Ramon Llull was born in Majorca, c. 1232, during the reign of King James I of Aragon. Llull’s father was a bourgeois from Barcelona who had settled in the island, after having participated in the crusade that took it from the Almohads and having received some land as a consequence. The Majorca where Llull was brought up was an important enclave for the commerce with North Africa. its society was also involved in a process of colonization, divided into three communities: Muslims, still in substantial numbers and mostly enslaved, Jews, and the new dominant group, Christians. it was the beginning of a period of territorial expansion for the Crown of Aragon in detriment of islam, thus turning religious minorities into a chief political issue. The conversion of unbelievers by persuasion or disputation was one of the available solutions to this problem. During the Valencia crusade conversion was also seen as a useful tool to enhance the penetration of Christian rule in bordering lands, governed by Muslim rulers who might be willing to be baptized for political reasons. Llull’s biography is thus inextricably bound to a set of policies aimed at both territorial expansion of Christian domains and the Christianization of religious minorities in Christian lands, by means of material and intellectual weapons.
The main source for Llull’s biography is the Vita coetanea, compiled by a monk in the Parisian Chartreuse, from the autobiographical story Llull had told him before attending the Council of Vienne. The book begins with Llull’s conversion to penitence at 30. He had previously been a married man, with children, who belonged to the entourage of the future King James II of Majorca. His conversion involved a three-fold project: (1) to devote his life to the conversion of unbelievers, particularly Muslims (accepting the possibility of martyrdom), (2) to write the best book against the errors of unbelievers, and (3) to try to convince the pope, kings, and princes to found monasteries for missionary training. During the following years, Llull endeavored to acquire the knowledge necessary to fulfill these aims: he learnt Arabic, with the aid of a Muslim slave, and he studied philosophy and theology, both Christian and Muslim. At the end of this period, he wrote a monumental work (his first extant book among some 260 works): the LUhre de Contemplacio en Deu. Not until he finished this work did Llull find ‘‘the way to write the best book against the errors of unbelievers.’’ The Vita presents this as divine illumination, after which he proceeded to write the Ars compendiosa inveniendi veritatem, the first version of his famous Art. A couple of years later, another of his aims become materialized in a bull by Pope John XXI confirming the foundation of a monastery in Miramar (in the island of Majorca), paid by King James II. Thirteen Franciscan friars would be trained as missionaries there.
The Vita coetanea does not provide any information about the years 1276 to 1287. Llull probably devoted himself to teaching and writing, both in the island of Majorca and in the two continental capitals of the new kingdom of Majorca (segregated from the Crown of Aragon in King James I’s will): Perpignan and Montpellier (the latter becoming his main operations center). The new kingdom was under great political struggles due to the pressure from the king of Aragon, who demanded feudal homage, and to the aftermath of the Sicilian Vespers (1282). In this complex situation, King James II of Majorca, Llull’s natural lord, entered into an alliance with the pope and the French king. It was the same pope, Martin IV, who had called a crusade against James’ brother, King Peter of Aragon. The crusade failed and King James was subsequently dispossessed of his noncontinental lands by his nephew Alphonse of Aragon in 1285. The Vita records Llull’s irruption in the international scene, 2 years later, in order to convince popes, kings, and princes to found missionary schools. Shortly after the death of Pope Honorius IV, he made his first visit to Rome. From that moment on, he traveled a great deal. He lived in Paris for 2 years (1287-1289), where he had an interview with King Philip IV, he taught at the university, and obtained an authorization to teach in several Italian monasteries from the Franciscan general. He resided and taught in Paris for two subsequent periods. While there in 1297-1299, he wrote the Declaratio per modum dialogi edita contra aliquorum philosophorum opiniones, a dialogue against the ‘‘errors’’ of university philosophers (who had already been condemned by the bishop of Paris in 1277). During his second stay, after obtaining a letter of recommendation from King Philip IV as well as a document signed by 40 masters and bachelors of Arts and Medicine (where they approved his Ars brevis), he conducted a bitter campaign against the ‘‘Averroists’’ in the Faculty of Arts.
In 1292, a year after the fall of Saint John of Acre (the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land), Llull went back to Rome, where he dedicated his first work about the crusades to Pope Nicholas IV. From that moment on, his project to train missionaries in the language of the unbelievers was strongly linked to the promotion of warfare against Muslims, as attested by his petitions to Pope Celestinus V and Pope Bonifacius VIII (1294 and 1295), and by his Liber define (1305) and De acquisitione terrae sanctae (1309). He was thus compelled to act as a crusade propagandist in Genoa (1293, 1308) and Pisa (1307) and even to do a reconnaissance trip to Cyprus and Little Armenia (1301-1302). After the treatises of Anagni (1295) and Argelers (1298), once the relationship between Aragon, Majorca, Naples, Sicily, and France was reestablished, the Balearic Islands had been returned to King James of Majorca, and his kingdom was acknowledged as vassal to Aragon, Llull transferred to the service of King Jaume II of Aragon. The influence of his new patron’s interests (for whom Llull carried out several diplomatic missions) is evident in his later works on the crusade: this topic touched on the interests of the Crown of Aragon as well as those of King Philip IV of France. This context illuminates the reasons for Llull’s presence in the Council of Vienne (1311-1312), where two of his propositions regarding the creation of missionary schools and the unification of military orders were approved. After the fall of Acre, he was also allowed to debate with Muslims on the domains of King Charles I of Naples (1294) and to preach in synagogues and mosques under the jurisdiction ofKing James II of Aragon (1299). The attendance at such sermons was compulsory. Around this date he also decided to test his Art by undertaking several missionary trips to North Africa, where he visited lands with close political and commercial links with the Crown of Aragon. He went to Tunis (1293), Bugia (1306), and then again Tunis (after a strategic visit to King Frederic of Sicily). He dedicated his last works to the Tunisian sultan: as they are dated in December 1315, he is assumed to have died a few months later.
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