In September 1269, an aging and somewhat embittered king James the Conqueror found himself cast up on the shores of southern France. Against the wishes of his sons and subjects (most of whom stayed sensibly at home), James had decided to relive his past glories by leading a small crusading fleet to the Holy Land. Unfortunately, the storms and contrary winds of an early Mediterranean autumn forced abandonment of his plans as a result of seasickness long before contact could be made with the “infidel.” In his Llibre dels fets James later recalled the day he was blown ashore:

James' memory was inaccurate on at least one point. The Dominican friar Peter Cendra (also Cenra, lat. Cineris) had died many years previously, and it was his brother Francis – then prior of St. Catherine's in Barcelona – who so rudely neglected his king at Agde. Nevertheless, the incident made an impression and stuck in James' mind.