Peter III
King of Aragon and Valencia Count of Barcelona
Reign	27 July 1276 – 2 November 1285
Coronation	November 1276 (Zaragoza)
Predecessor	James I
Successor	Alfonso III
King of Sicily
Reign	4 September 1282 – 2 November 1285
Coronation	9 November 1282 (Palermo)
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	James I
Consort	Constance of Sicily
Issue
Alfonso III of Aragon James II of Aragon Elisabeth, Queen of Portugal Frederick III of Sicily Yolanda, Duchess of Calabria Pedro of Aragon
House	House of Barcelona
Father	James I of Aragon
Mother	Violant of Hungary
Born	c. 1239 Valencia
Died	2 November 1285 (aged 45–46) Vilafranca del Penedès
Burial	Santes Creus
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Peter the Great (Catalan: Pere el Gran, Aragonese: Pero lo Gran; 1239, Valencia – 2 November 1285) was the King of Aragon (as Peter III) of Valencia (as Peter I), and Count of Barcelona (as Peter II) from 1276 to his death. He conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282. He was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs.

Youth and succession[link]

Peter was the eldest son of James I of Aragon and his second wife Yolanda of Hungary. On 13 June 1262, he married Constance, daughter and heiress of Manfred of Sicily. During his youth and early adulthood, Peter gained a great deal of military experience in his father's wars of the Reconquista against the Moors.^[1]

On James' death, the lands of the Crown of Aragon were divided, with Aragon and Valencia, along with the Catalan counties, going to the eldest son, Peter, while the Balearic Islands (constituted as the Kingdom of Majorca), alongside the territories in the Languedoc (Montpellier and Roussillon), went to the second son, James. Peter and Constance were crowned in Zaragoza (the capital of Aragon) in November by the archbishop of Tarragona. At this ceremony, Peter renounced all feudal obligations to the papacy which his grandfather Peter II had incurred.

Early rebellions[link]

Peter's first act as king was to complete the pacification of his Valencian territory, an action which had been underway on his father's death.

However, a revolt soon broke out in Catalonia, led by the viscount of Cardona and abetted by Roger-Bernard III of Foix, Arnold Roger I of Pallars Sobirà, and Ermengol X of Urgell.^[1] The rebels had grown a hatred for Peter in response to the severity of his dealings with them in the days of his father. Now, as king, they opposed him for not summoning the Catalan corts, or assembly, and confirming its privileges.

At the same time, a succession crisis continued in the County of Urgell. When Count Álvaro died in 1268, the families of his two wives, Constance, a daughter of Pedro Moncada of Béarn, and Cecilia, a daughter of Roger-Bernard II of Foix, began a long fight over the inheritance of his county. Meanwhile, a good portion of the county had been repossessed by James and thus inherited by Peter. In 1278, Armengol X, Álvaro's eldest son, succeeded in recovering most of his lost patrimony and came to an agreement with Peter whereby he recognised the latter as his suzerain.^[1]

In 1280, Peter defeated the stewing rebellion led by Roger-Berengar III after besieging the rebels in Balaguer for a month. Most of the rebel leaders were imprisoned in Lleida until 1281, while Roger-Bernard was imprisoned until 1284.

Wars abroad[link]

Africa[link]

When the Hafsid Emir of Tunisia, Muhammad I al-Mustansir, who had put himself under James the Conqueror, died in 1277, Tunisia threw off the yoke of Aragonese suzerainty.^[2] Peter first sent an expedition to Tunis in 1280 under Conrad de Llansa designed to re-establish his suzerainty.^[1] In 1281, he himself prepared to lead a fleet of 140 ships with 15,000 men to invade Tunisia on behalf of the governor of Constantine.^[3] The fleet landed at Alcoyll in 1282 and the troops began to fortify themselves in. It was these Aragonese troops that received a Sicilian embassy after the Vespers of 30 March asking Peter to take their throne from Charles of Anjou.

