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Kingdom of Mallorca | |||||||||
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| 1276–1715 | |||||||||
 Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 The Kingdom of Majorca in the 13th and 14th centuries | |||||||||
| Status | Vassal state of theCrown of Aragon (until 1344) Part of the Crown of Aragon (1344–1715) | ||||||||
| Capital | Palma andPerpignan | ||||||||
| Common languages | Catalan | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism(official)[1] Islam Judaism | ||||||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1276 | ||||||||
| 1715 | |||||||||
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| Today part of | Spain France | ||||||||
TheKingdom of Mallorca[2] was an insular realm off the east coast of modern day Spain, which included the islands ofMallorca,Menorca,Ibiza andFormentera. The islands were conquered from theAlmohad Caliphate byJames I of Aragon, and were integrated in theCrown of Aragon. The king became known asJames the Conqueror due to theConquest of Mallorca.
When James I died in 1276, he divided his territories between his three surviving sons. Peter, the eldest, succeeded his father in the mainland as Peter III of Aragon orPeter the Great. The Kingdom of Mallorca passed to the younger son James, who reigned asJames II of Mallorca.
After 1279, Peter III of Aragon decreed that the King of Mallorca was to be avassal of the King of Aragon. Naturally, this led to conflict between the two brothers. Finally, in 1344, the Kingdom of Mallorca was invaded by KingPeter IV of Aragon and brought under theCrown of Aragon. It remained a separate Kingdom, but with the same King, until its dissolution in 1715 by theNueva Planta decrees.
The kingdom included theBalearic Islands:Mallorca,Menorca,[3]Ibiza andFormentera. The king was also lord of the mainland counties ofRoussillon andCerdanya, and the territories James I kept inOccitania: the signory ofMontpellier, the viscountcy ofCarlat inAuvergne, and the barony ofAumelas, contiguous with Montpellier.
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The legacy of James I included the creation of a strategic Mediterranean enclave, including territories between two large kingdoms, theCapetians ofFrance and the Crown of Aragon, which were in constant conflict at the time. Conscious of the fragility of the Kingdom of Mallorca, James I undertook the conquest of Cerdanya to unify the new kingdom. He also entered into negotiations to arrange the marriage of his son James to Beatrice ofSavoy, daughter ofAmadeus IV, Count of Savoy. Neither plan was successful.
The King of Mallorca,James II initially tried to remain independent of the Aragonese crown. The weakness of the Mallorcan state, lacking any parliament or other unifying institutions, however, brought it close to collapse. In 1279, the Mallorcan monarch reconciled and recognized the King of Aragon as his overlord. The resultingTreaty of Perpignan re-established the centralised state that existed before the death of James I.
At this point, James II of Mallorca found himself in the awkward position of opposing his overlord, having allied himself withPope Martin IV and the French.Alfonso, son of the Aragonese king, invaded the realm of his uncle and conquered the island of Mallorca in 1286. Some 10 years later, a new treaty - theTreaty of Anagni - ordered the return of the islands to King James II of Mallorca.
On the death of James II in 1324, his sonSancho succeeded him. Relations between Aragon and Mallorca were strained: despite the Treaty of Anagni, the descendants of Alfonso had not renounced their claim to the Mallorcan throne. In 1325, deep in debt from his invasion ofSardinia, Sancho agreed to appoint the kings of Aragon as his heirs to the crown of Mallorca.
While this act may have solved the problem of succession, the kingdom was plunged into a severe financial crisis. Mallorca was forced to develop policies similar to those of Aragon. The war against theRepublic of Genoa (1329–1336) resulted in the loss of various overseas markets. It was necessary to impose new taxes and fines, which were levied on the Jewish community; despite this, the financial crisis continued.
In 1341,Peter IV of Aragon broke off relations with the Kingdom of Mallorca as a prelude to invasion. In May 1343, Peter IV invaded the Balearic Islands and followed that in 1344 with the invasions of the counties ofRoussillon andCerdanya.James III of Mallorca was left with only his French possessions. Selling these to the King of France, in 1349 James III set out to reconquer his kingdom. He was defeated and killed at theBattle of Llucmajor on 25 October 1349. From then on, the Kingdom of Mallorca remained in personal union with the Crown of Aragon.
The extinction of the Kingdom of Mallorca was inevitable given the conflicts by which it was affected: theHundred Years War betweenFrance andEngland; the War with theBenimerines, which involvedCastile and the Crown of Aragon as well as attempts by the Genoese to make the Balearics a satellite state. The Kingdom of Mallorca, which had bonds of vassalage with the crowns of France (through Montpellier) and Aragon, could not remain neutral during the conflicts. In addition, increased taxes to fund the kingdom's treasury during its neutrality caused substantial unrest.
The Kingdom of Mallorca continued for nearly another four hundred years inpersonal union with the Crown of Aragon, retaining its ownviceroy and political identity. However, during theWar of the Spanish Succession the Crown of Aragon mostly backed the claims of the ArchdukeCharles and with his defeat the victoriousPhilip V of Spain abolished the kingdom via theNueva Planta decrees in 1715.
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