James of Majorca (; before 1274 – 1330) was a member of the

House of Barcelona The House of Barcelona was a medieval dynasty that ruled the County of Barcelona continuously from 878 and the Crown of Aragon from 1137 (as kings from 1162) until 1410. They descend from the Bellonids, the descendants of Wilfred the Hairy. Th ...

and of the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

. James was the eldest of the four sons of James II and

Esclaramunda of Foix Esclaramunda of Foix (1250–1315) was Queen consort of Majorca from 1276-1311. Life She was the daughter of Roger IV of Foix and Brunisenda of Cardona, daughter of Ramon VIII, Viscount of Cardona. Named after her great-grandmother, Esclar ...

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and Queen of Majorca. As such, he was

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the throne of the

Kingdom of Majorca The Kingdom of Majorca (, ; ; ; ) was an insular realm off the east coast of modern day Spain, which included the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The islands were conquered from the Almohad Caliphate by James I of Aragon, ...

. The family was exceptionally devout even by the standards of the era: his grandfather

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

stepped down to join the

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

, while both his brother

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

and sister

Sancia Sanchia or Sancia is a feminine given name of Spanish and Portuguese origin from Latin ''sanctus'' or ''sancta'', meaning ''holy'' or ''saint''. The name, which has multiple forms, is the feminine version of the Spanish and Portuguese name Sanch ...

were noted for their close ties to the Order of Saint Francis. James himself probably became acquainted with the Franciscans alongside another prince of the same age, Louis of Naples, while the latter was held hostage in Barcelona by King

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Aragonese: ''Chaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just, was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He was also the King of Sicily (as James I) f ...

, the Majorcan prince's first cousin. At one point, the King is known to have issued a "note prohibiting the friars from visiting the princes at night", indicating their close relationship with each other and with the Franciscans. Louis renounced his position as heir apparent to the throne of Naples and became

Bishop of Toulouse The Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the Department of Haute-Garonne and its seat is Toulouse Cathedral. Archbi ...

in 1297 (and was eventually canonized), dying the same year, which probably left an impression on James. James was set to marry Catherine de Courtenay, the heiress of the defunct

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...

. The betrothal was celebrated in 1298 in the presence of the entire French royal court, including King Philip IV and Queen Joan I. Since the couple were too closely related, the condition for the marriage was dispensation from

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII (; born Benedetto Caetani; – 11 October 1303) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 until his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of baronial origin with connections t ...

. It was never granted. Instead, James decided to remove himself from the line of succession in favour of his brother

Sancho The name Sancho () is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius. Feminine forms of the name are Sancha, Sancia, and Sanchia (), and the common patronymic is Sánchez and ...

and take the habit. In 1299, in the words of his sister Sancia, James "renounced royal power for the love of Jesus Christ and became a son of Blessed Francis and entered his order". He spent the rest of his life in the

Minorite The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest contem ...

convent at

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

as a simple friar.

References

{{reflist 1270s births 1330 deaths Friars Minor House of Aragon Heirs apparent who never acceded Sons of kings Sons of counts

See also

References