Italy[link]

Peter's fleet landing at Trapani. Notice the king wearing the crown and directing the landing

Peter was the direct descendant and the heir-general of the Mafalda, daughter of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, the Norman conqueror, and his official wife Sigelgaita, daughter of a Lombard prince, Guaimar IV of Salerno. Thus, he stood at the end of the Hauteville succession to Sicily. After the ducal family of Apulia became extinct with William II in 1127, Mafalda's heirs (then counts of Barcelona) apparently became de jure heirs of Guiscard and Sigelgaita: thus Peter was dormantly a claimant to the Norman succession of southern Italy. More directly, he was the heir of Manfred in right of his wife. The Two Sicilies were to be a tenaciously-pursued inheritance for the Aragonese royal house and its heirs for the next five centuries.

The Italian physician John of Procida acted on behalf of Peter in Sicily. John had fled to Aragon after Charles' success at Tagliacozzo. John travelled to Sicily to stir up the discontents in favour of Peter and thence to Constantinople to procure the support of Michael VIII Palaeologus.^[4] Michael refused to aid the Aragonese king without papal approval and so John voyaged to Rome and there gained the consent of Pope Nicholas III, who feared the ascent of Charles in the Mezzogiorno.^[4] John then returned to Barcelona and the pope promptly died, to be replaced by Simon de Brie, a Frenchman and a staunch ally of Charles. The stage, however, had been set for a conflict.

After receiving an embassy from the people of Palermo at Alcoyll, Peter landed at Trapani on 30 August 1282.^[4] He was proclaimed King in Palermo on 4 September. Charles was forced to flee across the Straits of Messina and be content with his "Kingdom of Naples". Simon de Brie as the new Pope Martin IV excommunicated both Peter and the Byzantine emperor for providing Peter III with 60,000 gold pieces to invade Sicily (18 November).^[5]

Peter nevertheless pressed his advantage and by February 1283 had taken most of the Calabrian coastline. Charles, perhaps feeling desperate, sent letters to Peter demanding they resolve the conflict by personal combat. The invader accepted and Charles returned to France to arrange the duel. Both kings chose six knights to settle matters of places and dates. A duel was scheduled for 1 June at Bordeaux. A hundred knights would accompany each side and Edward I of England would adjudge the contest; the English king, heeding the pope, however, refused to take part. Peter left John of Procida in charge of Sicily and returned via his own kingdom to Bordeaux, which, evading a suspected French ambush, he entered in disguise. Needless to say, no combat ever took place and Peter returned to a very troubled Spain.^[6]

While Peter was back in France and Spain, his admiral, Roger of Lauria, was wreaking havoc in Italy. He routed Charles' fleets on the high seas several times and conquered Malta for Aragon.

Pedro III el Grande en el collado de las Panizas by Mariano Barbasán (1889)

Later domestic unrest[link]

Peter was dealing with domestic unrest at the time when the French were preparing an invasion. He took Albarracín from the rebellious noble Juan Núñez de Lara, and he renewed the alliance with Sancho IV of Castile and attacked Tudela in an attempt to prevent the king of Navarre, Philip I, the son of the French king, from invading on that front.

Peter held meetings of the cortes at Tarragona and Zaragoza in 1283. He was forced to grant the Privilegio General to the newly-formed Union of Aragon.^[6] Also in that year, Peter's brother James joined the French and recognised their suzerainty over Montpellier, giving them free passage through the Balearic Islands and Roussillon. In October, Peter began preparing the defences of Catalonia.

In 1284, Pope Martin IV granted the kingdom of Aragon to Charles, Count of Valois, the son of the French king, Philip III the Bold, and great nephew of Charles. Papal sanction was given to a war — crusade — to conquer Aragon on behalf of Charles of Valois.

Aragonese Crusade[link]

In 1284, the first French armies under King Philip and Count Charles entered Roussillon. They included 16,000 cavalry, 17,000 crossbowmen, and 100,000 infantry, along with 100 ships in south French ports.^[7] Though the French had James' support, the local populace rose against them. The city of Elne was valiantly defended by the so-called bâtard de Roussillon ("bastard of Roussillon"), the illegitimate son of Nuño Sánchez, late count of Roussillon (1212–1242). Eventually he was overcome and the cathedral was burnt; the royal forces progressed.

