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Peter IV of Aragon

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Peter IV
Peter IV, King of Aragon byGonzalo Pérez&Jaume Mateu(1427)
King of Aragon
(more...)
Reign24 January 1336 – 6 January 1387
Coronation1336 (Zaragoza)
PredecessorAlfonso IV
SuccessorJohn I
Born5 September 1319
Balaguer,Principality of Catalonia
Died6 January 1387(1387-01-06)(aged 67)
Barcelona,Principality of Catalonia
Spouses
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(m.1338; died 1347)​
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(m.1347; died 1348)​
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(m.1349; died 1375)​
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(m.1377)​
Issue
among others...
HouseBarcelona
FatherAlfonso IV of Aragon
MotherTeresa d'Entença
A Sardinianducat(or principat), also called anAlfonsino,of Peter IV's reign. Note the four bars representing theCrown of Aragon.

Peter IV[a](Catalan:Pere IV d'Aragó;Aragonese;Pero IV d'Aragón;5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), calledthe Ceremonious(Catalan:El Cerimoniós;Aragonese:el Ceremonioso), was from 1336 until his death theking of Aragon,Sardinia-Corsica,andValencia,andcount of Barcelona.In 1344, he deposedJames III of Majorcaand made himselfKing of Majorca.

His reign was occupied with attempts to strengthen the crown against theUnion of Aragonand other such devices of the nobility, with their near constant revolts, and with foreign wars, inSardinia,Sicily,theMezzogiorno,Greece,and theBalearics.His wars in Greece made himDuke of AthensandNeopatriain 1381.

Succession conflicts

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Coat of arms of Peter IV at the Royal Gate of Poblet Monastery

Peter was born atBalaguer,[1]the eldest son and heir ofAlfons IV,thenCount of Urgell,and his first wife,Teresa d'Entença.Peter was designated to inherit all of his father's title save that of Urgell, which went to his younger brotherJames.

Upon succeeding his father he called acortsinZaragozafor his coronation. He crowned himself, disappointing theArchbishop of Zaragozaand thus rejecting the surrenderPeter IIhad made to thePapacy,in an otherwise traditional ceremony. According to his own later reports, this act caused him some "distress".[1]He did, however, affirm the liberties and privileges of Aragon.[2]Also while he was at Zaragoza an embassy fromCastilehad met him and asked that he promise to uphold the donations of land his father had made to his stepmotherEleanor,but he refused to give a clear answer as to the legitimacy of the donations.[2]

After the festivities in Zaragoza, Peter began on his way toValenciato receive coronation there. En route he stopped atLleidato affirm theUsatgesandConstitutionsof thePrincipality of Cataloniaand receive the homage of his Catalan subjects. This offendedBarcelona,at which the ceremony had usually been performed, and the citizens of that city complained to the king, who claimed that Lleida was on his way to Valencia.[3]While in Valencia he decided on the case of his stepmother's inheritance, depriving her of income and outlawing her Castilian protector, Peter Ponce of León and Jérica.[2]However, Jérica had enough supporters within Peter's domains that Peter was unable to maintain his position and in 1338, through papal mediation, Jérica was reconciled to the king and Eleanor received her land and jurisdictional rights.[4]Peter was largely forced to capitulate by a new invasion fromMoroccoaimed at Castile and Valencia.

In 1338 he marriedMaria,second daughter ofPhilip IIIandJoan II of Navarre.[4]In May 1339 he allied withAlfonso XI of Castileagainst Morocco, but his contribution of a fleet had no effect at the pivotalBattle of Río Salado(October 1340).[3]

Conquest of Majorca

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Early on in his reign, a thorn in Peter's side had beenJames III of Majorca,his brother-in-law, the husband of his sisterConstance.James had twice postponed performing the ceremony of homage to Peter, his feudal overlord, and when he finally performed it in 1339 it was on his terms.[3]The rising economic star of Majorca, whose merchants were establishing independent markets and gaining trading privileges in the western Mediterranean, threatened the supremacy of Barcelona.[3]The gold coinage of Majorca and the diplomatic equality granted it by the powers of France and Italy irked Peter further, while James also allied withAbu Al-Hassan,the king of Morocco and Peter's enemy.[3]Peter's outrage, however, was given no outlet until 1341, when James, threatened with invasion by the French over disputed rights to theLordship of Montpellier,called on his suzerain Aragon for aid.[5][6]In order not to offend France nor to support James, Peter summoned the king of Majorca to acortat Barcelona, to which he knew he would not come, and when James or a representative of his failed to appear, Peter declared himself free from the obligations of an overlord to James.[5][6]

