County of Aragon
Encyclopedia
The County of Aragon or Jaca was a small Frankish
marcher county
in the central Pyrenean
valley of the Aragon river
, comprising Ansó
, Echo, and Canfranc
and centred on the small town of Jaca
(Iacca in Latin and Chaca in Aragonese
). It was created by the Carolingian
s late in the eighth or early in the ninth century, but soon fell into the orbit of the Kingdom of Navarre
, into which it was absorbed in 922. It would later form the core of the 11th century Kingdom of Aragon
.
Originally intended to protect the central Pyrenean passes from the Moors
in the same way that the Duchy of Vasconia
and the Marca Hispanica
were to protect the west and east, Aragon remained largely out of the reach of its nominal Carolingian
lords, though it was an expressly Frankish creation and not an ethnically distinct region. The earliest attested local ruler was Oriol
(807), probably Frankish, Visigothic or Hispano-Roman. That Aragon was a combined creation of Frankish efforts at Reconquest
and the activity of the local Hispano-Visigothic elite to unite the rural populace against the Moors of the Ebro valley seems assured.
In the first half of the ninth century, under the strong Carolingians, such as Charlemagne
, the county of Aragon was culturally oriented northwards, across the important passes at Echo and Canfranc. The monastery of San Pedro de Siresa, founded about that time, was a Benedictine
house nourished by the reforms of Benedict of Aniane
. The cultural endowment of the monastery was extensive; by 848 its collection of manuscripts included Vergil, Horace
, Juvenal
, Porphyry
, Aldhelm, and Augustine of Hippo's
De Civitate Dei.
In the later ninth century the Carolingians ceased to be powerful sovereigns in the outyling regions of their empire and the Moors of the Ebro valley simultaneously ceased being a threat to the Christian population to their north. As Carolingian influence waned, the counts of Aragón sought new allies. In 820 Charlemagne's vassal, Count Aznar I
, was ejected from the county by his son-in-law García 'the Bad'
, who rode to power on the back of troops supplied by Íñigo Arista, ruler of the fledgling Kingdom of Pamplona. He then repudiated his wife in order to marry Íñigo's daughter. In 844, Aznar's son Galindo was forced to make himself a vassal of Íñigo in order to secure his return and succession to the county. Count Aznar II looked south, marrying his daughter to the wali
of Huesca
, Muhammad al-Tawil
.
The Navarrese also expanded their kingdom to the region south of the Aragón, a zone devastated militarily by the Arabs in the preceding centuries of conflict. The Navarrese fortification of this area severely curtailed the possibility of Aragonese expansion via reconquest by cutting off the obvious route of such conquest. The death of Galindo Aznárez II without surviving legitimate sons resulted in a division of his lands, with Sobrarbe
passing with a daughter to the Counts of Ribagorza
, while Aragon itself fell under the direct control of the Pamplona crown, king García Sánchez I marrying Andregota Galíndez
, another daughter of the defunct count.
During the century of direct Navarrese lordship, the diminutive county of Aragon retained a separate administration and its charters referred to it as the "land of the Aragonese lords", and counts were appointed by the kings, starting with the illegitimate son of the last autonomous count. In the tenth century the religious centre of the county moved south to San Juan de la Peña
. San Juan, contrary to San Pedro, had been founded by Christian refugees from Moorish Zaragoza
and the monastery had a militant Visigothic character; the war with the Moslems was espoused and the Visigothic rite was the standard of worship.
In 922 the Aragonese had finally secured their own bishopric. The old itinerant "bishops of Aragon" (sometimes called bishops of Huesca or Jaca) were established in the valley of Borau
. The bishops regularly took up residence in one of the major monasteries, like San Juan, San Pedro, or Sásave. The location of the see also serves as evidence that the upper valleys in the south of the country were becoming increasingly more populated as the region south of the river Aragón became more fortified and the Moorish threat diminished further. This frontier zone, too, was seeing repopulation in light of militarisation.
Sancho the Great, who had united most of Christian Iberia under his control, gave lands in Aragon to his illegitimate son, Ramiro
as early as 1015. With the deaths of his father in 1135 and brother, Gonzalo of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza
, whose lands he also acquired, in 1043, Ramiro held the nucleus of what would become the Kingdom of Aragon
.
