KINGDOM OF ARAGON FROM ITS RISE TILL ITS UNION WITH CASTILE (1035-1479 A.D.)
1035 On the death of Sancho el Mayor of Navarre his territories are divided among his sons, and Ramiro I succeeds to a small Pyrenean district called Aragon in the northwestern corner of the modern province in the territory of the ancient Vascones. Ramiro by his wars with the Moors extends his borders, absorbing Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, and reducing several Moorish governors to the condition of tributaries. He consents to adopt the Roman ritual and to send tribute to the pope.
1067 Sancho Ramirez.
1076 On the murder of Sancho III of Navarre, Sancho Ramirez and Alfonso VI of Castile invade Navarre, and Sancho becomes king of Navarre as Sancho IV. He conquers several cities from the Moors, commences a war with the emir of Saragossa, and dies while besieging Huesca.
1094 Pedro I.
1096 Battle of Alcoraz. Pedro wins a decisive victory over the Moors of Saragossa and their Castilian allies, and takes Huesca.
1104 Alfonso (I), el Batallador (the Fighter), and the Emperor.
1109 Death of Alfonso VI of Castile. His daughter Urraca, the wife of Alfonso I, el Batallador, succeeds, and her husband is acknowledged as Alfonso VII of Leon and Castile. He quarrels with his wife, and constant civil war is the result to Castile.
1118 Saragossa taken by el Batallador after a five years’ siege. It becomes the capital of Aragon.
1120 Battle of Daroca. El Batallador defeats an Almoravid army, takes Tarragona and Calatayud, and invades Andalusia.
1126 Death of Urraca. Castile is definitely separated from Aragon under Alfonso VII (Raymond) of Castile and Leon, Urraca’s son by her first husband.
1130 Bordeaux besieged and taken by Alfonso I. He resumes his war against the Moors.
1133 Representatives of the cities summoned to the cortes.
1134 Alfonso is defeated at Fraga and dies soon after, bequeathing his dominions to the knights of the Temple and St. John. His subjects refuse to recognise his will and his brother, Ramiro (II) the Monk, is persuaded to leave his monastery and accept the crown of Aragon, while the Navarrese choose Garcia (IV) Ramirez as king.
1137 Petronilla, Ramiro’s infant daughter, betrothed to Raymond, count of Catalonia, who is appointed regent of Aragon. Catalonia thus becomes absorbed in Aragon, and Ramiro retires to a cloister.
1140 Navarre invaded by Raymond in conjunction with Alfonso VII of Castile, but without success, and on the conclusion of peace the three sovereigns make alliance against the Moors and capture various cities, Raymond acquiring Fraga, Lerida, and Tortosa.
1150 Marriage of Raymond and Petronilla.
1162 Death of Raymond. Petronilla abdicates in favour of her son Alfonso II, who acquires Roussillon by inheritance and wins Teruel and other fortresses from the Moors. In this reign cortes were held and attended by the four estates of the realm (1163, 1164).
1196 Pedro II.
1203 Coronation of Pedro by the pope. Aragon is constituted a papal fief, and Pedro promises to pay tribute to the holy see, but
1205 the estates of Saragossa repudiate the transaction.
1208 The Albigensian crusade. Pedro refuses to declare for either party, but turns his arms against the Moors and shares the glory at the great Christian victory of
1212 Las Navas de Tolosa.
1213 He endeavours to mediate between the Albigensians and the crusaders, but fails and lays siege to the latter’s city of Muret, when he is slain in a battle with Simon de Montfort. James (I) the Conqueror, known as Don Jayme of Aragon (in Catalonian En Jacme, lo Conqueridor), succeeds at the age of six. The usual civil wars occupy his minority, but finally he triumphs over all rebels.
1228 Balearic Islands, the haunt of Moorish pirates, attacked and subdued after a four years’ war.
1232 Valencia invaded.
1238 Conquest of Valencia completed. The Moors are guaranteed security and religious liberty.
1264-1266 Murcia reconquered by James for his son-in-law, Alfonso X of Castile.
1268 By the execution of Conradin, the last of the Hohenstaufen, Constanza, wife of James’ son, Pedro (III), and daughter of Manfred, king of Sicily, becomes heiress of Sicily, now in the hands of the usurper, Charles of Anjou.
1269 Preparations for a crusade to the Holy Land headed by James. The king is turned back by a storm, but his son, Fernan Sanchez, proceeds to Acre. Like Alfonso X of Castile, James left a chronicle or commentary of his reign (afterwards continued by Raymond Muntaner), as well as a book of aphorisms called the Libre de Saviesa, both written in the Catalan language.
