[November 2] James II, king of Aragón

Surnamed: "The Just" (El Justo)
Parents: Peter III, king of Aragón, and Constance of Sicily
Born: 10 August 1267
House: Barcleona
Spouse(s): (1) Isabella, daughter of Sancho IV, king of Castile, and María de Molina, then (2) Blanche, daughter of Charles II, king of Naples, and Maria of Hungary, then (3) Marie, daughter of Hugh III, king of Cyprus, and Isabella of Ibelin, then (4) Elisenda, daughter of Pedro I, lord of Altona, and Gisela d'Abarça
Predecessor: Alfonso III

Reign: 1291 – 1327
Brief: Inheriting Sicily from his father in 1285, James II rose to claim the entire Aragonese empire in 1291 when his elder brother, Alfonso III, died. As one of his earliest actions, James ended the feud over Sicily with Charles II of Anjou by ceding to him Sicily. Unfortunately, the Sicilian nobles elected James' brother, Frederick, rather than Charles. The pope requested that James and Charles remove Frederick, investing James with the kingship of Sardinia and Corsica as an enticement. James, however, never moved to depose his brother. In 1295, James returned the Balearic Islands to his uncle, James II of Majorca. But three years later, the Aragonese king demanded to be recognized as the overlord of the islands. An attack on Murcia in 1296 gained him access to Granada and all its wealth, angering the Castilians, though avoiding any lasting grudge. He reigned from Aragón for the rest of his life and died in 1327.

Date of Death: 2 November 1327
Successor: Alfonso IV

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Peter III, king of Aragón (1285)
• Maximilian III, archduke of Austria (1618)

[August 19] Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Provence

Parents: Alfonso II, count of Provence, and Garsenda of Sabran
Date of Birth: 1195
House: Barcelona
Spouse(s): Beatrice, daughter of Thomas I, duke of Savoy, and Margaret of Geneva
Predecessor: Alfonso II
Reign: 1209 – 1245
Summary: Born to the count of Provence and the countess of Forcalquier, Ramon inherited Provence at the age of fourteen. Unfortunately he was under Aragonese imprisonment as a child at the castle of Monzón and was only able to escape and claim his county in 1219. Ramon Berenguer ruled as a kindly and just monarch, inspiring many of the monarchs around him and turning Provence into a beacon to which many local nobles were drawn. Soon after his escape, he married Beatrice, the daughter of the duke of Savoy, a beautiful and politically able woman. The couple produced no surviving sons that survived birth, but four daughters, all of whom married prominent European monarchs. By the time of his death in 1245, Ramon was the father-in-law of King Louis IX of France, King Henry III of England, King Richard of Germany, and King Charles I of Sicily. The count died in Aix-en-Provence and two famous funeral laments were written in his honor. He left Provence to his youngest daughter, Beatrice, who eventually passed on the title to her son, King Charles II of Naples.
Date of Death: 19 August 1245
Successor: Beatrice

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Augustus, emperor of Rome (14 CE)
• Geoffrey II, duke of Brittany (1186)
• Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (1493)

[August 6] Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona

Surnamed: "The Holy"
Parents: Ramon Berenguer III, count of Barcelona, and Douce I, countess of Provençe

Date of Birth: circa 1113
House: Barcelona

Spouse(s): Patronilla, queen of Aragón, daughter of Ramiro II, king of Aragón, and Agnes of Aquitaine

Predecessor: Ramon Berenguer III
Reign: 1131 – 1162

Summary: The consolidation of Hispania was a slow process which was aided by the intermarriages of its many dynasties. Few were viewed with such success as the marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Patronilla of Aragón. Ramon inherited Barcelona from his father in 1131 and six years later, he was married to the infant daughter of the king of Aragón. It was part of a political alliance to create a solid front against the kingdom of Castile. Ramiro II, king of Aragón, abdicated the throne to Patronilla in 1137, and Ramon ruled both Barcelona (and its many sub-counties) and Aragón from that time forward. It is notable, however, that Ramon never took the royal crown and named himself "prince of the Aragonians" and "marquis of Lleida and Tortosa".


