Peter III of Aragon

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Peter III

Detail from the

and

Reign

27 July 1276

– November 1285

Predecessor

Successor

(

)

Peter I

Reign

4 September 1282

– November 1285

Predecessor

Successor

Co-ruler

Born

1239

Died

11 November 1285

(aged 45–46)

Burial

Spouse

(

1262

)

Father

Mother

Peter III of Aragon

(In Aragonese,

Pero

; in Catalan,

Pere

; in Italian,

Pietro

;

1239

– 11 November 1285)

was

(as

Peter I

), and

(as

Peter II

) from 1276 to his

death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the

and became

(as

Peter I

) in 1282, pressing the claim of his

wife,

, uniting the kingdom to the crown.

Youth and succession

[

]

Peter was the eldest son of

and his second wife

On 13 June 1262, Peter married

daughter and heiress of

During his youth and early

adulthood, Peter gained a great deal of military experience in his father's

wars of the

against the

In June 1275, Peter besieged, captured, and executed his rebellious half-

brother

On his father's death in 1276, the lands of the

were

divided amongst his two sons. The

, the

and the

went to Peter III as being the

eldest son; while the

and the

beyond

the Pyrenees went to the second son, who became

Peter and Constance were crowned in

in November 1276 by the

archbishop of Tarragona.

Early rebellions

[

]

Audience of Peter III of Aragon;

from the

(between

1315–1325

Peter's first act as king was to

complete the pacification of his

, an action which had

been underway before his father's death.

However, a revolt soon broke out in the

, led by the

viscount of

and abetted by

, and

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

, and

confirming its privileges after his ascension to the throne.

At the same time, a succession crisis continued in the

. When

died in 1268, the

families of his two wives, Constance, a daughter of Pere de Montcada of Bearn, and Cecilia, a daughter of

, 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,

, 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.

In 1280, Peter defeated the stewing rebellion led by

after besieging the rebels in

for a

month. Most of the rebel leaders were imprisoned in

until 1281, while Roger-Bernard was imprisoned until 1284.

Wars abroad

[

]

Tunisia

[

]

When

, the

Emir of Tunisia who had put himself under

, died in 1277,

threw off the yoke of Aragonese suzerainty.

Peter first sent an expedition to

in 1280 under Conrad de

Llansa designed to re-establish his suzerainty.

In 1281, he himself prepared to lead a fleet of 140 ships with

15,000 men to invade Tunisia on behalf of the governor of

The fleet landed at

in 1282. It was

these Aragonese troops that received a Sicilian embassy after the

of 30 March asking Peter to take their

throne from

War of the Sicilian Vespers

[

]

Main article:

Peter III gives audience to

ambassadors of

and

, demanding Peter to

intervene in the war against

Peter III preparing his trip to

Sicily. The king receives the

visit of two Dominican friars,

envoyes of

trying

to convince him not to sail to

Sicily.

Peter III's fleet landing at

. The king is depicted

directing the landing, next to his

wife Constance.

In 1266,

, with the approval of

, invaded the

, governed by the

, which was the house of

Peter's wife,

, daughter of

and rightful

heir to the throne of Sicily after the deaths of her father and cousin

fighting against Charles's invading forces. This made Peter the heir of

in right of his wife.

The Italian physician

acted on behalf of Peter in Sicily. John had

fled to Aragon after Charles' success at the

. John travelled

to Sicily to stir up the discontents in favour of Peter and thence to Constantinople

to procure the support of

Michael refused to aid the

Aragonese king without papal approval, and so John voyaged to Rome and there gained

the consent of

, who feared the ascent of Charles in the

. John then returned to Barcelona but the Pope died, to be replaced by

, a Frenchman and a staunch ally of

and the

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

in 1277 gave the King of Aragon a

glimpse of hope, but Nicholas died in 1280 and a pro-French

dissipated hopes.

Peter nevertheless had begun making strategic alliances with his neighbouring monarchs. Peter made his brother

sign the treaty of Perpignan in 1279, in which he recognized the

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

. A hundred knights

would accompany each side and

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.

He also had a long-lasting friendly relationship with the

, establishing a strong alliance between

realms by signing the treaties of Campillo and Ágreda in 1281 with

and infant

With the

, Peter established a marital alliance by which his eldest daughter

married

. Peter also made alliance with the

, engaging his heir

with

, daughter of

. 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

, 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

, Peter landed at

on 30 August 1282.

He was proclaimed King in Palermo on 4 September.

Charles was

forced to flee across the

and be content with his

excommunicated

both Peter and

for providing Peter with 60,000 gold pieces to invade Sicily.

