1035-1469 - Aragon
Under the tutelage of the neighboring Franks, a barrier of pocket states formed along the range of the Pyrenees and on the coast of Catalonia to hold the frontier of France against Islamic Spain. Out of this region, called the Spanish March, emerged the kingdom of Aragon and the counties of Catalonia, all of which expanded, as did Leon-Castile, at the expense of the Muslims. (Andorra is the last independent survivor of the March states.)
The kingdom of Aragon dates from the will of Sancho Great of Navarre in 1035. Aragon, hitherto a part of the Kingdom of Navarre, became an independent kingdom under Ramiro I., in 1035, and rapidly grew in strength and importance during the next century. The new state was almost insignificantly small at the outset, but, by inheritances, union with wars with the Moslems, and the peaceful incorporation of Navarre in 1076, it already included a large portion of north central Spain by the close of the eleventh century.
The era of great conquests began with Alfonso I "the Battler" (1104-1134), the same king whose marriage with Urraca of Castile had resulted so unfavorably. Better fortune awaited him on the Moslem frontier. In 1118 he captured Saragossa, the principal city in the North-east of Spain, from the Moors, an event as important in Aragon as was the acquisition of Toledo a few years before in Castile. In the meantime all the Christion kingdoms in the North of Spain had been pressing the Moors farther southward. The growing weakness of the Khalifate of Cordova enabled the Christians to drive back the Moors with comparative ease; and the condition of affairs that followed the fall of the Khalifate gave the Christians an opportunity to vastly increase their territories-an opportunity of which they readily availed themselves.
During this period flourished the chivalrous Cid, Rodrigo Diaz, the great hero of Spanish history, whose career belongs to the realms of romance rather than to actual history. This legendary warrior is represented as having struck terror into the hearts of the Moors by his numerous victories; and it is said that having been killed in an engagement, in 1099, he was set on his steed at the head of his troops, and that when the Moors beheld him thus leading his warlike hosts they were seized with superstitious awe and fled in consternation, so that the Cid won a victory even in death.
The nobles of Navarre elected a king of their own, withdrawing from the union with Aragon, while those of Aragon chose a brother of Alfonso, named Ramiro, who at the time of his election was a monk. The reign of Ramiro II "the Monk" (1134-1137) was exceptionally important for Spain, without any particular merit accruing therefor to the king. The pope freed him from his vows and he married. From this marriage there was born a daughter, Petronilla. Ramiro espoused her to Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona, and soon abdicated, returning to his monastery. Petronilla's son, Ram6n Berenguer, who presently changed his name to the Aragonese-sounding Alfonso, was the first to rule in his own right over Aragon and Catalonia in what came to be called the kingdom of Aragon, although Catalonia was always the more important part. Alfonso II inherited Catalonia in 1162, and became king The act of of Aragon proper in 1164 on the abdication of Petronilla. vassalage Later he inherited nearly all of southern France.
Gradually the Christians pushed the Moors southward and made themselves masters of Spain. Towards the middle of the twelfth century the Spanish peninsula contained the Moorish kingdoms of Cordova and Granada and the Christian kingdoms of Aragon, Navarre, Castile, Leon, and Portugal. The Christian kingdoms were generally divided against each other; but the Moors, though divided among themselves, were firmly united against the Christians, and maintained their hold upon Andalusia with the aid of recruits from their brethren in Africa. Valencia, seized from its Muslim amir, became federated with Aragon and Catalonia in 1238. With the union of the three crowns, Aragon (the term most commonly used to describe the federation) rivaled Venice and Genoa for control of Mediterranean trade. Aragonese commercial interests extended to the Black Sea, and the ports of Barcelona and Valencia prospered from traffic in textiles, drugs, spices, and slaves.
Aragon fulfilled its territorial aims in the thirteenth century when it annexed Valencia. The Catalans, however, looked for further expansion abroad, and their economic views prevailed over those of the parochial Aragonese nobility, who were not enthusiastic about foreign entanglements. The death of Pedro II brought to the throne the greatest Aragonese monarch of the period, Jaime I "the Conqueror" (1213-1276), a worthy contemporary of Ferdinand III of Castile. Backed by the sentiment of most of Catalonia, which The desired territorial and commercial expansion in the Mediter- conquests ranean, Jaime now planned a career of conquest. Many of of the Aragonese and western Catalonian nobles declined to join him in this enterprise; so he had to find means as best he could without their aid. In 1229 he entered the island of Majorca, which for centuries had been successively a pirate and Moslem stronghold. Having achieved the conquest, which proved an easy matter, Jaime distributed the lands among his Catalan followers. In 1232 Minorca was subjected, and in 1235 Ibiza, too. Thus the Balearic Islands fell into Jaime's power and received a Catalan civilization, which they still possess.
Backed by the sentiment of most of Catalonia, which desired territorial and commercial expansion in the Mediterranean, Jaime now planned a career of conquest. Many of of the Aragonese and western Catalonian nobles declined to join him in this enterprise; so he had to find means as best he could without their aid. In 1229 he entered the island of Majorca, which for centuries had been successively a pirate and Moslem stronghold. Having achieved the conquest, which proved an easy matter, Jaime distributed the lands among his Catalan followers. In 1232 Minorca was subjected, and in 1235 Ibiza, too. Thus the Balearic Islands fell into Jaime's power and received a Catalan civilization, which they still possess.
Peter III, king of Aragon from 1276 until 1285, had been elected to the throne of Sicily when the French Angevins (House of Anjou) were expelled from the island kingdom during an uprising in 1282. Sicily, and later Naples, became part of the federation of Spanish crowns, and Aragon became embroiled in Italian politics, which continued to affect Spain into the eighteenth century.
