Editing Peter III of Aragon

{{Short description|King of Aragon and Valencia (1276–85); King of Sicily (1282–85)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Peter III
| image        = Pedro III rey de Aragón.jpg
| caption      = Detail from the ''[[Nuova Cronica]]''
| succession   = [[King of Aragon]] and [[King of Valencia|Valencia]]<br>[[Count of Barcelona]]
| reign        = {{Nowrap|{{Start date|1276|7|27|df=y}} {{en dash}} {{end date|1285|11|df=y}}}}
| predecessor  = [[James I of Aragon|James I]]
| successor    = [[Alfonso III of Aragon|Alfonso III]]
| birth_date   = {{Circa|1239}}
| birth_place  = [[Valencia]], [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]]
| death_date   =  {{Death date and age|1285|11||1239|df=y}}
| death_place  = {{Wrap|[[Vilafranca del Penedès]], [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]], [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]]}}
| burial_place = ''[[Santes Creus]]''
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Constance II of Sicily]]|13 June 1262}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Alfonso III, King of Aragon]]
*[[James II, King of Aragon]]
*[[Elizabeth of Aragon|Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal]]
*[[Frederick III, King of Sicily]]
*[[Yolande of Aragon, Duchess of Calabria|Yolande, Duchess of Calabria]]}}
| issue-pipe   = more...
| issue-link   = #Children
| house        = [[House of Barcelona|Barcelona]]
| father       = [[James I of Aragon]]
| mother       = [[Violant of Hungary]]
| succession1  = [[King of Sicily]] 
| moretext1    = (''[[jure uxoris]]'')<br>as '''Peter I'''
| predecessor1 = [[Charles I of Anjou|Charles I]]
| successor1   = [[James II of Aragon|James I]]
| reg-type1    = Co-ruler
| regent1      = [[Constance II of Sicily|Constance II]]
| reign1       = {{Nowrap|{{Start date|1282|9|4|df=y}} {{en dash}} {{end date|1285|11|df=y}}}}
}}

'''Peter III of Aragon''' (In Aragonese, ''Pero''; in Catalan, ''Pere''; in Italian, ''Pietro''; {{circa|1239}} {{en dash}} November 1285) was [[King of Aragon]], [[King of Valencia]] (as {{nowrap|'''Peter I'''}}), and [[Count of Barcelona]] (as {{nowrap|'''Peter II'''}}) from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the [[Kingdom of Sicily]] and became [[King of Sicily]] (as {{nowrap|'''Peter I'''}}) in 1282, pressing the claim of his wife, [[Constance II of Sicily]], uniting the kingdom to the crown.

==Youth and succession==
Peter was the eldest son of [[James I of Aragon]] and his second wife [[Violant of Hungary]].{{sfn|Burns|1985|pp=214–215}} On 13 June 1262, Peter married [[Constance II of Sicily]], daughter and heiress of [[Manfred of Sicily]].{{sfn|Merriman|1918|p=319}} During his youth and early adulthood, Peter gained a great deal of military experience in his father's wars of the ''[[Reconquista]]'' against the [[Moors]].{{Sfn|Chaytor|1933|p=97}}

In June 1275, Peter besieged, captured, and executed his rebellious half-brother [[Fernando Sánchez de Castro]] at [[Pomar de Cinca]].

On his father's death in 1276, the lands of the [[Crown of Aragon]] were divided amongst his two sons. The [[Kingdom of Aragon]], the [[Kingdom of Valencia]] and the [[Principality of Catalonia]] went to Peter III as being the eldest son; while the [[Kingdom of Majorca]] and the [[Catalan counties]] beyond the Pyrenees went to the second son, who became [[James II of Majorca]].

Peter and Constance were crowned in [[Zaragoza]] in November 1276 by the archbishop of Tarragona.{{sfn|Aurell|2020|p=246}}

==Early rebellions==
[[File:Audience de pierre 3 d'aragon.png|thumb|left|Audience of Peter III of Aragon; [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|medieval miniature]] from the ''[[Usatici et Constitutiones Cataloniae]]'' (between {{circa|1315–1325}}).]]

Peter's first act as king was to complete the pacification of his [[Kingdom of Valencia|Valencian territory]], an action which had been underway before his father's death.

However, a revolt soon broke out in the [[Principality of Catalonia]], led by the viscount of [[Cardona, Spain|Cardona]] and abetted by [[Roger-Bernard III of Foix]], [[Arnold Roger I, Count of Pallars Sobirà|Arnold Roger I of Pallars Sobirà]], and [[Ermengol X of Urgell]].{{Sfn|Chaytor|1933|p=97}} The rebels had developed a hatred for Peter as a result of the severity of his dealings with them during the reign of his father. Now they opposed him for not summoning the [[Catalan Courts]], and confirming its privileges after his ascension to the throne.