1276 Pedro (III) the Great. The Balearic Islands with Roussillon. Montpellier, etc., are converted by the will of James I into a separate kingdom of Majorca for his younger son, James I of Majorca. Pedro prepares to invade Sicily.
1282 The Sicilian Vespers, in which the native population massacre twenty-eight thousand Frenchmen. Charles of Anjou lays siege to Messina. Pedro of Aragon comes to its relief and is proclaimed king of Sicily. Roger de Lauria, Pedro’s admiral, with a few ships destroys the French fleet.
1283 The Aragonese cortes protest against the king’s wars and exact the General Privilege, the Magna Charta of Aragon, confirming their liberties. The pope excommunicates
1284 Pedro. De Lauria takes Malta and destroys the fleet in the Bay of Naples. The pope, Martin IV, proclaims a crusade against Aragon and bestows the kingdom on the French prince, Charles of Valois. The Aragonese are reluctant to oppose Rome.
1285 The crusaders invade the kingdom, but after taking and sacking several cities the army breaks up. Charles of Anjou dies, leaving his claims to his son Charles II. Pedro dies, leaving Sicily to his younger son James and Aragon to Alfonso III. Majorca subdued by Alfonso.
1287 The “Privilege of Union” granted, authorising armed rebellion against the sovereign who shall infringe his subjects’ liberties.
1291 As a result of negotiations conducted by Edward I of England, Alfonso is reconciled to the pope and Sicily is abandoned by James, who immediately after, on the death of Alfonso, succeeds to Aragon as James II. He makes his brother Frederick (Fadrique) his lieutenant in Sicily.
1295 Alliance between James and Charles of Anjou.
1296 The pope invests James with Sardinia and Corsica, occupied at the time by the Genoese and Pisans. The deserted Sicilians give the crown to Frederick. The king of Aragon assists Charles in his attempts to recover Sicily, but abandons the enterprise after several successes.
1302 Peace between Frederick and Charles by which the former retains Sicily, the latter Naples.
1303 The Catalan Grand Company is formed by Roger di Flor from the disbanded mercenaries (chiefly Aragonese and Catalan) of Frederick and takes service with the Greek emperor Andronicus II.
1319 Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia declared inseparable.
1324 Sardinia invaded by James. With the aid of the grand justice of Arborea, Marian IV, the Pisans are expelled. The grand justice turns his arms against the Aragonese and the war is continued under
1327 Alfonso IV, when the Genoese assist the islanders and ravage the coasts of Catalonia.
1336 Pedro IV refuses to recognise the claims of his stepmother, Leonora of Castile, and her sons, Juan and Ferdinand, to the appanages assigned them under Alfonso’s will, and thus involves himself in civil disputes and a war with Castile. He offends the clergy by crowning himself instead of being crowned by the archbishop of Saragossa.
1343 Invasion of Majorca by Pedro. The islanders welcome him, deserting James II of Majorca. Pedro conquers James’ French possessions.
1344 Balearic Islands formally annexed to Aragon.
1347 Attempt of Pedro to secure the succession to his daughter Constanza in preference to his brother James, in defiance of the Salic law as established by James I. League of nobles and cities in a union in favor of James. The Sardinians backed by the Genoese and Pisans seize the occasion to revolt. A second union formed in Valencia under the infante Ferdinand. At the cortes of Saragossa Pedro is compelled to promise to hold annual meetings of the estates, to select his advisers with their approval, and to recognise James as his heir. Death of James. Pedro wins over the Catalans and at the
1348 battle of Epila defeats the union. He annuls the “Privilege of Union” of 1287, but enlarges the powers of the justiciar. Leonora and her son Juan take refuge in Castile, where both are subsequently murdered by Pedro the Cruel.
1349 James of Majorca attempts to recover the Balearic Islands, but fails and dies soon after. Pedro defeats the Sardinian rebels, and allies himself with Venice against Genoa.
1350 The era of Spain ceases to be used in Aragon.
1352 The Venetian and Catalonian fleets defeated by the Genoese, who renew their encouragement of the Sardinians. The Genoese fleet defeated in the Thracian Bosphorus by the fleets of Catalonia and Venice.
1354 The Sardinian estates are convoked by Pedro at Cagliari, but fail to pacify the belligerents.
1356 War with Castile. The king of Aragon supports Henry of Trastamara and the other Castilian rebels.
1363 A peace concluded with Castile in accordance with which Pedro of Aragon murders his own brother Ferdinand. War with Castile renewed.
1368 The justice of Arborea defeats the Aragonese in Sardinia and maintains himself till the Genoese come to his aid (1373). After his death the struggle is continued with less vigour by his son, and when the latter is put to death by his own people the war is prosecuted by his sister Leonora with whom Pedro effects an agreement in 1386.
