Donald J. Kagay and L.J. Villalon

Conflict in Fourteenth-Century Iberia: Aragon vs. Castile and the War of the Two Pedros

(Brill, 2021), 587 pp. $210.00

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in exploring new theatres in the conflict traditionally known as the Hundred Years War. Scholars have, in particular, sought to demonstrate that the conflict extended well beyond the world of the English Channel and northern and western France, drawing in a range of different monarchs and magnates, both directly and indirectly, from Scandinavia, the Holy Roman Empire, and the wider Mediterranean world. The Iberian dimension has received the lion’s share within this new wave of scholarship and the work of Professors Kagay and Villalon has proven instrumental in increasing awareness of this topic. Both scholars co-edited the three-volume The Hundred Years War with Brill Academic Publishers, a seminal collection of essays offering new perspectives on the conflict. More recently Professors Kagay and Villalon co-authored To Win and Lose a Medieval Battle: Nájera (April 3, 1367): A Pyrrhic Victory for the Black Prince (Brill, 2017), a detailed investigation of English and French involvement in the Castilian civil war of the 1360s. This present volume builds upon their earlier scholarship and explores the politics of mid-fourteenth century Iberia in more detail. The study takes as its centrepiece, the so-called War of the Two Pedros (1356-1366), a struggle between King Pedro I of Castile (d.1369) and King Pere III of Aragon (d.1387). However, the book covers a great deal more ground, historical and historiographical, than the title would suggest. Great care is taken to locate this struggle within a wider chronological framework, discussing the deeper origins of the war, as well as the course and consequences of the conflict.

The book is divided into four main parts. The introduction provides the reader with a succinct overview of the war, the key dramatis personae, as well as the core source material (both printed and archival) for exploring this topic. Whereas To Win and Lose a Medieval Battle drew primarily upon chronicle sources, this volume engages with a rich base of archival material. The topic is particularly well served by surviving documentation held in the Archivo de la Corona de Aragón in Barcelona, though less has survived from a Castilian point of view (the reason for which the authors attribute to the Castilians’ failure to create permanent repositories for their state papers.) The introduction also surveys scholarship on the conflict, highlighting prominent contributions in both English and Spanish, before providing a helpful roadmap to the book’s structure. The first section helps the reader orientate themselves with the geography and politics of the western Mediterranean. Chapter one provides a brief overview of the peninsula’s natural environment and outlines the topography and ecology of the region. Chapters two and three move on to chart the emergence of the respective kingdoms of Castile and Aragon during the early and high medieval periods. The course of the Reconquista saw both kingdoms expand southwards and their growing power and victories over Muslim rivals saw them acquire new lands. Many of these new territories fell under the control of powerful magnates and quickly became contested frontier zones between both kingdoms – a key factor shaping the course of Castilian-Aragonese relations. Chapter four discusses the early reigns and lives of the respective kings of mid-fourteenth century Castile and Aragon, Pedro I and Pere III.

The second part of the book details the chronology of the War of the Two Pedros (1356-1366). The authors demonstrate the outbreak of the conflict needs to be understood within two wider and inter-related contexts: the Hundred Years War and the politics of the western Mediterranean world. In 1351, Pere III sealed a treaty with the Republic of Venice in his ongoing struggle with the City of Genoa. Five years later, Pere gave permission for the French to out-fit a fleet at Barcelona for service against the English in the Atlantic. The force was placed under the command of the Aragonese nobleman, Francesch de Perellós (d.1369). Having departed southwards and passed through the Straits of Gibraltar, de Perellós put in for supplies at the Castilian port of San Lucar de Barrameda. Whilst there, he seized two vessels from Piacenza, an Italian city allied with Genoa. Although piracy was relatively common in the Mediterranean world, de Perellós’ raid was witnessed by the Castilian king, Pedro I, who happened to be visiting San Lucar de Barrameda. The seizure of these ships was viewed as grave insult to Pedro’s honour; it quickly became an international incident and, set alongside ongoing border issues, was the spark that ignited war between the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Chapter five discusses this event as well as the ensuing rounds of frenzied diplomacy followed by the road to open war. Chapters six to nine provide a detailed narrative charting the course of this war. By 1360, Pedro I had made considerable progress against Aragon. However, within a short space of time Pedro found himself within a less favourable strategic position. There were two major factors underpinning this change: an unfavourable regime change in Granada, (which saw Pedro’s former Islamic allies turn against him in south) as well as the decision of his illegitimate half-brother and dynastic rival, Enrique of Trastámara (d.1379), to serve Pere III. Faced with these mounting challenges, Pedro I had little choice but to agree to terms with Pere.