In 1285, Philip entrenched himself before Girona in an attempt to besiege it. The resistance was strong, but the city was taken. Charles was crowned there, but without an actual crown. The French soon experienced a reversal, however, at the hands of Roger de Lauria, back from the Italian theatre of the drawn-out conflict. The French fleet was defeated and destroyed at the Battle of Les Formigues. As well, the French camp was hit hard by an epidemic of dysentery.

Philip himself was afflicted. The heir to the French throne, Philip the Fair, opened negotiations with Peter for free passage for the royal family through the Pyrenees. But the troops were not offered such passage and were decimated at the Battle of the Col de Panissars. The king of France himself died at Perpignan, the capital of James of Majorca, who had fled in fear after being confronted by Peter, and was buried in Narbonne. James was declared a vassal of Peter.

Troubadour works[link]

Peter matched his father in patronage of the arts and literature, but unlike him he was a lover of verse, not prose. He favoured the troubadours, of which he himself was one, and wrote two sirventesos.

The first is in the form of an exchange between Peter and one Peironet, a jongleur. The second forms part of a compilation of five compositions from Bernat d'Auriac, Peter the Great, Pere Salvatge (perhaps the same as Peironet), Roger-Bernard III of Foix, and an anonymous contributor.

As well, the wars with Philip of France and James of Majorca furnished material for new sirventesos and during this period the sirventes was converted into a convenient tool of political propaganda in which each side could, directly or allegorically, present its case and procure sympathy propitious to its cause.

Death and legacy[link]

A croat minted at Barcelona, bearing the image of Peter and the words Petrus Dei gracia rex (Peter by the grace of God king) and civitas Barcenona (city of Barelona)

Peter died by unknown causes at Vilafranca del Penedès on 2 November 1285, in the same year as his royal foe Philip, and was buried in the monastery of Santes Creus.^[8] His deathbed absolution occurred after he declared that his conquests had been in the name of his familial claims and never against the claims of the church. His remains are entombed in a porphyry sarcophagus at Santes Creus Monastry.

Peter left Aragon to his eldest son Alfonso III and Sicily to his second son James II. Peter's third son, Frederick III, in succession to his brother James, became regent of Sicily and in due course its king. Peter did not provide for his youngest son and namesake, Peter (1275 – 25 August 1296), who married Constanca Mendes de Silva, daughter of Soeiro Mendes Petite, governor of Santarém in Portugal. This Peter left Spain for Portugal with his sister Elizabeth.

Peter also had two daughters, Elisabeth, who married Denis of Portugal, and Yolanda (1273 – August 1302), who married Robert of Naples.

In the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri sees Peter "singing in accord" (d'ogni valor portó cinta la corda) with his former rival, Charles I of Sicily, outside the gates of Purgatory. He is also the main character of Shakespare's Much Ado About Nothing.

Ancestry[link]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Runciman, Steven. The Sicilian Vespers. 1958. ISBN 0-521-43774-1
• Chaytor, H. J. A History of Aragon and Catalonia. London: Methuen, 1933.

Peter III of Aragon House of Aragon Cadet branch of the House of Barcelona Born: c. 1239 Died: 2 November 1285
Regnal titles
Preceded by James I	King of Aragon 1276–1285	Succeeded by Alfonso III
	Count of Barcelona 1276–1285
	King of Valencia 1276–1285
Preceded by Charles I	King of Sicily 1282–1285	Succeeded by James

v t e Monarchs of Aragon House of Jiménez Ramiro I Sancho Ramírez Peter I Alfonso I Ramiro II Petronilla House of Barcelona Alfonso II Peter II James I Peter III Alfonso III James II Alfonso IV Peter IV John I Martin House of Trastámara Ferdinand I Alfonso V John II Ferdinand II Joanna

