James of Vitry 395James I the Conqueror(Jaume, Jaimey) (1208–1276)
king of Aragon, count of Barcelona
The son of Peter II (r. 1196–1213), James was born in
MONTPELLIERon February 2, 1208, and reigned under the
guardianship of his half-Byzantine mother, Mary of Mont-
pellier (d. 1213), and then a regency council from 1213
until 1227. After reaching his majority in 1227, James
concentrated his energy on the RECONQUESTfrom the
Muslims and became famous for his successes, which
included the capture of the BALEARICISLANDS,VALENCIA,
Murcia, and territories south of the Ebro. He was skilled
diplomatically and reached an understanding with King
LOUIS IX of France, freeing CATALONIA from French
suzerainty in 1258. In return, in the Treaty of Montpellier
in 1258, he renounced his claim on LANGUEDOC, with the
exception of Montpellier, part of his maternal inheritance.
On the domestic front, James successfully worked to
protect the well-being of cities and Catalan TRADE by
improving the administration of justice and issuing a new
maritime code. He established the CORTESof ARAGON,an
assembly of CLERGY, nobilities, and city representatives.
After a very long reign, he died on July 27, 1276.
See alsoBARCELONA;MAJORCA.
Further reading:Robert Ignatius Burns, Negotiating
Cultures: Bilingual Surrender Treaties in Muslim–Crusader
Spain under James the Conqueror (Leiden: Brill, 1999);
Thomas N. Bisson, The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short
History(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986); J. N. Hillgarth,
The Spanish Kingdoms 1250–1516,Vol. 1, Precarious Bal-
ance, 1250–1410(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976).
James of Molay (Molai)(1243/54–1314)last grand
master of the Templars
Born between 1243 and 1254, James reorganized the
order of the TEMPLARSin Europe after the loss of PALES-
TINEin 1291 and, from its center at PARIS, administered
its valuable and extensive properties. It became known or
rumors circulated that he and some of his KNIGHTSwere
interested in the occult. From 1306 he was repeatedly
accused of WITCHCRAFTand HERESYby the lawyers of the
French Crown, who denounced him to Pope CLEMENTV.
The motive for such action was probably the desire of the
Crown and PHILIPIV to dissolve the wealthy order and to
confiscate its wealth and property. In 1311 he was for-
mally condemned of HERESYand vice and, refusing to
confess, was burned at Paris on May 19, 1314, still plead-
ing his innocence.
See alsoHOSPITALLERS; MILITARY ORDERS.
Further reading:Malcolm Barber, The Trial of the
Templars (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1978); Malcolm Barber, The New Knighthood: A History of
the Order of the Temple(Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1994); Peter Partner, The Murdered Magicians:
The Templars and Their Myth(Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1982).
James of Vitry(Jacques de Vitry, Jacobus Vitriaco)
(1165/70–1240)French bishop, cardinal, traveler, preacher,
prolific writer, compiler of sermon collections
Born between 1165 and 1170, James of Vitry obtained a
post at Argenteuil in the diocese of PARISeven before he
became a priest. Attracted there by the reputation for
holiness of MARIE OFOIGNIES, in about 1208 he settled at
Oignies, in the Sambre Valley some six miles east of
Charleroi, then part of the diocese of Liège. Ordained
priest at Paris, probably in 1210, he returned the next
year to Oignies and entered Saint Nicolas, an abbey of
AUGUSTINIAN CANONS. He preached in FRANCEagainst
the ALBIGENSIAN heretics and was active in the Fifth
CRUSADE. He was soon appointed bishop of Saint John of
ACREin 1216. In 1228, Pope GREGORYIX accepted his
resignation from that see, and he returned to be bishop of
Liège, then the cardinal of Tusculum in 1229. From then
he was active in the affairs of the papal court until his
death in Rome on May 1, 1240, but was later buried back
at Oignies.WRITINGS
He had written The Life of Marie of Oigniesbefore he left
for the East in 1216. This was among the earliest
medieval biographies of a woman. His Oriental History
was a travel book and brief account of the first three Cru-
sades up to 1212. It owed much to the work of WILLIAMThe execution of Grand Master of the Templars James de
Molay and Grand Preceptor of Normandy Geoffroy de
Charnay as ordered by Guillaume de Nogaret (March 18,
1314), Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Snark / Art Resource)