When traveling in Spain or France, you can take a photo of the kingdom of Aragon, or rather those structures that have been preserved from past centuries. For example, the castle of Loarre (Aragon) or the palace of the kings of Mallorca (Perpignan).
Aragon as a separate state actually existed from 1035 to 1516. Together with other historical lands, the kingdom formed the basis of Spain. How this happened will become known from the article.
From county to kingdom
The core of the future kingdom was the county of Aragon. It has existed since 802, and was dependent on the kingdom of Navarra. In 943, the local dynasty was interrupted, and the county became part of Navarra. King Garcia First married a county heiress. So the kings of Navarra received the title of Count of Aragon.
In 1035, King Sancho the Third died, his possessions were divided between his sons. Before his death, the ruler gave the county to his illegitimate son. So the kingdom of Aragon appeared.
The name of the kingdom is associated with a river that flowed through its territory. Initially, it was small in size, but gradually the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorsu were attached to it. The sources indicate that the area of the kingdom of Aragon was 250 thousand square kilometers. Who was that king’s illegitimate son?
First king
The name of the first ruler of the kingdom of Aragon was Ramiro. Until his death, he sought to expand his possessions. There were attempts to annex the kingdom of Navarre to their lands, but they were unsuccessful.
The king decided to expand his possessions from the east. To do this, he declared war on the Moors. However, the siege of Graus not only did not fulfill his desire, but also led to death. The first king passed away in 1063. Sancho Ramirez became his successor. He continued the work of his father.
The king was able to capture the fortress of Barbastro, then Graus. At this time, the Navarre kingdom of good will joined Sancho. In the west, he attempted to besiege Huesca, where he was killed.
The kingdom received Huesca in 1096. The son of the murdered king Pedro the First was able to master it.
Strange Testament of Alphonse I
In 1104, the kingdom of Aragon passed to the son of Pedro the First, Alphonse. He directed military forces to conquer the Muslim possessions of the right bank of the Ebro. He hoped to take possession of Zaragoza. This was achieved in 1118.
Thanks to his many victories, the king was able to reach the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. However, there were still fortresses owned by Muslims. Alfons the First died in 1134. He had no children, so he decided to leave the kingdom to the Johannites and the Templars (military orders). The will was not fulfilled, both the Aragonese and the Navarre became against it.
The nobles of Aragon decided to make the brother of the deceased king. Ramiro was a monk in the Narbona monastery, and became king. He did not do public affairs in the same way as his predecessors. In order to leave his heirs on the throne, the king asked the pope to free him from the vow of celibacy. He married Agnes Aquitaine. A daughter was born in the family. Her father married her to Berenguer the Fourth, who owned the county of Barcelona. The kingdom of Aragon (percent impossible to specify) increased due to dynastic marriage.
After this, Ramiro renounced power, retiring to the monastery. Since 1137, the fourth ruler became Berenguer the Fourth. From this moment, the fate of Aragon and Catalonia became one.
Unification with Catalonia
The first ruler of the united state was the son of Berenguer the Fourth, who bore the name of his father, but in tribute to the inhabitants of Aragon began to be called Alfons the Second.
During his reign, he managed to expand the borders of the kingdom at the expense of the lands of the southern part of France. His vassals became:
- Duchy of Provence;
- county of Roussillon;
- County Bearn;
- County Bigorr.
The king also fought with the Moors and had disagreements with Castile. He died in 1196. His successor was the son of Pedro II.
First ruler crowned in Rome
Pedro II began to rule the kingdom of Aragon in difficult times. French kings sought to seize border territories, and Provence defended its independence. Despite this, the king was able to further expand his possessions by concluding a marriage with Countess Maria. So he got the county of Montpellier. A little later he took possession of the county of Urhel.
An important political event of that time was the trip of Pedro II to Rome. In 1204, the coronation of Pedro the Second took place. Also dad knighted him. For this, the king called himself a vassal of the pope. This meant that the kingdom must pay an annual tribute to the Catholic Church. Such behavior of the king outraged the nobility of Aragon and Catalonia.
The king died in 1213, trying to protect the lands of the Count of Toulouse from capture. This was caused by a difficult situation in the south of France.
Kingdom without a ruler
The death of Pedro II left the kingdom of Aragon (western Europe) without a ruler. The only son of the deceased was at Montfort. It took the intervention of the pope in order for the heir to the throne to be returned to the kingdom. However, Jaime was still a minor, so he was appointed a guardian. They became the representative of the Knights Templar de Monredo.
Jaime, who was only nine years old, was in the hands of relatives, each of whom sought to take possession of the crown. Faithful people managed to save him from Monson Fortress. Then Jaime, supported by the troops, began the struggle for power. It lasted about ten years, until the king signed an agreement with the nobility. It made it possible to establish universal peace.
After the internal problems in the kingdom were temporarily resolved, Jaime directed his forces to expand the borders of the state. He managed to win back from the Muslims the Balearic Islands, Valencia.
In addition to seizing new territories, curbing the nobility, the king managed to restore order in finances, and several educational institutions were founded under him. Jaime refused to recognize himself as a vassal of the pope. By his reign, he laid a solid foundation for the kingdom to dominate the Mediterranean.
At death, the king left Aragon, Valencia and Catalonia to his eldest son Pedro, who had long helped to conduct state affairs. He left his son Jaime the Balearic Islands and a number of other lands.
The capture of Sicily
Having come to power, Pedro the Third began a struggle with the nobility. The reason was the issue of rights to the county of Urhelskoye. The king proved his superiority, but soon the nobility of Catalonia came out against him.
The nobles did not support the local population and they had to surrender. The king first put the ringleaders in prison, but later freed them. The ruler ordered the rebels to compensate for the damage that they caused.
