James III of Majorca

James III (5 April 1315 – 25 October 1349), known as James the Rash (or the Unfortunate), was King of Majorca from 1324 to 1344. He was the son of Ferdinand of Majorca and Isabella of Sabran.

James III
James III depicted in the Leges palatinae
King of Majorca Count of Roussillon and Cerdanya
Reign	4 September 1324–c. 1344
Lord of Montpellier
Reign	4 September 1324–25 October 1349
Prince of Achaea
Reign	c. 1331–25 October 1349
Born	5 April 1315 Catania, Kingdom of Sicily
Died	25 October 1349 (aged 34) Llucmajor, Kingdom of Majorca
Burial	Valencia Cathedral, Spain
Spouse	Constance of Aragon Violante of Vilaragut
Issue	James IV of Majorca Isabella of Majorca
House	Barcelona
Father	Ferdinand of Majorca
Mother	Isabella of Sabran

Arms of James III of Majorca

Life

James was born in Catania, Sicily. Margaret of Villehardouin, James's maternal grandmother, fought to reclaim the Principality of Achaea from the Angevins of the Kingdom of Naples. Isabella died soon after the childbirth, and James was proclaimed Prince of Achaea under the guardianship of his father. Ferdinand invaded the Morea in an effort to bring the principality under his control, but was killed in the Battle of Manolada in 1316. Despite this setback, from 1331 the feudal lords of Achaea began to recognise the rights of James, and in 1333 the recognition was total, though the Angevin heirs of Philip I of Taranto continued to press their claim.

Upon the death of his uncle Sancho in 1324, James inherited the Kingdom of Majorca. His uncle Philip ruled the kingdom as regent until 1329. In order to establish friendly relations with the Crown of Aragon, he married Constance, daughter of Alfonso IV of Aragon. Though the kings of Majorca traditionally swore an oath of fealty to the kings of Aragon, James claimed that no king could have lordship over any other king. He patronised the University of Montpellier, which lay within his continental domains, and the legal scholars of that institution defended his rights as king.

On 9 May 1337 James promulgated the Leges palatinae, an elaborate code for his court and the first of its kind.[1] For it he commissioned a fine illuminated manuscript in an Italian style, which he himself preserved when he lost his throne. He brought it to the Roman curia, then sold it to Philip VI of France.

In 1342 James refused to render the oath of fealty to his cousin Peter IV of Aragon. He was supported, however, by the doctors of the University of Montpellier and by Aragonese troubadour, Thomàs Périz de Fozes, who wrote a poem in his defence. In a short war he was driven out of Majorca by Peter, who reannexed the Balearic Islands to the Crown of Aragon. James died at the Battle of Llucmajor on 25 October 1349 while trying to retake the island.

Children

James and his first wife, Constance of Aragon, had two children:

• James IV of Majorca (c. 1336–20 January 1375). Married Joanna I of Naples.
• Isabella of Majorca (c. 1337–c. 1406). Married John II of Montferrat.

James and his second wife, Violante of Vilaragut, had one child:

• Esclaramunda of Majorca (unknown). Died shortly after her birth.

Ancestry

James's ancestors in three generations

James III of Majorca	Father: Ferdinand of Majorca	Paternal grandfather: James II of Majorca	Paternal great-grandfather: James I of Aragon
			Paternal great-grandmother: Violant of Hungary
		Paternal grandmother: Esclaramunda of Foix	Paternal great-grandfather: Roger IV of Foix
			Paternal great-grandmother: Brunissenda of Cardona
	Mother: Isabella of Sabran	Maternal grandfather: Isnard of Sabran	Maternal great-grandfather: Unknown
			Maternal great-grandmother: Unknown
		Maternal grandmother: Margaret of Villehardouin	Maternal great-grandfather: William of Villehardouin
			Maternal great-grandmother: Anna Komnene Doukaina

References

1. Malcolm Vale (2004), The Princely Court: Medieval Courts and Culture in North-West Europe, 1270–1380, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-926993-9), 202–3.

Bibliography

• David Abulafia (1994), A Mediterranean Emporium: The Catalan Kingdom of Majorca (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-89405-0.
• Thomas N. Bisson (2000), The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
• G. Kerscher, The first European ceremonial manuscript—Leges Palatinae—and its relevance for the Mediterranean area, University of Trier.
• Marta Vanlandingham (2002), Transforming the State: King, Court and Political Culture in the Realms of Aragon (1213–1387), (BRILL, ISBN 90-04-12743-7).