From the death of Galindo Aznárez II, the county of Aragon was incorporated within the crown of Navarre
(for kings of Navarre during this period see: List of Navarrese monarchs). The rulers of Navarre appointed a series of nobles as their (non-sovereign) counts in Aragon. These are poorly documented, but include:
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
marcher county
Marches
A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....
in the central Pyrenean
Pyrenean
The term Pyrenean refers to things of or from the Pyrenees mountain range. See:*Pyrenees, the mountain range dividing France and Spain*Pyrenean Shepherd or Pyrenean Mountain Dog, dog breeds sometimes shortened to Pyrenean...
valley of the Aragon river
Aragón River
The River Aragón is one of the left-hand tributaries of the river Ebro. It starts at Astún , passes through Jaca and Sangüesa , and joins the Ebro at Milagro , near Tudela....
, comprising Ansó
Ansó
Ansó is a town and municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality had a population of 523 inhabitants. The municipality includes the towns of Ansó and Fago ....
, Echo, and Canfranc
Canfranc
Canfranc is a municipality in the Aragon Valley of north-eastern Spain consisting of two towns.- Political information :* comarca of Jacetania * province of Huesca* autonomous community of Aragón- Canfranc :...
and centred on the small town of Jaca
Jaca
Jaca is a city of northeastern Spain near the border with France, in the midst of the Pyrenees in the province of Huesca...
(Iacca in Latin and Chaca in Aragonese
Aragonese language
Aragonese is a Romance language now spoken in a number of local varieties by between 10,000 and 30,000 people over the valleys of the Aragón River, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in Aragon, Spain...
). It was created by the Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
s late in the eighth or early in the ninth century, but soon fell into the orbit of the Kingdom of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
, into which it was absorbed in 922. It would later form the core of the 11th century Kingdom of Aragon
Kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...
.
Originally intended to protect the central Pyrenean passes from the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
in the same way that the Duchy of Vasconia
Duchy of Vasconia
The Duchy of Vasconia , or Wasconia, was originally a Frankish march formed by 602 to keep the Basques in check. It comprised the former Roman province of Novempopulania and, at least in some periods, also the lands south of the Pyrenees centred on Pamplona.In the ninth century, civil war within...
and the Marca Hispanica
Marca Hispanica
The Marca Hispanica , also known as Spanish March or March of Barcelona was a buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, created by Charlemagne in 795 as a defensive barrier between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Kingdom....
were to protect the west and east, Aragon remained largely out of the reach of its nominal Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
lords, though it was an expressly Frankish creation and not an ethnically distinct region. The earliest attested local ruler was Oriol
Aureolus of Aragon
Aureolus is traditionally thought to have been the chief of the Franks in the region of Aragón.Between 798 and 802 the Franks established several positions in the zone: Bahlul Ibn Marzuq revolted in Zaragoza against the central government of Muslim Al-Andalus in 798, and in 800 conquered Huesca...
(807), probably Frankish, Visigothic or Hispano-Roman. That Aragon was a combined creation of Frankish efforts at Reconquest
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
and the activity of the local Hispano-Visigothic elite to unite the rural populace against the Moors of the Ebro valley seems assured.
In the first half of the ninth century, under the strong Carolingians, such as Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
, the county of Aragon was culturally oriented northwards, across the important passes at Echo and Canfranc. The monastery of San Pedro de Siresa, founded about that time, was a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
house nourished by the reforms of Benedict of Aniane
Benedict of Aniane
Saint Benedict of Aniane , born Witiza and called the Second Benedict, was a Benedictine monk and monastic reformer, who left a large imprint on the religious practice of the Carolingian Empire...
. The cultural endowment of the monastery was extensive; by 848 its collection of manuscripts included Vergil, Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
, Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
, Porphyry
Porphyry (philosopher)
Porphyry of Tyre , Porphyrios, AD 234–c. 305) was a Neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Tyre. He edited and published the Enneads, the only collection of the work of his teacher Plotinus. He also wrote many works himself on a wide variety of topics...
, Aldhelm, and Augustine of Hippo's
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
De Civitate Dei.
In the later ninth century the Carolingians ceased to be powerful sovereigns in the outyling regions of their empire and the Moors of the Ebro valley simultaneously ceased being a threat to the Christian population to their north. As Carolingian influence waned, the counts of Aragón sought new allies. In 820 Charlemagne's vassal, Count Aznar I
Aznar I Galíndez
Aznar Galíndez I was the Count of Aragon and Conflent from 809 and Cerdanya and Urgell from 820. Aznar has been confused with Aznar Sánchez, Duke of Gascony, and some authorities have even considered the two like-named contemporaries to be one and the same person.Aznar succeeded Aureolus as count...
