The current appearance of the hall of Courts, where you are now, is quite unlike what it was in medieval times, as nothing remains of the furniture and decoration of yesteryear. Nor has the ceiling, originally covered in Gothic cross vaults, been preserved.
All the same, this hall of Courts was the site where, in 1214, a child who was then only six years old was crowned King. We are speaking of James I the Conqueror, the nickname he earned after conquering the Muslim reigns of Mallorca and Valencia and incorporating them into the Crown of Aragon.
The coronation, which took place in August 1214, was held amidst great security measures and protocols. A multitude of people attended, between bishops and abbots, nobles and knights and representatives from all the large towns and cities. Catalans and Aragonese, they gave the boy their oath of loyalty and crowned him King. He was then brought to the Templar castle in Monzón and raised, for three long years, like any other Templar.
Normally depicted as a handsome, brave, attractive and corpulent warrior King James I lived an exceptional 68 years, a fact which has allowed him to emerge as the king with the longest reign of all the kings of the former Crown of Aragon. As well as a conqueror, he was a great legislator. From his time in this city and castle, where according to historical documents he spent long periods, we are left with two privileges which, while granted in the middle of the 13th century, are still in force today. One is the fair of Sant Miquel, a privilege granted in 1232 and held every year on the 29th of September. The other is the Paeria, the name by which the Lleida city council is known. The Paeria was a privilege, granted in 1264, which gave Lleida’s citizens the power to govern their own city, thereby freeing them from any form of feudal servitude.
