At Anagni, on 20 June 1295, in the chamber of Pope Boniface VIII, the act was given by which Philip IV of France and Charles of Valois renounced Aragon, Valencia and the county of Barcelona in favour of James II of Aragon. It is the dated piece of the package called the Treaty of Anagni. James did not come; he was represented by Guillem Durfort, Gilabert de Cruïlles, Pere de la Costa and Guillem Galvany, with power to conclude peace with the Church, with the king of France and with Charles II of Naples. The parties: Boniface VIII, James II, Philip IV, Charles II of Naples and James II of Majorca.

The Treaty of Anagni is not the Treaty of Tarascon of 1291, which it confirms, nor the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, nor the Peace of Caltabellotta of 1302, nor the arrest of the pope at Anagni in 1303, nor the infeudation of Sardinia of 4 April 1297. Celestine V opened the talks; Boniface closed them. The Aragonese Crusade was Martin IV’s, not Martin V’s.

The clauses: James marries Blanche, daughter of Charles II; Sicily returns to the pope, who grants it to Charles; James gives military aid for the reconquest; his excommunication is lifted; Charles of Valois renounces the crown of Aragon; the Balearics are restored to James of Majorca; the pope arbitrates the Aran valley; James’s Italian conquests are restored to Charles; hostages are exchanged, among them Charles’s sons — Louis, Robert and Raymond Bérenger — released on 7 June.

Frederick of Sicily, James’s brother, and the Sicilians do not accept. The Aragonese fleet, by the clause, assists Charles. The war lasts until Caltabellotta. The Sicilian parliament elects Frederick, then lieutenant of the island.

Secret clauses were later added: Corsica and Sardinia to James; Aragonese military aid to France against Edward I of England. The investiture of the Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae was at St Peter’s, on 4 April 1297, not in the act in the pope’s chamber.

The meeting at La Jonquera, where James and Charles ratified face to face, is a later parchment, not the act in the pope’s chamber. Celestine opened the preparations; the June act is closed by Boniface.

Image: palace of Boniface VIII, Anagni, 30 April 2017; Saverio.G, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9. The 1295 act was given in the pope’s chamber in this palace.

Source consulted: Treaty of Anagni. Treaty text: PARES: ACA, Cancillería, Bulas, Legajo 19, núm. 13, Anagni, 20 June 1295.