View source for John Ramon III, Count of Cardona

{{Short description|Catalan nobleman}}
{{family name hatnote|Folch de Cardona|Prades|lang=Spanish}}
'''John Ramon III Folch de Cardona i de Prades''', (9 January 1418 – 18 July 1486), was a Catalan nobleman. John Ramon's titles included Count of Prades (5th), Count of Cardona, Viscount of Vilamur, [[Barony of Entença|Baron of Entença]], Admiral of Aragon, Captain general of Catalonia as well as [[Viceroy of Sicily]] from 1477 to 1479.
== Biography ==
His parents were [[Joan Ramon II, Count of Cardona|John Ramon II, 3rd Count of Cardona]] (14 June 1400{{snd}}1471) and Joana de Prades, heiress of Prades and Entenza. John Ramon III became the fifth count of Prades and viscount of Vilamur upon the resignation of his father in 1445. Upon the death of his father in 1471, he inherited the County of Cardona.
John Ramon III was ambassador to the pope for [[Alfonso V of Aragon]] and actively participated in the Cortes from 1449 to 1455.
Shortly before beginning of the [[Catalan Civil War]], John Ramon joined [[John II of Aragon|King John II of Aragon]]'s army and was made Captain general. He became the leading military figure of the Civil War, earning the complete trust and protection of John II. In 1465 he was one of the protagonists of the victory at [[Battle of Calaf|Calaf]]. For his service he was awarded the Sicilian town of [[Alì Terme]] in 1463. After the Catalan war, John Ramon accompanied [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferran, Prince of Girona]] to the campaign of Roussillon. He went on to fight against French troops in the [[Ampurdan]] area at battle of Besós.
As Viceroy of Sicily (1477–79), John Ramon moved to Italy accompanied by the infanta Joana, where he repressed the revolt of [[Leonardo Alagon|Leonard de Alagon y de Arborea]] in Sardinia.<ref>[https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/joan-ramon-folc-de-cardona Enciclopedia Catalana]</ref>
In 1479, John Ramon returned to Catalonia and was the trusted advisor of the new king Ferdinand II of Aragon, whom he counseled for years. In 1484 the king entrusted him as Captain general of the campaigns against the count of Pallars and against the serfs of [[Pere Joan Sala]].<ref>[https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/42760/juan-ramon-folch-de-cardona Real Academia de la Historia]</ref>
John Ramon III died in 1486.
== Family ==
In 1445, John Ramon III married the dowager countess of Foix, Joana de Urgell i Arago, daughter of [[James II, Count of Urgell]]  and his wife [[Isabella of Aragon, Countess of Urgell|Isabel of Aragon]]. She was the widow of [[John I, Count of Foix]].
Their children were:
*James of Cardona
*[[Juan Ramón Folch IV de Cardona]] (1446-1513)
*Catalina de Cardona.
His second wife Elisabet de Cabrera, gave him no children, but brought him the revenues of the viscounties of Cabrera and Bas when his father-in-law, [[Bernat Joan de Cabrera]] died in 1466. However, John Ramon III had to renounce these properties, to please King John II of Aragon, who divided these spoils between de Sarriera and de Armendaris to pay for their 1471 defection. As compensation, the king of Aragon made count John Ramon III one of the three tenants of the [[Generalitat de Cataluna]].
He also had two illegitimate children :
* [[Pedro Folc de Cardona]] (died 1530), [[viceroy of Catalonia]] (1521–23) and [[archbishop of Tarragona]] (1515–30),
* Juan of Cardona, knight of the order of St. John.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|date=2017 |first=Armand |last=de Fluvià |pages=136 |publisher=Institució Catalana de Genealogia i Heràldica |title=Nobiliari general català, vol. I}}<!-- auto-translated from Catalan by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Folch De Cardona Y Ximenez De Arenos, Juan Ramon}}
[[Category:1418 births]]
[[Category:1485 deaths]]
[[Category:People from the Crown of Aragon]]
[[Category:Counts of Spain]]
[[Category:Viceroys of Sicily]]