ALPHONSO III. ascended the throne in 1285. His short reign was remarkable for the establishment of the most liberal political constitution of that age, the justiza being invested with the right of citing the king himself to appear before the cortes, and with the power of deposing him if he infringed the privileges of the subject. Alonzo vainly endeavoured to avoid taking the oaths of adherence to the articles to which his predecessors had subscribed, by absenting himself from the solemn ceremony of coronation; but the nobles obliged him to appear according to custom. Under this reign also were united the cortes of Valencia, Catalonia, and Aragon, which each sovereign on his elevation engaged by oath never to disunite. Alonzo died in 1291, aged 26.