Editing James I of Aragon (section)

==Relations with France and Navarre==
From 1230 to 1232, James negotiated with [[Sancho VII of Navarre]], who desired his help against his nephew and closest living male relative, [[Theobald IV of Champagne]]. James and Sancho negotiated a treaty whereby James would inherit Navarre on the old Sancho's death, but when this occurred in 1234, the Navarrese nobles elevated Theobald to the throne instead, and James disputed it. [[Pope Gregory IX]] was required to intervene.<ref>Chaytor, 86.</ref> In the end, James accepted Theobald's succession.

James endeavoured to form a state straddling the [[Pyrenees]] in order to counterbalance the power of France north of the river [[Loire]]. As with the much earlier [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] attempt, this policy was victim to physical, cultural, and political obstacles. As in the case of Navarre, he declined to launch into perilous adventures. By the [[Treaty of Corbeil (1258)|Treaty of Corbeil]], signed in May 1258, he ended his conflict with [[Louis IX of France]], securing the renunciation of any historical French claims to sovereignty over [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]], including the County of Barcelona.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}