Published in Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Peninsula Cultural History

Keywords: Keywords: Iberian Peninsula, James I of Aragon, Llibre dels Feyts, Pragmatism, Tolerance.

The purpose of this article is to undestand the representations about the saracens in the autobiography of James I of Aragon (1208-1276) produced in the 1270 decade, the Llibre dels Feyts. Since the contemporary medieval studies interpret these representations from a preponderance of ethinic and religious aspects or a break caused by the first revolt of Valencia (1244), becomes necessary to analyze the relations between christians and muslims from a medieval concept of tolerance in order to encompass them in their historical complexity and increase the interpretations to the developed time by entering James I in the Iberian context of the XIII century. The analysis of the Llibre dels Feyts exposes the operationalization of a pragmatic policy toward the conquered Muslims populations, to tolerate those who recognize the authority and legitimacy of catalan-aragonese monarch. According to an organic and feudal perspective the saracens were incorporated into Catalan and Aragonese territories, without, however, enjoy a equal status.