[Sidenote: Victory of the royal authority in Aragon proper.]
The struggle of the kings against the seigniorial elements of Aragon and Valencia (in furtherance of their policy of absolutism and centralization) has already been traced up to the point where royalty gained the upper hand in the reign of Pedro IV. One result of Pedro’s victory was the reduction of the power of the _Justicia_, no longer a creature of the nobility (to mediate between them and the king) but a royal appointee, exercising strictly judicial powers as chief justice of the realm. Even in this respect his authority was limited by the founding of a tribunal to accompany the king. Attempts continued to be made to establish the independence of the _Justicia_, and the _Cortes_ declared him irremovable, but the kings compelled their appointees to give them a letter of resignation, with the date left blank, or disregarded the prohibition of the _Cortes_ altogether, deposing a _Justicia_ if it suited them to do so. Pedro IV enacted that no person of higher rank than that of _caballero_ should be governor in Aragon, thus removing another factor which had formerly contributed to civil strife. Aside from the abolition of the Privilege of the Union and the reforms just mentioned (together with others of lesser note), the kings did not modify the political organization of Aragon, but became in fact the principal element in the state, working their will even to the point of acts at variance with the laws. Great diversity in charter rights and jurisdictions continued to exist, although a number of general compilations of legislation like those in Castile were made. These became supplements to the already-mentioned code of Jaime I.[47] Other volumes were prepared of the customs of the realm, and the agreements of the _Cortes_ were also an important legislative source. The abolition of torture and of the vulgar proofs may be mentioned among the reforms in judicial procedure. The nobles remained almost wholly exempt from taxation, even with respect to the lands which they might acquire in royal territory.
[Sidenote: Relations of church and state in Aragon.]
The relations of the state and church in Aragon were more acute than in Castile, because of the consequences of Pedro II’s act of vassalage and the wars in Italy, and because of the Great Schism, in which Aragon played a leading part, since one of the anti-popes, Benedict XIII, an Aragonese, fixed his court in Aragon for a time, causing a divided allegiance of the clergy. The matter of the election of bishops was settled early in favor of the popes when Jaime II enacted that the pope himself should appoint them. This occasioned a number of disagreeable results, especially at the time of the schism, when there were two or more popes. Some appointments were manifestly improper. Clement V appointed his nephew, a mere boy at the time, as archbishop of Saragossa, and even Benedict XIII, though a man of the highest character, made a similar appointment to the archbishopric of Toledo. In other respects the kings often insisted on the rights of the state, and intervened in matters of an ecclesiastical character. Alfonso V was the first Aragonese ruler to pronounce for the retention of papal bulls when their publication was against the interests of the monarchy, availing himself of the _pase regio_ (royal permit), on which the kings based their claims to prevent documents which displeased them from being put into effect or even from reaching their intended destination. Pedro de Luna had for a long time been influential in Spain before he became Pope Benedict XIII; he it was who persuaded Juan I of Castile and Juan I of Aragon to recognize Clement VII of Avignon instead of the pope at Rome. He himself succeeded Clement VII, and because of his upright character, piety, intellectual capacity, and Spanish blood received the adhesion of most of the peninsula prelates. It was largely through his support that Ferdinand of Antequera was crowned king of Aragon instead of Jaime of Urgel. When a general church council was called to elect a pope to replace the three then in power, Benedict XIII alone of the three refused to abdicate. Ferdinand, who for a time endeavored to support him, felt obliged at last to deny him obedience. Benedict maintained himself in the fortress of Peñíscola until 1422 or 1423, when he died,--almost certainly poisoned by a friar. His cardinals elected Gil Muñoz, a canon of Barcelona, but in 1429 Muñoz renounced the title and the schism ended.