Editing James I of Aragon (section)

==Early life and reign until majority==
James was born at [[Montpellier]] as the only son of [[Peter II of Aragon]] and [[Marie of Montpellier]].{{sfn|Nicholson|2004|page=113}} As a child, James was made a pawn in the power politics of [[Provence]], where his father was engaged in struggles helping the [[Cathar]] [[Heresy in Christianity|heretics]] of [[Albi]] against the [[Albigensian Crusade]] led by [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon IV de Montfort]], [[Earl of Leicester]], who were trying to exterminate them. Peter endeavoured to placate the northern [[Crusaders]] by arranging a marriage between his two-year-old son James and Simon's daughter, [[Amicie de Montfort]].{{sfn|Nicholson|2004|page=113}} He entrusted the boy to be educated in Montfort's care in 1211, but was soon forced to take up arms against him, dying at the [[Battle of Muret]] on 12 September 1213. Montfort would willingly have used James as a means of extending his own power had not the Aragonese appealed to [[Pope Innocent III]], who insisted that Montfort surrender him. James was handed over to the [[papal legate]] [[Peter of Benevento]] at [[Carcassonne]]{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} in May or June 1214.

James was then sent to [[Monzón]], where he was entrusted to the care of [[Guillem de Montredó]],<ref>Juan Garcia Atienza: The Knights Templar in the Golden Age of Spain, p. 149</ref> the head of the [[Knights Templar]] in Aragon and Provence; the regency meanwhile fell to his great-uncle [[Sancho, Count of Provence|Sancho, Count of Roussillon]], and his son, the king's cousin, [[Nuño Sánchez|Nuño]]. The kingdom was given over to confusion until, in 1217, the Templars and some of the more loyal nobles brought the young king to [[Zaragoza]].<ref name="Chaytor82">Chaytor, 82.</ref>

In 1221, he was married to [[Eleanor of Castile (died 1244)|Eleanor]], daughter of [[Alfonso VIII of Castile]]. The next six years of his reign were full of rebellions on the part of the nobles. By the Peace of Alcalá of 31 March 1227, the nobles and the king came to terms.<ref name="Chaytor82" />