The founding of the hospital at the Coll de Balaguer was the result of a long process of negotiation involving
Prince Peter of Aragon and Anjou (1305-1381)
Prince Peter of Aragon and Anjou was the eighth son of the royal marriage between king James II of Aragon and Blanca of Anjou.
In the course of his life, the prince took on many titles: his father granted him the county of Ribagorça (1322) and the county of Empúries (1325), which he exchanged with his brother Ramon Berenguer for the county of the Prades mountains (1342). From then on, prince Peter divided his time between Barcelona and the castle in Falset, from which he ordered the foundation of the hospital at the Coll de Balaguer.
Around 1330, the chronicler Ramon Muntaner described him as a “very gracious and wise lord, and very astute, one of the most astute in the world”.
This ‘wisdom’ and ‘astuteness’ are the result of a busy life, committed to literary culture and to civil and religious politics. He was appointed diplomatic adviser to his father king James II, his brother king Alfons III and also his nephew king Peter III, known as ‘the Ceremonious’.
He died in 1381 in the city of Pisa, where he was staying after a visit to Rome.
L’infant Pere d’Aragó, còpia d’Andrés Marcos Burriel (1752) d’un tractat medieval. BNE, mss.12987, f. 8r.
Queen Blanca of Anjou (1283-1310)
Blanca of Anjou, prince Peter’s mother, was born in Naples, the daughter of Charles II of Anjou, king of Naples, and Maria of Hungary. She married king James II at the age of just 12.
Queen Blanca did not intervene in the foundation of the hospital at the Coll de Balaguer, but was the principal backer, together with king James II, of the founding of the nearby hospital of Font del Perelló (around 1310). However, as the mother of prince Peter, Blanca was closely linked to the town of L’Hospitalet.
L’infant Pere d’Aragó, còpia d’Andrés Marcos Burriel (1752) d’un tractat medieval. BNE, mss.12987, f. 8r.