Aragon Aragón (Spanish) Aragón (Aragonese) Aragó (Catalan)
—  Autonomous Community  —
Aragón
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Aragon (in red) within Spain
Coordinates: 41°00′N 1°00′W / 41°N 1°W / 41; -1Coordinates: 41°00′N 1°00′W / 41°N 1°W / 41; -1
Country	Spain
Capital	Zaragoza
Government
• President	Luisa Fernanda Rudi (Partido Popular)
Area(9.4% of Spain; Ranked 4th)
• Total	47,719 km2 (18,424 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	1,277,471
• Density	27/km2 (69/sq mi)
• Pop. rank	11th
• Percent	2.9% of Spain
ISO 3166-2	AR
Anthem	Himno de Aragón
Official languages	Spanish (Aragonese and Catalan have special status)[1]
Statute of Autonomy	August 16, 1982
Parliament	Cortes Generales
Congress seats	13 (of 350)
Senate seats	14 (of 264)
Website	Gobierno de Aragón

Loarre, one of the most important Romanesque castles in Europe

Aragon ( /ˈærəɡɒn/ or /ˈærəɡən/), also known in Spanish and Aragonese as Aragón ([aɾaˈɣon]) and in Catalan as Aragó ([əɾəˈɣo] or [aɾaˈɣo]), is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza (also called Saragossa in English). The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a nationality of Spain.

Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees. Within Spain, the community is flanked by Catalonia on the east, Valencia and Castile–La Mancha to the south, and Castile and León, La Rioja, and Navarre to the west.

Covering an area of 47,719 km² (18,424 sq mi), the region's terrain ranges diversely from permanent glaciers to verdant valleys, rich pasture lands and orchards, through to the arid steppe plains of the central lowlands. Aragon is home to many rivers—most notably, the river Ebro, Spain's largest river in volume, which runs west-east across the entire region through the province of Zaragoza. It is also home to the Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees.

As of 2006, the population was 1,277,471—with more than half of the autonomous community's people living in Zaragoza, its capital city.

In addition to its three provinces, Aragon is subdivided into 33 comarcas or counties; all with a rich geopolitical and cultural history from its pre-Roman and Roman days; and from the four centuries of Islamic period as Marca Superior of Al-Andalus or kingdom (or taifa) of Saraqustah, and as lands that once belonged to the Frankish Marca Hispanica; and counties that later formed the Kingdom of Aragon and eventually the empire or Crown of Aragon.

Population[link]

As of 2006, half of Aragon's population, 50.8%, live in the capital city of Zaragoza. Huesca is the only other city in the region with a population greater than 50,000.

The majority of Aragonese citizens, 71.8%, live in the province of Zaragoza; 17.1% in Huesca and 11.1% in Teruel.^[2] The population density of the region is the second lowest in Spain: only 26,8/km²; after Castilla La Mancha. The most densely populated areas are around the valley of the river Ebro, particularly around Zaragoza, and in the Pyrenean foothills, while the areas with the fewest inhabitants tend to be those that are higher up in the Pyrenean mountains, and in most of the southern province of Teruеl.

Only four cities have more than 20,000 inhabitants: Zaragoza 700,000; Huesca 50,000; Teruel 35,000 and Calatayud 20,000.

Language[link]

Language distribution in Aragon. Spanish is spoken in all of Aragon, and is the only official language.

Spanish is the native language in most of Aragón, and it is the only official language, understood and spoken by virtually everyone in the region. In addition to it, the Aragonese language continues to be spoken in several local varieties in the mountainous northern counties of the Pyrenees, particularly in western Ribagorza, Sobrarbe, Jacetania and Somontano; it is enjoying a resurgence of popularity as a tool for regional identity. In the easternmost areas of Aragón, along the border with Catalonia, varieties of the Catalan language are spoken, including the comarcas of eastern Ribagorza, La Litera, Bajo Cinca, Bajo Aragón-Caspe, Bajo Aragón and Matarraña. The strip-shaped Catalan-speaking area in Aragon is often called La Franja.

Geography[link]

View from Ordesa valley in the Aragonese Pyrenees

With such a low population density large areas of Aragon remain wild and relatively untouched. It is a land of extreme natural contrasts, both in climate and geologically, from the green valleys and snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees to the dry plains and lonely hilly areas of the south.

