Conquest of Mallorca by Jaime I

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Within the so-called ReconquestWe will find that the various Christian kingdoms located in the Iberian Peninsula were carrying out territorial expansions without having an equitable distribution between them. In this way, it would be the strongest kingdoms that would advance the most towards the Muslims, thus obtaining greater territories. In this lesson from a TEACHER we bring you the conquest of Mallorca by Jaime I, King of Aragon, a kingdom that was always interested in territorial expansion in the Mediterranean due to its commercial interests.

Index

1. The islands under Muslim rule
2. The first siege of the island of Mallorca
3. The conquest of Mallorca
4. The conquests of Menorca and Ibiza

Although the Iberian Peninsula fell under the muslim rule from the year 711, it would not be until year 903 when the invaders came to definitely occupy the Balearic archipelago. This was undoubtedly due to the characteristics of the terrain that made the populations have great defenses to withstand the sieges that they might have.

Continuing with this lesson on the conquest of Mallorca by Jaime I, we must know that, after the conquest by the Muslims, the islands became dependent on the emirate of Córdoba that allowed Saracen pirates to use them as a refuge.

This element was essential to know the reason for the commercial shortage that came to be in the trade, since the Christian kingdoms suffered great material losses in these transfers mercantile. Likewise, it would be from the islands from where large races would depart against the populations located on the Levantine coast, the hardest against the Catalan coast.

In this other lesson we reveal a summary of the history of the Crown of Castile and Crown of Aragon.

Now we will stop in the year 1114, for that date, both the kingdom of Aragon and Pisa, Florence and other cities of the Mediterranean, they were immersed in a great malaise caused by the constant pirate attacks that their boats received commercial.

In this way, the count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer III, he urged to form a league to try take away the Balearic archipelago to Muslims. The attack would last eight long months, after which the Count of Barcelona had to return to his territories as an Almoravid offensive threatened to reach the city of Barcelona.

The Italian kingdoms would soon march from the islands, returning to their places of origin laden with great booty, leaving the islands under Muslim rule.

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Continuing with our lesson on conquest of Mallorca by Jaime I, we must know that, after a series of interviews in the court of Aragon and the Catalan, the September 5, 1229 A fleet of about 150 boats left for the island.

A count has been made that shows that the Christian contingent was 1,500 knights and about 15,000 soldiers, while the Muslim forces ranged from 28,000 men to 3,500 gentlemen.

After a few days of strong storm they reached an islet in front of the island where the monarch was warned, by a Muslim, of an army that had been stationed on the coast to repel the attack Christian. In this way, the monarch, after deliberating with the nobles, decided to look for another point to disembark and catch the governor of the island by surprise, the chosen place being the bay of Santa Ponsa.

Within the conquest of Mallorca by Jaime I, the most important battle was that of Portopí which was held on September 12 in various areas of the mountains of that name. This battle was decided in favor of the Christians although they had great problems to gain victory and, in addition, during the confrontation some of the most important men of the contingent would lose their lives after falling into the ambushes Muslim.

After this, the Aragonese and Catalan troops marched towards the Royal which was located near the canal that supplied the city. There they would arm the catapults and other siege machinery, in addition to creating a stockade to defend themselves from possible Muslim attacks.

For a few weeks, exchanges of skirmishes took place that gradually diminished the will of each boss, eventually Abú Yaha, governor of the island, met with Jaime I to negotiate surrender and thus stop losing lives on both sides. But the Catalan and Aragonese nobility and the members of the Church demanded to continue with the campaign until the Saracen presence was eliminated.

Thus, a series of attacks were carried out over time that opened large breaches in the city walls, making it possible for the day to December 31, 1229, Mallorca fell into Christian hands.

After the conquest of Mallorca by Jaime I, there were two large Muslim strongholds on the remaining islands of the archipelago. For this, the monarch sent three boats with the leaders of the temple to Menorca with the hope that the populations that there will They were capitulating without having to go into battle, because, during the conquest of Majorca they had lost many mens.

Jaime I decided to light large bonfires to make his enemies believe that there was a large military contingent, a ploy that paid off. After the signing of the capitulation, Menorca remained in Muslim possession until, in the year 1287, Alfonso III of Aragon conquered it and adhered it to the Kingdom of Mallorca.

On the other hand, the island of Ibiza also had a strong Muslim presence. This contest was assigned to the Archbishop of Tarragona, Guillermo de Montgri, who, along with other nobles, took the island on August 8, 1235, incorporating it into the new Kingdom of Mallorca.

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