The 1412 Compromise of Caspe (Compromís de Casp in Catalan) was an act and resolution of parliamentary representatives of the constituent realms of the Crown of Aragon (the Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Valencia, and Principality of Catalonia), meeting in Caspe, to resolve the interregnum following the death of King Martin of Aragon in 1410 without a legitimate heir. Background The Aragonese succession laws at that time were based more on custom than any specific legislation, and even case law did not exist. All successions after the union of Catalonia with Aragon in 1137 had been to the eldest son, to the next younger brother, or to the only daughter. However, earlier successions indicated that agnates (males in the male line) of the Aragonese royal family had precedence over daughters and descendants of daughters; for example, Martin himself had succeeded over the daughters of his late elder brother, King John I. However, very distant agnates had lost out to the daughter of the late king in the 11th century, when Petronilla succeeded over claims of the then agnates (second cousins or the like), the kings of Navarre. J. N. Hillgarth writes: "Among the descendants by the male line, the closest relation to Martin was James II, Count of Urgell." T. N. Bisson writes that "the issue was (or became) political rather than simply legal, a utilitarian question of which candidate with some dynastic claim would make the best king." Candidates The major candidates for succession were: James II, Count of Urgell, Martin's closest agnate as patrilineal great-grandson of Alfonso IV of Aragon. Incidentally, he was also Martin's brother-in-law. Appointed Lieutenant of the Kingdom by Martin, he was heir male of the line and claimed the throne according to agnatic primogeniture. Louis of Anjou, matrilineal grandson of John I of Aragon and grandnephew of Martin. He was heir general to the line and claimed the throne according to cognatic primogeniture. Alfonso I, Duke of Gandia, 80-year-old patrilineal grandson of James II of Aragon. He claimed the throne by both agnatic seniority and proximity of blood to the previous kings of Aragon. He died in March 1412. John of Ribagorza, brother of Alfonso, who inherited his claim. Ferdinand of Castile, matrilineal grandson of Peter IV of Aragon and nephew of Martin, claimed the throne by proximity of blood to the last king. Frederic, Count of Luna, natural grandson of Martin of Aragon,