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Aragon History

There is much evidence of the Roman presence in Aragon due to a number of buildings and their architecture. Indeed, it was Roman emperor Augustus who founded the now Aragonian capital Zaragoza at the height of their rule. The Roman Empire faltered and faded by the end of the fifth century and the Visigoths took grip of the region themselves. Later, by the beginning of the eighth century the Moors had invaded and were taking their turn to rule and reign in the country.

During the 800s the Carolingians came into power in the area and also at this time Aragon came under the jurisdiction of neighbouring Navarre. However, by 1035 King Sancho III of Navarre died and Aragon was given to his son Ramiro I who decided to press south and take more land. In 1076 Aragon even annexed Navarre showing its superior military strength. In the 12th century Zaragoza replaced Huesca as the region’s capital city and in 1137 Aragon was united with Catalonia to the east thanks to the union between Petronila, Queen of Aragon, and Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona. Aragon was able to keep to its own laws and customs, even if there were some areas of friction between the regions.

Petronila and Ramon’s son Alfonso II of Aragon united all their territories (Aragon, Catalonia, Majorca and Valencia) into a confederation called the Crown of Aragon and this name was used until 1714. During this time there was some centralisation after the formation of the Kingdom of Spain which was initiated with the marriage of Isabella to Ferdinand, although Aragon managed to keep its own laws and customs again.

In 1716 King Philip V moved to punish Aragon for opposing him during the Spanish War of Succession by removing some of the privileges it had. Just under 100 years later in the Peninsular War Zaragoza was the site of two particularly harsh sieges and while it did manage to hold off the French advances in 1808 it was overwhelmed by them a year later with 30,000 dying. In 1833 Aragon was split into the three divisions it finds itself in today and then in 1981 it was declared an autonomous region of Spain in the same way as the rest of the country.
 

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