King Pedro II ¹

   Another name for Pedro was The Catholic.

  General Notes:

Led into ruinous alliance with Castile at the urging of his mother, his borrowings to cover various military adventures left his realm in dire financial straights. He was killed in a battle fighting French Knights led by the first Baron Simon de Montford (who earlier had been an ally).

BIOGRAPHY: Foix was a fief of king Pedro II d'Arag�n, which provided some prote ction from attack by the crusaders. Using the excuse that the comte de Foix, Ra ymond-Roger, though a Catholic himself, protected Cathars. Indeed, Raymond-Roge r's sister was a devout Cathar and lived at nearby Pamiers. Simon de Montfort m ade a daring advanced on this stronghold of in 1210. Meeting stern resistance, Montford burned a suburb of the town. In 1214, Raymond-Roger willingly surrende red his fortress to the Catholic Church, and Simon de Montfort places a garriso n in it the following year. The castle (dating from the tenth-century) remains an impressive sight. It is open to the public and contains a fine museum of pre -historic and medieval items.

  Death Notes:

Battle Of Muret

  Noted events in his life were:

� He worked as a King Of Aragbon.

Pedro married Countess Maria, daughter of Count William VIII and Eudoxia Comnenus Of Byzantium, on 15 Jun 1204 in Montpellier, Herault, France. (Countess Maria was born about 1178 in Montpellier, Herault, France and died on 21 Jan 1213 in Roma, , Lazio, Italy.)