Kingdom of Aragon

The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom located on the Iberian Peninsula, in the area that today forms the Spanish autonomous community of Aragon. It was a component of the larger Crown of Aragon, a political entity that also included the Principality of Catalonia (itself made up of the former Catalan Counties), the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, and various other territories now part of France, Italy, and Greece. While all these lands were ruled by the King of Aragon, the Kingdom of Aragon itself was governed separately from them.

In 1479, following the death of John II of Aragon, the crowns of Aragon and Castile were joined, creating the core of what would become modern Spain. The Aragonese regions kept their own autonomous parliamentary and administrative bodies, such as the Corts. This arrangement lasted until the Nueva Planta decrees, issued between 1707 and 1715 by Philip V of Spain after the War of the Spanish Succession, which centralized power in Spain. Even so, the Spanish crown continued to use the title "King of Aragon."

Aragon began as a Carolingian feudal county centered on the city of Jaca. In the early 9th century, it became a vassal state of the Kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre), and its native line of counts died out without a male heir in 922. The name "Aragón" comes from the river Aragón, which flows past Jaca. It may derive from the Basque *Aragona/Haragona*, meaning "good upper valley" (from *haran* = valley, *goi* = upper, high, and *ona* = good), or alternatively from the earlier Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis.

When Sancho III of Navarre died in 1035, his kingdom was split into three parts: Pamplona with its hinterland and western coastal Basque districts; Castile; and Sobrarbe, Ribagorza, and Aragon. Sancho’s son Gonzalo received Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, while his illegitimate son Ramiro got Aragon. After Gonzalo was soon killed, his lands passed to Ramiro, who became the first de facto king of Aragon, though he never officially used the title. Ramiro secured Aragon’s independence by defeating his brother, García Sánchez III of Navarre. His son, Sancho Ramírez, who also inherited the Kingdom of Navarre, was the first to call himself "King of the Aragonese and Pamplonese." As Aragon expanded southward, conquering territory from Al-Andalus, the capital moved from Jaca to Huesca in 1096, and then to Zaragoza in 1118. After Alfonso the Battler died without children in 1134, separate rulers were chosen for Navarre and Aragon, ending their shared monarchy. By 1285, the southernmost parts of modern Aragon had been taken from the Moors.

The Kingdom of Aragon gave its name to the Crown of Aragon, created in 1150 through the dynastic union resulting from the marriage of Queen Petronilla of Aragon and Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona. Their son, Alfonso II, inherited all the territories ruled by both parents. The King of Aragon also held the title of Count of Barcelona and governed not only the present-day region of Aragon but also Catalonia, and later the kingdoms of Majorca, Valencia, Sicily, Naples, and Sardinia. The king directly ruled the Aragonese region and also held titles such as Count of Provence, Count of Barcelona, Lord of Montpellier, and Duke of Athens and Neopatria. Each title gave him sovereignty over a specific region, and these titles changed as territories were won or lost. In the 14th century, his power was greatly limited by the Union of Aragon.

The Crown of Aragon became part of the Spanish monarchy after the dynastic union with Castile, which effectively unified both kingdoms under a single monarch. The House of Barcelona held the Crown until it died out in 1410. In 1412, the Aragonese secured the election of a Castilian prince, Ferdinand of Antequera, to the vacant Aragonese throne, despite strong Catalan opposition. One of Ferdinand’s successors, John II of Aragon (1458–1479), dealt with remaining Catalan resistance by arranging for his heir, Ferdinand, to marry Isabella, the heir presumptive of Henry IV of Castile. Upon John II’s death in 1479, the crowns of Aragon and Castile were united, forming the core of modern Spain. The Aragonese territories kept their autonomous parliamentary and administrative institutions, such as the Corts, until the Nueva Planta decrees (1707–1715) issued by Philip V after the War of the Spanish Succession. These decrees legally ended the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia, and Mallorca, as well as the Principality of Catalonia, merging them with Castile to formally create the Spanish kingdom. A later Nueva Planta decree in 1711 restored some rights in Aragon, such as Aragonese Civil Rights, but confirmed the end of the kingdom’s political independence. The former Kingdom of Aragon remained an administrative unit until 1833, when it was divided into three provinces. After Francisco Franco’s death, Aragon became one of Spain’s autonomous communities in 1982.