| Peter IV | |
|---|---|
 Peter IV, King of Aragon byGonzalo Pérez &Jaume Mateu (1427) | |
| King of Aragon (more...) | |
| Reign | 24 January 1336 – 6 January 1387 |
| Coronation | 1336 (Zaragoza) |
| Predecessor | Alfonso IV |
| Successor | John I |
| Born | 5 September 1319 Balaguer,Principality of Catalonia |
| Died | 6 January 1387(1387-01-06) (aged 67) Barcelona, Principality of Catalonia |
| Spouses | |
| Issue among others... | |
| House | Barcelona |
| Father | Alfonso IV of Aragon |
| Mother | Teresa d'Entença |
Peter IV[a] (Catalan:Pere III d'Aragó; Aragonese;Pero IV d'Aragón; 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), calledthe Ceremonious (Catalan:El Cerimoniós; Aragonese:el Ceremonioso), was from 1336 until his death theking of Aragon,Sardinia-Corsica, andValencia, andcount of Barcelona. In 1344, he deposedJames III of Majorca and made himselfKing of Majorca.
His reign was occupied with attempts to strengthen the crown against theUnion of Aragon and other such devices of the nobility, with their near constant revolts, and with foreign wars, inSardinia,Sicily, theMezzogiorno,Greece, and theBalearics. His wars in Greece made himDuke of Athens andNeopatria in 1381.
Peter was born atBalaguer,[1] the eldest son and heir ofAlfons IV, thenCount of Urgell, and his first wife,Teresa d'Entença. Peter was designated to inherit all of his father's title save that of Urgell, which went to his younger brotherJames.
Upon succeeding his father he called acorts inZaragoza for his coronation. He crowned himself, disappointing theArchbishop of Zaragoza and thus rejecting the surrenderPeter II had made to thePapacy in an otherwise traditional ceremony. According to his own later reports, this act caused him some "distress".[1] He did, however, affirm the liberties and privileges of Aragon.[2] Also while he was at Zaragoza, an embassy fromCastile had met him and asked that he promise to uphold the donations of land his father had made to his stepmotherEleanor, but he refused to give a clear answer as to the legitimacy of the donations.[2]
After the festivities in Zaragoza, Peter began on his way toValencia to receive coronation there. En route, he stopped atLleida to affirm theUsatges andConstitutions of thePrincipality of Catalonia and receive the homage of his Catalan subjects. This offendedBarcelona, at which the ceremony had usually been performed, and the citizens of that city complained to the king, who claimed that Lleida was on his way to Valencia.[3] While in Valencia, he decided on the case of his stepmother's inheritance, depriving her of income and outlawing her Castilian protector, Peter Ponce of León and Jérica.[2] However, Jérica had enough supporters within Peter's domains that Peter was unable to maintain his position and in 1338, through papal mediation, Jérica was reconciled to the king and Eleanor received her land and jurisdictional rights.[4] Peter was largely forced to capitulate by a new invasion fromMorocco aimed at Castile and Valencia.
In 1338 he marriedMaria, second daughter ofPhilip III andJoan II of Navarre.[4] In May 1339, he allied withAlfonso XI of Castile against Morocco, but his contribution of a fleet had no effect at the pivotalBattle of Río Salado (October 1340).[3]
Early on in his reign, a thorn in Peter's side had beenJames III of Majorca, his brother-in-law, the husband of his sisterConstance. James had twice postponed performing the ceremony of homage to Peter, his feudal overlord, and when he finally performed it in 1339, it was on his terms.[3] The rising economic star of Majorca, whose merchants were establishing independent markets and gaining trading privileges in the western Mediterranean, threatened the supremacy of Barcelona.[3] The gold coinage of Majorca and the diplomatic equality granted it by the powers of France and Italy irked Peter further, while James also allied withAbu Al-Hassan, the king of Morocco and Peter's enemy.[3] Peter's outrage, however, was given no outlet until 1341, when James, threatened with invasion by the French over disputed rights to theLordship of Montpellier, called on his suzerain Aragon for aid.[5][6] In order not to offend France nor to support James, Peter summoned the king of Majorca to acort at Barcelona, to which he knew he would not come, and when James or a representative of his failed to appear, Peter declared himself free from the obligations of an overlord to James.[5][6]
Peter then opened a legal process against James with the intent of dispossessing him of his kingdom. He alleged that the circulation of James' coinage in theCounties of Roussillon andCerdagne to be an infringement on the royal right of monopoly of coinage.[5][6] This was open to question, considering the ancient customs of Roussillon and Cerdagne, but Peter was prepared to move forward anyway. The interference ofPope Clement VI, however, granted James a hearing in Barcelona in front of papal delegates.[5][6] Peter, for his part, spread rumours that James was seeking to capture him.[5][6] James, fearing that Peter would stoop to invading Majorca and seizing it by force, returned to the island to prepare its defence.[7] In February 1343, Peter declared James a contumacious vassal and his kingdom and lands forfeit.[5][7]
The legal process being terminated, Peter went to war, on the advice that the islanders were burdened by taxes and would readily rise in his support.[7] In May, a fleet which had been blockadingAlgeciras landed at Majorca and quickly defeated James' army at theBattle of Santa Ponça.[5][7] Peter received the submission of all theBalearics and confirmed the privileges of the islands as they had been underJames I.[8] Though James sued for peace and Pope Clement attempted to mediate it, Peter returned to Barcelona prepared to invade Roussillon and Cerdagne.[5][7] After these were finally conquered in 1344 James surrendered on a safe conduct, only to find himself ignominiously reduced to the status of a petty lord.[5][7] In March, Peter had declared his realm incorporated into the Crown of Aragon in perpetuity and ceremoniously had himself crowned its king.[7][8]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.svg)
By thePact of Madrid, Peter was constrained to aidAlfonso XI of Castile in his successful attack onAlgeciras (1344) and his failed attempt onGibraltar (1349) by defending against aMoroccan counterattack.
