Pope Martin IV in the context of Treaty of Tarascon

⭐ Core Definition: Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV (Latin: Martinus IV; born Simon de Brion; c. 1210/1220 – 28 March 1285), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1281 until his death in 1285. He was the last French pope to hold his court in Rome before the papacy moved to Avignon.

Before his election, Simon de Brion was a prominent French cleric who served as chancellor to Louis IX of France and was made a cardinal by Pope Urban IV in 1261. His papacy was marked by close dependence on Charles of Anjou, whom he appointed Senator of Rome, and by significant political conflicts, including the excommunication of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, which ended the fragile union between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches established at the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. Martin IV also faced the Sicilian Vespers uprising and excommunicated Peter III of Aragon, declaring a crusade against him in an unsuccessful attempt to maintain Angevin control over Sicily.

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👉 Pope Martin IV in the context of Treaty of Tarascon

The Treaty of Tarascon was an accord between Pope Nicholas IV, Philip IV of France, Charles II of Naples, and Alfonso III of Aragón that was intended to end the Aragonese Crusade, an episode in the War of the Sicilian Vespers. The treaty was signed at Tarascon, halfway between papal Avignon and Arles, on 19 February 1291, six years after Philip's brother, Charles of Valois, tried to conquer Aragón from Alfonso's father, Peter III of Aragon, in an event called the Aragonese Crusade because it was sanctioned by Nicholas' predecessor, Pope Martin IV. The intent of the signatories in putting an end to hostilities was to prevent Aragonese domination of Sicily, then ruled by Alfonso's brother, James II.

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⭐ Core Definition: Pope Martin IV
👉 Pope Martin IV in the context of Treaty of Tarascon
Pope Martin IV in the context of Aragonese Crusade

Pope Martin IV in the context of Aragonese Crusade

The Aragonese Crusade (1284–1285), also known as the Crusade of Aragon or Crusade against Catalonia, was a military venture waged by the Kingdom of France against the Crown of Aragon. Fought as an extension of the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302), the crusade was called by Pope Martin IV in retribution for Peter III of Aragon's intervention in Sicily, which had damaged the political ambitions of the papacy and France.

The Kingdom of France, aided by the Kingdom of Majorca, led the crusade. Despite domestic opposition to the crusade, Philip III of France invaded Catalonia in 1285. While the French saw some successes on land, the Aragonese navy won control of the sea, and a badly attritted French crusader army was forced to retreat in the fall of 1285. The defeat of the French army in 1285 effectively ended fighting, and Aragon would make peace with the pope by way of the 1291 Treaty of Tarascon.

View the full Wikipedia page for Aragonese Crusade

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