James, 13th count of Albarracin
| James | |
|---|---|
| Count of Albarracin Baron of Loarre | |
| Predecessor | Frederic |
| Successor | Godfrey |
| Born | 1240 Albarracin, Kingdom of Aragon |
| Died | 13 January 1291 (aged 50-51) Mirambel, Kingdom of Aragon |
| Buried | Cathedral of Híjar |
| Noble family | Cerdanya Vieja |
| Spouse(s) | Sança d'Aragó (d. 1278) Alamanda de Mallorca del Bosque |
| Issue
Godfrey Berenguer Frederic | |
| Father | Frederic, 12th count of Albarracin |
| Mother | Berengaría, countess of Alto Aragón |
James de Cerdanya Vieja (Catalan: Jaume; 1240 - 13 January 1291), thirteenth Count of Albarracin, was an Aragonese nobleman during the late thirteenth century.
Life
James was born in 1240, the eldest son and second child of Frederic, 12th count of Albarracin. His mother Berengaría, countess of Alto Aragón, had an older son from a previous marriage who stood as heir to her lands. James may have been born at the beginning of the year; a later chronicle records that he was born shortly after the Epiphany holiday. A family chronicler later wrote that James died on the day before his birthday.
Little is known about James' personal life. He was considered an unremarkable man by his contemporaries. Circa 1256 he married Sança d'Aragó, a daughter of Gausfred, count of Cuenca. Already mortally ill at the time of her husband's succession to Albarracin, she died in 1278, after which James married Alamanda de Mallorca del Bosque, the sister of Gombau, count of Navarra. James was recorded as his father's chancellor in 1274.
James became count of Albarracin on 30 March 1277, after his father resigned the county to avoid imprisonment on heresy charges. James kept a low political profile; he very rarely appeared at court after attending Philip I's coronation in 1279. Around this time, James was involved in a legal dispute with a knight of his household retinue named Jofre. The details of the dispute remain obscure, but the royal justiciary issued a decree of arbitration on 30 November 1280 that forced James to release Jofre from custody.
In 1282, James served as a member of the commission that investigated the murder of his brother-in-law Gombau, count of Navarra. On 13 February 1285, he granted a charter to the city of Teruel. In November of this year, James is recorded as having held a convocatio of his vassals in the hall of Albarracin Castle. James began to suffer from ill health in his late forties, and pleaded illness to avoid traveling to Sant Cugat in 1287, for the consecration of King Philip's new shrine to St. John. In 1290, James' chaplain complained to the royal court that the count could not lift himself out of bed.
James died at Mirambel, near Teruel, on 13 January 1291. He had been taken there by litter in search of healing mineral waters, alleged to have been found in the area. James was succeeded by his eldest son Godfrey. His remains were buried at Híjar Cathedral.