James I (James the Conqueror), 1208–76, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1213–76), son and successor of Peter II. After a minority was disturbed by private wars among the nobles, James soon consolidated royal power and tried to create a new nobility dependent on him. He seized the Balearic Islands (1229–35) and Valencia (1238) from the Moors and helped Castile to recover control of Murcia after a Moorish rebellion (1266). A crusade to Palestine (1269) was unsuccessful. By the Treaty of Corbeil (1258) with Louis IX of France, James gave up several claims in S France, while the French king renounced his rights in Catalonia, derived from Charlemagne. James's own chronicle of his reign has been translated into English. He was succeeded in Aragón by his son Peter III. Another son was king of Majorca as James I.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Spanish and Portuguese History: Biographies