The Union of Valencia ( es, Unión de Valencia) was an anti-royalist movement in the Kingdom of Valencia begun in 1283 and lasting into the fifteenth century. The Union was formed in the aftermath of the formation of the

Union of Aragon The Union of Aragon ( Castilian: ''Unión de Aragón'') or "Union of the Nobles" was an anti-royalist movement among the nobility and the townsmen of the lands of the Crown of Aragon during the last quarter of the thirteenth century. Its efforts cul ...

in October 1283. Its essential purpose was as a tool of the Valencian nobility to be used against the influence of

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

and foreigners on the actions of

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

. By 1285 the Unions had severely curtailed the powers of the king and were hindering his efforts in the

War of the Sicilian Vespers The War of the Sicilian Vespers or just War of the Vespers was a conflict that started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles of Anjou in 1282 and ended in 1302 with the Peace of Caltabellotta. It was fought in Sicily, C ...

and against the

Aragonese Crusade The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Aragon, a part of the larger War of the Sicilian Vespers, was declared by Pope Martin IV against King Peter III of Aragon in 1284 and 1285. Because of the recent conquest of Sicily by Peter, Martin declared ...

that invaded Catalonia that year. In 1347 during the ''

cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

'' of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, the Union of Valencia allied with that of Aragon and demanded the right to appoint a ''Justícia'' in Valencia like the Aragonese ''Unidos'' had. They then successfully besieged the royalist castle of

Xàtiva Xàtiva (, es, Játiva ) is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right (western) bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the Valencia–Murcia and Valencia Albacete railways. It is located 25 km west ...

. The Union persuaded Ferdinand, Prince of Aragon to be their lieutenant-general and, with an army of 30,000, he dealt the royalists a second defeat. Then Peter IV went from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

to negotiate with the leaders of the Union. The Aragonese union sent a troop of reinforcements, around 20,000, to Ferdinand. Peter offered to declare Ferdinand his heir, but negotiations broke down. Peter was briefly imprisoned in Morvedre in early 1348; only the arrival of the Black Death forced his release. When he had again obtained the upper hand, Peter ordered the "great bell" that had been used to rally the ''Unidos'' to be melted and its liquor poured down the throats of the Union's leaders. Peter was even implicated in the death (by poisoning) of his brother

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 (1334–13 ...

Count of Urgell This is a list of the counts of Urgell, a county of the Principality of Catalonia in the 10th through 13th centuries. c. 798–870 Counts appointed by the Carolingians *798–820 Borrell, count of Urgell and Cerdanya *820–824 Aznar Galínde ...

, that year; James had been a supporter of the Union. On 1 November 1348, the Union attacked the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

of Morvedre because they, being by law serfs of the Crown, were considered ''de jure'' royalists.Meyerson (2004), 212. In 1401 King Martin granted the Union the right to use the royal flag, the ''

senyera The Senyera (; meaning "pennon", "standard", "banner", "ensign", or, more generically, "flag" in Catalan) is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a yellow field. This ...

'' (actually a likeness of the '' penó de la conquesta''), with the Union symbol on it.

Sources

*Durham, Samuel Astley
''History of Spain and Portugal''.
Harper & Brothers, 1854. *Fowler, Kenneth Alan. ''The Great Companies''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2001. . *Holmes, George. ''Europe: Hierarchy and Revolt, 1320–1450''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2000. . *Meyerson, Mark D. "Victims and Players: The Attack of the Union of Valencia on the Jews of Morvedre" (pp. 70–102) in: ''Religion, Text, and Society in Medieval Spain and Northern Europe: Essays in Honour of J. N. Hillgarth'', edd. T. Burman, M. D. Meyerson, and L. Shopkow. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. *Meyerson, Mark D. ''Jews in an Iberian Frontier Kingdom: Society, Economy, and Politics in Morvedre, 1248–1391''. BRILL, 2004. . *Mott, Lawrence V. "Serving in the Fleet: Crews and Recruitment Issues in the Catalan-Aragonese Fleets During the War of Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302)" in: ''Medieval Encounters'', Vol. 13, Iss. 1 (April, 2007), pp. 56–. *Reilly, Bernard F. ''The Medieval Spains''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. .

Notes

{{reflist 1283 establishments in Europe History of the Valencian Community History of Valencia 13th-century establishments in Aragon