Contexts - The Rough Guide to Barcelona - page 392

the Albigensian wars (the Catholic Church's crusade against the Cathar heresy), and he was
killed by Catholic forces a year later. These were uncertain times in Catalunya, but a golden
age was about to dawn.
Jaume I
Pere was succeeded by his five-year-old son, JaumeI (1213-76), whose extraordinary reign
started unpromisingly when he was initially entrusted to the care of the Knights Templar
while his crown was disputed byrival counts. Shrugging offthe tutelage ofhis Templar mas-
ters at the age of 13, Jaume personally took to the field to tame his rebellious nobility, be-
fore embarking on a series of campaigns of conquest, which brought him Muslim Mallorca
in 1229, Menorca in 1231 and Ibiza in 1235. Next he turned south and conquered the city of
Valencia in 1238, establishing a new kingdom of which he was also ruler. Recognizing that
Mediterranean expansion was where Catalunya's future lay, Jaume signed the Treaty of
Corbeil in 1258, renouncing his rights in France (except for Montpellier, the Cerdagne and
Roussillon), in return for the French King Louis's renunciation of claims in Catalunya.
Catalan expansion
On Jaume's death, his kingdom was divided between his sons, one of whom, Pere II (“the
Great”), took Catalunya, Aragón and Valencia. Connected through marriage to the Sicilian
crown, Pere used the 1282 “Sicilian Vespers” rising against Charles of Anjou to press his
claim to the island. In August that year, Pere was crowned at Palermo, and Sicily became the
base for Catalan exploits throughout the Mediterranean. Athens and Neopatras were taken
between 1302 and 1311 by Catalan mercenaries, the almogávares , and famous sea-leaders-
cum-pirates such as Roger de Flor and Roger de Llúria fought in the name of the Catalan-
Aragónese crown. Malta (1283), Corsica (1323), Sardinia (1324) and Naples (1423) all fell
under the influence of successive count-kings.
Barcelona's medieval mercantile class were quick to see the possibilities of Mediterranean
commerce. Maritime customs were codified in the so-called Llibre del Consolat de Mar ,
trade relations were established with North Africa and the Middle East, and Catalan became
used as a trading language throughout the Mediterranean.
Catalunya in the golden age
The Corts ,Catalunya'sfirstparliament -andoneoftheearliest suchbodiesinEurope-was
established duringJaumeI'sreign,whilein1249,thefirstgovernorsofBarcelona wereelec-
ted, nominating councillors tohelp them whobecame knownasthe Consell deCent. In1289
there was the first recorded meeting of a body that became known as the Generalitat , a sort
of committee of the Corts. Within it were represented each of the three traditional estates -
commons, nobility and clergy - and the Generalitat gradually became responsible for admin-
istering public order, justice and defence of the realm.