As Peter had no male issue, his brotherCount James of Urgell was the presumptive heir to the Aragonese throne. Peter grew to mistrust the intentions of James over time. Peter decided that he would instead name his daughterConstance as his heir presumptive notwithstanding the precedents established byJames I andAlfonso IV to exclude females from the throne. To this end, he demanded that James cede his post asprocurator general, a position which, by tradition, was reserved for the second in line to the Aragonese throne. James fled toZaragoza where he gained the favor of certain nobles who wished to reassert their powers via the monarch. Peter eventually succumbed to the pressure to hold a cortes in Zaragoza where he made numerous concessions of royal authority to quell a rebellion he was not yet in a position to crush. One of such concessions was to revoke his attempt to name Constance as heir, and to restore James asprocurator general. To avert additional damage, Peter dissolved the corts on the premise that he had to address a crisis developing inSardinia. Not long thereafter, while Peter was inCatalonia, James suddenly died. Many suspected Peter of having arranged to have James poisoned. Deprived of their leader, the Union of Aragon was greatly weakened.
Venturing next toValencia, Peter encountered the nascentValencian Union which had taken its cue from its counterpart in Aragon. AtMurviedro (Sagunt), Peter was forced to name his stepbrother Ferran as the newprocurator general. Additional concessions of royal authority were made to appease the Unionists. This time when he attempted to leave a bad situation, Peter was held under guard in Valencia as a prisoner of the Union. Suffering perhaps his greatest humiliation, he and his queen were forced to dance with the common folk to show his subservience. Ironically, his salvation was theBlack Death. Valencia was felled by this plague in May 1348, enabling Peter to escape amid the confusion. Assembling an army of increasingly powerful royalists in Aragon, Peter attacked the unionist forces at theBattle of Epila on 21 July 1348. Peter won a complete victory. Proceeding to Saragossa, Peter executed only thirteen Union leaders. By fourteenth century standards, this was a great display of magnanimity. Not the same can be said for the fate of Valencia. After being persuaded not to burn the entire city and sow it with salt, many were executed. Of particular note, he had the bell that the Valencian Union rang to summon its meetings melted down. The molten metal from the bell was then poured down the throats of the Union leaders so that they "should taste its liquor."
In 1356, he engaged withPeter I of Castile in what was called the "War of the Two Peters". It ended in 1375 with the Treaty of Almazan, without a winner due to theBlack Death and several natural disasters.
He conquered Sicily in 1377 but the possession was given to his son Martin.
Throughout his reign, Peter IV had frequent conflicts with the inquisitor general of Aragon,Nicolas Eymerich.
In 1349, James invaded Majorca, but was soundly defeated by Peter's troops at theBattle of Llucmajor, in which he died. After James' death, Peter allowedJames IV, his successor, to retain his royal title on purely formal terms until his death in 1375. After that date, Peter assumed the title. Majorca remained one of the component crowns of theCrown of Aragon until theNova Planta decrees.
Peter died inBarcelona, aged 67.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
At theCatalan Courts celebrated atBarcelona,Vilafranca del Penedès andCervera in 1358–1359, Peter instituted the Deputation of the General orGeneralitat. Castile had recently invaded Aragon and Valencia and the cortes decided to streamline the government by designating a dozen deputies to oversee the fiscal and material policies of the Crown. The first "President of the Generalitat" wasBerenguer de Cruïlles,Bishop of Girona (1359).
Toward the end of his reign (c. 1370) Peter ordered the compilation of theChronicle of Sant Joan de la Penya to record the historical basis for the authority of the crown.
According to historical record, Peter IV of Aragon and his Jewish physician had a friendlydisputation regarding the question of why the Jews were not allowed to drinkkosher wine touched by a Christian. Thereupon the physician had water brought to wash the king's feet, of which he then drank to demonstrate that the fear of impurity was not the reason of the prohibition.[9][10][11]
In 1350, in response to theblack plague, Peter IV ordered the mayor ofLleida to construct a new Jewish cemetery, as the existing one became overwhelmed by the number of new corpses.[12]
His first marriage, on 23 July 1338 inAlagón, was toMaria (1329 – 29 April 1347), daughter ofPhilip III of Navarre andJoan II of Navarre.[13] They had four children:
His second marriage, on 15 November 1347 inBarcelona, was toEleanor (1328 – 29 October 1348), daughter ofAfonso IV of Portugal. She died one year later of theBlack Death.
His third marriage, on 27 August 1349 inValencia, was toEleanor (1325 – 20 April 1375), daughter ofPeter II of Sicily.[15] They had four children:
His last marriage, on 11 October 1377 inBarcelona, was toSibila (? – 4 or 24 November 1406), daughter of Bernat of Fortià and widow of Artal of Foces, who was previously his mistress. They had three children:
Peter IV of Aragon Cadet branch of theHouse of Barcelona Born: 5 September 1319 Died: 6 January 1387 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Aragon,Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica; Count of Barcelona 1336–1387 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | King of Majorca; Count of Roussillon andCerdagne 1344–1387 | |
| Preceded by | Duke of Athens andNeopatras 1379–1387 With:Maria of Sicily | Succeeded by |
| De la Roche dynasty(1205–1308) | .svg)    | |
|---|---|---|
| Brienne–Enghien dynasty(1308–1311/94)§ | ||
| Catalan Domination(1311–1388) | ||
| Acciaioli dynasty(1388–1395, 1402–1458)† | ||
| ||
.svg)