In 1278, Pedro the Third signed an agreement with his brother, according to which the possessions of Jaime became dependent on the kingdom of Aragon (western part of Europe). The king established friendly relations with Portugal and Castile.
In 1280, Pedro the Third was able to establish a protectorate of the kingdom over Tunisia. The Aragonese received an annual tribute from the ruler of Tunisia, and also got the opportunity to collect duties on the wine trade. Aragon gained a favorable position on the African continent. The next in line was the kingdom of Sicily.
At that time, the sons of the German emperor ruled in Sicily, but the pope wanted to get these lands. He invited Karl of Anjou to conquer Sicily and rule it as a vassal of Rome. Karl managed to capture Sicily, he destroyed the regent, the nephew of the ruler, and later the ruler of Manfred Conradin himself.
Pedro the Third was married to the daughter of Manfred, so he was interested in the fate of Sicily. The king negotiated with the Sicilians, who wanted to get rid of the power of the pope. The Aragonese ruler waited and prepared the fleet. Finally, in 1282, he began a campaign to conquer Sicily.
Pedro the Third took the kingdom quite easily, and Karl of Anjou was forced to flee to Italy. The battles continued and were successful for the Aragonese.
The capture of Sicily angered the pope and he announced that he was robbing the king of his possessions. Some cities and fortresses supported Pedro, while others began to obstruct him. French troops were on the side of Rome. Even the death of Pedro and his declaration that he would give Pope Sicily did not stop the war. The sons of the late king did not want to part with the occupied lands. In addition to external enemies, the kingdom suffered from turmoil between the brothers, as well as opposition from the nobility.
The fight of the king and the nobility
The kingdom of Aragon (Europe) passed to Alphonse the Third. He did not have such a strong character as Pedro. This further complicated the relationship with the nobility, which sought to subjugate the king.
The Union of noble Aragonese was created. They demanded submission from the king and threatened him with rebellion. Alphonse tried to confront Unia, even decided to execute several rebels. But problems with external enemies changed the king's decision; in 1287, he granted Unia privileges.
The power of the king was limited. He undertook not to encroach on the life of representatives of the nobility. In 1291, the king was gone.
Father and son war
The king did not leave an heir, therefore the throne was taken by the brother of the late Jaime. He was the ruler of Sicily, having received Aragon, he transferred his throne to his son Fadrika. Against this, the French and Dad spoke. Jaime wanted peace, so he made concessions and renounced his rights to Sicily.
The inhabitants of the island and Fadrico did not agree with this. The Kingdom of Aragon (history grade 6) was obliged to fight against the dissent. So the father went to war on his son to win the island for the pope. For this, Rome canceled the previous bulls who excommunicated the Aragonese kings from the church, and also granted rights to Corsica and Sardinia.
Jaime was to conquer Sicily for the pope on his own. The inhabitants of the island proclaimed Fadrico an independent ruler. The war was with varying success. In the end, the exhausted parties decided to make peace. The French, who ruined their relationship with dad, agreed to this.
Fadrico became King of Sicily, but he married the daughter of Karl of Anjou and after his death was obliged to give the island to his father-in-law or his descendants.
Jaime died in 1327. His place was taken by the son of Alphonse. He ruled for eight years.
Then the throne passed to his son Pedro the Fourth. During the years of his reign, he waged war against the Moors, Mallorca. Then he took up the fight against the nobility. As a result, he destroyed the Privilege of the Union, and cruelly executed its supporters. It is known that he ordered the bell to melt, which was convening representatives of the nobility at the meeting of the Union. Molten metal was poured into the mouth of those who opposed the king. Pedro died in 1387.
The following rulers were:
- Juan the First and Martin the First.
- Fernando.
- Alphonse Fifth Wise.
All the wars conducted by Alphonse Fifth increased the territory of Aragon. However, they adversely affected the governance system in the state. All the affairs were handled by the brothers of the royal family.
Kingdom union
In 1469, a marriage took place between Ferdinand and Isabella. So the prerequisites for the creation of the kingdom of Aragon and Castile appeared. Ten years after the marriage, John the Second died. Aragon passed to his son Ferdinand II. Since his wife was the queen of Castile and Leon, both states united under one crown.
The kingdom of Aragon and Castile laid the foundation for the kingdom of Spain. However, the process of forming the state dragged on until the end of the fifteenth to the beginning of the sixteenth century.
The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella was pretty cruel. They zealously guarded the purity of the Catholic faith. The following methods were used for this:
- in 1478, the Inquisition was established, that is, a church court;
- persecution of Muslims, Jews, Protestants;
- people suspected of heresy were burned at the stake;
- in 1492 the persecution of those who were not converted to Christianity began;
- the creation of ghetto - closed quarters in which the Gentiles were to live.
Many Jews and Muslims converted to Christianity, but their persecution did not stop. New Christians were suspected of secretly conducting forbidden rites. Jews had to leave their homes and flee to neighboring states. So the unification of Castile and Aragon into the Spanish kingdom led to brutal persecution by the Catholic Church.
The advent of the kingdom of Spain
Under Ferdinand and Isabella, the Reconquista ended. At the same time, Columbus with Spanish funds opens the New World. So the kingdom of Spain (Aragon and Castile) receives colonies in its possession. The state temporarily becomes one of the strongest in Western Europe.
After the death of Isabella, the throne passed to her daughter Juan. She married the representative of the Habsburg dynasty, Philip the First. In 1506, he died, and Juana finally lost her mind. The throne passed to their young son Karl.
In 1517, Charles became the full ruler of Spain, and two years later became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Spain reached the highest peak in the 16th century. In history, this period was called the Golden Age of Spain.