Relief[link]

Aragon's Pyrenees include splendid and varied mountain landscapes with soaring peaks, deep canyons, dense forests and spectacular waterfalls. Its rugged peaks include the Aneto (3,404 m), the highest in the range, the misty Monte Perdido (3,355 m), Perdiguero (3,221 m), Cotiella (2,912 m) and many others.

Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, near the border with France, boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe with its canyons, frozen lake caverns, numerous waterfalls and varied wildlife many species of which are endemic to the Pyrenees. The park is also one of the last sanctuaries of birds of prey in the range. Many beautiful mountain butterflies and flowers can be seen in the summer, while during winter the region is a paradise for skiers.

Circo de Soaso in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park

The principal valleys in the mountains include those of Hecho, Canfranc, Tena, Benasque and others. The green valleys hide pretty villages with nice Romanesque churches and typical Pyrenean houses with flowers on the balconies. The oldest Romanesque cathedral in Spain is located in the medieval town of Jaca in the very northern part of Huesca Province.

The Moncayo Massif seen from Alcalá de Moncayo.

In the Pyrenean foothills, or pre-Pyrenees, the Mallos de Riglos are a famous natural rock formation. Ancient castles nestle on lonely hills, the most famous being the magnificent Loarre Castle.

Further south, the Ebro valley, irrigated by the river Ebro, is a rich and fertile agricultural area covered with vast fields of wheat, barley and other fruit and vegetable crops. Many beautiful and little-known settlements, castles and Roman ruins dot the landscape here. Some of the most notable towns here include Calatayud, Daroca, Sos del Rey Catolico, Caspe and others.

South of Zaragoza and the Ebro valley, the elevation rises again into the Sistema Ibérico, a complex system of mountain ranges that separates the Ebro valley from the Meseta Central and plains of Castile–La Mancha. The highest massif in this range is the Moncayo (2,313 m) and, despite getting less snow than in the Pyrenees, it has several ski resorts.

Climate[link]

Formigal (Huesca) winter

Aragon's climate can be defined as continental moderate. Temperatures are determined mainly by altitude, ranging from cold or very cold in winter and cool in summer in the mountains to the north (Pyrenees) and to the south and west (Iberian range), to mild in winter and hot in summer in the central lowlands. Rainfall is also very variable, with very low mean values in the central areas and increasingly higher values in mountain areas, especially in the high Pyrenees.

In the middle of Aragon, which is only 200 metres (660 ft) above sea level, the annual average temperature is around 14 °C (57 °F). To the north and south of the Ebro valley, where the elevation rises to 500 m (1,600 ft) above sea level, the temperature drops by two degrees. In the mountains, between 600 m (2,000 ft) and 1,000 m (3,300 ft) observed temperatures are between 11 and 12 °C (52 and 54 °F).

History[link]

Crown of Aragon in the 15th century.

Formation of the kingdom[link]

Before Aragon came into being as a self-proclaimed kingdom in 1035, the northern counties of Jaca, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza were all independent marches and Frankish feudal fiefs. In a bid to stem Frankish and Moorish invasions, a northern alliance of the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe, Ribagorza, and the duchy of Castile united under the Kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre). After King Sancho's death, the kingdom was divided between his sons. Ramiro I was initially named king of Aragon in 1035; later, after his brother Gonzalo's death, he was also named king of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in 1044. The new kingdom grew quickly, conquering territories from the Moorish kingdoms to the south. Huesca was taken in 1096 and Zaragoza in 1118. According to Aragonese laws, the King had to swear he accepted the Kingdom laws before being accepted as king. The King was considered "Primus inter pares" between nobility. There was a nobleman with the title "Justicia" ^[4] that acted as ombudsman who was in charge of supervising that the King obeyed the Aragonese laws. There is an old saying "En Aragón antes de Rey hubo Ley" roughly translated as "In Aragon before a king there was law".

