Editing Alfonso IV of Aragon

{{Short description|King of Aragon from 1327 to 1336}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{infobox royalty
| name        = Alfonso IV
| image       = Monnaie - Espagne, Catalogne, Alphonse III, gros, Barcelone - btv1b11335431k (1 of 2).jpg
| caption     = Coin of Alfonso IV
| succession  = [[King of Aragon]]
| moretext    = ([[#External links|more...]])
| reign       = 2/5 November 1327 – 24 January 1336
| predecessor = [[James II of Aragon|James II]]
| successor   = [[Peter IV of Aragon|Peter IV]]
| spouses     = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Teresa d'Entença]]|1314|1327|end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Eleanor of Castile (1307-1359)|Eleanor of Castile]]|1329}}
}} 
| issue       = {{ubl|Alfonso|[[Constance of Aragon, Queen of Majorca|Constance, Queen of Majorca]]|[[Peter IV, King of Aragon]]|[[James I, Count of Urgell]]}}
| house       = [[House of Barcelona]]
| father      = [[James II of Aragon]]
| mother      = [[Blanche of Anjou]]
| birth_date  = 2 November 1299
| birth_place = [[Naples]]
| death_date  = 24 January 1336 (aged 36)
| death_place = [[Barcelona]]
}}
'''Alfonso IV''' (2 November 1299 – 24 January 1336), called '''the Kind''' (also ''the Gentle'' or ''the Nice'', {{langx|ca|Alfons el Benigne}}), was [[King of Aragon]]{{sfn|O'Callaghan|1975|p=408}} and [[Count of Barcelona]]{{sfn|Gerli|Armistead|2003|p=95}} (as Alfons III) from 1327 to his death. His reign saw the incorporation of the [[County of Urgell]], [[Duchy of Athens]], and [[Duchy of Neopatria]] into the [[Crown of Aragon]].

==Biography==
Alfonso was born in [[Naples]], the second son of [[James II of Aragon|James II]] and [[Blanche of Anjou]].{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1952|p=903}} In 1314, aged 14, he married [[Teresa d'Entença]], heiress of [[Urgell]], who was the same age as him.{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1952|p=903}} Teresa's granduncle [[Ermengol X of Urgell]] had died childless in [[La Llitera]]; before his death, he had agreed to make Alfonso his heir, on condition that Alfonso would marry Teresa, who was his nearest kin. Alfonso was at this time only the second son (and not the heir) of the king of Aragon. He and his father readily agreed to Ermengol's condition, and Alfonso married Teresa in 1314 in the Cathedral of [[Lleida]]. The teenage bridegroom is reputed to have been so liberal in the expenses during the wedding, that the local counsels imposed restrictions on how much he could spend. Alfonso and Teresa became the parents of seven children.

Alfonso became heir to the throne in December 1319 after his older brother [[James of Aragon (monk)|James]] renounced his rights to become a monk. During the reign of his father, Alfonso was the procurator-general of the Crown, and in 1323–1324, he undertook the [[Aragonese conquest of Sardinia|conquest of Sardinia]].

Alfonso's father and first wife Teresa died within a few days of each other in 1327. Teresa died in childbirth on 20 October 1327, and James II died on 2 November 1327, whereupon Alfonso became king. In 1329, he began a long war with the [[Republic of Genoa]]. The city of [[Sassari]] had previously surrendered to Alfonso in 1323, but rebelled three more times; its possession was contested by Genoa, which led to the protracted war.

In February 1329, Alfonso married [[Eleanor of Castile (1307-1359)|Eleanor of Castile]] (1308–1359), the sister of king [[Alfonso XI of Castile]]. Eleanor had been briefly married to Alfonso's elder brother [[James of Aragon (monk)|James the monk]]. That marriage, which James had refused to consummate, had been annulled in 1319–20. Eleanor had thereafter retired to a convent (although she never took the veil) and had remained unmarried. By December the same year, the couple were rejoiced to become the parents of a son, Ferdinand, who was followed five years later by another son, John.

