The conquest of Mallorca in 1229

Jaume I was King of Aragón and Count of Barcelona. In English he is James I, in Spanish Jaime I, and his byname is “the Conqueror”. In 1229, he led the army that attacked Muslim-ruled Mallorca.

His crown comprised several territories. There was no Spanish nation-state in the modern sense. References to the “Spanish conquest” of Mallorca usually mean this campaign, although the conquest by Jaume I and his army is more precise. Many of his men came from Catalan territories.

The island already had an established society of towns, villages, farms and trading connections. Read about it in Muslim Mallorca.

For the king, Mallorca promised territory and revenue. Noblemen and church supporters expected land, houses, income and spoils. Claims to property were agreed before the campaign had succeeded.

The island's position in the western Mediterranean mattered too. Controlling Mallorca brought influence over sea routes between the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and Italy. The war also received religious justification and papal support. Political ambition, economic aims and Christian zeal were closely connected for those involved.

The fleet sailed from the Catalan coast. On 10 September 1229, troops landed at Santa Ponça, making today's holiday resort the starting point for the advance on the capital.

Fighting followed along the route, including the Battle of Portopí on 12 September. The army then began besieging Madina Mayurqa, present-day Palma.

A cross at Santa Ponça commemorates the landing. It is a later monument, not a surviving part of the king's camp. The Festes del rei En Jaume also mark the events, with celebrations and re-enactments around the anniversary.

The siege lasted several months. On 31 December 1229, the troops entered the capital. Looting and widespread violence followed.

Residents were killed, captured and enslaved; others escaped inland. For the Muslim population, Jaume I's victory meant the collapse of their political order and, for many, the loss of family, freedom and property.

The campaign did not end with the capital's fall. Focusing only on 1229 leaves out the fighting that continued in the mountains.

Muslim residents sought protection in the Serra de Tramuntana, including the areas around Sóller and Banyalbufar, and Almallutx beside today's Gorg Blau reservoir.

At Almallutx, archaeologists have studied houses, a mosque and a cemetery. Together with written accounts, these finds reveal something of the people living in the mountains after Palma fell. Fighting, negotiation and submission continued until 1232.

Almallutx now lies in the reservoir's flood zone and is not a regularly accessible open-air museum. Read more in the Almallutx section.

Many survivors were enslaved and sold, working on farms, in urban households and in businesses. Slavery did not end with the fighting; it remained part of the economy for a long time.

Others fled, gained their freedom or continued as free Muslims under specific legal conditions. Ransoms and overseas connections could change individual lives. The Muslim population did not disappear from the island overnight.

Even so, the consequences were fundamental for much of the population. New rulers took over land and houses, while former owners lost rights and their means of making a living.

Land, houses and revenues were shared among the victors. Roughly half went to the king, with the rest assigned to major supporters of the campaign, who redistributed their shares. This division is known as the Repartiment.

The Llibre del Repartiment records property and new claims, making it an important source for settlement and land use. For previous owners, redistribution usually meant dispossession.

Jaume I took the title King of Mallorca after capturing the capital. The kingdom therefore did not begin only with the inheritance division of 1276. The Carta de Franqueses of 1 March 1230 set out rights for the new population, covering property, justice and trade. Privileges were intended to attract settlers and revive economic activity.

Many settlers came from Catalan territories. Their arrival laid an important foundation for Catalan on Mallorca. Language changed over generations, rather than every resident switching on a single day.

Mallorcan belongs to the varieties of Catalan spoken in the Balearic Islands. Its history is closely linked to settlement after the conquest.

The rulers' religion and public institutions changed too. Churches and monasteries were founded, and the Christian Church acquired property and influence. Muslim minorities and Jewish communities also remained part of the island's history.

After the conquest, Palma's main mosque was consecrated for Christian worship. The great La Seu cathedral you see beside the sea today did not yet exist.

Construction began in the 13th century and continued across many generations. The official building history extends into the 1630s, followed by further alterations. Today's cathedral belongs to the conquest's long-term consequences, not the skyline of 1229.

Inside, you also see work from much later periods, including Antoni Gaudí's changes in the early 20th century.

The Almudaina, opposite the cathedral, had already served as an Islamic residence. Under Jaume II in the early 14th century, it was extensively remodelled as a royal palace, with a major building phase between 1305 and 1314.

Castell de Bellver belongs to this later period too. Jaume II had the round castle built between 1300 and 1311 on a wooded hill above Palma, intended as a royal residence.

You can visit both. The Almudaina is beside La Seu, while Bellver needs a separate detour. Its circular courtyard and views across the bay give a sense of the ambition behind these royal buildings.

After Jaume I died in 1276, his son Jaume II inherited Mallorca and other possessions, including territories north of the Pyrenees. His realm was therefore larger than the island alone. In 1279, he had to recognise the overlordship of the Aragonese branch of the family.

Relations remained troubled. The Aragonese branch occupied Mallorca in 1285. In 1343, Pere IV seized it from Jaume III, whose attempt to recover the island ended in defeat and death at Llucmajor in 1349.

The separate royal house failed, but the title “Kingdom of Mallorca” and distinct institutions continued. The takeover of 1343 and the battle of 1349 were two different events.

New landowners continued using existing springs, channels, storage pools and farmland. In the Tramuntana, older water systems were combined with later terraces, dry-stone structures and larger estates. The walls you see today do not all belong to one period.

Mallorca's large estates, the possessions, took their familiar form through a long process. Land was sold, combined or lost through debt. Enslaved people were still working on large estates in the 14th and first half of the 15th centuries.

Later, taxes and tensions between town and countryside led to new conflicts, including the Revolta Forana from 1450 and the Germanies from 1521. These were not continuations of Muslim resistance in 1229, but rebellions within a society that had changed fundamentally.

For the story from 1700 onwards, return to our history overview.