Aragonese Empire

The Aragonese Empire was the regime of a large portion of what is now Spain, plus numerous Mediterranean possessions, for much of the later Middle Ages. The regime began in 1035, as the Kingdom of Aragon, ruling roughly the area still known as Aragon. From 1137, the Crown of Aragon also ruled Catalonia, and later, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia, until 1479 when the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon to Isabella I of Castile unified their kingdoms.

During most of this time, the Crown of Aragon united two or even three separate kingdoms; the scope of this article is the empire that effectively resulted from that dynastic union, rather than with these kingdoms individually.

The real centre of this empire was Barcelona, since it was a seaport located near the geographical center of the Crown, and also one of the political centers of the Crown, with its Consell de Cent ruling the laws of Catalonia. Other important seaports were Valencia and Mallorca. Both Zaragoza and Valencia had more population than Barcelona until the 18th century (long after the Aragonese Empire had been absorbed into Spain), when the walls of Barcelona were taken down and the city outgrew all others in the territories of the former Crown.

Some present-day historians may call the Crown the "Catalan-Aragonese Confederation", since this reflects the composition of the state, but its most usual name was "Crown of Aragon". Barcelona was the center of what was in many ways a Mediterranean Empire, ruling the Mediterranean Sea and setting rules for the entire sea (for instance, in the Llibre del Consolat del Mar, a compilation of maritime law in Catalan).

Context

The country that we now know as Spain spent the Middle Ages after 722 in an intermittent struggle called the Reconquista. This struggle pitted the northern Christian kingdoms against the Islamic kingdoms of the South and among themselves.

In the Late Middle Ages, the Aragonese expansion southwards met with the Castilian advance northward in the region of Murcia . Afterward, the Aragonese empire focused in the Mediterranean, acting as far as Greece and Barbary.

History

The union of the two territories of Catalonia and Aragon was caused by the marriage of Ramon_Berenguer_IV%2C_Count_of_Barcelona and Petronila of Aragon, later Queen of Aragon. This merged the County of Barcelona with the Kingdom of Aragon under the name of "Crown of Aragon". Their son, Alfonso II, inherited both titles. This union was made while respecting the existing institutions of both places. This situation was maintained until the abolition of the state, beginning 18th century.

The king James I (13th century) conquered new territories and incorporated Majorca and the region of Valencia to the state. Valencia was made a new kingdom with its own institutions, and so the third member of the confederation. Majorca, together with the counties of Cerdagne and Roussillon and the city of Montpellier, were given to his son James and were named Kingdom of Majorca, but these territories were reincorporated in year 1349.

The expansion through Mediterranean sea continued (Sicily, Minorca, Sardinia). In 1410 king Martin I dies without descendants. This caused that Ferdinand of Antequera, from the Castilian dynasty of Trastamara, was made king of the Crown of Aragon.

In year 1443, Naples was conquered. Later the king Ferdinand II of Aragon recovered the northern Catalan counties and married queen Isabella I of Castile in 1479. However, Castile and the Crown of Aragon remained as different states keeping their own institutions and laws.

The Crown of Aragon was abolished after the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713).

See List of Spanish monarchs, Kings of Spain family tree and Spanish Empire