1231: The Muslims of Menorca Submit to the Crown of Aragon in the Treaty of Capdepera

Abstract

In June 1231, the Muslims of Menorca submitted to the authority of the Crown of Aragon without a fight. The outcome of the surrender negotiations was recorded in the so-called Treaty of Capdepera, probably composed originally in Arabic and Latin and one of only three surviving surrender treaties from the period of the Catalan-Aragonese expansion in the first half of the thirteenth century. This article situates Menorca’s submission within the broader context of the military campaigns of James I of Aragon between 1229 and 1245, which were directed both against the Balearic Islands and extensive parts of the eastern Iberian mainland. Through comparison with selected cases from this period, the analysis traces how the Muslims of Menorca reached a collective decision and how both sides negotiated and reconciled their respective Islamic and Christian conceptions of allegiance. The article argues that the agreement allowed the island to retain a status distinct from that of the neighbouring islands and the mainland territories, while nevertheless serving as a model for subsequent surrender negotiations.