James II (Mallorca)

Jacob II

Jacob II of Mallorca ( Catalan : Jaume II de Mallorca ; * May 31, 1243 in Montpellier ; † May 29, 1311 in Mallorca ) came from the House of Barcelona and was King of Mallorca from 1276 until his death .

biography

Jacob was a younger son of King James I of Aragon and his wife Yolanda of Hungary . His father had conquered the Balearic Islands from the Moors in 1235 and has held the title of King of Mallorca ever since . According to the father's testament, Jacob was to receive the islands as well as the counties of Cerdanya and Rosselló and the rule of Montpellier as a sovereign kingdom. With this, however, Jacob got into a conflict of interest with his older brother, King Peter III. of Aragón , who did not accept the division of his father's property. Jakob could not hold his own against his brother for long and had to give up his independence in Perpinyà in 1279 and recognize Peter as his overlord. In 1283 he allied himself with France against his brother after Peter was excommunicated by Pope Martin IV as a result of the Sicilian Vespers . The crusade against Aragon , King Philip III. carried out by France , but failed in 1285 and Jacob had to accept the annexation of Rossellós and the Balearic Islands by Peter, who died in the same year. Peter's sons Alfonso III. and James II of Aragón intended to reunite Mallorca with Aragón, but the peace treaty of Anagni (1295) negotiated between Aragón, France and Naples ensured the continued existence of the Kingdom of Mallorca under the conditions of 1279.

Jacob gave up his policy against his nephew Jacob II of Aragon and from then on took care of the administration of his kingdom. He was considered a promoter of trade and science, including the philosopher Ramon Llull . He was also very active as a client. He had the Palace of the Kings of Mallorca built in Perpignan . In Palma he pushed ahead with the construction of the La Seu cathedral , in which he was also buried. In 1309, the Castell de Bellver was also completed.

Marriage and offspring

Jacob II was married since October 12, 1275 to Esclarmonde von Foix († after November 22, 1299), a daughter of Count Roger IV von Foix and the Brunissende von Cardonna. Your children were:

• Jakob ( Jaume ; * around 1274; † around 1330), gave up his claims in 1299 and became a Franciscan
• Sancho ( Sanç ; * 1277 in Montpellier, † September 4, 1324 in Formiguères ), King of Mallorca
• Ferdinand ( Ferran ; * 1278 in Perpignan; † beheaded in July 1316 in the Peloponnese )
• Isabella (* around 1280; † 1301)
  • ⚭ 1300 with Don Juan Manuel de Castilla († 1348), a grandson of King Ferdinand III. of Castile
• Sancha ( Sança ; * around 1285; † July 28, 1345 in Naples )
  • ⚭ 1304 with Robert of Anjou († 1343), King of Naples
• Philip ( Felip ; * around 1288; † around 1340/43 in Naples), abbot of St. Paul in Narbonne , regent of Mallorca

literature

• Ludwig Vones: Jacob II . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 5, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-7608-8905-0 , Sp. 282 f.

Remarks

1. ↑ Jacob II is occasionally referred to with the ordinal number "I.", if the first king of Mallorca, his father Jacob I of Aragón, is not included in the count.

predecessor	Office	successor
James I "the Conqueror" (James I of Aragón)	King of Mallorca 1276-1311	Sancho I. "the peaceful one"