King of Aragon, Valencia and
Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelone
He was born at 5 of October of 1319, in Balaguer.
Pedro IV of Aragon was called The Ceremonious or also "that
of the Punyalet" - for a little dagger that he usually
carried-; he was Pedro IIth of Valencia and of Ampurias,
Ith of Majorca and Sardinia and IIIth of Barcelona; king of
Aragon, Valencia and count of Barcelone (1336-1387); king of
Majorca (1344-1387), duke of Athens (1380-1387) and Neopatria (1377-1387)
and count of Ampurias (1386-1387). His father was Alfonso IV
The Benign..
For the agreement of Madrid of 1339,
he helped Alfonso XI of Castile in the conquest of Algeciras
(1344) and in the attempt of conquering Gibraltar (1349).
When beginning his reign, the Kingdom
of Majorca was governed by his brother-in-law -and distant uncle-
Jaime III of Majorca, great-grandchild of Jaime I the
Conqueror. For the Concord of Perpiñán, the king of Majorca
was vassal of the Aragonese; vassalage that was only admitted by the
force immediately after the campaign of conquest of Alfonso Franco
(1285) that lasted until, for the treaty of Anagni (1295),
Jaime II gave up this sovereignty.
After facing for diverse questions,
Pedro IV declared the Majorcan king guilty of the public process
in his against (1343) and, in fulfillment of the judgment, he invaded
Majorca and defeated to the troops of Jaime III in Saint Ponça.
Later he conquered the Roussillon also.
After surrendering, Jaime III
were deprived of the throne, although was respected to him the lordship
of Montpellier, from where he tried to recover Cerdaña and
Conflent. He attacked Majorca (1349) and was defeated and conquered.
in a definitive way in the battle of Llucmajor in which Jaime
III died.
After death of Jaime III, Pedro
allowed that Jaime IV (prisoner till 1362) conserved this title
in a purely formal way, but on his death in 1375, the own Pedro
IV assumed the charge. He incorporated this way the Kingdom from Majorca
to the Crown of Aragon in a definitive way, situation that stayed
until the Ordinances of "New Plant".
He was a strong and hard monarch who
reorganized the court, the administration and the army, directing
his activities to increase the real power inside his kingdom and to
increase his domains in the Mediterranean Sea, thing that managed
with the expedition of the almogavars, after these conquered the duchies
of Athens and Neopatria.
He defeated to the union of the noblemen
in Épila; supported Enrique de Trastámara against Pedro
I de Castilla; snatched from his brother-in-law Jaime III
of Majorca the Roussillon and tried the incorporation of Sicily to
his kingdom.
In 1347 and 1348 he had to suffocate
the riot of the Union of Aragon, merged to the Union of Valencia
and directed by his stepbrother the Infante Fernando de Aragón,
who was not accepting that had been nominated heiress of the crown
his elder daughter, Constance of Aragon, since at this moment no son
male she had.
The black pest provoked the death of
the queen Leonor de Portugal (1348) who Pedro had married
one year earlier. To be widowed, he contracted new marriage with Leonor
of Sicily, with who he had three children: Juan, Martín
and Leonor, wife of Juan I of Castile.
In 1351 he entered war against Genoa,
supporting Venice, since the Genoeses were promoting riots in Sardinia.
The Genoeses occupied the Alguer, from which were expelled by the
Catalans in 1354. The city was repopulated later with Catalans, what
explains that the Sardinian city should be still nowadays catalan-talking.
Pedro IV had to suffocate a riot of Arboreal in the island
between 1364 and 1386 also.
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By the same way faced Peter I Cruel
of Castile in the acquaintance like "war of two Pedros". Peter
I wanted to recover the territories of Murcia that had gone
to the Kingdom of Valencia. The conflict ended with the Almazán
peace in 1375 without winners or conquered. The disasters of this
war joined the black pest and other natural disasters. as the drought
or the plagues of lobsters.
During his reign the Generality was
instituted, in the Spanish Parliament celebrated in Barcelona,
Villafranca del Panadés and Cervera in 1358-1359. Castile
had invaded Aragon and Valencia what gave place to warlike
diverse confrontations that caused big expenses to the crown. That's
why, the Spanish Parliament designated twelve deputies with executive
attributions in fiscal matter, as well as a few "listeners of accounts"
that were controlling the administration under the authority of Berenguer
de Cruïlles, considered like the first President of the Generality.
Pedro IV of Aragon who was entitled
himself Pedro Third, told to canonize the ceremony of the coronation
of the kings from Aragon in Aragonese language "Ordinacion
feyta por el muyt alto e muyt excellent Princep e Senyor el Senyor
Don Pedro tercero Rey dAragon, de la manera como los Reyes dAragon
se faran consagrar e ellos mismos se coronaran". He ordered
to create the Real Sepulchers of the monastery of Poblet.
He married in 1338 María of Navarrese
(1326–1347), kings' daughter of Navarrese - Felipe III and
Juana II. Descendant:
Constanza (1343 - 1363), married
in 1361 Federico III of Sicily.
Juana (1344 - 1385), married
in 1373 Juan I of Ampurias.
María (1345 - 1348).
Pedro (1347).
In 1347 he married Leonor of
Portugal (1328 - 1348), daughter of the king of Portugal Alfonso
IV. She died the following year by the Black Pest, without descendant.
In 1349 he married Leonor of
Sicily (1325-1375), daughter of the king Pedro II of Sicily. Descendant:
Juan I (1350-1396).
Martín I (1356-1410).
Leonor (1358-82), married with
the king Juan I of Castile. She was the mother Fernando
I of Antequera.
In 1377 he married Sibyl of Fortiá
(1350-1406), daughter of the noble of the Ampurdán Berenguer
of Fortiá. Descendant:
Alfonso (born in 1378; he died
young)..
Isabel (1380–1424) that married
future pretender Jaime II of Urgel.
Pedro IV of Aragon who was crowned
in 1336, died in Barcelona January 5 1387, being 67 years old.
His funeral was carried out in Royal Sepulchers of the monastery of
Poblet.
His successor will be Juan I.
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