Editing James I of Aragon (section)

==Acquisition of Urgell==
In 1228, James faced the sternest opposition yet from a vassal. [[Guerau IV de Cabrera]] occupied the [[County of Urgell]] in opposition to [[Aurembiax of Urgell|Aurembiax]], the heiress of [[Ermengol VIII of Urgell|Ermengol VIII]], who had died without sons in 1208. Although Aurembiax's mother, Elvira, had made herself a protégée of James's father, upon her death in 1220 Guerau occupied the county and displaced Aurembiax, claiming that a woman could not inherit.

James intervened on behalf of Aurembiax, to whom he owed protection. He bought Guerau off and allowed Aurembiax to reclaim her territory, which she did at [[Lleida]], probably also becoming one of James' earliest mistresses.<ref>Chaytor, 83.</ref> She surrendered Lleida to James and agreed to hold Urgell in fief for him. On her death in 1231, James exchanged the Balearic Islands for Urgell with her widower, [[Infante Pedro, Count of Urgell|Peter of Portugal]].