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COINS OF THE CRUSADER KINGDOM OF MAJORCA

A Numismatic Legacy of the Holy Wars in Spain

By Stephen M Huston

The Crusades are generally thought of as a series of Wars between the forces of Christianity and Islam in the levant---Byzantine territories and parts of Greece, the middle East, and Egypt---beginning with the First Crusade in 1096, and brought to a conclusion by the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Crusade histories and numismatic texts focus on this era and region as if holy wars were unique to that time and place.

Recent scholarship on the crusades has expanded the definition to include holy wars approved by the Pope as political-religious conflicts between Christian forces and a region which was not Christian (or was suffering from some loathsome heresy) which was to be brought under the control of the faithful by force of arms. The Pope’s blessing on the war and the troops was required, and dispensations were approved for the participants. The faithful who died in the fray were assured of heaven.

Spain undertook several crusades which had the goal of restoring or acquiring territories which were occupied by the moors---a Christian label applied to all Moslems, but specifically the followers of Islam inhabiting parts of North Africa and Spain. Our focus will be on the island of Majorca which was taken for and by Spanish forces acting with Papal approval.

La Cruzada in Spain---Before the First Crusade In 711, Moslem forces attacked Spain, capturing a foothold from the Visigoths, who had succeeded the Roman Empire as controllers of the Region. By the 900s, Islamic outposts had been established around the Mediterranean, and Moslems had become the controlling rulers of much of the North African coast and the Spanish peninsula. Islamic pirates raided the trade routes along the south coast of Europe, and the castles of Islamic leaders controlled areas in Italy, Spain and Provence. The Mediterranean was seen as an Islamic lake. The Moors in Spain were quite capable of crossing the Pyranees against relatively undefended Christian regions of Europe as they had attempted in 732. Europeans were well aware that the Moors had sacked Rome in 846.

Christian forces under local rulers, acting to avert further incursions by the Moors, regained territories in Italy and Provence, but the Caliph Mahomet ibn Abi Amir, known to the Spanish as Almanzor, still held much of the Spanish Peninsula in 980. The following year he captured Zamora from the Christian king of Leon. In 985, Almanzor captured Barcelona and in 996, he sacked Leon itself. His naval forces were strong enough to repel Viking attacks along the Atlantic coast and at the Straits of Gibraltar, controlling the

land on both sides of the straits. Thus he controlled trade while providing some protection to the Mediterranean

One of Almanzor’s most destructive acts was the capture and burning of the city of St James at Campostella, which contained the third most holy site for pilgrimages in all of Christendom. Though Almanzor respected the shrine of St James, his devastation of this city in 992 proved it was no longer safe for Christian pilgrims. He was preparing to cross the Pyranees when he died in 1002. Moorish pirates sacked Antibes, Pisa and Narbonne in the next few years.

Ramiro, the Christian king of Aragon, was murdered in 1063 by a Moslem while preparing to attack Moors to drive them southward. Pope Alexander II responded by promising indulgences for all who fought under the cross in Spain at that time. A decade later, Pope Gregory VII invited all Christians to join in the defense of Christian Spain. A few years later, he approved the keeping of Islamic lands by those Christians who captured them. With this decree, more knights arrived---land itself was at stake. The legendary efforts of El Cid at this time were significant but limited to Valencia. Toledo was retaken in 1085 by Alfonso VI of Castile, but then the Moors began to regain the upper hand, gradually retaking land until these conflicts subsided about 1101.

Once the pressure was off of the Islamic caliphate in Spain, actions which worried Christian Europe were renewed. The Moorish fleet operating from ports on both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar effectively sealed that route from European traders. Next the territories recently reclaimed by Italian and Spanish forces were again under attack. Pisa had held Majorca briefly in 1115/16, but it was soon retaken by the Moors. The Italian traders, especially the Genoese, used their fleets to challenge Islamic domination of the trade routes, eventually regaining some rights and use of the Straits, but most major ports were left in the hands of the Moors. The boundaries between Christian and Moorish Spain were not much different in 1195 than they had been a century before, with Islam holding most of Spain and controlling trade in the region.

It should be noted that this long series of conflicts which gained Papal support and indulgences for the war against Islam in Spain began decades before the preaching of the First Crusade at Clermont late in 1095, which set off the crusades in the Levant the following year. Spain had already fought her first holy wars. In fact, our word Crusade comes from the Spanish Cruzada, which appears in reference to these Wars of the Cross in Spanish texts a century before the first crusade to the Holy Land.

The Capture of Majorca Majorca was held by the Moors in the early 1200s, five centuries after their arrival in the area. The largest of the Balearic Islands (140 miles off the east coast of Spain from Valencia and 100 miles south of Barcelona), Majorca was important for securing trade routes in the region. In 1229, James I, who became known as The Conqueror, set out to recapture this region for Aragon. He used his own forces, calling in feudal debts of service from throughout his domains, and a small contingent from the Knights Templar. His success was followed up with his recapturing regions for Castile and securing the Argonese border from Moslem influences. James the Conqueror’s successes took many years, capturing Cordoba in 1236 and Valencia in 1238. After he took Seville in 1248, only the region of Granada remained in Islamic hands.