, was ejected from the county by his son-in-law García 'the Bad'
García Galíndez
García Galíndez , called the Bad , was the Count of Aragon and Conflent from 820.The son of Galindo Belascotenes, García had married Matrona, daughter of Aznar Galíndez I, Count of Aragon...
, who rode to power on the back of troops supplied by Íñigo Arista, ruler of the fledgling Kingdom of Pamplona. He then repudiated his wife in order to marry Íñigo's daughter. In 844, Aznar's son Galindo was forced to make himself a vassal of Íñigo in order to secure his return and succession to the county. Count Aznar II looked south, marrying his daughter to the wali
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
of Huesca
Huesca
Huesca is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the comarca of Hoya de Huesca....
, Muhammad al-Tawil
Muhammad al-Tawil of Huesca
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tawil was a muwallad Wāli of Huesca in the late-ninth and early-tenth centuries. Acting autonomously from his nominal masters the Emirs of Córdoba, he carried out his own foreign policy and warfare with both Christian and Muslim regional rivals, including the Counts of...
.
The Navarrese also expanded their kingdom to the region south of the Aragón, a zone devastated militarily by the Arabs in the preceding centuries of conflict. The Navarrese fortification of this area severely curtailed the possibility of Aragonese expansion via reconquest by cutting off the obvious route of such conquest. The death of Galindo Aznárez II without surviving legitimate sons resulted in a division of his lands, with Sobrarbe
Sobrarbe
Sobrarbe is one of the Comarcas of Aragon, Spain. It is located in the northern part of the province of Huesca, part of the autonomous community of Aragon in Spain...
passing with a daughter to the Counts of Ribagorza
County of Ribagorza
The County of Ribagorza or Ribagorça was originally the independent creation of a local Basque dynasty, later absorbed into the Kingdom of Navarre, and then into the Crown of Aragon. Historically it had a strong connexion with the counties of Sobrarbe and Pallars. Its territory was the valleys of...
, while Aragon itself fell under the direct control of the Pamplona crown, king García Sánchez I marrying Andregota Galíndez
Andregota Galíndez
Andregoto Galíndez was daughter of Count Galindo II Aznárez Count of Aragon from 922, being by his second wife, Sancha Garcés of Pamplona...
, another daughter of the defunct count.
During the century of direct Navarrese lordship, the diminutive county of Aragon retained a separate administration and its charters referred to it as the "land of the Aragonese lords", and counts were appointed by the kings, starting with the illegitimate son of the last autonomous count. In the tenth century the religious centre of the county moved south to San Juan de la Peña
San Juan de la Peña
The monastery of San Juan de la Peña is a religious complex in the town of Santa Cruz de la Serós, at the south-west of Jaca, in the province of Huesca, Spain. It was one of the most important monasteries in Aragon in the Middle Ages. Its two-level church is partially carved in the stone of the...
. San Juan, contrary to San Pedro, had been founded by Christian refugees from Moorish Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
and the monastery had a militant Visigothic character; the war with the Moslems was espoused and the Visigothic rite was the standard of worship.
In 922 the Aragonese had finally secured their own bishopric. The old itinerant "bishops of Aragon" (sometimes called bishops of Huesca or Jaca) were established in the valley of Borau
Borau
Borau is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 75 inhabitants. Borau consists of a dozen or so little houses, one Catholic church, and a little cafe....
. The bishops regularly took up residence in one of the major monasteries, like San Juan, San Pedro, or Sásave. The location of the see also serves as evidence that the upper valleys in the south of the country were becoming increasingly more populated as the region south of the river Aragón became more fortified and the Moorish threat diminished further. This frontier zone, too, was seeing repopulation in light of militarisation.
Sancho the Great, who had united most of Christian Iberia under his control, gave lands in Aragon to his illegitimate son, Ramiro
Ramiro I of Aragon
Ramiro I was de facto the first King of Aragon from 1035 until his death. Apparently born before 1007, he was the illegitimate son of Sancho III of Navarre by his mistress Sancha de Aybar...
as early as 1015. With the deaths of his father in 1135 and brother, Gonzalo of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza
Gonzalo of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza
Gonzalo Sánchez was made Count of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, two small Pyrenean counties, before 1035 by his father, Sancho III of Navarre. He succeeded to these domains after his father's death in that year and ruled them as vassal of his brother García Sánchez III until his death...
