King Jayme III. of Majorca
The little child who was brought home with such care and through so
many dangers from Catania now succeeded his uncle Sancho as Jayme III.,
King of Majorca, Count of Roussillon, Conflent, and Cerdaña, Lord of
Montpellier, and, in his own right, as the heir of his mother, Lord of
Clarencia in the Morea[17] and of Matagrifon.
Jayme had a happy childhood, and there was no premonition of the
sorrows and calamities of his after-life. His clerical uncle Felipe
was accepted as Regent by the Ricos Hombres of Majorca and the Cortes
of Aragon, and, after some demur, by Roussillon and Cerdaña. The young
King received a good education under the supervision of En Felipe,
and was brought up with his elder half-brothers Fernando, Pagano,
and Sancho, who trained him in martial exercises. Among his dearest
friends was Arnaldo de Santa Cilia. This noble and loyal Majorcan was
the son of Pedro Juan Santa Cilia, a knight of the conquest, whose
original home was a castle of the same name on the banks of the river
Ter, near Vich in Catalonia. Pedro Juan married Leonor Ben-nasser, the
baptized heiress of the Arab chief Benahabet, who helped King Jayme in
the conquest. Through her the Santa Cilias became the owners of the
beautiful country seat of Alfavia.
The Regent Philip continued the wise policy of his brother. He took the
boy King to Barcelona to do homage to King Jayme II. of Aragon, and
furnished a strong contingent to his suzerain for the Sardinian war. He
also negotiated a marriage between Jayme III. of Majorca and Constance,
the young granddaughter of the King of Aragon, daughter of his heir
Alfonso (who succeeded as Alfonso IV. in 1327) by Teresa de Entensa of
Urgel.
Jayme III. was an amiable and gallant prince, always loyal and correct
in all his dealings with his suzerain and beloved by his subjects. Of
his elder half-brothers, Fernando appears to have retired to Italy.
But Pagano and Sancho were his tutors in arms, counsellors, staunch and
loyal friends through life. Pagano was married to Blanca, daughter of
Ramon Sabellos, and Sancho to Sauria, daughter of Ferrario Rossello.
All went well until the accession, in 1335, of Pedro IV., son of
Alfonso IV. and brother of Constance, the wife of Jayme III. of
Majorca. She had another brother, Jayme, Count of Urgel, a far better
man. Pedro was an odious character. Jayme III. came to Barcelona with
his wife Constance, and did homage to his brother-in-law for his
Balearic and Continental dominions, proceeding thence to Perpignan.
There he was joined by Pedro, and the two Kings went together to
Avignon--Pedro to do homage to the Pope for the new conquests of
Sardinia and Corsica.
On his return to Aragon Pedro soon began to show himself in his true
character. From the first he coveted the Balearic Islands, and resolved
to seize them in defiance of right and justice. With such a man, a
hatred of his unfortunate brother-in-law and cousin, who stood in the
way of his ambition, was the inevitable consequence of his greed.
Pedro IV. combined the evil qualities of our two Henry Tudors. He had
all the avarice and cunning meanness of the father and the heartless
cruelty of the son, together with his love of display and magnificence.
Hence he was called ‘Pedro the Ceremonious.’ He soon began to seek
for excuses for his contemplated usurpation. His first accusation
was that the King of Majorca allowed French money to circulate in
his Continental dominions, which he alleged to be derogatory to
his suzerainty. He then wrote letters to the Jurados of Majorca,
accusing their King of contumacy. Their reply was that their King had
done nothing opposed to the dignity, honour, or rights of the King
of Aragon; but, on the contrary, that he had complied with all his
obligations loyally and faithfully, and that they would stand by him as
devoted subjects. This reply was dated June 18, 1342.
Jayme III. had returned to Majorca, and his son, also named Jayme, was
born in the Almudaina in 1334. Isabel, his daughter, followed in 1338,
just when the dark clouds were gathering around their father’s horizon.
Pedro found that the accusation about the currency was absurd and
untenable. He therefore deliberately concocted an infamous lie,
declaring that his brother-in-law intended to kidnap him at Barcelona
and carry him off to a dungeon in Majorca. He added that God, Who never
failed those that trusted in Him, had, by reason of the piety and
goodness of the Ceremonious one, disclosed the treason.
A fleet was prepared at Barcelona for the conquest of Majorca, and
on February 21, 1343, Pedro published what he called the sentence,
declaring the King of Majorca to be contumacious and guilty of treason
against his suzerain, and that he was therefore deprived of all his
dominions. Jayme III., through his procurator Pedro Pascual, published
a complete refutation of the false statements in the so-called
sentence, and a well-reasoned proof of his rights. Pedro’s aunt Sancha,
the Queen of Naples, entreated him to refrain from hostilities and to
let the questions be settled by arbitration.
