Kingdom of Majorca
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Kingdom of Mallorca | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1276–1715 | |||||||||
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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 The Kingdom of Majorca in the 13th and 14th centuries | |||||||||
| Status | Vassal state of the Crown of Aragon (until 1344) Part of the Crown of Aragon (1344–1715) | ||||||||
| Capital | Palma and Perpignan | ||||||||
| Common languages | Catalan | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism (official)[1] Islam Judaism | ||||||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1276 | ||||||||
| 1715 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Spain France | ||||||||
The Kingdom of Mallorca[2] was an insular realm off the east coast of modern day Spain, which included the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The islands were conquered from the Almohad Caliphate by James I of Aragon, and were integrated in the Crown of Aragon. The king became known as James the Conqueror due to the Conquest of Mallorca.
When James I died in 1276, he divided his territories between his three surviving sons. Peter, the eldest, succeeded his father in the mainland as Peter III of Aragon or Peter the Great. The Kingdom of Mallorca passed to the younger son James, who reigned as James II of Mallorca.
After 1279, Peter III of Aragon decreed that the King of Mallorca was to be a vassal of the King of Aragon. Naturally, this led to conflict between the two brothers. Finally, in 1344, the Kingdom of Mallorca was invaded by King Peter IV of Aragon and brought under the Crown of Aragon. It remained a separate Kingdom, but with the same King, until its dissolution in 1715 by the Nueva Planta decrees.
History
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The legacy of James I included the creation of a strategic Mediterranean enclave, including territories between two large kingdoms, the Capetians of France and the Crown of Aragon, which were in constant conflict at the time. Conscious of the fragility of the Kingdom of Mallorca, James I undertook the conquest of Cerdanya to unify the new kingdom. He also entered into negotiations to arrange the marriage of his son James to Beatrice of Savoy, daughter of Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy. Neither plan was successful.
The King of Mallorca, James II initially tried to remain independent of the Aragonese crown. The weakness of the Mallorcan state, lacking any parliament or other unifying institutions, however, brought it close to collapse. In 1279, the Mallorcan monarch reconciled and recognized the King of Aragon as his overlord. The resulting Treaty of Perpignan re-established the centralised state that existed before the death of James I.
At this point, James II of Mallorca found himself in the awkward position of opposing his overlord, having allied himself with Pope Martin IV and the French. Alfonso, son of the Aragonese king, invaded the realm of his uncle and conquered the island of Mallorca in 1286. Some 10 years later, a new treaty - the Treaty of Anagni - ordered the return of the islands to King James II of Mallorca.
In 1289, Alfonso III established the Military Order of the Collar, with the sole purpose of defending the Kingdom of Majorca.[3] This later became an chivalric knighthood of the Royal House of Aragon.
On the death of James II in 1324, his son Sancho succeeded him. Relations between Aragon and Mallorca were strained: despite the Treaty of Anagni, the descendants of Alfonso had not renounced their claim to the Mallorcan throne. In 1325, deep in debt from his invasion of Sardinia, Sancho agreed to appoint the kings of Aragon as his heirs to the crown of Mallorca.
While this act may have solved the problem of succession, the kingdom was plunged into a severe financial crisis. Mallorca was forced to develop policies similar to those of Aragon. The war against the Republic of Genoa (1329–1336) resulted in the loss of various overseas markets. It was necessary to impose new taxes and fines, which were levied on the Jewish community; despite this, the financial crisis continued.
In 1341, Peter IV of Aragon broke off relations with the Kingdom of Mallorca as a prelude to invasion. In May 1343, Peter IV invaded the Balearic Islands and followed that in 1344 with the invasions of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya. James III of Mallorca was left with only his French possessions. Selling these to the King of France, in 1349 James III set out to reconquer his kingdom. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Llucmajor on 25 October 1349. From then on, the Kingdom of Mallorca remained in personal union with the Crown of Aragon.
Fall of Mallorca
[edit]The extinction of the Kingdom of Mallorca was inevitable given the conflicts by which it was affected: the Hundred Years War between France and England; the War with the Benimerines, which involved Castile and the Crown of Aragon as well as attempts by the Genoese to make the Balearics a satellite state. The Kingdom of Mallorca, which had bonds of vassalage with the crowns of France (through Montpellier) and Aragon, could not remain neutral during the conflicts. In addition, increased taxes to fund the kingdom's treasury during its neutrality caused substantial unrest.
