THE EMERGENCE OF ARAGON-CATALONIAto have become disenchanted with them, calling fewer Corts
together towards the end of his reign. There was no simple
linear development towards the 'pactist' monarchy of the
late fourteenth century. Indeed, James relied less on the
Corts as his own finances became slightly firmer; the count's
Peace proclaimed early in his reign in Catalonia provided a
framework for James's vicars to extend their authority into
the localities, so that-as with his contemporaries in France
and England-the ruler's justice was increasingly experienced
by all his subjects.^51 Financial administration benefited from
the expertise of Jewish advisers such as Aaron ibn Yahya or
Abinafia, who acted as tax collectors on James's behalf in
Valencia; even in the Catalan and Aragonese towns there
were plenty of Jewish bailiffs looking after royal lands and
rights. 52 Finally, the fall of Xativa secured for the crown vast
supplies of paper, and this provided the basis for a vast
expansion of record keeping; greater efficiency was one of
the keys to greater accountability.
The reign of James the Conqueror thus saw not merely
ambitious expansion into the Balearics and Valencia but,
no less importantly, an expansion in government and trade
which helped to sustain a monarchy constantly looking for
resources with which to pay for its grandiose projects. Aragon
had arrived on the world stage.
CONCLUSION
The central dilemma for historians looking at the emerg-
ence of the Crown of Aragon as a major force in the medi-
eval Mediterranean has always been the relative balance
between the commercial interests of Barcelona and the other
Catalan trading centres, and the political ambitions of the
count-kings, which evidently extended beyond the Catalan-
Aragonese patrimony to encompass parts of Muslim Spain,
much of what is now southern France and also the islands
of the western Mediterranean. Political expansion was itself
fuelled by the constant search for adequate sources of in-
come, and it was this that made the partnership between- Bisson, Medieval Crown of Aragon, pp. 72-82.
- Burns, Medieval Colonialism, pp. 270-91.