John Ramon III Folch de Cardona i de Prades, (9 January 1418 – 18 July 1486), was a Catalan nobleman. John Ramon's titles included Count of Prades (5th), Count of Cardona, Viscount of Vilamur, Baron of Entença, Admiral of Aragon, Captain general of Catalonia as well as

Viceroy of Sicily A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

from 1477 to 1479.

Biography

His parents were John Ramon II, 3rd Count of Cardona (14 June 14001471) and Joana de Prades, heiress of Prades and Entenza. John Ramon III became the fifth count of Prades and viscount of Vilamur upon the resignation of his father in 1445. Upon the death of his father in 1471, he inherited the County of Cardona. John Ramon III was ambassador to the pope for

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan language, Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfons V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfons I) from 1442 until his ...

and actively participated in the Cortes from 1449 to 1455. Shortly before beginning of the

Catalan Civil War The Catalan Civil War, also called the Catalonian Civil War or the War against John II, was a civil war in the Principality of Catalonia, then part of the Crown of Aragon, between 1462 and 1472. The two factions, the royalists who supported John ...

, John Ramon joined King John II of Aragon's army and was made Captain general. He became the leading military figure of the Civil War, earning the complete trust and protection of John II. In 1465 he was one of the protagonists of the victory at

Calaf Calaf () is the main town in the northern portion of the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Anoia in Catalonia, Spain, situated on the Calaf Plain. The town holds an important weekly livestock market. It is served by the main N-II road ...

. For his service he was awarded the Sicilian town of

Alì Terme Alì Terme is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about southwest of Messina. Alì Terme borders the following municipalities: Alì, Fiumedinisi, Ital ...

in 1463. After the Catalan war, John Ramon accompanied Ferran, Prince of Girona to the campaign of Roussillon. He went on to fight against French troops in the Ampurdan area at battle of Besós. As Viceroy of Sicily (1477–79), John Ramon moved to Italy accompanied by the infanta Joana, where he repressed the revolt of Leonard de Alagon y de Arborea in Sardinia. In 1479, John Ramon returned to Catalonia and was the trusted advisor of the new king Ferdinand II of Aragon, whom he counseled for years. In 1484 the king entrusted him as Captain general of the campaigns against the count of Pallars and against the serfs of

Pere Joan Sala Pere Joan Sala (died 1485) was the leader of the radical remensas in the Second War of the Remences, which began with the uprising of Mieres in 1484. Joan Sala was the lieutenant of Francesc de Verntallat, but unlike the latter, Joan Sala wa ...

.Real Academia de la Historia
/ref> John Ramon III died in 1486.

Family

In 1445, John Ramon III married the dowager countess of Foix, Joana de Urgell i Arago, daughter of

James II, Count of Urgell James II (in Catalan language, Catalan ''Jaume II d'Urgell'' or ''Jaume el Dissortat'' ("James the unlucky"), in Spanish ''Jaime II el desafortunado'') (1380 – 1 June 1433) was the Count of Urgell (1408–1413), Viscount of Àger, and lord of An ...

and his wife Isabel of Aragon. She was the widow of

John I, Count of Foix John I, Count of Foix also known as Jean de Foix-Grailly (1382 – 4 May 1436) was Count of Foix from 1428 until his death in 1436. He succeeded his mother Isabella, Countess of Foix. His father was Archambaud de Grailly. Life Early life ...

. Their children were: *James of Cardona *

Juan Ramón Folch IV de Cardona Joan Ramon Folc IV de Cardona or Juan Ramón Folch IV de Cardona, (1446 - Arbeca, 29 January 1513), was a Catalan nobleman. He was the 5th Count of Cardona (1486-1491) and then the 1st Duke of Cardona (1491-1513), the 6th Count of Prades, the 6th ...

(1446-1513) *Catalina de Cardona. His second wife Elisabet de Cabrera, gave him no children, but brought him the revenues of the viscounties of Cabrera and Bas when his father-in-law,

Bernat Joan de Cabrera Bernat may refer to: People Given name * Bernat Calbó (c. 1180–1243), Catalan jurist, bureaucrat, monk, bishop, and soldier * Bernat Fenollar (1438–1516), Valencia poet, cleric and chess player * Bernat Francés y Caballero, Spanish Roman C ...

died in 1466. However, John Ramon III had to renounce these properties, to please King John II of Aragon, who divided these spoils between de Sarriera and de Armendaris to pay for their 1471 defection. As compensation, the king of Aragon made count John Ramon III one of the three tenants of the Generalitat de Cataluna. He also had two illegitimate children : * Pedro Folc de Cardona (died 1530),

viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of Spanish viceroys (also called lieutenants) of the Principality of Catalonia from 1479 to 1713. *1479–1493: Enrique de Aragón *1493–1495: Juan de Lanuza y Garabito *1495–1496: Juan Fernández de Heredia *14 ...

(1521–23) and

archbishop of Tarragona The Archdiocese of Tarragona () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Tarragona, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The archdiocese heads the ecclesiastical province of Tarragon ...

(1515–30), * Juan of Cardona, knight of the order of St. John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folch De Cardona Y Ximenez De Arenos, Juan Ramon 1418 births 1485 deaths 15th-century Catalan people Counts of Spain Viceroys of Sicily