ALFONSO THE MAGNANIMOUS AND THE FALL OF ANJOUquality of the gold currency of Valencia in the mid-fifteenth
century provides a curious contrast to the position in Barce-
lona, for different currencies continued to serve different
parts of the Crown of Aragon.^44 The pogroms of 1391 apart,
Valencia was a more tranquil setting than either Barcelona
or Majorca, showing few of the bitter social conflicts that
blighted those two rivals. The frequent residence of the royal
court in Valencia, especially under Ferdinand I, stimulated
local business and also helped strengthen ties to Flanders
and other distant lands, visible in the increasing fondness
for Flemish styles of painting.
It would also be a mistake not to take into account the
evidence that in Aragonese-controlled Sicily there were vig-
orotls attempts to stimulate economic activity, for instance
by the patronage of fairs, with the result that a flourishing
internal market was able to develop. Historians disagree on
the extent to which Sicily was dominated by outside interests,
that is, Catalan, Genoese and Tuscan merchants; the great
landlords had plenty of opportunity to impose heavy burdens
on their peasants, but local industries developed well in parts
of the island, and the creation of a durable peace between
Sicily and Naples ensured the renewed prosperity of the
area around Messina. Alfonso's rapaciousness did not after
all take the wind out of the sails of the reviving economy. As
population recovered, both in Sicily and in Spain, the boom
became more obvious: demand for Sicilian grain on the
overseas market also picked up.
Yet the lack of resources of the monarchs made them
increasingly reliant on votes of funds from the parliaments;
the 'pactist' view of royal power grew in potency, according
to which the king was in a contractual relationship with his
subjects, and if he failed to respect their rights they could
have recourse to their last and greatest right, that of deny-
ing the authority of the crown.^1 !i But it was not Alfonso
who had to pay the price. Mter he died in 1458 his brother
King John of Navarre succeeded him in his Spanish lands
and in the Italian islands; Alfonso's illegitimate son Ferrante
succeeded him in Naples. (Navarre itself reverted to the
- E. Hamilton, Money, prices and wages in Valencia, Aragon and Navarre,
1351-1500 (Cambridge, MA, 1936). - Hillgarth, Spanish Kingdoms, vol. 2, pp. 203-5, 247-8.