Aragón, house of definition of Aragón, house of in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Aragón, house of, family that ruled in Aragón, Catalonia, Majorca, Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Athens, and other territories in the Middle Ages. It was descended from Ramiro I Ramiro I (rämē`rō), d.
..... Click the link for more information. of Aragón (1035–63), natural son of Sancho III Sancho III or Sancho the Great, c.970–1035, king of Navarre (1000–1035). Having inherited the kingdom of Navarre, which included Aragón, he launched an annexation campaign that made him the leading power in Christian Spain.
..... Click the link for more information. of Navarre. Under Ramiro's successors—Sancho I Sancho I (Sancho Ramírez) (sän`chō rämē`rĕth)
..... Click the link for more information. , Peter I Peter I, d. 1104, king of Aragón and Navarre (1094–1104), son and successor of Sancho I. He continued the fight against the Moors, taking (1096) Huesca and recapturing (1100) Barbastro. His brother Alfonso I succeeded him.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Alfonso I Alfonso I (Alfonso the Battler) (ălfŏn`sō, äl–), d.
..... Click the link for more information. —Navarre was temporarily (1076–1134) united with Aragón. During that period considerable territory was wrested from the Moors. Ramiro II (1134–37) was succeeded by his daughter, Petronilla, and her husband, Raymond Berengar IV Raymond Berengar IV (bĕr`əngär), d. 1162, count of Barcelona (1131–62).
..... Click the link for more information. , count of Barcelona. Aragón and Catalonia Catalonia (kătəlō`nēə), Catalan Catalunya, Span. Cataluña, autonomous region (1990 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. (see also Barcelona Barcelona (bär'səlō`nə, Catalan bär'səlō`nə, Span. bär'thālō`nä), city (1990 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. ) remained united under their descendants—Alfonso II Alfonso II, 1152–96, king of Aragón (1162–96) and, as Raymond Berengar V, count of Barcelona (1162–96); son and successor of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragón.
..... Click the link for more information. , Peter II Peter II, 1174–1213, king of Aragón (1196–1213) and count of Barcelona, son and successor of Alfonso II. He had himself crowned (1204) at Rome by Pope Innocent III, whom he accepted as overlord of Aragón and Catalonia.
..... Click the link for more information. , James I James I (James the Conqueror), 1208–76, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1213–76), son and successor of Peter II. After a minority was disturbed by private wars among the nobles, James soon consolidated royal power and tried to create a new
..... Click the link for more information. , Peter III Peter III (Peter the Great), 1239?–1285, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1276–85) and king of Sicily (1282–85); son and successor of James I. In 1280 he established Aragonese influence on the northern shores of Africa.
..... Click the link for more information. , Alfonso III Alfonso III, 1265–91, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1285–91), son and successor of Peter III. He was forced to grant wide privileges to the cortes of the Aragonese nobles.
..... Click the link for more information. , James II James II, c.1260–1327, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1291–1327), king of Sicily (1285–95). He succeeded his father, Peter III, in Sicily and his brother, Alfonso III, in Aragón.
..... Click the link for more information. , Alfonso IV Alfonso IV, 1299–1336, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1327–36), son and successor of James II. Before his accession he conquered (1323–24) Sardinia , where later a revolt involved him in war with Genoa and Pisa.
..... Click the link for more information. , Peter IV Peter IV (Peter the Ceremonious), 1319?–1387, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1336–87); son and successor of Alfonso IV. He supported Alfonso XI of Castile at the battle of Tarifa (1340), recovered (1343–44) the kingdom of Majorca, and
..... Click the link for more information. , John I John I, 1350–95, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1387–95), son and successor of Peter IV. During his reign Aragón lost (1388) the duchy of Athens.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Martin Martin, 1356–1410, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (c.1395–1410) and, as Martin II, king of Sicily (1409–10). He succeeded his brother, John I, in Aragón and became king of Sicily on the death of his son, Martin I of Sicily, who
..... Click the link for more information. ; after a brief interregnum (1410–12) they passed to Martin's nephew, Ferdinand I Ferdinand I, 1379?–1416, king of Aragón and Sicily and count of Barcelona (1412–16), second son of John I of Castile; nephew and successor of Martin of Aragón.