At the same time, a succession crisis continued in the [[County of Urgell]]. When [[Álvaro, Count of Urgell|Àlvar of Urgell]] died in 1268, the families of his two wives, Constance, a daughter of Pere de Montcada of Bearn, and Cecilia, a daughter of [[Roger-Bernard II of Foix]], began a long fight over the inheritance of his county. Meanwhile, a good portion of the county had been repossessed by Peter's father, James I, and was thus inherited by Peter in 1276. In 1278, [[Ermengol X]], Àlvar's eldest son, succeeded in recovering most of his lost patrimony and came to an agreement with Peter whereby he recognised the latter as his suzerain.{{Sfn|Chaytor|1933|p=97}}

In 1280, Peter defeated the stewing rebellion led by [[Roger-Bernard III, Count of Foix|Roger-Bernard III]] after besieging the rebels in [[Balaguer]] for a month. Most of the rebel leaders were imprisoned in [[Lleida]] until 1281, while Roger-Bernard was imprisoned until 1284.

==Wars abroad==
===Tunisia===
When [[Muhammad I al-Mustansir]], the [[Hafsid]] Emir of Tunisia who had put himself under [[James I of Aragon]], died in 1277, [[Tunisia]] threw off the yoke of Aragonese suzerainty.{{Sfn|Chaytor|1933|p=101}} Peter first sent an expedition to [[Tunis]] in 1280 under Conrad de Llansa designed to re-establish his suzerainty.{{Sfn|Chaytor|1933|p=97}} In 1281, he himself prepared to lead a fleet of 140 ships with {{formatnum:15000}} men to invade Tunisia on behalf of the governor of [[Constantine, Algeria|Constantine]].{{Sfn|Chaytor|1933|p=102}} The fleet landed at [[Collo|Alcoyll]] in 1282. It was these Aragonese troops that received a Sicilian embassy after the [[Sicilian Vespers|Vespers]] of 30 March asking Peter to take their throne from [[Charles I of Anjou]].

===War of the Sicilian Vespers===
{{Main|War of the Sicilian Vespers}}
[[File:Nuova cronica. f.123r.jpg|thumb|Peter III gives audience to ambassadors of [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]], demanding Peter to intervene in the war against [[Charles I of Anjou]]. ''[[Nuova Cronica]]''.]][[File:Nuova cronica. f.123v.jpg|thumb|Peter III preparing his trip to Sicily. The king receives the visit of two Dominican friars, envoyes of [[Pope Martin IV]] trying to convince him not to sail to Sicily. ''[[Nuova Cronica]]''.]][[File:Nuova cronica. f.127r.jpg|thumb|Peter III's fleet landing at [[Trapani]]. The king is depicted directing the landing, next to his wife Constance. ''[[Nuova Cronica]]''.]]

In 1266, [[Charles I of Naples]], with the approval of [[Pope Clement IV]], invaded the [[Kingdom of Sicily]], governed by the [[house of Hohenstaufen]], which was the house of Peter's wife, [[Constance II of Sicily]], daughter of [[Manfred of Sicily]] and rightful heir to the throne of Sicily after the deaths of her father and cousin [[Conradin]] fighting against Charles's invading forces. This made Peter the heir of [[Manfred of Sicily]] in right of his wife.

The Italian physician [[John of Procida]] acted on behalf of Peter in Sicily. John had fled to Aragon after Charles' success at the [[Battle of Tagliacozzo]]. John travelled to Sicily to stir up the discontents in favour of Peter and thence to Constantinople to procure the support of [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]].{{Sfn|Chaytor|1933|p=103}} Michael refused to aid the Aragonese king without papal approval, and so John voyaged to Rome and there gained the consent of [[Pope Nicholas III]], who feared the ascent of Charles in the [[Mezzogiorno]]. John then returned to Barcelona but the Pope died, to be replaced by [[Pope Martin IV]], a Frenchman and a staunch ally of [[Charles I of Anjou|Charles]] and the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Anjou dynasty]]. This set the stage for the upcoming conflict.

Constance thus claimed to her father's throne, supported by her husband, but the claim was fruitless, as Charles was supported by the Papacy and his power remained stronger. The election of a new [[Pope Nicholas III]] in 1277 gave the King of Aragon a glimpse of hope, but Nicholas died in 1280 and a pro-French [[Pope Martin IV]] dissipated hopes.

