Vidal studied both
common law and
canonical law at
Barcelona Cathedral and the
University of Bologna, at the time the most important law school in Europe. He was there in 1221 and would have been a student of
Raymond of Peñafort. Vidal and Raymond remained good friends throughout their lives. Vidal was given the municipality of
Alboraya by James I in 1238 after his mediation between crown and nobility following the
Conquest of Valencia, enabling its full capture. He witnessed the truce with
Zayyan ibn Mardanish and contributed to dividing the lands and properties of Valencia, planning the construction of
Valencia Cathedral, and drafting the
Furs of Valencia. Aragonese nobility felt that Valencia should be governed the same as Aragon, absorbed into the kingdom and distributed, while James I intended to implement municipal law; until the
Furs of Valencia were introduced, Valencia was ruled as Aragon, and it was conceded for some Valencia cities to retain Aragon laws. though Vidal's ownership of Almassora by the time he died was disputed. Other lands awarded to Vidal by James I on 10 June 1238, and disputed, include an Alcúdia and a Vilanova. Vidal again himself intervened to mediate disputes at councils in
Tarragona between 1239 and 1249, Valencia in 1240, was a compilation of laws and interpretation – influenced by the
Furs of Jaca and his studies in Bologna – composed by Vidal likely between 1247 (after the Court of Huesca) and his death in 1252. James I convened a court in Huesca in 1247 to create laws of
Aragon to apply across the entire kingdom, requesting Vidal to compile them. It is suggested in a prologue to the Vidal Major that, with Vidal's support and advice, James I may have tried to introduce legal reforms and other European innovations that would not have been accepted in Aragon. The Vidal Major was perhaps not widely accepted by the Aragonese public, either, with Vidal having exceeded his mandate from the Court of Huesca by including scholarly opinion and political content. Vidal's less controversial Minor compilation was more long lasting, and was likely the full approved version of laws of Aragon when presented at the 1265 Court of
Ejea. There were only few amendments between what Vidal had approval for in 1247 and the Minor's content come 1300, after which
James II of Aragon added another book. Nevertheless, the Vidal Major and its additional content on organisation of the kingdom retained authority and prestige, and Vidal's work remained Aragon's primary legal source for centuries. == Death and legacy ==