Jean Cholet was a French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 cardinal who was commissioned by Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV, born Simon de Brion held the papacy from February 21, 1281 until his death....

 to preach the Aragonese Crusade

Aragonese Crusade

The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Aragon, a part of the larger War of the Sicilian Vespers, was declared by Pope Martin IV against the King of Aragon, Peter III the Great, in 1284 and 1285...

 in 1283.

He was given legatine authority over the orders of friar

Friar

A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...

s as part of his commission to preach the plenary indulgence to all those who fought alongside Charles of Valois

Charles of Valois

Charles of Valois was the fourth son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. His mother was a daughter of James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary. He was a member of the House of Capet and founded the House of Valois...

 for the Crown of Aragon

Crown of Aragon

The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

 against Peter III

Peter III of Aragon

Peter the Great was the King of Aragon of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. He conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282. He was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs.-Youth and succession:Peter was the eldest son of James I of Aragon and his second wife...

. According to the Catalan

Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

 chronicle of Bernard Desclot

Bernard Desclot

Bernard Desclot was a Catalan chronicler whose work covering the brief reign of Peter III of Aragon forms one of the four Catalan Grand Chronicles through which the modern historian views thirteenth- and fourteenth century military and political matters in the Kingdom of Aragon and Catalonia,...

, Los franceses en Cataluña, Cholet preached that:

If any man die there, which may God forbid, then will he in shining whiteness ascend into the presence of God, for God will not in any wise permit that his soul be sent to purgatory.

In 1284, when the aldermen of Lille

Lille

Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

 attacked a troupe of Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

s trying to preach the Aragonese Crusade in their town, Cholet fined them 4,000 livres de Paris

Livre parisis

The livre parisis |pound]]) was a standard for minting French coins and a unit of account. Like the livre tournois, which was divided into 20 sols tournois each of 12 deniers tournois, the livre parisis was also divided into 20 sols parisis each of 12 deniers parisis, but the livre parisis was...

and used the money to finance the crusade. In 1285, Cholet himself accompanied Charles into Aragon. On 28 April 1285 at Girona

Girona

Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...

, Cholet placed his galero

Galero

A galero in the Catholic Church is a large, broad-brimmed tasseled hat worn by clergy. Over the centuries the galero was eventually limited in use to individual cardinals as a crown symbolizing the title of Prince of the Church...

 on Charles' head and pronounced him king. This act earned Charles' the affectionate nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

 roi du chapeau (king of the hat).

Cholet was still preaching the pope's crusades against his secular opponents in 1286. On 30 April 1286, Pope Honorius IV

Pope Honorius IV

Pope Honorius IV , born Giacomo Savelli, was Pope for two years from 1285 to 1287. During his unremarkable pontificate he largely continued to pursue the pro-French policy of his predecessor, Pope Martin IV...

 granted an indulgence to all Italian clergy who paid in one year the tithe which had been levied for three years. In May he ordered Cholet to use the indulgence sparingly.

In 1292, Cholet left by his will 6,000 livres Tournois

Livre tournois

The livre tournois |pound]]) was:#one of numerous currencies used in France in the Middle Ages; and#a unit of account used in France in the Middle Ages and the early modern period.-Circulating currency:...

to the "matter of Aragon", that is, to Charles' war chest, on the condition that Charles make a further expedition into Aragon. Otherwise the money was to be distributed to the poor.

Sources