Peter nevertheless had begun making strategic alliances with his neighbouring monarchs. Peter made his brother [[James II of Majorca]] sign the treaty of Perpignan in 1279, in which he recognized the [[Kingdom of Majorca]] as a feudal kingdom of Peter III (making the Crown of Aragon an indissoluble unity). Peter pressed his advantage and by February 1283 had taken most of the Calabrian coastline. Charles, perhaps feeling desperate, sent letters to Peter demanding they resolve the conflict by personal combat. Peter accepted and Charles returned to France to arrange the duel. Both kings chose six knights to settle on places and dates, and a duel was scheduled for 1 June at [[Bordeaux]]. A hundred knights would accompany each side and [[Edward I of England]] would adjudge the contest; the English king, heeding the pope, however, refused to take part. Peter left John of Procida in charge of Sicily and returned via his own kingdom to Bordeaux, which he entered in disguise to evade a suspected French ambush. Needless to say, no combat ever took place and Peter returned to find a very turbulent Aragon.{{Sfn|Harris|2003|p= 104}}

He also had a long-lasting friendly relationship with the [[Kingdom of Castile]], establishing a strong alliance between realms by signing the treaties of Campillo and Ágreda in 1281 with [[Alfonso X of Castile]] and infant [[Sancho IV of Castile|Sancho]].

With the [[Kingdom of Portugal]], Peter established a marital alliance by which his eldest daughter [[Elizabeth of Aragon]] married [[Denis I of Portugal]]. Peter also made alliance with the [[Kingdom of England]], engaging his heir [[Alfonso III of Aragon|Alfonso III]] with [[Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar|Eleanor of England]], daughter of [[Edward I of England]]. Despite all these alliances, Peter kept his bad relationship with the Kingdom of France.

On 30 March 1282 there was a popular uprising in the Kingdom of Sicily called the [[Sicilian Vespers]], against the government of Charles I of Anjou. The noble sicilian rebels asked for Peter for help and offered him the crown as they considered his wife Constance their rightful Queen, and after receiving an embassy from the people of [[Palermo]] at [[Alcoy]], Peter landed at [[Trapani]] on 30 August 1282.{{Sfn|Chaytor|1933|p=103}} He was proclaimed King in Palermo on 4 September.{{sfn|Aurell|2020|p=246}} Charles was forced to flee across the [[Straits of Messina]] and be content with his [[Kingdom of Naples]]. [[Pope Martin IV]] excommunicated both Peter and [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]] for providing Peter with {{formatnum:60000}} gold pieces to invade Sicily.{{Sfn|Harris|2003|p=180}}

Catalan ground troops were commanded by Guillem Galceran de Cartellà, and were formed by the famous and feared [[almogavars]], [[Arbalest|crossbowmen]], and [[lance]]rs. Peter's powerful fleet was commanded by [[Roger of Lauria]], and constantly repelled Angevin attacks to the island. Roger de Lauria defeated the French forces at the [[Battle of Malta]], and at the [[Battle of the Gulf of Naples|Gulf of Naples]] in 1284, where [[Charles of Salerno]], son of Charles I, was made prisoner.

The conquest of Sicily was financed by Jewish contributions and taxes charged to the ''[[aljama]]s.'' The infant Alfonso demanded them an allowance of {{formatnum:200000}} ''sous'' in 1282. The ''aljamas'' from the [[Kingdom of Valencia]] gave {{formatnum:25000}} ''sous,'' the [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragonese]] {{formatnum:75000}} and {{formatnum:100000}} were charged to the [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalan]] ''aljamas''. The [[Kingdom of Sicily]] was to be a tenaciously pursued inheritance for the Aragonese royal house and its heirs for the next five centuries.

==Later domestic unrest==
Peter was dealing with domestic unrest at the time when the French were preparing an invasion of Aragon. He took [[Albarracín]] from the rebellious noble [[Juan Núñez I de Lara|Juan Núñez de Lara]], he renewed the alliance with [[Sancho IV of Castile]], and he attacked [[Tudela, Navarre|Tudela]] in an attempt to prevent [[Philip I of Navarre]] from invading on that front. Peter held meetings of the ''cortes'' at [[Tarragona]] and [[Zaragoza]] in 1283. He was forced to grant the ''Privilegio General'' to the newly formed [[Union of Aragon]].{{Sfn|Harris|2003|p= 104}}

Also in 1283, Peter's brother [[James II of Majorca]] joined the French and recognised their suzerainty over [[Montpellier]]. This gave the French free passage into Catalonia through [[County of Roussillon|Roussillon]] as well as access to the Balearic Islands. In October, Peter began preparing the defences of Catalonia. In 1284, [[Pope Martin IV]] granted the Kingdom of Aragon to [[Charles, Count of Valois]], another son of the French king and great-nephew of Charles I of Anjou. Papal sanction was given to a war to conquer Aragon on behalf of Charles of Valois.

