Other characteristics of Jaime’s rule.

Jaime was not only a great conqueror; he was also a great administrator. Owing to the entry of feudalism into northeastern Spain his nobles had such power that even the able Jaime was obliged often to compromise or to yield to their wishes. He took steps to reduce their power, at the cost of civil war, and in many other respects bettered the administration of his kingdom. Though deeply religious he was far from being an ascetic, as is evidenced by the many illegitimate children descended from him, and although usually magnanimous in character he was capable of acts of ferocious cruelty,—such, for example, as that of ordering the tongue of the bishop of Gerona to be torn out for the latter’s having revealed to the pope a secret of the confession. In 1276 when the great king died he left a will which contradicted the policies of centralization and the aggrandizement of the kingdom which in his lifetime he had unfailingly pursued. He divided his realms, giving Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia to his eldest son, Pedro, and Majorca and the Roussillon (southern France) to his son Jaime. The division was not to endure long, however.

Navarre

Navarre passes under French rule.

There is little worth recording in the history of Navarre in this period. After the separation from Aragon in 1134 Navarre engaged periodically in civil strife and in wars with Aragon or Castile. When the throne became vacant in 1234 the French count of Champagne was elected king, and, with this, Navarre was, for many years, more involved in the history of France than in that of Spain. At length the heiress of Navarre married Philip IV of France, whereupon Navarre ceased to be a kingdom, becoming a mere dependency of the French monarch.

CHAPTER VIII
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1031-1276

Moslem Spain

Absolutism in government.

THE principle of absolute monarchy continued to be followed in Moslem Spain, and was even accentuated, whether in the eras of the taifas, or at times of a single dominion. Indeed, this was virtually the case while the taifas were still republics, although they soon converted themselves into confessed monarchies. In furtherance of absolutism an excess of court ceremonial was introduced, and the rulers rarely allowed their faces to be seen, holding audiences, for example, from behind a curtain. The taifa kings amassed great wealth, and their palaces were overflowing with luxury.

Social factors in Moslem Spain.