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Juan Fernández de Heredia (inAragoneseJohan Ferrández d'Heredia, pronouncedAragonese pronunciation:[ˈtʃwanfeˈrand̪eθdeˈɾedʝa];c. 1310 – 1396) was a knight from theCrown of Aragon who served asGrand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 24 September 1377 to his death. His tenure was occupied by the "affair of Achaea", the persistent, but ultimately fruitless, efforts by the Knights to acquire thePrincipality of Achaea in southern Greece. He was also a great patron of the translation and composition of historiographical works in theAragonese language and a counsellor to twoKings of Aragon.
Heredia was born inMunebrega,Kingdom of Aragon. As a knight of the Hospitaller order (from 1328), Heredia was the commander of the castles ofVillel,Aliaga, andAlfambra. He was originally patronised byPeter IV of Aragon andPope Innocent VI. Through the aid of the latter, he was appointed to govern thegrand priories of the kingdoms ofCastile andLeón, and of the abbey ofSaint-Gilles in southern France, the richest priory of the order. He supported Peter IV against theUnion of Aragon and fought on his side in the successfulBattle of Epila (1348).
In 1346, with the king of Aragon's support, he gained thecastellany ofAmposta (which was the priory ofAragon). Heredia made himself and his family (and illegitimate children) enormously wealthy at the expense of the order. His power and influence was greatly circumscribed by the Grand MasterRaymond Berengar, but in 1371 he entered the favour ofPope Urban V and was elevated as the master's lieutenant in Western Europe.
In 1376, Heredia conducted the fleet bearingPope Gregory XI back toRome, presaging the end of theAvignon Papacy. The next year, on September 24, Gregory formally appointed Heredia grand master, following the death ofRobert of Juilly on July 27. Heredia embarked fromNaples forRomania late in 1377, arriving inVonitsa in April 1378. Heredia immediately set about to takeArta but was captured byGjin Bua Shpata, lord ofAetolia andAcarnania, and sold to theOttoman Turks. He was quickly ransomed, for he was inGlarentsa on 20 May 1379, though during his absence, his commandant,Gaucher of La Bastide, hired theNavarrese Company of mercenaries and brought them to thePrincipality of Achaea for eight months.
After his release, Heredia went toRhodes, the headquarters of the order, in July. Power was readily ceded to him, as he was an adherent of the AvignonesePope Clement VII. Heredia tried to make a deal to have the Navarrese turn over the castles they were holding in the name of the prince to the military order. The Navarrese' preponderant demands, however, quickly sunk any possible agreement. Heredia ignored the powerful company and instead dealt directly withMarie of Blois, who claimed the principality on behalf of her sonLouis II of Naples. Marie signed over her son's rights to the order on 24 January 1387, with the consent of Clement VII. The transaction cost the order 20,000 goldflorins. Later, the pope reversed his endorsement at the request of the Achaean claimantAmadeus, Lord of Pinerolo.
Despite these failures with the Navarrese, Heredia had continued to use them in his war. Though Peter IV had forbid any Hospitallers of his realm to travel with Heredia east, he himself had claimed the rights to theDuchy of Athens. The Navarrese, underJuan de Urtubia, attackedThebes, the capital of the duchy, and Heredia, though friendly with the king, was warned in a letter to stop abetting his enemies (10 September 1380).
Heredia spent most of his life inAvignon after 9 April 1382, when he embarked for the West with his powers diminished some by the untrusting convent in Rhodes. In April 1383, the RomanPope Urban VI appointedRiccardo Caracciolo, prior ofCapua, anti-master in opposition to Heredia. Caracciolo had the support of some Italian priories, of theEngland and other Urbanist regions, but his power was insignificant by his death in 1395, after which no one was elected to replace him. Heredia did not long survive him and was succeeded byPhilibert of Naillac.
Heredia was wealthy and learned, a patron of historiography and translation. It was he who ordered theChronicle of Morea translated intoAragonese sometime before 1393, though it does not contain any mention of his term of service in the Morea. The medieval stonework of his fortified castles inMora de Rubielos andRubielos de Mora has been much studied in the last few years. He was buried inCaspe. His tomb was destroyed by anarchist soldiers during theSpanish Civil War (1936–1939), although some photographs remain.
| Preceded by | Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller 1377–1396 | Succeeded by |
