James of Aragon (29 September 1296 – July 1334) was the eldest child of

King James II James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

. His mother was Blanche of Naples, the second of his father's four wives. As the king's eldest son, James was not only an ''

infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

'' but also

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

, a realm stretching from north-eastern Spain to Sardinia and Corsica. He is best known for his unexpected decision to renounce his marriage and right to the throne and become a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

Youth

When Queen Blanche's pregnancy became apparent in the spring of 1296,

sent for a respected physician from Paris, who helped the queen deliver Infante James on 29 September. King James personally oversaw the health of the

to the

, even after the infante reached adulthood; he appointed his son's physicians and expected them to regularly report to him. Even the infante's chamberlain was a former royal surgeon. James was appointed procurator general already in his youth, with the task of handling judicial affairs in the name of his father. In 1313, he survived a severe fever.

Marriage controversy

James's engagement to

Eleanor of Castile Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was Queen of England as the first wife of Edward I, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony. The marriage was known to be particularly close, and ...

was agreed upon in December 1308 at

Monreal de Ariza Monreal de Ariza is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Institu ...

. The union was of great importance, as the one-year-old infanta was the only child of

King Ferdinand IV Ferdinand I (12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand ...

. Eleanor moved to Aragon in 1312, to be raised as its future queen. James, however, was notoriously unpredictable. In the spring of 1318, aged 22, he announced to his father that he wished to break off the engagement and renounce his right to the crown so that he could take holy orders, despite never before having shown interest in monastic life. The infuriated king tried unsuccessfully to dissuade him. In August, the infante came down with an

abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pressed. The area of redness often extends b ...

, from which he suffered throughout the autumn and into the winter. He used it as an excuse not to visit his father, which further worsened their relationship. The marriage went ahead despite the bridegroom's vehement opposition. It was celebrated on 5 October 1319 in

Gandesa Gandesa () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Terra Alta, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. History In the place known as ''Coll del Moro'' there is an ancient Iberian archaeological site belonging to the Ilercavones tribe that l ...

, but James refused to

consummate In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the consummation of a marriage, often called simply ''consummation'', is the first (or first officially credited) act of sexual intercourse between two people, following their marriage to ...

it. At the time of the wedding, the bride was only 12 years old, while James was 23.

Cloistered life

The king eventually gave in to his son's demands. The renunciation was ratified in the presence of an assembly of noblemen at the Monastery of Saint Francis in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

on 22 December. The marriage, unconsummated, was easily annulled. James entered the

Order of Saint John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headqu ...

, only to leave it later to join the local

Order of Montesa The Order of Montesa ( va, Ordre de Montesa, Aragonese and es, Orden de Montesa) is a Christian military order, territorially limited to the old Crown of Aragon. It was named after the castle of Montesa, its headquarters. Templar background T ...

. Father and son's relationship became increasingly strained following the renunciation, with the younger James's instability and licentiousness continuously troubling the king. On the death of their father in 1327, the crown passed to James's brother, the freshly widowed Alfons IV. Alfons proceeded to marry Eleanor, James's former wife, in 1329. James died in July 1334.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James of Aragon 1296 births 1334 deaths Aragonese infantes Heirs apparent who never acceded House of Aragon Knights Hospitaller Spanish Christian monks