Peter then opened a legal process against James, with the intent of dispossessing him of his kingdom. He alleged that the circulation of James' coinage in theCounties of RoussillonandCerdagneto be an infringement on the royal right of monopoly of coinage.[5][6]This was open to question, considering the ancient customs of Roussillon and Cerdagne, but Peter was prepared to move forward anyway. The interference ofPope Clement VI,however, granted James a hearing in Barcelona in front of papal delegates.[5][6]Peter, for his part, spread rumours that James was seeking to capture him.[5][6]James, fearing that Peter would stoop to invading Majorca and seizing it by force, returned to the island to prepare its defence.[7]In February 1343 Peter declared James a contumacious vassal and his kingdom and lands forfeit.[5][7]

The legal process being terminated, Peter went to war, on the advice that the islanders were burdened by taxes and would readily rise in his support.[7]In May a fleet which had been blockadingAlgeciraslanded at Majorca and quickly defeated James' army at theBattle of Santa Ponça.[5][7]Peter received the submission of all theBalearicsand confirmed the privileges of the islands as they had been underJames I.[8]Though James sued for peace and Pope Clement attempted to mediate it, Peter returned to Barcelona prepared to invade Roussillon and Cerdagne.[5][7]After these were finally conquered in 1344 James surrendered on a safe conduct, only to find himself ignominiously reduced to the status of a petty lord.[5][7]In March Peter had declared his realm incorporated into the Crown of Aragon in perpetuity and ceremoniously had himself crowned its king.[7][8]

Military career

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Arms of Peter IV of Aragon.

By thePact of Madrid,Peter was constrained to aidAlfonso XI of Castilein his successful attack onAlgeciras(1344) and his failed attempt onGibraltar(1349) by defending against aMoroccancounterattack.

As Peter had no male issue, his brotherCount James of Urgellwas the presumptive heir to the Aragonese throne. Peter grew to mistrust the intentions of James over time. Peter decided that he would instead name his daughterConstanceas his heir presumptive notwithstanding the precedents established byJames IandAlfonso IVto exclude females from the throne. To this end, he demanded that James cede his post asprocuratorgeneral, a position which, by tradition, was reserved for the second in line to the Aragonese throne. James fled toZaragozawhere he gained the favor of certain nobles who wished to reassert their powers via the monarch. Peter eventually succumbed to the pressure to hold a cortes in Zaragoza where he made numerous concessions of royal authority to quell a rebellion he was not yet in a position to crush. One of such concessions was to revoke his attempt to name Constance as heir, and to restore James asprocuratorgeneral. To avert additional damage, Peter dissolved the corts on the premise that he had to address a crisis developing inSardinia.Not long thereafter, while Peter was inCatalonia,James suddenly died. Many suspected Peter of having arranged to have James poisoned. Deprived of their leader, the Union of Aragon was greatly weakened.

Venturing next toValencia,Peter encountered the nascentValencian Unionwhich had taken its cue from its counterpart in Aragon. AtMurviedro(Sagunt), Peter was forced to name his stepbrother Ferran as the newprocuratorgeneral. Additional concessions of royal authority were made to appease the Unionists. This time when he attempted to leave a bad situation, Peter was held under guard in Valencia as a prisoner of the Union. Suffering perhaps his greatest humility, he and his queen were forced to dance with the common folk to show his subservience. Ironically, his salvation was theBlack Death.Valencia was felled by this plague in May 1348, enabling Peter to escape amid the confusion. Assembling an army of increasingly powerful royalists in Aragon, Peter attacked the unionist forces at theBattle of Epilaon 21 July 1348. Peter won a complete victory. Proceeding to Saragossa, Peter executed only thirteen Union leaders. By fourteenth century standards, this was a great display of magnanimity. Not the same can be said for the fate of Valencia. After being persuaded not to burn the entire city and sow it with salt, many were executed. Of particular note, he had the bell that the Valencian Union rang to summon its meetings melted down. The molten metal from the bell was then poured down the throats of the Union leaders so that they "should taste its liquor."

In 1356, he engaged withPeter I of Castilein what was called the "War of the Two Peters".It ended in 1375 with the Treaty of Almazan, without a winner due to theBlack Deathand several natural disasters.

He conquered Sicily in 1377 but the possession was given to his son Martin.

Throughout his reign, Peter IV had frequent conflicts with the inquisitor general of Aragon,Nicolas Eymerich.

