La delimitació del sector meridional de la frontera entre la Corona Catalanoaragonesa i el Regne de Castella (1151-1305)

The boundary between Castile and the Catalan-Aragonese Crown took shape as the feudal reconquest of al-Andalus proceeded in the central period of the Middle Ages with the Christian forces in a position of evident superiority. The course of this expansion was negotiated in a series of treaties, each of which faithfully reflected the realtive strength of the two states at the time of their signing. The first of these treaties, signed in 1151, was that of Tudellén, under whose terms Ramon Berenguer IV was granted the rights to the conquest of the Muslim lands of Valencia and Murcia, territories that he would nontheless administer in vassalage to Alfonso VII. The final treatry in this series was the Treatry of Elche, signed in 1305, wich granted Jaime II of Aragon the right to incoporate the territories betwen Biar, La Vila Joiosa and Oriola within the realm of Valencia, without any restrictions of soveranity

La red viaria de la Corona Catalanoaragonesa en la Baja Edad Media

In the Later Middle Ages the area of the Crown of Aragon (Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia) had a dense, well-linked road network of a largely functional nature. It was designed, built and maintained by means of collaboration betewn public authorities and private iniative. This communication system was made up by routes of different categories: major international axes, inter-regional routes, regional roads and local pathts. Since bridge building was a technically risky and financially complex undertaking throughout the Middle Ages, many rivers were ceossed by means of fords o ferries. As this situation restricted wheelend traffic, the use of mule trains was favoured, even in the case of major international arteries. Road construction and maintenance was financed by means of tolls paid by users. In the final stages of the Medieval periode, increasing safety, the growing productivity of transport systems and gradually falling costs led to a substancial rise in the movement of both people and goods

James I and his Era : Brief Analysis of a Major Political and Cultural Inheritance

James I, like his contemporaries Emperor Frederick II and Fernando III of Castile, was a major figure of the Mediterranean and Iberian Middle Ages. The scope of his achievements fully justifies the scientifically rigorous and forward-looking analysis of his work and inheritance being undertaken in 2008 by the peoples who were once part of the Catalan-Aragonese crown. For indeed, though some of his enterprises reveal insufficient foresight, a lack of vision of the future, much of what we are today in the demographic, economic, social, political and cultural spheres and much of what we are not was initially forged during his reign. Great personages, however, do not arise from nowhere or operate in a void: they are always the fruit of earlier ages and act within a particular context. Their powerful actions, moreover, produce an impact on their own era, causing it to evolve in accordance with their projects and building up a legacy. So what were the essential traits of the historical context of James I? When he occupied the throne, the final phase in the long period of demographic and economic growth fuelled by the feudal system all over the Western World was drawing to a close; a strong upsurge in trade was getting underway, closely associated with structural surpluses of farm produce caused by the reclaiming of barren land for two hundred years, increases in the amount of money in circulation and the availability of credit, and advances in technology and thought. During the first two-thirds of the 13th century, the development of long-distance trading gave shape to western Europe along the Mediterranean and Atlantic seaboards and boosted the role of the bourgeoisie in economic, political and cultural life. It was a period of transition, during which the new Roman law vied with ancient feudal norms and the concentration of power in the hands of monarchs who no longer considered themselves merely the leading members of the nobility laid the foundations of the new territorial states. It was an age when sovereigns strove to make inroads into seigneuries that enjoyed immunity so as to recover jurisdictional and fiscal control over all the lands in their respective kingdoms; an age of rebellious nobles and administrative and tax reform, of the advance of ius commune over consuetudinary law. And it was then that curricula were renewed in the nascent universities, starting with law and medicine. While all these changes were taking place, the crusaders' last enclaves in Holy Land were slowly waning under pressure from the Mamluks, the Mongols were advancing on eastern Europe, and Christianity was fast gaining ground at the expense of Islam in the western Mediterranean

El comerç d'articles agropecuaris entre Catalunya i els districtes pirinencs del regne de Mallorca durant la primera meitat del segle XIV

In 1276, the counties of Rosselló and Cerdanya, in accordance with the will and testament of Jaume I seceded from the Catalan-Aragonese Crown to become part of the Kingdom of Majorca. The new frontier separated the summer pasture grounds from the winter ones, and gave rise to numerous problems in the system of seasonal migration wich had connected the plains of Catalunya Nova with the higlands of the Pyrenees for more than hundred years. In spite of sporadics incidents, cereals and small livestock continued to flow from Segrià, Segarra and Urgell towards Perpinyà anf Puigcerdà, whereas wool travelled in the opposite direction. These exports enabled the gouvernment and the main Catalan cities to interfere in internal politics of small and disperse Kingdom of Majorca.In 1276, the counties of Rosselló and Cerdanya, in accordance with the will and testament of Jaume I seceded from the Catalan-Aragonese Crown to become part of the Kingdom of Majorca. The new frontier separated the summer pasture grounds from the winter ones, and gave rise to numerous problems in the system of seasonal migration wich had connected the plains of Catalunya Nova with the higlands of the Pyrenees for more than hundred years. In spite of sporadics incidents, cereals and small livestock continued to flow from Segrià, Segarra and Urgell towards Perpinyà anf Puigcerdà, whereas wool travelled in the opposite direction. These exports enabled the gouvernment and the main Catalan cities to interfere in internal politics of small and disperse Kingdom of Majorca

Del tractat d'Argelers al de Poissy. El Regne de Mallorca entre la Corona Catalanoaragonesa i França (1298-1313)

Towards the end of the 13th century the kingdom of Majorca strengthened its relationships with the Crown of Aragon, once it obtained its renounciation to its claims upon the Balearic islands, through the Argelers agreemenet. Together, the two states created by James I the Conqueror’s anachronistic policy towards his own succession, opposed the French advance towards the Pyrenees and the Corberes mountains; they also resisted Ligurian hostility towards them in both basins of the Meditarranean. The alliance, however, entailed costs for James II of Majorca, who was not able to force the Catalan merchants to the payment of the new Balearic Islands tariff. It also entailed costs for his homonymous nephew in Aragon, who had to accept the setting up of an independent monetary system in the Balearic enclave as well as the proliferation of Majorcan consulates in the Maghrib. Joint diplomatic pressure obtained substantial results by 1313, at the Treatise of Poissy. The prohibition to wool and semi-elaborated cloth exports –established by the Capetians in Languedoc– was lifted, while the Valley of Aran was returned and reintegrated into Catalonia.Towards the end of the 13th century the kingdom of Majorca strengthened its relationships with the Crown of Aragon, once it obtained its renounciation to its claims upon the Balearic islands, through the Argelers agreemenet. Together, the two states created by James I the Conqueror’s anachronistic policy towards his own succession, opposed the French advance towards the Pyrenees and the Corberes mountains; they also resisted Ligurian hostility towards them in both basins of the Meditarranean. The alliance, however, entailed costs for James II of Majorca, who was not able to force the Catalan merchants to the payment of the new Balearic Islands tariff. It also entailed costs for his homonymous nephew in Aragon, who had to accept the setting up of an independent monetary system in the Balearic enclave as well as the proliferation of Majorcan consulates in the Maghrib. Joint diplomatic pressure obtained substantial results by 1313, at the Treatise of Poissy. The prohibition to wool and semi-elaborated cloth exports –established by the Capetians in Languedoc– was lifted, while the Valley of Aran was returned and reintegrated into Catalonia