Under the Treaty of Terrer in May 1361, Pedro surrendered most of his recent conquests. However, the tide turned in Pedro’s favour the following year and, after building a new coalition with allies in Granada, Portugal, and Navarre, Pedro swept down on Aragon. The chapters detail this particularly intense period of warfare: the Aragonese capital at Zaragoza was very nearly lost and by 1364 the situation was increasingly grim from Pere’s perspective. Nevertheless, Pere’s position was transformed in 1366 and the king of Aragon managed to secure a huge force of mercenaries with French and Papal assistance. Under the command of the famous Bertrand du Guesclin (d.1380) and Enrique of Trastámara, Pedro’s forces were driven from Aragon and before long Pere III had re-established control of his kingdom. Pedro was driven from Castile and forced to seek aid from Edward the Black Prince (d.1376). Although the Black Prince’s victory at Nájera in 1367 saw Pedro briefly recover his kingdom, French aid finally secured victory for Enrique at the battle of Montiel in 1369 (topics which are treated in section four).

The second part of the book deals with the organisation of warfare in Castile and Aragon during the mid-to-late fourteenth century. Chapter ten examines the challenges for both monarchs in financing an increasingly expensive conflict; chapter eleven explores the command structures in the armies of both kingdoms and pays close attention to the role of captains and the delegation of royal authority. Chapter twelve delves into the topic of military recruitment. As the authors point out, the surviving records of the Aragonese state allow for a relatively detailed reconstruction of the mechanics underpinning the recruitment of troops; the limitations of Castilian material poses certain problems and makes it more difficult to reconstruct as detailed a picture. The chapter draws comparison with earlier expeditions into southern Spain as well as Pere’s more recent campaigns in Sardinia and Majorca. Moreover, the strains of waging war in distant realms also made it increasingly difficult to raise troops as Pere could not always rely on traditional feudal exactions: recruiting from towns and using mercenaries thus became ever more important in these military structures. Indeed, the desire to find a solution to issues of recruitment and payment was a key factor driving the emergence of permanent paid standing forces in Spain during the later fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Chapter thirteen investigates the development of parliamentary and regional assemblies during the conflict while chapter fourteen offers a fascinating discussion on how the war impacted upon Jewish and Muslim communities in Aragon and Valencia. Both of these regions were exposed heavy fighting and witnessed numerous military manoeuvres during the war. The already marginalised Jewish and Muslim communities in these border regions were not only vulnerable to depredations of invading soldiers, Pere had no reservations about placing heavy financial burdens upon these communities: faced with these crippling taxes, many within the Jewish and Muslim community chose to leave their homes for Granada. Chapter fifteen examines the role of frontier towns in the conflict, while chapter sixteen discusses the career of Pere III’s remarkable queen, Elionor of Sicily (d.1375).

The fourth and final section of the book examines the wider context of this conflict. As noted, the final three chapters detail the years after 1366, exploring growing English and French involvement in the conflict as well as Enrique of Trastámara’s defeat of Pedro I in 1369. Overall, this is a very impressive volume and an important contribution not only to scholarship on the politics of the Iberian Peninsula in the fourteenth century but also late medieval Europe more generally. As with all of Brill’s publications, the book is beautifully produced and contains a wealth of helpful maps, family trees and genealogies, tables, a comprehensive bibliography, a detailed index, and four appendices. These appendices contain a wealth of transcribed letters, many from the royal archive in Barcelona, detailing the correspondence of Pedro I and Pere III, material covering their respective military administrations, as well as selection of chronicle extracts. Furthermore, this book has multiple applications. It should be essential reading to anyone working on the history and culture of late medieval Iberia and serves as an excellent narrative history of a formative period in Castilian and Aragonese history. The book will also be of interest to scholars working on the Hundred Years or the world of the western Mediterranean in the later middle ages more generally. Finally, the book will also be useful for students approaching this topic for the first time, particularly those seeking to get a better understanding of events in the Iberian Peninsula impacted and impinged upon the politics of western Europe during the fourteenth century.

Simon Egan,
Trinity College Dublin