James of Pecorara

James of Pecorara and Otto of Tonengo (in cardinal's hats on the ship flying the papal arms) captured at the battle of Giglio in 1241, from a copy of the Nuova Cronica

James of Pecorara or Giacomo da Pecorara[1] (1170s – June 1244) was an Italian monk, cardinal and diplomat.

James was a cleric in the church of Ravenna before he joined the Cistercians in 1215, becoming abbot of Trois-Fontaines in France in 1223. Created a cardinal by Pope Gregory IX in 1231 and given the diocese of Palestrina, he served as a papal legate in Lombardy (1232), Hungary (1232–1234), Tuscany (1235), Lombardy a second time (1236–1237) and France (1239–1241). He was the vicar of the city of Rome on two occasions (1238–1239, 1243–1244). He was captured by the emperor and imprisoned for two years on account of his efforts towards an anti-imperial alliance (1241–1243).

  1. ^ His names may also appear as Jacopo da Pecorara (Raccagni 2016, p. 734), Giacomo Pecorari (Aavitsland 2012, p. 55) and Jacopo Pecorari (Miranda 2018). In Latin, his name is Jacobus de Pecoraria (Lomax 1996, p. 195). He is referred to as Pecorari Jakab in Hungarian historiography (Almási 1989, p. 59).