Jaume I of Aragon

Jaume I of Aragon, called the Conqueror (1208-1276) spent his childhood under the tutelage of the Knights Templar after the death of his father Peter II of Aragon in 1213. King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from that date, Jaume inherited Montpellier, Carladès and other fiefs in Occitania in 1219 through his mother. The young king gained the name “Conqueror” as a result of the military campaigns through his domains extended to the islands of Mallorca (1230), Minorca (1231), Ibiza and Formentera (1235), and the kingdom of Valencia (1238), snatching them from Muslim domination. He decided, however, to maintain the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia on separate administrative levels. In 1241 he also inherited the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya. At his death, he left the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia and the Catalan counties in his will to his eldest son Peter, while another son, Jaume, received the kingdom of Mallorca, which also included the other islands of the Balearic Islands, and the lordship of Montpellier.