==Aragonese Crusade==
{{Main|Aragonese Crusade}}
[[File:Pedro III el Grande en el collado de las Panizas.jpg|thumb|right|''Peter III the Great at Col de Panissars'', painting by [[Mariano Barbasán]] (1891), Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza, [[Zaragoza]]]]

In 1284, the first French armies under Philip and [[Charles, Count of Valois|Charles]] entered Roussillon. They included {{formatnum:16000}} cavalry, {{formatnum:17000}} crossbowmen, and {{formatnum:100000}} infantry, along with 100 ships in south French ports.{{Sfn|Harris|2003|p= 106}} Though the French had James's support, the local populace rose against them. The city of [[Elne]] was valiantly defended by the so-called "bastard of Roussillon", the illegitimate son of [[Nuño Sánchez]], late count of Roussillon. Eventually he was overcome and the cathedral was burnt; the royal forces progressed.

In 1285, Philip entrenched himself before [[Girona]] in an attempt to besiege it. The resistance was strong, but the city was taken. Charles was crowned there, but without an actual crown. The French soon experienced a reversal, however, at the hands of [[Roger de Lauria]], back from the Italian theatre of the drawn-out conflict. The French fleet was defeated and destroyed at the [[Battle of Les Formigues]] on 4 September 1285. In addition, the French camp was hit hard by an epidemic of [[dysentery]].

The King of France himself was afflicted. The King of Navarre, the heir apparent to the French throne, opened negotiations with Peter for free passage for the royal family through the Pyrenees. But the troops were not offered such passage and were decimated at the [[Battle of the Col de Panissars]]. Philip III of France died in October at [[Perpignan]], the capital of James II of Majorca (who had fled in fear after being confronted by Peter), and was buried in [[Narbonne]]. James was declared a vassal of Peter.

==Troubadour works==
Peter matched his father in patronage of the arts and literature, but unlike him he was a lover of verse, not prose. He favoured the [[troubadours]], having himself created two ''[[sirventes]]os''. The first is in the form of an exchange between himself and [[Peironet]], a troubadour. The second is part of a compilation of five compositions from Peter himself, [[Bernat d'Auriac]], [[Pere Salvatge]], [[Roger-Bernard III of Foix]], and an anonymous contributor.

As well the wars with Philip III of France and James II of Majorca furnished material for new ''sirventesos'' and during this period the ''sirventes'' was converted into a convenient tool of political propaganda in which each side could, directly or allegorically, present its case and procure sympathy propitious to its cause.

==Death and legacy==
Peter died from unknown causes at [[Vilafranca del Penedès]] in November 1285,{{Sfn|Cabrera Sánchez|2011|pp=112–113}} just one month after [[Philip III of France]], and was buried in the Monastery of [[Santes Creus]].<ref>[http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2009/11/26/actualidad/1259190001_850215.html El País, news on discovery of mummy of Peter III at Monastery of Santes Creus]</ref> His deathbed absolution occurred after he declared that his conquests had been in the name of his familial claims and never against the claims of the church. His remains are entombed in a [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] sarcophagus at the monastery.

Peter made his final testament on 2 November 1285. In it he instructed his successor to return the kingdom of Sicily to the pope and to release all Angevin prisoners of war. Although the will was copied into the royal register, it was ignored by his successors. Peter's eldest son, [[Alfonso III of Aragon|Alfonso III]], inherited Aragon while Sicily went to his second son, [[James II of Aragon|James II]]. His third son, [[Frederick II of Trinacria|Frederick]], later succeeded James as king of Sicily.<ref>Hans-Joachim Schmidt, "The King of Sicily's Testaments: Hidden, Falsified and Forgotten," in ''Memories Lost in the Middle Ages: Collective Forgetting as an Alternative Procedure of Social Cohesion'' (Brepols, 2023), pp. 167–183, at 180.</ref> Peter did not provide for his illegitimate youngest son and namesake, Peter. This Peter left Spain for Portugal with his half-sister Elizabeth.

In the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', (Purgatory, Canto VII) [[Dante Alighieri]] sees Peter "singing in accord" with his former rival, Charles I of Anjou, outside the gates of [[Purgatory]].