The treaty made with Aragón stipulated a perpetual union of the crowns of Aragón with Barcelona, which created the formal Crown of Aragón which existed until the early 1700s. Had Patronilla died prior to producing children, future children of Ramon would have inherited both crowns. The arrangement was organized into a permanent dynastic union, with both regions retaining nominal independence under one shared ruler. Modern historians consider this union to be the beginning of a long unification of Spain. A side benefit of the union was that Aragón now had seaports with which to pursue sea voyages and one day conquer the Balearic Isles. The union also balanced Hispania into three roughly equal realms: Aragón-Barcelona, Castile-León, and Portugal. Ramon also helped end the long war with Castile by marrying his sister, Berengaria, to his rival, Alfonso VII of Castile. With his alliance secured, Ramon began a long crusade against the Moors, joining in the Second Crusade's Spanish front by attacking the Almoravid kingdoms in the south. He attacked Valencia and Murica in 1147. With the help of the French, he captured another city, Tortosa, in late 1148. He spent most of 1149 attacking various French rivals on his northern borders in an attempt to consolidate all remaining Catalonia, which he succeeded in by the end of the year. Ramon's brother, Berenguer Ramon, was the count of Provençe and Ramon aided him in his wars against the count of Toulouse. When Provençal count died in 1144, Ramon took over for his young nephew as regent. The 1151 Treaty of Tudilén split zones of conquest in Islamic Spain between Castile and Aragón to prevent future conflicts, with Aragón relegated to the eastern coast and Castile in control of central Spain. Ramon Berenguer IV died in 1162 leaving his small empire to his son, Ramon Berenguer V, who in 1163 inherited the kingship of Aragón from his mother when she abdicated. Ramon V took the regnal name Alfonso II to show continuity with Aragón. Another son of Ramon IV's, Père, inherited the county of Cerdanya.

Date of Death: 6 August 1162
Successor: Ramon Berenguer V (later Alfonso II of Aragón)

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Sixtus II, pope of Rome (258)
• Hormisdas, pope of Rome (523)
• Henry, duke of Saxony (1195)
• Stephen V, king of Hungary (1272)
• Ladislaus, king of Naples (1414)
• Callixtus III, pope of Rome (1458)
• Paul VI, pope of Rome (1978)

[June 18] Alfonso III, king of Aragón

Surnamed: "The Liberal"
Parents: Pedro III, king of Aragón, and Constanza of Sicily

Date of Birth: 1265

House: Barcelona

Predecessor: Pedro III

Reign: 1285 – 1291

Summary: A member of the infamous Barcelona family of Aragón, Alfonso III was the designated heir of his father, Pedro, from birth. He became king upon the death of his father at the age of twenty and almost immediately went on campaign against his uncle, King Jaime II of Majorca. Majorca had been separated from Aragón under the reign of King Jaime I of Aragón, but later Aragonese kings fought to return it to the main line. Alfonso conquered Majorca in 1285 and Ibiza, an appendage in the Balearic Islands, the next year. He then conquered Minorca in 1287 and claimed the title King of Majorca from his uncle immediately after.

Being the son of Constance, heiress of Sicily, Alfonso and his brother, Jaime, had an inheritance right to the kingdom. The two brothers at first attempted to rest control of the small island state from the Papacy but decided that it would be better for the pope to decide the future of the island. Alfonso's reign was constantly at odds with the more important nobles of the realm. In 1288, Alfonso was forced to agree to the Union of Aragon, a charter that united the crowns of Aragón and Valencia and granted privileges to some nobles and to the commoners. This charter eventually caused division and anarchy within Aragonese lands that lasted intermittently until the union of the Aragonese and Castilian crowns over two centuries later. For his inability to control his nobility, Dante Alighieri placed Alfonso III in Purgatory in his Divine Comedy. Alfonso died prior to his marriage to Eleanor, daughter of King Edward I of England. He was buried at Barcelona Cathedral and succeeded by his brother, Jaime II.

Date of Death: 18 June 1291

Successor: Jaime II

Other Monarch Deaths:

Leo III, emperor of Constantinople (741)

Chukyo, emperor of Japan (1234)