Alfonso III of Aragon
Alfonso III of Aragon, nicknamed the Liberal or the Franco (Valencia, 1265-Barcelona, June 18, 1291), was King of Aragon, and of Valencia, and Count of Barcelona (as Alfonso II), between 1285 and 1291, and King of Majorca between 1286 and 1291. His conquest of Menorca, the signing of the Treaty of Tarascón due to the conflicts derived from the possession of Sicily and the conflicts with the Aragonese nobility were the most significant aspects of his reign.
Family history
Born in Valencia in 1265. Eldest son of Pedro III of Aragon and his wife Constanza of Sicily, daughter of Manfredo I of Sicily. On the death of his father, he inherited the territories of the Crown of Aragon, while his brother Jaime II of Aragon inherited the Kingdom of Sicily.
In 1282, he ruled his father's kingdoms when he went to conquer Sicily, later taking over the government of the island kingdom. In 1285 he participated in the defense of the Catalan counties against the attack of Felipe III of France.
Conquest of Majorca and Ibiza
Between 1285 and 1286, commissioned by his father, he conquered the islands of Ibiza and Mallorca from his uncle Jaime II of Mallorca, leaving the kingdom of Mallorca as a tributary to that of Aragon. In fact, when Pedro III died in Villafranca del Panadés, his son Alfonso was in Majorca in command of an expedition to punish his uncle Jaime II of Majorca for the help he had given to the French monarch Felipe III in his attempt to invade Catalonia in June-October 1285. After the expedition was over, Alfonso III returned to Alicante.
Coronation
After arriving in Alicante after the conquest of the Kingdom of Majorca, he headed for the city of Valencia, where he was sworn in as King on February 2, 1286. Later he was crowned King of Aragon in the Seo de Zaragoza on February 9 April 1286 by the Bishop of Huesca, in the absence of the Archbishop of Tarragona, who was the one who had to crown the kings of Aragon since the time of Pedro II, although in fact no king of Aragon was crowned for this ecclesiastical position.
Conquest of Menorca
So, as King of Aragon, he prepared the expedition to take the island of Menorca from the almojarife (little king) Abû'Umar. Thus, in the Cortes held in Huesca on October 18, 1286, he summoned his subjects in Salou to leave from there to conquer the island. Menorca had traditionally been a vassal of Aragon since the time James I conquered Mallorca (1231), but the king of the island was accused of allying himself with Tunisia and indirectly with France and of supporting various North African places, in addition to having become a haven for pirates who hindered trade.
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On November 21, the ships that stopped in Mallorca left, where they stayed until after Christmas. The forces —which it is estimated to have taken part in the expedition— numbered around 20,000 men and more than 100 Catalan, Aragonese and Sicilian ships. They arrived at the port of Mahón on January 5, 1287, but the Christian troops did not disembark until the 17th of the same month, the day on which Menorca Day is currently celebrated. Although the Muslim troops put up resistance, they were forced to retreat to the castle of Sent Agáyz (Santa Águeda) and ask for surrender.
On January 20, the Pacts of Sent Agáyz were signed, whereby the inhabitants of the island became servants of the King of Aragon and all their property, except their clothes, seized unless they paid seven and a half doblas gold within six months. Those who could not pay were sold into slavery in North African markets such as Bugia or Tripoli. King Abû'Umar was allowed to leave the island for Barbary with 200 relatives or relatives, in addition to his library, the mortal remains of his father Said Ibn Hakam, fifty swords and trousseau for the trip. The island was depopulated, its lands were distributed among the nobility and the repopulation was carried out for the most part by Catalans, Valencians and Aragonese. He remained in Ciudadela for 45 days, where he issued the guidelines for the government of the island and ordered the construction of the Cathedral Church on top of the old mosque, although its construction began around 1300, when Alfonso III had already died.
Internal policy
The monarch's Mediterranean ambition caused discouragement among the Aragonese nobility who felt displaced, for example, by being proclaimed king before the oath of the Fueros and who saw their privileges questioned before the triumph of the monarchy. Thus, the Cortes held in June 1286 in Zaragoza and those of October of the same year in Huesca, ended with reprisals and military actions between the monarchy and the nobles, who threatened to give the throne to Carlos de Valois, to whom the pope had appointed sovereign of the kingdoms of Pedro III.
To improve his relations with the nobility, in 1287 he granted the General Privilege of the Union, by which he promised to convene annually, in Zaragoza, Cortes that would be the ones that would designate the King's Council, and not proceed against the Union without prior sentence of the Justice of the kingdom and the permission of the Cortes. If the king acted contrary to what was stipulated in this document, the nobles could "denature themselves" (deny obedience and choose another sovereign without incurring a note of infidelity). This condition gave reason to Alfonso III to say: "That there were as many kings in Aragon as rich men".
In the courts held in Monzón in 1289 and thanks to the support of the Valencian and Catalan estates, he managed to reinforce the power of the monarchy against the power of the nobles.
