absence of the Pope have been cited as possible causes for the rise of the Roman notary Cola di Rienzo: in 1347, he assumed the title of censor and claimed to restore the Roman Republic. He utilised popular rhetoric, and invited the men of Trastevere to sack the palaces of the fleeing Roman nobility. Cola tried to establish direct government with elections in the rione of the city, but he lacked the means to take the Castel Sant'Angelo and he was cut down by the Roman aristocracy in 1354. There were several rulers of the Kingdoms of Spain in the 1340s. Alfonso XI the Just ruled until the end of the decade as King of Castile and León. Castile and León surrounded Granada by land, and Alfonso advanced the Christian Reconquista. In 1340, at the Battle of Río Salado, he won the first Castilian victory over the Moors for over a century, and crossed the straits to Algeciras. In 1345, he attacked Gibraltar, but was unable to conquer it. By 1343, Aragon had acquired the Balearic Islands, and in 1344 Peter deposed James III of Majorca to become King of Majorca himself. Navarre was ruled by Philip III until 1343, his Capetian wife Joanna II until 1349, and finally Charles II the Bad ruled into the late 14th century. The Kingdom of Portugal was meanwhile ruled by Afonso IV, from 1325 until his death in 1357. In 1341, Saluzzo sacked by Manfred V of Saluzzo. In 1342, Louis "the Child" became King of Sicily and Duke of Athens. An earthquake and tsunami of 1343 devastated the Maritime Republic of Amalfi. Society and economy Economic collapse and crisis To finance the continuing wars of the 1340s, Edward III of England granted to a small group of merchants a monopoly on the export of wool. In return, they agreed to collect the "poundage", or wool tax, on his behalf. This included a tariff on the import of woolen cloth, which put out of business the Italian and foreign merchants that had dominated the wool export trade. The monopoly merchants went bankrupt in the following decade. Edward also introduced three new gold coins in 1344: the florin, leopard, and helm. However, the gold content of these coins did not match their respective value of 6 shillings, 3 shillings, and 1 shilling and sixpence, so they had to be withdrawn and mostly melted down