, whose lands he also acquired, in 1043, Ramiro held the nucleus of what would become the Kingdom of Aragon
Kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...
.
List of counts
- ???–809809Year 809 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Emperor Saga succeeds Emperor Heizei as emperor of Japan.* Nagabhatta is defeated in India.- Births :* date unknown...
:AureolusAureolus of AragonAureolus is traditionally thought to have been the chief of the Franks in the region of Aragón.Between 798 and 802 the Franks established several positions in the zone: Bahlul Ibn Marzuq revolted in Zaragoza against the central government of Muslim Al-Andalus in 798, and in 800 conquered Huesca...
(attested 807-809 but probably ruling before 802) - 809809Year 809 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Emperor Saga succeeds Emperor Heizei as emperor of Japan.* Nagabhatta is defeated in India.- Births :* date unknown...
–820820Year 820 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Tahir, the son of a slave, is rewarded with the governorship of Khurasan for supporting the caliphate...
: Aznar Galíndez I, deposed in 820 by Pamplona. - 820820Year 820 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Tahir, the son of a slave, is rewarded with the governorship of Khurasan for supporting the caliphate...
–833833Year 833 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* al-Mu'tasim succeeds his brother Al-Ma'mun as Abbasid caliph....
: García the BadGarcía GalíndezGarcía Galíndez , called the Bad , was the Count of Aragon and Conflent from 820.The son of Galindo Belascotenes, García had married Matrona, daughter of Aznar Galíndez I, Count of Aragon...
, installed as vassal by Pamplona - 833833Year 833 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* al-Mu'tasim succeeds his brother Al-Ma'mun as Abbasid caliph....
–844844Year 844 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Rhodri Mawr becomes king of Gwynedd....
: Galindo GarcésGalindo GarcésGalindo Garcés was a Count of Aragón from 833 until his death in 844, the son and successor of García Galíndez ....
, son of García the Bad - 844844Year 844 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Rhodri Mawr becomes king of Gwynedd....
–867867Year 867 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Byzantine Empire :* September – Basil I becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.* Macedonian dynasty is started....
: Galindo Aznárez I, son of Aznar Galíndez I, family restored on accepting suzerainty of Pamplona - 867867Year 867 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Byzantine Empire :* September – Basil I becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.* Macedonian dynasty is started....
–893893Year 893 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Council of Preslav: Simeon I succeeds Vladimir as prince of Bulgaria; the capital is moved from Pliska to Preslav....
: Aznar Galíndez II, son of Galindo Aznárez I - 893893Year 893 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Council of Preslav: Simeon I succeeds Vladimir as prince of Bulgaria; the capital is moved from Pliska to Preslav....
–922922Year 922 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* The Khitan Empire, led by Abaoji, raids Hebei, China.- Deaths :* March 26 – Mansur Al-Hallaj, Sufi writer...
: Galindo Aznárez II, son of Aznar Galíndez II
From the death of Galindo Aznárez II, the county of Aragon was incorporated within the crown of Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
(for kings of Navarre during this period see: List of Navarrese monarchs). The rulers of Navarre appointed a series of nobles as their (non-sovereign) counts in Aragon. These are poorly documented, but include:
- Guntislo Galíndez, illegitimate son of Galindo Aznárez II.
- Fortun Jiménez, appears in 947947Year 947 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* The Later Jin Dynasty falls to the Later Han Dynasty in China....
. - Gonzalo Sánchez, son of king Sancho II Garcés of Navarre (970970Year 970 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* A devastating decade-long famine begins in France....
–994994Year 994 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Sweyn Forkbeard marries Sigrid the Haughty.* Otto III reaches his majority and begins to rule Germany in his own right....
), count of Aragon under tutelage of his mother Urraca FernándezUrraca FernándezUrraca Fernández , infanta of Castile and daughter of Count Fernán González, was the queen consort of two Kings of León and one King of Navarre between 951 and 994...
.
Sources
- Bisson, T. N. The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. ISBN 0-19-821987-3. For the county, see pp. 10–11.
- del Arco y Garay, Ricardo. "España Christiana: Hasta el año 1035, fecha de la Muerte de Sancho Garcés III" in España Christiana: Comienzo de la Reconquista (711-1038). Historia de España [dirigida por Don Ramón Menéndez Pidal], vol. 6. Espasa Calpe: Madrid, 1964.