In fact, James the Conqueror was so successful against the Moors, that the Pope pressured him to lead his forces into the Middle East in aid of the Eighth Crusade. He was unsuccessful in that venture.

The Crusader Kingdom of Majorca

The region around Majorca captured by James the Conqueror during his crusade of 1229-1234 was held as a separate state until it was lost to Aragon a century later. At first, James treated it as his own private territory, but it eventually was set up as a state to be inherited by his younger son, James II (1276-1311).

The Islamic population of Majorica was supplanted by Christian settlers. The Moors were gradually driven out of the new kingdom; the last of them to leave were sold into slavery in 1287.

The heirs of James the Conqueror ruled Majorca for only two generations as a crusader state, and that period was troubled. James II was at war with his older brother, Peter III of Aragon, over the inheritance of Majorca for many years. When Peter died, his son Alfonso claimed the region and succeeded in driving out James for several years. Alfonso struck no Majorcan coins during his usurpation, and James II regained control when his royal nephew died. Sancho, the second son of James, inherited Majorca because his older brother had taken holy orders. Sancho had to deal with raids by Barbary pirates during his short tenure. His nephew James III inherited and began heated negotiations with Aragon over the title and claims on his kingdom. He accepted allegiance to Aragon, which incorporated Majorca in 1343, following a period of open warfare between these two states.

During its mere 68 years as a separate crusader kingdom, Majorca produced coinage with designs which reflect the crusading spirit

Majorcan Coinage---1276 to 1334 Coinage used in Majorca under the Moors was of Islamic types, primarily the gold dinar and the silver dirhem issues of the caliphs in Spain and the Middle East. A typical example of this design from Caliph Hisham is shown.

When James captured Majorca, no immediate coinage change was made, although it is probable that Islamic types were supplemented or supplanted by existing coins of the Christian rulers in surrounding regions, much as the population was changed.

Majorca began its own coinage when James II (1276-1311) inherited the new kingdom under his father’s will. He introduced distinctive coins of gold, silver, and billion (a low grade silver). . Shown below is an enlarged photo of a billion dobler struck by James II of Majorca.

Gold reales portray the king enthroned full-length on the obverse. The reverse carries a large patriarchal cross as the main design. (On coins where the kings name appears around the cross, the side with the kings name is considered the obverse, however, the coins are usually depicted with the portrait as obverse for uniformity and ease of identification.

The billon diners and doblers (half reales of two diners) carry the same bust as the silver, but the reverses have a plain cross without additional ornamentation.

The pattern of coinage begun by James II was continued by his son and successor, Sancho (1311-1324). Sancho made two changes, the use of stars in place of florettes on the silver (shown on the left), and the introduction of a smaller billon coin, the mallas, a half-diner (shown to right).

James III (1324-1343), the last ruler of Majorca as a separate crusader kingdom, inherited it from Sancho, his cousin. His wars and the loss of parts of his possessions took a toll on his Majorcan issues.

James III issued no gold. A new silver half-real was his high value denomination, the rest being billon---doblers, deniers and mallas. His silver carries the plain cross as the reverse type within a ornate octofoil border. The billon continues to depict a plain cross without embellishment.

When Majorca was united with the Kingdom of Aragon under Peter IV, he continued coinage for Majorca with its distinctive cross reverse design, and restored larger denominations including gold. However, with Peter’s incorporation of the island kingdom into Aragon, the indepndent Majorcan crusader kingdom ceases.

The Sign of the Cross A cross was used as the reverse design throughout regions ruled by crusader-kings who had captured their lands in holy wars. It provided a daily reminder of the source of the land, the war to acquire it, and the beliefs which inspired their conquests. The use of the cross as a coin design in Spain during this period was not uncommon and in keeping with the crusading movement which had originated in the region. However, most of the regions of Spain were not consistent in the use of a cross on coins, frequently preferring heraldry of the royal house or region, such as the lions and castles of Leon and Castile.

Majorca was unusual in its consistent use of the cross on all coinage during its days as a crusader state, as were contemporary crusader states in the Levant. The distinctive cross designs continued on Majorcan coinage after the state was incorporated into Aragon.

The coinage of the Kingdom of Majorca immediately following the defeat of the Moors is an overlooked part of the crusader coinage. It is a small part of the great mass of coinage issued in the spirit of the crusades by those who fought the holy wars and acquired their lands under the Sign of the Cross.

The above article was originally published by the Pacific Coast Numismatic Society. It was awarded Second Prize in the 1996 Literary Awards given by the Club, and is reprinted here with the permission of PCNS.

The author, Stephen M Huston joined PCNS in 1976 and has served on the Board of Governors and as both Vice-President and President. He has won other awards from PCNS for his writings in the past, and he has worked on all 45 issues of their publication, The Journal, of which he was the founding editor. In 1990, he was elected a PCNS Fellow. Huston is also a member of CSNA and formerly served as Vice-President. Most recently he was involved in organizing the first Symposium in Northern California.