Reign of Peter IV of Aragon (1340s)

Timeline

1. 1340–1342Strait of Gibraltar–Algeciras · Iberian PeninsulaIn 1340 Peter IV sent a fleet at the request of Alfonso XI to support the fight against the Marinid invasion; some of the ships later joined the blockade of Algeciras. Through the maritime route linking Barcelona with Sicily (ruled by an Aragonese cadet branch), the Crown of Aragon connected Western Mediterranean trade and naval power with the Iberian Reconquista, reflecting the cross-regional operation of its composite monarchy.
2. 1343–1344Island of Majorca · Balearic IslandsIn May 1343, after the blockade of Algeciras ended, the Aragonese fleet landed on Majorca and defeated James III at Santa Ponça. In 1344 Peter IV was crowned King of Majorca in Palma Cathedral and continued the recovery of Roussillon and Cerdanya, reincorporating the island kingdom—split off from James I's legacy—into the Crown of Aragon.
3. 1347–1348Epila · AragonIn the later 1340s, Aragonese and Valencian nobles formed a union demanding limits on royal power. In 1348 Peter IV decisively defeated the union's forces at Epila, then ruthlessly purged the opposition, consolidating central authority. This victory laid the domestic political foundation for his subsequent foreign wars of the 1350s and the expansion of his ducal title in Greece in the 1380s.