James II of Majorca
From Freepedia
James II (Catalan: Jaume II) (1243-1311), king of Majorca, was the second son of James I of Aragon and his wife Violant of Hungary, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary.
He inherited from his father three of the Balearic Islands (Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera), the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya, the dominion of Montpellier, the barony of Omeladès and the viscounty of Carladès. The fourth Balearic Island, Minorca, was still under muslim control, but it owed him vassalage.
Those lands, however, where scattered, and a lot less than his brother Pedro III of Aragon got, which probably explains why he was engaged in constant conflict with his brother, to whom he owed vassalage. He allied himself with Pope Martin IV and king Philip III of France (who had been married to his sister Isabella) against his brother, but was defeated in the Battle of the Ant Islands in 1285. His brother Pedro took the Balearic Islands from him, but he returned them in 1295 under the same rules as before the war.
After that, he devoted himself to run his kingdom, reforming urbanism, agricultural policy, defense and currency.
Marriage and Children
Unlike it was common then, his father allowed him to choose a wife and, on 1275, he married Esclaramunda of Foix, who bore him six children:
- Jaume, who became a Franciscan monk.
- Sanç I of Majorca, who succeeded him.
- Sança
- Felip
- Elisabet, who married Juan Manuel of Castile.
- Ferran, whose son Jaume succeeded his brother Sanç.
This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.
