Relations With France and Navarre
From 1230 to 1232, James negotiated with Sancho VII of Navarre, who desired his help against his nephew and closest living male relative, Theobald IV of Champagne. James and Sancho negotiated a treaty whereby James would inherit Navarre on the old Sancho's death, but when this did occur, the Navarrese nobles instead elevated Theobald to the throne (1234), and James disputed it. Pope Gregory IX was required to intervene. In the end, James accepted Theobald's succession.
James endeavoured to form a state straddling the Pyrenees in order to counterbalance the power of France north of the Loire. As with the much earlier Visigothic attempt, this policy was victim to physical, cultural, and political obstacles. As in the case of Navarre, he declined to launch into perilous adventures. By the Treaty of Corbeil, signed in May 1258, he ended his conflict with Louis IX of France, securing the renunciation of French claims to sovereignty over Catalonia.
Read more about this topic: James I Of Aragon
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