Foreign Policy
Castilian politics
He carried out an anti-Castilian policy following the policy of his father Pedro III due to the passivity of Sancho IV of Castile in the face of the French attack in 1285, since the Castilian king did not provide the promised help. He favored Alfonso and Juan, infantes de la Cerda, in their claims to the Castilian throne, welcoming them into his domain, and crowning the eldest of these, Alfonso, as King of Castile and León in Jaca in September 1288 and leaving guarantor of this in his dealings with the king of Granada. This support for the infantes de la Cerda led to several border fights in April-June 1289, September 1290 and February 1291, after having agreed a friendship treaty with the Benimerines. In compensation, Alfonso de la Cerda promised to cede the kingdom of Murcia to Alfonso III, but such cession was never effective. Said infants based their claims on the illegality of the marriage of Sancho IV of Castile with María de Molina.
Sicilian question and conflict with France and the papacy
He ordered the naval expeditions of Roger de Lauria, Bernat de Sarriá and Berenguer de Vilaragut.
His biggest problems on the international stage were his conflict with France, the Valois and the papacy over the rights of his brother Jaime over Sicily, which he initially supported despite foreign pressure. The papacy, which had previously excommunicated the kings of Aragon until the kingdom of Sicily passed into the hands of whom it considered to be just, donated the kingdom of Aragon to Charles of Valois and imposed ecclesiastical censures.
He faced the French invasion of his territories by Philip III of France, whom he defeated in the battle of Collado de las Panizas (1285).
He received the ambassadors of the pope and the kings of France and England who asked for the release of the prince of Salerno, the future Charles II of Anjou, called "the lame", who had been taken prisoner by his father. Alfonso released Carlos on October 29, 1288, causing him to renounce the kingdom of Sicily in favor of his brother Jaime and leaving his two sons, Luis and Roberto, hostage in Barcelona.
Finally, and after the impossibility for Carlos II of Anjou to take Sicily, the Treaty of Tarascon was signed in 1291, in which the conditions imposed by the papacy were revoked. With this treaty, the excommunication of the King of Aragon was lifted and Aragon's rights to Majorca were recognized, while Alfonso renounced the Sicilian throne, he promised to act so that Jaime renounced the kingdom of Sicily in favor of Carlos II of Anjou and even to make war on him in case he refused to give up his throne, despite the contrary position of the Sicilians, and to pay the tribute to the Church again and to satisfy the arrears. Since Jaime did not renounce the Sicilian throne, a new conflict loomed, one that was not brought about by Alfonso's sudden death.
Africa and the East
He continued his father's policy in these fields, trying to establish liaison points between the peninsula and commercial ports on the North African and eastern coasts. In 1286 he subjected the sultan of Tlemcen to vassalage and tried the same with the sultan of Tunis, but without success. To do this, he threatened these territories with an alliance with the Sultan of Morocco who also coveted these territories.
In 1290, he signed a commercial treaty with the Byzantine emperor Andrónico II that authorized all the merchants of the territories dominated by Alfonso III to trade with the empire, paying a tax of three percent at the entrance and exit of the products.
Marriage and death
He contracted a marriage by proxy with the Infanta Leonor, daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile, to whom he had become engaged in 1282. However, when Pedro III was excommunicated over the Sicilian issue, the parents of the infanta delayed her transfer to Aragon. Finally, the marriage was celebrated by proxy on August 15, 1290 in Westminster Abbey but it was not consummated, since when the festivities were being prepared in Barcelona to receive the infanta and before she had left England, Alfonso he suffered a glandular heart attack that brought his death in just three days. He died on June 18, 1291 at the age of 27 in the city of Barcelona without leaving any descendants. He bequeathed the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia and Majorca and the Catalan counties to his his brother Jaime de él, King of Sicily, under the condition that he renounce this kingdom and cede it to his by another brother of his Frederick.
In the Divine Comedy, Dante tells of seeing the spirit of Alfonso III sitting outside the gates of purgatory with the other monarchs he blamed for the chaotic state of 13th-century Europe.
It is known that he had a mistress, a certain Dulce, daughter of Bernat de Caldes, a citizen of Barcelona, already deceased in 1291. In a testamentary codicil dated June 13 of this year, King Alfonso asked his successor to the child that she is expecting from him receives care and benefits, although it must be that the birth did not go well or that the child died young since there is no more news of him.
Burial
Alfonso III was buried in the now-defunct Convent of San Francisco in Barcelona, the burial place of other members of the Aragonese royal family. In 1835 the Convent of San Francisco was demolished and the remains of the monarch, along with those of most of the queens and infants buried there, were transferred to the Cathedral of Barcelona, including the remains of Alfonso III's mother, Constance of Sicily., where today they are placed in two tombs, executed by the Catalan artist Frederic Marès.
In the sepulcher where the remains of Alfonso III rest, are also the remains of Jaime I of Urgel, Count of Urgel and son of Alfonso IV of Aragon, and the remains of the infante Fadrique, who died in childhood and son of Alfonso IV the Benign.
| Predecessor: Peter III |  King of Aragon and Valencia Count of Barcelona 1285-1291 | Successor: Jaime II |