Absorption of Barcelona County[link]

Emblematic allegorical woodcut (c. 1820) made during the Trienio Liberal. The political constitution illuminates the Aragonian shield that had been enclosed by the royal crown.

The dynastic union between Petronila, Queen of Aragon, and Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, produced a son, Alfonso II of Aragon who inherited all their respective territories creating the Crown of Aragon which included all lands and people, titles and states previously until then outside of the Kingdom of Aragon. This Crown was effectively ended after the dynastic union with Castile (see below) but the title continued being used until 1714. The dynasty of the Kings of Aragon (called by some present-day historians "Kings of Aragon and Counts of Barcelona") ruled the present administrative region of Aragon, Catalonia, and later the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia (see Aragonese Empire).

In the Crown of Aragon, the king was the direct king of the Aragonese region but also held the title of King of Valencia, King of Majorca (for a time), Count of Barcelona, Lord of Montpellier, and (temporarily) Duke of Athens and Neopatria. Each of these titles gave him sovereignty over a certain region, and these titles changed as he lost and won territories.

The unsuccessful French assault of Zaragoza in 1808

Union with Castile[link]

Although there was a dynastic union with Castile and most other kingdoms in Spain since the marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon at the end of the 15th century, and this union was progressively consolidating along 16th and 17th centuries, Aragon lasted as a separate kingdom, with its own laws and institutions, until 1707 when Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain, invaded Aragon with his Army and forced the signature of the Nueva Planta decrees, consolidating Spain into a more centralized state and forcing the use of castilian language.

Under the Bourbon dynasty[link]

During the War of the Spanish Succession the advancing army of German, British and Dutch troops defeated the Spanish Army in the battle of Saragossa in 1710. As a result of the battle Felipe V was forced to abandon Madrid and retreated to Valladolid.

During the Peninsular War the Aragonese capital was a site of two fierce sieges. During the siege in 1808 the Spanish under General Palafox defeated a superior French force. In 1809 during a particularly bloody siege the Spaniards were overwhelmed by superior enemy forces. In the course of the siege almost 30,000 of the garrison and citizens of Zaragoza (from a total of 32,000) perished instead of surrendering the city. Two weeks after they breached the walls the French were forced to fight for separate houses, squares, churches, convents.

20th century[link]

During the Spanish Civil War, Aragon saw the establishment of various anarchist communes.

In 1982 Aragon became an autonomous community within the new Spanish democracy.

Culture[link]

Further to the south lies Teruel, famous for its Mudejar architecture, which can be easily spotted in its magnificent cathedral, churches and towers. Other notable towns to the south include Albarracin, Alcañiz, Valderrobres, Mora de Rubielos and many others.

Some medieval monuments of Teruel and Zaragoza are protected by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Sites Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon.

The traditional dance is known as jota and is one of the faster dances of Spain. It's also the most widespread in Aragon and the exact styles and music depends on the region.

There are other less popular dances named "paloteaos" similars to some sword/stick dances in other regions.

The music of one of the typical dance "The dance of majordomos" from Benasque was enjoyed by Rafael del Riego when he was in Benasque so he ordered to copy it and as a result the "himn of Riego" appeared.

There are some typical Aragonese instruments like the stringed drum "Chicotén", bagpipes as "gaita de boto", oboes like "Dulzaina", small flutes like "Chiflo" and some instruments are lost like "trompa de Ribagorza" although there have been efforts to reconstruct them. In contrast with other pyrenaic regions "Chicotén" and "Chiflo" never have stopped being played ^[5]

The Carnival of Bielsa^[6] (Huesca) has ancient origins and includes a group of men porting long sticks, wearing skirts, cowbells and boucard/goat-like horns and skins with black-painted faces called "Trangas" that symbolice "virility" that surround another man wearing skins that acts as bear called "l'onso". In Aragonese mythology the bear carried souls between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Trangas dance with young females named "madamas" that symbolise "purity" and wear colourful dresses. There are also some traditional characters like a horse rider named "Caballé".