1377 Death of Frederick king of Sicily. Pedro claims the throne, but is eventually satisfied with the marriage of the heiress Maria with his grandson Martin.
1387 Juan I. Trial of the king’s stepmother Sybilla for witchcraft. Some of her friends executed.
1392 Aragonese troops under the king’s brother Martin sent to Sicily to quell a revolt against Queen Maria and her husband, Martin’s son, the younger Martin.
1395 Martin succeeds to Aragon. The count de Foix, husband of the late king’s eldest daughter, invades the kingdom to assert her rights, but finds no supporters. Martin, having pacified Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, returns to Spain. Pope Boniface IX,
1397 in revenge for the recognition by Aragon of the anti-pope Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna), confers Sardinia and Sicily on the count de Molinets.
1401 Death of Maria of Sicily. She is succeeded by her husband, the younger Martin, who,
1402 the following year, marries Blanche, heiress of Navarre.
1409 Martin of Sicily suppresses the rebellion in Sardinia. He dies without issue. Blanche becomes regent of Sicily.
1410 Interregnum, consequent on the death of Martin of Aragon without direct heirs. During two years the country is distracted by the conflicts of rival claimants to the throne till, at the instance of the justiciar Juan de Cerda, a commission is selected from the cortes of the three provinces of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia which names the infante Ferdinand, regent of Castile, and he receives the crowns of Aragon and Sicily as
1412 Ferdinand (I) the Just. He subdues a rebellion of the count of Urgel and maintains tranquillity in the kingdom till his death in
1416 when he is succeeded by his son Alfonso (V) the Magnanimous.
1417 Reduction of Corsica attempted by Alfonso without much success.
1420 Joanna, queen of Naples, adopts Alfonso on condition of his defending her dominions against the duke of Anjou, which he does with success.
1423 Joanna quarrels with Alfonso and adopts Louis of Anjou in his place.
1425 Death of Charles III of Navarre. He is succeeded by Blanche and her husband Juan, brother of Alfonso of Aragon.
1432 Juan appointed regent of Aragon. Alfonso sets out to recover Naples.
1435 Joanna of Naples dies, bequeathing her kingdom to René of Anjou. Alfonso besieges Gaeta, but is defeated in a naval battle. Himself, the king of Navarre, and his brother Henry become the prisoners of the duke of Milan, who immediately releases them. Don Pedro of Aragon takes Gaeta. In the next few years Alfonso makes himself master of the kingdom of Naples.
1442 The office of justiciar declared tenable for life. Blanche of Navarre dies. Juan retains the title of king of Navarre, while her son, Charles of Viana, becomes ruler.
1443 Ferdinand, Alfonso’s illegitimate son, recognised as heir of Naples by Pope Eugenius IV.
1447 Juan of Navarre marries Juana Henriquez and subsequently appoints her co-regent of Navarre. She quarrels with Charles of Viana.
1452 Battle of Aybar. Juan defeats and captures Charles. Reconciliation of Juan and Charles. Birth of Juan’s younger son, Ferdinand the Catholic.
1458 Death of Alfonso V. Aragon, Sicily, and Sardinia pass to the king of Navarre, Juan II. Charles of Viana refuses to supplant Ferdinand of Naples.
1461 Charles imprisoned by his father. The Catalans revolt in his favour and compel his recognition as Juan’s heir. Death of Charles.
1462 The Catalans declare a republic and besiege the queen and Ferdinand in Gerona. Roussillon and Cerdagne pledged to Louis XI of France, who comes to the help of Juan; whereupon the rebels offer the Catalan crown first to Henry IV of Castile and then to Pedro, constable of Portugal.
1466 Pedro dies. The Catalans offer the crown to René of Anjou who
1467 sends his son John of Calabria to Barcelona.
1468 Ferdinand declared king of Sicily and associated with his father in the government of Aragon.
1469 Marriage of Ferdinand with Isabella of Castile.
1470 Death of John of Calabria. Catalonia is gradually reduced.
1472 Barcelona submits.
1473 The inhabitants of Roussillon revolt against the French and massacre them. Roussillon occupied by Juan. The French besiege him in Perpignan, which is relieved by Ferdinand. By a treaty with Louis the king of Aragon promises to pay within the year the sum for which Roussillon was pledged.
1474 The French invade Roussillon.
1475 Perpignan surrenders to the French. The inhabitants compelled to emigrate.
1479 Death of Juan II. Ferdinand (II) the Catholic inherits his dominions which are henceforth united with those of Castile.