Eleanor earnestly sought to advance the interests of her own infant sons over those of her stepson, the ''Infante'' [[Peter IV of Aragon|Peter]], who was the heir-apparent. She convinced her husband to grant very large and significant territories to her sons. on 28 December 1329, Alfonso granted his new-born son Ferdinand the Marquisate of [[Tortosa]] and the cities of [[Albarracín]], [[Orihuela]], [[Callosa d'en Sarrià]], [[Guardamar de la Safor|Guardamar]], [[Alicante]], [[Monforte del Cid|Monforte]], [[Elda]], La Mola, [[Novelda]] and [[Aspe]].{{Sfn|Ramón Pont|1983|pp=63–64}} Eleanor's younger son John, who was born five years later, was also granted several lordships when he was only a toddler: [[Elche]], [[Biel, Aragon|Biel]] and Bolsa were all bestowed upon him. These territories would be controlled by Eleanor, who had also received the city of [[Huesca]] and some other villages and castles belonging to the Aragonese crown at the time of her wedding.{{Sfn|Arco y Garay|1945|p=258}} Nor was this all. While all of the above grants had been made from among the possessions of the Aragonese crown, the King also sought to bestow estates located within the [[Kingdom of Valencia]] upon the toddler Ferdinand, but he was prevented from doing so. When the King granted Ferdinand the cities of [[Xàtiva]], [[Alzira, Valencia|Alzira]], [[Sagunto]], [[Morella, Castellón|Morella]], [[Borriana, Castellón|Burriana]] and [[Castellón de la Plana]], all located in the [[Kingdom of Valencia]], the local subjects protested, and for this reason the King decided to revoked these patents.{{Sfn|Ramón Pont|1983|p=63–65}} These grants of land diminished the territorial patrimony of the crown and mainly affected the ''Infante'' Peter, Alfonso's son by his first wife, who however was too young to make any significant protest. However, the issue agitated the court, created a climate of resentment and divided the nobility into two camps.

Alfonso died in January 1336, aged only 36. He was succeeded by [[Peter IV of Aragon|Peter IV]], his 16-year-old son from his first marriage.

==Children==
By [[Teresa d'Entença]]:
* Alfonso (1315–1317)
* [[Constance of Aragon, Queen of Majorca|Constance]] (1318–1346), married in 1336 to [[James III of Majorca]].{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1952|p=903}}
* [[Peter IV of Aragon|Peter IV]] (1319–1387), successor.{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1952|p=903}}
* [[James I of Urgell|James I, Count of Urgell]] (1321–1347), also inherited Entença and Antillon.{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1952|p=903}}
* Elizabeth (1323–1327).
* Frederick (1325-died young).
* Sancho (1327), lived only a few days.

By [[Eleanor of Castile (1307-1359)|Eleanor of Castile]]:
* [[Ferdinand, Prince of Aragon|Ferdinand]] (1329–1363), Marquis of Tortosa and Lord of Albarracín and Fraga; married [[Maria, Marchioness of Tortosa]] and was killed by order of his brother Peter IV.
* John (1331–1358), Lord of Elche, Biel and Bolsa, married in 1355 to [[Isabel Núñez de Lara]] (daughter of [[Juan Núñez III de Lara]]) and was killed by order of his cousin [[Pedro of Castile]].

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Diccionario universal de historia y de geografía, p.&nbsp;152. By Lucas Alamán, Manuel Orozco y Berra
* {{cite book |last=Arco y Garay | first = Ricardo del | publisher = Instituto Jerónimo Zurita. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas | title = Sepulcros de la Casa Real de Aragón | year = 1945 | location = Madrid |language=es| oclc = 11818414}}
*{{cite book |title=Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia |editor1-first=E. Michael |editor1-last=Gerli |editor2-first=Samuel G. |editor2-last=Armistead |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 }}
*{{cite book |last=O'Callaghan |first=Joseph F. |title=A History of Medieval Spain |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1975 }}
*{{cite book |first=Charles William |last=Previté-Orton |title=The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History |volume=II The Twelfth Century to the Renaissance  |publisher=Cambridge at the University Press |year=1952 }}
* {{cite journal| last =Ramón Pont | first= Antonio | year= 1983 | title = El infante don Fernando, señor de Orihuela en la guerra de los dos Pedros (1356–1363)| journal =Anales de la Universidad de Alicante. Historia Medieval |publisher = Anales de la Universidad de Alicante. Historia medieval: Universidad de Alicante: Servicio de Publicaciones | number= 2 | pages= 63–92|location= Alicante| doi =10.14198/medieval.1983.2.05 | hdl =10045/7164 |issn= 0212-2480 | url = http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/7164/1/HM_02_05.pdf |language=es| access-date= 8 December 2009| hdl-access= free }}

==External links==

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Barcelona|House of Aragon]]|c.|1299|24 January|1336|[[House of Barcelona]]}}
{{S-reg}}
{{s-bef|rows=1|before=[[James II of Aragon|James the Just]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Aragon]], [[King of Valencia|Valencia]],<br/>[[King of Sardinia and Corsica|Sardinia and Corsica]];<br/>[[Count of Barcelona]] | years=1327–1336}}
{{s-aft|rows=1|after=[[Peter IV of Aragon|Peter the Ceremonious]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Infantes of Aragon}}
{{Aragonese monarchs}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso 04 of Aragon}}
[[Category:1299 births]]
[[Category:1336 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century Aragonese monarchs]]
[[Category:Nobility from Naples]]
[[Category:Valencian monarchs]]
[[Category:Counts of Barcelona]]
[[Category:House of Aragon]]
[[Category:Aragonese infantes]]