IV of Castile and his wife María de Molina. The wedding took place in the city of Soria, on 1 December 1291 when the bride was only 8 years old. The marriage, which was never consummated, was dissolved and annulled after Pope Boniface VIII refused to granted a dispensation for the marriage.

— Blanche of Anjou, daughter of his family's rival Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary. They married in the city of Villabertran, on 29 October or 1 November 1295. They had several children:

James (b. 29 September 1296 – d. Tarragona, July 1334). James renounced his right to the throne in 1319 to become a monk. He refused to consummate his marriage to Eleanor of Castile, who later become the second wife of his brother Alfonso.

Alfonso IV of Aragon (1299 – 24 January 1336). He became the King of Aragon in 1327 and ruled until his death. He married twice: first Teresa d'Entença and then Eleanor of Castile after his first wife died.

Maria (b. 1299 – d. as a nun in Sijena, 1347), wife of Peter, son of Sancho IV of Castile.

Constance (b. Valencia, 1 April 1300 – d. Castillo de Garcia Munoz, 19 September 1327), wife of Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena, nephew of Alfonso X of Castile.

John (b. 1304 – d. Pobo, Zaragoza, 19 August 1334). John became the first Archbishop of Toledo and Tarragona in 1318, and Patriarch of Alexandria in 1328.

Isabella of Aragon (b. 1305 – d. Styria, 12 July 1330), wife of Frederick I of Austria.

Peter (b. 1305 – d. Pisa, 4 November 1381), Count of Ribagorza, Empúries and Prades. Peter married Joan, daughter of Gaston I of Foix.

Blanche (b. 1307 – d. Barcelona, 1348), Prioress of Sixena.

Ramon Berenguer (b. August 1308 – d. a priest at Barcelona, 1366), Count of Empúries and Baron of Ejerica. Ramon married Blanche, daughter of Philip I of Taranto, and then Maria, daughter of James of Aragon. His daughter Joan married Fernando Manuel, son of Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena

Violante (b. Barcelona, October 1310 – d. Pedrola, 19 July 1353). She first married Philip, Despot of Romania, son of Philip I of Taranto. Her second marriage was to Lope de Luna, Lord of Segorbe.

— Marie of Lusignan (1273 – April 1319 at Tortosa, buried at Barcelona), daughter of the King Hugh III of Cyprus. They married by proxy in Santa Sophia, Nicosia, on 15 June 1315, and in person in the city of Girona, on 27 November 1315. This marriage was childless.

— Elisenda de Montcada, daughter of Pedro I de Montcada, Lord of Altona and Soses, and wife Gisela d'Abarca. They married in the city of Tarragona, on 25 December 1322. This marriage was childless, too, and, after the king's death, she entered the Poor Clares Monastery of Pedralbes as a nun, where she died on 19 June 1364.

In addition to his legitimate offspring, James had three natural children born with Sicilian women:

— With Gerolda:

Sancho (b. Sicily, 1287 – d. young?).

Napoleón (b. Sicily, 1288 – m. 1338), Lord of Joyosa Guarda (Gioiosaguardia) and Acquafredda (in Sardinia); married a daughter of a Majorcan named Guillermo Robert.

— With Lucrecia:

James (b. Mazzara, 1291 – d. 1350), Vicario di Cagliari (1317–1341); married firstly with Jaumetta Guerau, from Majorca, and secondly with Puccia, a Sardinian woman.