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Early life and reign until majority
James was then sent to Monzón, where he was entrusted to the care of William of Montredon, the head of the Knights Templar in Spain 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.[3] In 1221, he was married to Eleanor, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Leonora of England. 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.[4] Acquisition of UrgelIn 1228, James faced the sternest opposition from a vassal yet. Guerao de Cabrera had occupied the County of Urgel in opposition to Aurembiax, the heiress of Armengol VIII, who had died without sons in 1208. While Aurembiax' mother, Elvira, had made herself a protegée of James' father, on her death (1220), Guerao had occupied the county and displaced Aurembiax, claiming that a woman could not inherit.
Relations with France and NavarreImage:JaumeI.jpg James I of Aragon. From 1230 to 1232, James negotiated with Sancho VII of Navarre, who desired his help against his nephew and closest living male relative, Theobald IV of Champagne. James and Sancho negotiated a treaty whereby James would inherit Navarre on the old Sancho's death, but when this did occur, the Navarrese nobless instead elevated Theobald to the throne (1234), and James disputed it. Pope Gregory IX was required to intervene.[6] In the end, James accepted Theobald's succession. James endeavoured to form a state straddling the Pyrenees, to counterbalance the power of France north of the Loire. As with the much earlier Visigothic attempt, this policy was victim to physical, cultural, and political obstacles. As in the case of Navarre, he was too wise to launch into perilous adventures. By the Treaty of Corbeil, signed in May 1258, he frankly withdrew from conflict with Louis IX of France and was content with the recognition of his position, and the surrender of antiquated and illusory French claims to the overlordship of Catalonia. ReconquistaAfter his false start at uniting Aragon with the Kingdom of Navarre through a scheme of mutual adoption, James turned to the south and the Mediterranean Sea, where he conquered the Balearic Islands (Majorca 1229; Minorca 1232; Ibiza 1235) and where Valencia capitulated 28 September 1238. During his remaining two decades after Corbeil, James warred with the Moors in Murcia, on behalf of his son-in-law Alfonso X of Castile. On 26 March 1244, the two monarchs signed the Treaty of Almizra to determine the zones of their expansion into Andalusia so as to prevent squabbling between them. Specifically, it defined the borders of the newly-created Kingdom of Valencia. James signed it on that date, but Alfonso did not affirm it until much later. According to the treaty, all lands south of a line from Biar to Villajoyosa through Buscot were reserved for Castile. Patronage of art, learning, and literatureJames built and consecrated the Cathedral of Lérida, which was constructed in a style transitional between Romanesque and Gothic with little influence from Moorish styles.[7] James was a patron of the University of Montpellier, which owed much of its development to his impetus.[8] He also founded a studium at Valencia in 1245 and received privileges for it from Pope Innocent IV, but it did not develop as splendidly.[9] In 1263, James presided over a debate in Barcelona between the Jewish rabbi Nahmanides and Pablo Christiani, a prominent converso. James was the first great sponsor and patron of vernacular Catalan literature. Indeed, he may himself be called "the first of the Catalan prose writers."[10] James wrote or dictated at various stages a chronicle of his own life, Llibre dels fets in Catalan, which is the first self-chronicle of a Christian king. As well as a fine example of autobiography the "Book of Deeds" expresses concepts of the power and purpose of monarchy; examples of loyalty and treachery in the feudal order; the growth of national sentiment based on homeland, language, and culture; and medieval military tactics. James also wrote the Libre de la Saviesa or "Book of Wisdom." He book contains proverbs from various authors going back as far as King Solomon and as close to his own time as Albert the Great. It even contains maxims from the medieval Arab philosophers and from the Apophthegmata Philosophorum of Honein ben Ishak, which was probably translated at Barcelona during his reign. A Hebrew tranlator by the name of Jehuda was employed at James court during this period.[11] Though James was himself a prose writer and sponsored mostly prose works, he had an appreciation of verse.[12] In consequence of the Albigensian Crusade, many troubadours were forced to flee souther France and many found refuge in Aragon and Catalonia. Notwithstanding his early patronage of poetry, by the influence of his confessor Ramon de Penyafort, James brought the Inquisition into his realm in 1233 to prevent any vernacular translation of the Bible.[13] SuccessionThe favour James showed his illegitimate offspring led to protest from the nobles, and to conflicts between his sons legitimate and illegitimate. When one of the latter, Fernán Sánchez, who had behaved with gross ingratitude and treason to his father, was slain by the legitimate son Peter, the old king recorded his grim satisfaction. At the close of his life, James divided his states between his sons by Yolanda of Hungary: the aforementioned Peter received the Hispanic possessions on the mainland and James, the Kingdom of Majorca (including the Balearic Islands and the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya) and the Lordship of Montpellier. The division inevitably produced fratricidal conflicts. In 1276, the king fell very ill at Alzira and resigned his crown, intending to retire to the monastery of Poblet, but he died at Valencia on 27 July. Marriages and childrenJames first married, in 1221, Eleanor, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Leonora of England. Though he later had the marriage annulled, his one son by her was declared legitimate:
In 1235, James remarried to Yolanda, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary by his second wife Yolande de Courtenay. She bore him numerous children:
James married thirdly Teresa Gil de Vidaure, but only by a private document, and left her when she developed leprosy. James also had several lovers, both during and after his marriages, and a few bore him illegitimate sons. By Blanca d'Antillón:
By Berenguela Fernández:
By Elvira Sarroca:
Notes
References
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