All was of no avail. On May 10, 1343, Pedro embarked with 110 sail of
vessels, 29 being war-galleys, arriving on the coast of the island
on the 23rd. King Jayme had hastily collected some troops to resist
this unjust invasion. But they were quickly routed by the vastly
superior force of the invaders, and the unfortunate King took ship and
retired to Perpignan. There was a great slaughter, and the city had no
alternative but submission. The usurper entered in triumph, declaring
Majorca and its dependent islands to be annexed to the crown of Aragon.
Nicolas de Marin, the loyal castellan of Belver, held out for a short
time, but he was forced to capitulate. A cruel persecution of all the
friends of the King of Majorca was then commenced. The Queen and her
two children were captured, and kept in close imprisonment at Barcelona.
In July Pedro returned from Majorca, assembled troops at Gerona, and
prepared to attack his brother-in-law’s Continental dominions. He
advanced to Figueras, where he received a letter from the unfortunate
Jayme asking for an interview. The only reply was a threat that
Perpignan should be destroyed. But the town was faithful, though Jayme
was scarcely able to maintain the troops that remained loyal to him.
At last, in January 1344, poor Jayme humbled himself to the extent of
entreating mercy from his coldblooded and relentless brother-in-law. He
submitted entirely, in the hope of some feeling of generosity or pity
on the part of the usurper of his dominions. But of any such feeling
the Ceremonious one was quite incapable. He seized upon Perpignan,
and sent the King of Majorca to Berga, where he was offered a pension
on condition that he abandoned all his rights of every description.
The object of Pedro was to drive his brother-in-law to despair and
exterminate his family.
Jayme was indeed in despair. His wife, in spite of her entreaties, was
not allowed by her unfeeling brother to join him. But the imprisonment
of the two innocent children was more than some noble Catalans could
stand. They broke into the prison, killed the jailer, and contrived
that Prince Jayme and his sister should escape to their father. At
the same time there was a revulsion of feeling in favour of the
persecuted King. The French Court interceded in his favour, and he
received letters and messages from Majorca inviting him to return. He
still retained the Barony of Montpellier. He sold it to King Philip of
France for 120,000 _escudos de oro_, with which he raised troops and
equipped vessels for the invasion of Majorca. The King of France and
the Queen of Sicily assisted him, especially with ships. King Jayme
collected eight galleys and many smaller vessels, on board of which he
embarked 3,000 infantry and 400 cavalry. His half-brothers, Pagano
and Sancho, faithful to the end, were with him. There, too, was his
young son Jayme, just escaped from the dungeon at Barcelona. Carlos de
Grimaldi, of the noble Genoese family, was one of his chief commanders.
He had been granted the towns of Soller and Alcudia, while his brother
Ayto was to have the estate of Buñola, both with the title of Count.
Thus the ill-fated King sailed from the coast of Provence on his last
disastrous attempt to regain his kingdom.
En Gilabert de Centelles was then Governor of Majorca for the usurper,
and he had a large force under his command. King Jayme landed with
his little army on the south coast of the island, and advanced with
some hope of success. But Centelles had an overwhelmingly superior
force of 20,000 infantry and 800 cavalry. The hostile armies met near
the town of Lluchmayor, to the south-east of Palma. The King led a
small squadron of cavalry and some French infantry in the van, and
was the first to encounter the enemy. But there was a panic, and his
troops fled in confusion. With only a few faithful knights he fought
valorously until, covered with wounds, he fell from his horse. When
on the ground a brutal soldier cut off his head. He had reigned for
twenty-five years, from 1324 to 1349, the first eleven years happily
and in peace, the last fourteen bowed down by calamity and sorrow.
Jayme III. was a prince of many virtues. He was conscientiously
religious, well versed in the learning of his time, animated and
eloquent, and devoted to the interests of his subjects. His wife
Constance was faithful to him throughout his misfortunes, though long
separated from him by the heartless cruelty of her brother. His young
son loved him with a passionate fondness, which led to his giving up
his whole life to avenge his father’s death. His half-brothers fought
by his side at Lluchmayor, and their wives were thrown into prison.
Sancho, the youngest, lead a daughter named Esclaramunda, who married
Antal, Count of Foix, and was buried in the cathedral of Palma.
For more than a hundred years the Aragonese Kings of Majorca had ruled
over the islands well and prosperously and to the great good of the
inhabitants. They were an exceptionally noble and high-souled race,
worthy of their descent from the ‘great Conquistador.’
The body of Jayme III. is said to have been buried at Valencia. Born at
Catania on April 5, 1315, his age was thirty-four and some months. The
fatal battle of Lluchmayor was on August 25, 1349.