..... Click the link for more information. , and from him to Alfonso V Alfonso V (Alfonso the Magnanimous), 1396–1458, king of Aragón and Sicily (1416–58) and of Naples (1443–58), count of Barcelona. He was the son of Ferdinand I, whom he succeeded in Aragón and Sicily.
..... Click the link for more information. , John II John II, 1397–1479, king of Aragón and Sicily (1458–79), king of Navarre (1425–79), count of Barcelona. He succeeded his brother, Alfonso V, in Aragón, Catalonia, and Sicily and became king of Navarre through his marriage with Blanche,
..... Click the link for more information. , and Ferdinand II Ferdinand II or Ferdinand the Catholic, 1452–1516, king of Aragón (1479–1516), king of Castile and León (as Ferdinand V, 1474–1504), king of Sicily (1468–1516), and king of Naples (1504–16).
..... Click the link for more information. , who after his marriage with Isabella of Castile became joint king of Castile as Ferdinand V or Ferdinand the Catholic. His grandson, Charles I (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V Charles V, 1500–1558, Holy Roman emperor (1519–58) and, as Charles I, king of Spain (1516–56); son of Philip I and Joanna of Castile, grandson of Ferdinand II of Aragón, Isabella of Castile, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and Mary of
..... Click the link for more information. ) succeeded him and merged the houses of Aragón and Castile with that of Hapsburg Hapsburg-Lorraine. An enlightened despot, Joseph II instituted reforms that included abolition of serfdom, revision of the penal code, religious toleration, and reduction of the power of the church. Leadership in the Hapsburg empire was given to the Germans.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Through its merger of 1137 with the house of Barcelona, the house of Aragón had acquired various fiefs in S France, notably Roussillon, Provence, and Montpellier, and suzerainty over others. It lost most of these between 1213 and 1246, mainly because Peter II intervened in the Albigensian Crusade (see under Albigenses Albigenses (ălbĭjĕn`sēz) [Lat.,=people of Albi, one of their centers], religious sect of S France in the Middle Ages.
..... Click the link for more information. ) and was defeated (1213) at Muret. In the same period (1229–38), however, James I won the Balearic Islands Balearic Islands (bălēăr`ĭk), Span.
..... Click the link for more information. and the region of Valencia Valencia (välān`thēä), autonomous region (1990 pop. 3,902,429) and former kingdom, E Spain, on the Mediterranean.
..... Click the link for more information. from the Moors. In 1282, Peter III became king of Sicily Sicily (sĭs`ĭlē), Ital. Sicilia, region (1991 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. , and in the 14 cent., after a long struggle, Alfonso IV conquered Sardinia Sardinia (särdĭn`ēə), Ital. Sardegna, region (1991 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. . The duchies of Athens Athens (ăth`ĭnz), Gr. Athínai, city (1991 pop. 2,907,179; 1991 urban agglomeration pop.
..... Click the link for more information. and Neopatras were under the nominal rule of the family in the 14th cent., and in 1442 the kingdom of Naples (see Naples, kingdom of Naples, kingdom of, former state, occupying the Italian peninsula south of the former Papal States. It comprised roughly the present regions of Campania , Abruzzi , Molise , Basilicata , Apulia , and Calabria . Naples was the capital.
..... Click the link for more information. ) was conquered by Alfonso V.

Only rarely were these possessions united under a single ruler; for the most part they were held by various branches of the house, often at war with each other as well as with other rulers in Spain. The kingdom of Majorca Majorca (məjôr`kə), Span.
..... Click the link for more information. , with Roussillon Roussillon (r
..... Click the link for more information. and Cerdagne, was separate from 1276 to 1343; that of Sicily, from 1296 to 1409; and that of Naples, from 1458 to 1501. Even when united under one ruler as they were under Alfonso V, the various possessions retained their distinct institutions, which continued to be important in diminished and varying degrees after the union of the crowns of Aragón and Castile. See Navarre Navarre (nəvär`), Span.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See study by J. L. Shneidman (2 vol., 1971).