==Children==
Peter and [[Constance II of Sicily]] had:

*[[Alfonso III of Aragon]] ({{birth date|1265|11|4|df=y}} &ndash; {{death date|1291|6|18|df=y}}){{sfn|Burns|1985|p=214}}
*[[James II of Aragon]] ({{birth date|1267|8|10|df=y}} &ndash; {{death date|1327|11|2|df=y}}){{sfn|Burns|1985|p=214}} 
*[[Elizabeth of Aragon|Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal]] ({{circa|1271}} &ndash; {{death date|1336|7|4|df=y}}). Married [[Denis of Portugal]]{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=767}}
*[[Frederick III of Sicily]] ({{birth date|1272|12|13|df=y}} &ndash; {{death date|1337|6|25|df=y}}){{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=767}}
*[[Yolande of Aragon, Duchess of Calabria]] ({{circa|1273}} &ndash; {{death date|1302|8||df=y}}), married [[Robert of Naples]]{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=767}}
*{{ill|Peter of Aragon (1275–1296)|es|Pedro de Aragón (1275–1296)|lt=Peter of Aragon}} ({{circa|1275}} &ndash; {{death date|1296|8|25|df=y}}). Married Guillemette of [[Béarn]], daughter of [[Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn]].

Peter had a relationship with Ines Zapata between 1275-1280 and had the following children:

*Fernando of Aragon.
*Sancho of Aragon.
*Pedro of Aragon. Married in Portugal with Constança Mendes da Silva.
*Teresa of Aragon.

Additionally, he had 3 illegitimate children with Maria Nicolau before marrying Constance of Sicily:

*Jaime Perez of Aragon (d. 1285).
*Juan Perez of Aragon.
*Beatriz of Aragon (d. 1316).

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|}}
*{{cite book |title=Medieval Self-Coronations: The History and Symbolism of a Ritual |first=Jaume |last=Aurell |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2020 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Worlds of Alfonso the Learned and James the Conqueror: Intellect and Force in the Middle Ages  |editor-first=Robert Ignatius |editor-last=Burns |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1985 }}
*{{cite news|last=Cabrera Sánchez|first=Margarita|title=La muerte de los miembros de la realeza hispánica medieval a través de los testimonios historiográficos|year=2011|work=En la España medieval|number=34|pages=97–132|publisher=Universidad Complutense|location=Madrid|issn=0214-3038|language=ES|url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3776486&orden=0&info=link}}
*{{cite book|last=Chaytor|first=H.J.|title=A History of Aragón and Catalonia|year=1933|publisher=Methuen|location=London|url=http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/achistory.htm|isbn=9780404014797}}
* Colomer Pérez, Guifré, Memòries de la guerra de les Vespres (1282–1285). Controvèrsies ideològiques i conflictes polítics a la Mediterrània occidental, Tesi Doctoral URV, 2022 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/675697
*{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Jonathan|title=Byzantium and the Crusades|year=2003|publisher=Hambledon|location=London|isbn=9781852852986|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/byzantiumcrusade0000harr}}
*{{cite book |title=The Rise of the Spanish Empire in the Old World and in the New |volume=1: The Middle Ages |first=Roger Bigelow |last=Merriman |publisher=The Macmillan Company |year=1918 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History |volume=2 |first=Charles William |last=Previté-Orton |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1960 }}
*{{cite journal|last=Riquer|first=Martín de|author-link=Martín de Riquer|title=Un trovador valenciano: Pedro el Grande de Aragón|journal=Revista Valenciana de Filología|year=1951|volume=1|issue=4}}
{{refend}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-reg}}
|-
{{Succession box
| title = [[Crown of Aragon|King of Aragon and Valencia<br>Count of Barcelona]]
| before = [[James I of Aragon|James I]]
| after = [[Alfonso III of Aragon|Alfonso III]]
| years = 1276&ndash;1285
}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[King of Sicily]] {{nobold|{{small|(''[[jure uxoris]]'')}}}}
| before = [[Charles I of Anjou|Charles I]]
| after = [[James II of Aragon|James I]]
| years = 1282&ndash;1285<br>with [[Constance II of Sicily|Constance II]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Aragonese monarchs}}
{{Monarchs of Sicily}}
{{Infantes of Aragon}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter 03 Of Aragon}}
[[Category:1230s births]]
[[Category:1285 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century Aragonese monarchs]]
[[Category:13th-century kings of Sicily]]
[[Category:Catalan-language poets]]
[[Category:Counts of Barcelona]]
[[Category:House of Barcelona]]
[[Category:House of Barcelona (Sicily)]]
[[Category:Jure uxoris kings]]
[[Category:Male composers]]
[[Category:People of the War of the Sicilian Vespers]]
[[Category:People excommunicated by the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Valencian monarchs]]