Catalan ground troops were commanded by Guillem Galceran de Cartellà, and were formed by the famous and feared

, and

. Peter's powerful fleet was commanded by

, and constantly repelled

Angevin attacks to the island. Roger de Lauria defeated the French forces at the

, and at the

in 1284, where

, son of Charles I, was made prisoner.

The conquest of Sicily was financed by Jewish contributions and taxes charged to the

The infant Alfonso

demanded them an allowance of 200,000

sous

in 1282. The

aljamas

from the

gave 25,000

sous,

the

75,000 and 100,000 were charged to the

aljamas

. The

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

from the rebellious noble

, he renewed the alliance with

, and he

attacked

in an attempt to prevent

from invading on that front. Peter held meetings of the

cortes

and

in 1283. He was forced to grant the

Privilegio General

to the newly formed

Also in 1283, Peter's brother

joined the French and recognised their suzerainty over

This gave the French free passage into Catalonia through

as well as access to the Balearic Islands. In

October, Peter began preparing the defences of Catalonia. In 1284,

granted the Kingdom of Aragon to

, 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 article:

Peter III the Great at Col de

Panissars

, painting by

(1891), Diputación

Provincial de Zaragoza,

In 1284, the first French armies under Philip and

entered Roussillon. They

included 16,000 cavalry, 17,000 crossbowmen, and 100,000 infantry, along with 100

ships in south French ports.

Though the French had James's support, the local

populace rose against them. The city of

was valiantly defended by the so-

called "bastard of Roussillon", the illegitimate son of

, late count of

Roussillon. Eventually he was overcome and the cathedral was burnt; the royal forces

progressed.

In 1285, Philip entrenched himself before

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

, back from the Italian theatre of the drawn-out conflict. The French fleet was defeated

and destroyed at the

on 4 September 1285. In addition, the French camp was hit hard by an

epidemic of

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

. Philip III of France died in October at

, the capital of James II of Majorca (who had fled in fear after being confronted by Peter), and was buried

. 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

, having himself created two

. The first is in the form of an exchange between

himself and

, a troubadour. The second is part of a compilation of five compositions from Peter himself,

, 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

in November 1285,

just one month after

, and was buried in the Monastery of

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

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,

, inherited Aragon while Sicily went to his second son,

. His third son,

, later succeeded James as king of Sicily.

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

, (Purgatory, Canto VII)

sees Peter "singing in accord" with his former rival,

Charles I of Anjou, outside the gates of

Children

[

]

Peter and

had:

(

4 November 1265 –

18 June 1291)

(

10 August 1267 –

2 November 1327)

(

1271

–

4 July 1336). Married

(

13 December 1272 –

25 June 1337)

(

1273

–

August 1302). Married

[

]

(

1275

–

25 August 1296). Married Guillemette of

, daughter of

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

[

]

. Retrieved

7 November

2025

, pp. 214–215.

, p. 319.

, p. 97.

, p. 246.

, p. 101.

, p. 102.

, p. 103.

, p. 104.

, p. 180.

, p. 106.

, pp. 112–113.

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.

, p. 214.

, p. 767.

Bibliography

[

]

Aurell, Jaume (2020).

Medieval Self-Coronations: The History and Symbolism of a Ritual

. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Burns, Robert Ignatius, ed. (1985).

The Worlds of Alfonso the Learned and James the Conqueror: Intellect and Force in the Middle

Ages

. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Cabrera Sánchez, Margarita (2011).

En la España medieval

(in Spanish). No. 34. Madrid: Universidad Complutense. pp.

97–

132.

Chaytor, H.J. (1933).

. London: Methuen.

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

Harris, Jonathan (2003).

. London: Hambledon.

Merriman, Roger Bigelow (1918).

The Middle Ages

. The Rise of the Spanish Empire in the Old World and in the New. Vol. 1. The

Macmillan Company.

Previté-Orton, Charles William (1952).

. Vol. II The Twelfth Century to the Renaissance.

Cambridge: Cambridge at the University Press.

(1951). "Un trovador valenciano: Pedro el Grande de Aragón".

Revista Valenciana de Filología

(4).

Regnal titles

Preceded by

1276–1285

Succeeded by

Preceded by

(

)

1282–1285

with

Succeeded by

(1071–1130)

(1130–1816)

1st generation

2nd generation

4th generation

Ramon/

Peter, Count of Cerdanya/

5th generation

6th generation

7th generation

8th generation

9th generation

10th generation

11th generation

12th generation

13th generation

14th generation

15th generation

16th generation

17th generation

also a prince of Majorca

also a prince of Sicily

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This page was last edited on 1 May 2026, at 19:07

(UTC)

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