James the Pawn

James I of Aragon (2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was used by his father as a political tool. He was the only child of Peter II of Aragon (shown here in the only contemporary image of him), and therefore was Peter's only opportunity to make a political alliance with someone through marrying off a child.

In the case of James, the marriage was supposed to be with Amicie de Montfort, the daughter of Simon IV de Montfort, the 5th Earl of Leicester. This was not a simple alliance, though. Simon was leading the Albigensian Crusade in an attempt to exterminate Catharism. Peter, on the other hand, was supporting the Cathars, who believed in leading a "pure" life, rejecting materialism. Unfortunately for the Catholic Church, they also rejected the idea of the Trinity.

Peter hoped that making a marriage between his son and Simon's daughter could give Peter an edge to hold off Simon's crusade. It should be noted that both children were less than two years old at the time of the discussions. Peter even sent James to Montfort's care in 1211, to be raised in his household.

Simon and the Albigensian Crusade did not falter, however, and the two sides met in battle. On 12 September 1213, Peter and Simon's forces met in the Battle of Muret, in which Simon's smaller force defeated the much larger alliance of Peter II and Raymond IV of Toulouse. Peter II was killed in this battle.

Simon now had the next king of Aragon—who was only a few years old—in his possession. He could have turned this into a huge political advantage and managed to possess Aragon, or at least force himself onto the country as Regent for James. The Aragonese, however, would not have it. They appealed to Pope Innocent III, who demanded that Simon relinquish custody of James, which he did in 1214 to the papal legate Peter of Benevento.

The six-year-old James was handed over to the head of the Knights Templar in Aragon, one Guillem de Montredó. Aragon was being managed by James' great-uncle Sancho and cousin Nuño, respectively Counts of Provence and Cerdanya. They were not doing a good job, supposedly, and in 1217 the Templars brought James back to the capital and enlisted the aid of loyal nobles to help him rule.

In 1221, at the age of 14, he was married to the 19-year-old Eleanor of Castile, the daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile (mentioned here and here). The next half-dozen years were tumultuous for him. We'll take a look at his troubles next time.

The Almohads in Iberia

The Almohads were a North African Berber group who founded an empire in the 12th century. By 1159 they had extended their power over the Maghreb (northwest Africa). By 1172, the Muslim parts of the Iberian Peninsula (south and east) were under their rule, taking over from the Almoravid dynasty.

Two of the rulers of the Almohads were Abu Yaqub Yusuf, who ruled from 1163 to 1184, and his son, Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur ("the Victorius"), who ruled from 1184 until 1199). Under their strict Muslim rule, many Christians and Jews migrated to the Christian nations of Aragon, Castile, and Portugal.

In 1195, when al-Mansur was in Africa, Alfonso VIII of Castile decided to mount a reconquista and reclaim the Muslim-controlled lands in Iberia. He united the kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, León, Portugal, and Navarre. When al-Mansur heard of their advance into his territory, he quickly returned from Africa. His major defeat of the Christian army at the Battle of Alarcos was when he took on the epithet "al-Mansur."

In 1212, Pope Innocent III initiated a Crusade against the Muslims in Iberia. Alfonso and his Castilians, Peter II of Aragon, Sancho VII of Navarre (who earlier had helped defend the continental interests of his brother-in-law, Richard Lionheart), and Franks under the vicious Archbishop Arnaud Amalric, united at the pope's request. Their final battle against the forces of the leader Muhammad al-Nasir broke the hold of the Almohad Caliphate in Iberia.

The Almohads were still strong in North Africa, but eventually they were supplanted by the growing Berber Marinid Sultanate.

Although fierce when it came to protecting his territory and religion, al-Mansur softened over time, and although the Koran was the only allowed source of law, he allowed philosophers to theorize without punishment. Averroes' radical statements made him despised by some, but al-Mansur kept him safe at court. al-Mansur was a complex individual who supported the arts and architecture and, well, let's take a closer look at him tomorrow.

James I of Aragon

James I of Aragon (2 February 1208 - 27 July 1276) reigned longer than any Iberian monarch. The Iberian Peninsula contained several different political entities; besides being King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpelier, James was eventually also King of Majorca, and even later King of Valencia.

He agreed with Louis of France to not try to reclaim the Catalan lands to the north that France had taken from James' father, Peter II of Aragon; in return, he prevented France from trying to push south into the County of Barcelona.

A great patron of the arts and learning, he wrote (actually, he dictated) the first autobiography of a Christian king, Libre dels fets (Catalan: "Book of Deeds").

In 1263, he presided over the Disputation of Barcelona, a debate on the identity of the Christian Messiah between a converted Jew, Pablo Christiani, and a Jewish rabbi, Nachmanides. On the question "Is the Messiah a divine or human being?" Nachmanides said:

"[... it seems most strange that... ] the Creator of Heaven and Earth resorted to the womb of a certain Jewish lady, grew there for nine months and was born as an infant, and afterwards grew up and was betrayed into the hands of his enemies who sentenced him to death and executed him, and that afterwards... he came to life and returned to his original place. The mind of a Jew, or any other person, simply cannot tolerate these assertions. If you have listened all your life to the priests who have filled your brain and the marrow of your bones with this doctrine, and it has settled into you because of that accustomed habit. [I would argue that if you were hearing these ideas for the first time, now, as a grown adult], you would never have accepted them." [The Disputation at Barcelona. p. 19. ISBN 0-88328-025-6]

Even though Christiani and the Dominicans claimed the victory, James was so impressed with Nachmanides' answers that he gave him 300 gold coins, telling him he had never heard "an unjust cause so nobly defended." James even attended the synagogue in Barcelona on the Sabbath after the Disputation, addressing the congregants, an event likely unique in Medieval Europe.

Rather than have the Talmud destroyed, James ordered the removal of passages that seemed offensive to Christians, creating a commission of the bishop of Barcelona and some Dominicans to oversee the censorship. One of the Dominicans, Ramón Martí (Raymond Martini), did not want the Talmud destroyed, because he claimed many passages in it confirmed the truth of Christianity. But don't think Martini was sympathetic to Judaism: he wrote two anti-Jewish books.

After the Disputation, Nachmanides wrote an account (see the passage above), but this account got him in further trouble. I'll finish talk of disputes and the Talmud with a brief bio of Nachmanides tomorrow.