The or '''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 , comprising the area still known as
Aragon . In 1137, the marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona and Petronila of Aragon, joined the County of Barcelona and territory of Catalonia with the Kingdom of Aragon under the name of "Crown of Aragon". The Crown of Aragon later included
Valencia , the
Balearic Islands ,
Sicily and
Sardinia , and at least temporarily,
Provence and
Naples , 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 according to the laws of
Catalonia . Other important seaports were
Valencia and
Palma De Mallorca . Both
Zaragoza and Valencia had more population than Barcelona until the
19th 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 this former Crown.
Some present-day historians (and
Catalan Nationalists ) may call the Crown the , 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).
The countries that we now know as Spain and
Portugal 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 , whereas
Portugal , which completed its ''Reconquista'' in
1272 , focused in the
Atlantic Ocean . Catalan mercenaries known as ''
Almogàvers '' participated in the creation of this Mediterranean empire, and later found employ in countries all across southern Europe.
The union of the two territories of
Catalonia and Aragon was caused by the marriage of
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count Of Barcelona and
Petronila Of Aragon , later Queen Regnant 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 mostly maintained until the abolition of the Crown of Aragon early in the
18th Century .
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
Cerdanya and
Roussillon and the city of
Montpellier , were given to his son
James and were named
Kingdom Of Majorca , but these territories were reincorporated later, in
1349 .
Expansion through the Mediterranean continued (
Sicily ,
Minorca ,
Sardinia ). In
1410 , King
Martin I died without surviving descendants. As a result, by the
Pact Of Caspe ,
Ferdinand Of Antequera from the Castilian dynasty of
Trastamara , received the Crown of Aragon.
at
Perpinyà ]]
In
1443 ,
Naples was conquered. Later, King
Ferdinand II Of Aragon recovered the northern Catalan counties, as well as Iberian
Navarre , and married Queen
Isabella I Of Castile in
1479 . However,
Castile and the Crown of Aragon remained different states, each keeping its own institutions and laws.
The Crown of Aragon was abolished during the
War Of The Spanish Succession (
1702 –
1713 ) by the
Decretos De Nueva Planta , and all its lands were incorporated, as provinces, into Spanish administration.