The Kingdom of Mallorca continued for nearly another four hundred years in personal union with the Crown of Aragon, retaining its own viceroy and political identity. However, during the War of the Spanish Succession the Crown of Aragon mostly backed the claims of the Archduke Charles and with his defeat the victorious Philip V of Spain abolished the kingdom via the Nueva Planta decrees in 1715.
Geography
[edit]The kingdom included the Balearic Islands: Mallorca, Menorca,[4] Ibiza and Formentera. The king was also lord of the mainland counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya, and the territories James I kept in Occitania: the signory of Montpellier, the viscountcy of Carlat in Auvergne, and the barony of Aumelas, contiguous with Montpellier.
Monarchs of Majorca
[edit]| Pretender | Portrait | Birth | Marriages | Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James I 1231–1276 |  | 2 February 1208 Montpellier son of Peter II of Aragon and Marie of Montpellier | Eleanor 1221 1 child Violant of Hungary 1235 10 children Teresa Gil de Vidaure 2 children | 27 July 1276 Valencia aged 68 |
| James II 1276–1286 (first rule) |  | 1243 Montpellier son of James I of Aragon and Violant of Hungary | Esclaramunda of Foix 1275 6 children | 1311 Palma de Mallorca aged 68 |
| Alfonso I Alfonso III of Aragon 1286–1291 |  | 1265 Valencia son of Peter III of Aragon and Constance of Sicily | unmarried | 18 June 1291 Barcelona aged 27 |
| James III James II of Aragon 1291–1295 |  | 10 August 1267 Valencia son of Peter III and Constance of Sicily | Isabella of Castile 1 December 1291 No children Blanche of Anjou 29 October 1295 10 children Marie de Lusignan 15 June 1315 No children Elisenda de Montcada 25 December 1322 No children | 5 November 1327 Barcelona aged 60 |
| James II 1295–1311 (second rule) | | 1243 Montpellier son of James I of Aragon and Violant of Hungary | Esclaramunda of Foix 1275 6 children | 1311 Palma de Mallorca aged 68 |
| Sancho 1311–1324 |  | c. 1277 son of James II of Majorca and Esclaramunda of Foix[5] | Maria of Naples 20 September 1304 No children | 4 September 1324 Formiguera aged 48 |
| James III 1324–1344 |  | 5 April 1315 Catania son of Ferdinand of Majorca and Isabelle of Sabran | Constance of Aragon 2 children Violant of Vilaragut 10 November 1347 1 child | 25 October 1349 Llucmajor aged 34 |
Pretenders to the throne
[edit]Peter IV of Aragon annexed the kingdom in 1344 and the title was part of the Crown of Aragon, though disputed by pretenders.
| Pretender | Portrait | Birth | Marriages | Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James IV 1349–1375 |  | 1335 Montpellier son of James III of Majorca and Constance of Aragon | Joan I of Naples 26 September 1363 No children | 20 January 1375 Soria aged 40 |
| Isabella 1375–1406 |  | 1337 daughter of James III of Majorca and Constance of Aragon | John II of Montferrat 4 September 1358 5 children Konrad of Reischach 1375 1 child | 1406 France aged 69 |
Isabel's descendants did not continue the pretension.
References
[edit]- ↑ Hughes, Robert (2011). Barcelona. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 978-0307764614.
- ↑ Catalan: Regne de Mallorca IPA: [ˈreŋnə ðə məˈʎɔɾkə]
Spanish: Reino de Mallorca
Latin: Regnum Maioricae
French: Royaume de Majorque - ↑ "L'Ordine del Collare, Patrimonio della Ser.Ma Real Casa Paternò". Don Francesco Maria Giuseppe, 7th Duke of Carcaci – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ which was still under the rule of Muslims until 1231 when its sovereignty was surrendered to James I
- ↑ "Sancho I de Mallorca". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico. Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- David Abulafia. A Mediterranean Emporium: The Catalan Kingdom of Mallorca. ISBN 0-521-89405-0.
- Abulafia, David (1997). The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms, 1200–1500. ISBN 0-582-07820-2.
External links
[edit]- (In Spanish) Genealogía, Reyes y Reinos: Reino de Mallorca
- (In Spanish) La Conquista de Mallorca en mapas y cuadros
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