In 1213, at the age of five, he became King of Aragon. He was a remarkable man; gallant, boastful and eccentric. As a young man he conquered the Balearic Islands and the rich emirate of Valencia. He then involved himself with French politics as the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne formed part of his kingdom; and as well he had inherited Montpellier from his mother.
He was nearly sixty when he personally led his army and added the emirate of Murcia to his kingdom. In his later years he preferred to spend his time in dalliance with his mistresses. He was the only monarch who accepted Pope Gregory X's invitation to make a crusade; but his good sense, being both too shrewd and too weary, kept him out of any involvement; this he preferred to leave to his son. He died in July 1276, a king for sixty-three years and, having preserved his vigour to the last, he was little troubled by his excommunication by the Pope for his last illicit love-affair.
 

Source: Leo van de Pas