In 1349, James invaded Majorca, but was soundly defeated by Peter's troops at theBattle of Llucmajor,in which he died. After James' death, Peter allowedJames IV,his successor, to retain his royal title on purely formal terms until his death in 1375. After that date, Peter assumed the title. Majorca remained one of the component crowns of theCrown of Aragonuntil theNova Planta decrees.

Peter died inBarcelona,aged 67.

Generalitat

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At theCatalan Courtscelebrated atBarcelona,Vilafranca del PenedèsandCerverain 1358–1359, Peter instituted the Deputation of the General orGeneralitat.Castile had recently invaded Aragon and Valencia and the cortes decided to streamline the government by designating a dozen deputies to oversee the fiscal and material policies of the Crown. The first "President of the Generalitat" wasBerenguer de Cruïlles,Bishop of Girona(1359).

Toward the end of his reign (c. 1370) Peter ordered the compilation of theChronicle of Sant Joan de la Penyato record the historical basis for the authority of the crown.

Relationship with Jews

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According to historical record, Peter IV of Aragon and his Jewish physician had a friendlydisputationregarding the question of why the Jews were not allowed to drinkkosher winetouched by a Christian. Thereupon the physician had water brought to wash the king's feet, of which he then drank to demonstrate that the fear of impurity was not the reason of the prohibition.[9][10][11]

In 1350, in response to theblack plague,Peter IV ordered the mayor ofLleidato construct a new Jewish cemetery, as the existing one became overwhelmed by the number of new corpses.[12]

Marriage and children

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His first marriage, on 23 July 1338 inAlagón,was toMaria(1329 – 29 April 1347), daughter ofPhilip III of NavarreandJoan II of Navarre.[13]They had four children:

  • Constance(1343 – July 1363), who married KingFrederick III of Sicily.[14]
  • Joanna(7 November 1344 – 1385), who married Count John of Ampurias.
  • Maria (1345/6 – 3 June 1348).
  • Peter (born and died 28 April 1347).

His second marriage, on 15 November 1347 inBarcelona,was toEleanor(1328 – 29 October 1348), daughter ofAfonso IV of Portugal.She died one year later of theBlack Death.

His third marriage, on 27 August 1349 inValencia,was toEleanor(1325 – 20 April 1375), daughter ofPeter II of Sicily.[15]They had four children:

His last marriage, on 11 October 1377 inBarcelona,was toSibila(? – 4 or 24 November 1406), daughter of Bernat of Fortià and widow of Artal of Foces, who was previously his mistress. They had three children:

Notes

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  1. ^In other langes,Catalan:Pere,IPA:[ˈpeɾə];Aragonese:Pero,IPA:[ˈpeɾo];Spanish:Pedro,IPA:[ˈpeðɾo].In Catalan, he may also be nicknamedel del punyalet:"he of the little dagger".

References

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  1. ^abBisson 1986,p. 104
  2. ^abcChaytor 1933,p. 167
  3. ^abcdeBisson 1986,p. 105
  4. ^abChaytor 1933,p. 168
  5. ^abcdefghiBisson 1986,p. 106
  6. ^abcdeChaytor 1933,p. 170
  7. ^abcdefgChaytor 1933,p. 171
  8. ^abBisson 1986,p. 107
  9. ^Grätz, l.c. i. 12
  10. ^"DISPUTATIONS".jewishencyclopedia.JewishEncyclopedia.Retrieved9 February2015.
  11. ^Ben-Sasson, Haim Hillel."DISPUTATIONS AND POLEMICS".jewishvirtuallibrary.org.The Gale Group.Retrieved9 February2015.
  12. ^Veny i Clar, Joan (1971)."Regiment de Preservació de Pestilència" de Jacme d’Agramont(in Catalan). Tarragona: Excelentísima Diputación Provincal Tarragona. p. 30.
  13. ^Woodacre 2013,p. 68.
  14. ^Setton 1953,p. 645.
  15. ^abcHulme 1915,p. 561.

Bibliography

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toPeter IV of Aragon.
Peter IV of Aragon
Cadet branch of theHouse of Barcelona
Born:5 September 1319Died:6 January 1387
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Aragon,Valencia,
Sardinia and Corsica;
Count of Barcelona
1336–1387 		Succeeded by
Preceded by King of Majorca;
Count of RoussillonandCerdagne
1344–1387
Preceded by Duke of
AthensandNeopatras
1379–1387
With:Maria of Sicily 		Succeeded by
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