Economy[link]

Aragon is among the richest autonomous regions in Spain, with GDP per capita above the nation's average. The traditional agriculture-based economy from the mid-20th century has been greatly transformed in the past several decades and now service and industrial sectors are the backbone of the economy in the region.

The well-developed irrigation system around the Ebro has greatly supported the productive agriculture. The most important crops include wheat, barley, rye, fruit and grapes. Livestock-breeding is essential especially in the northern areas, where the lush meadows provide excellent conditions for sheep and cattle. The main livestock are cattle, 334,600; sheep, 2,862,100; pigs, 3,670,000; goats, 78,000; and poultry, 20,545,000.^[7]

The chief industrial centre is the capital Zaragoza, where the largest factories are located. The largest plant is the Opel automotive plant with 8,730 employees and production of 200,000 per year. It supports many related industries in the area. Other large plants in the city include factories for trains and household appliances. Mining of iron ore and coal is developed to the south, near Ojos Negros. Electricity production is concentrated to the north where numerous hydro power plants are located along the Pyrenean rivers and in the 1,150 MW Teruel Power Plant. There is an aluminium refinery in the town of Sabiñánigo. The main centres of electronics industry are Zaragoza, Huesca and Benabarre. Chemical industry is developed in Zaragoza, Sabiñánigo, Monzón, Teruel, Ojos Negros, Fraga, Benabarre and others.

The transport infrastructure has been greatly improved. There are more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of motorways which run from Zaragoza to Madrid, Teruel, Basque country, Huesca and Barcelona. The condition of the other roads is also good. As of 2005 there are 520,000 cars in Aragon.^[8] Through the territory of the province runs the new high-speed railway between Madrid and Barcelona with siding from Zaragoza to Huesca, which is going to be continued to the French border. There is an International Airport at Zaragoza, as well as several smaller airports at Huesca, Caudé, Santa Cilia de Jaca and Villanueva de Gállego.

Government and politics[link]

Current political organization[link]

As an autonomous community of Spain, Aragon has an elected regional parliament or cortes, which meets in the Aljafería, a Moorish palace in the capital city, Zaragoza. The Parliament chooses a president for the Diputación General de Aragón or Aragon Government, for a four-year term. The current president (since July 2011) is Luisa Fernanda Rudi.

List of historic Chancellors[link]

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza.

The Aljafería

Castle of San Pedro in Jaca.

The gates of Daroca

The city of Teruel is known for its numerous old Mudéjar buildings.

Regional parliaments of Aragon.

• Alfons de la Cavallería 1494–1508
• Tomás de Malferit 1508
• Antoni Agustí de Sicart 1508–1523
• Frederic Honorat de Gualbes de Vallseca (for the Principality of Catalonia) 1523–1529
• Jeronimo de Rage (for Aragón Kingdom) 1523–1529
• Eiximèn Perez de Figuerola (for Valencia Kingdom) 1523–1529
• Joan Sunyer 1529–1533
• Enrique Bierling 1533–1546
• Jeroni Descoll de Oliva 1546–1554
• Pere de Clariana de Seva 1554–1562
• Bernardo de Bolea y Portugal 1562–1585
• Simó Friigola 1585–1598
• Dídac Civarrubias Sanç 1598–1607
• Diego Clavera 1608–1612
• Andreu Roig 1612–1622
• President Garci Peréz de Araciel 1623–1624
• President Juan Manuel de Mendoza Luna Manrique, marquis of Montesclaros 1628
• President Enrique Pimentel, bishop of Cuenca 1628–1632
• President Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, Duke of Dürbheim 1632–1637
• President Gaspar de Borja y de Velasco 1637–1645
• Maties Bayetola Cabanilles 1646–1652
• Cristòfor Crespí de Vallclaura Brizuela 1652–1671
• [elcior de Navarra Rocafull 1671–1677
• President Pasqual d'Aragó Folc de Cardona 1677
• President Pere Antoni d'Aragó Folc de Cardona i Córdoba 1677–1690
• Melcior de Navarra Rocafull 1690–1691 (second time)
• President Gaspar Jan Girón y Sandoval y Weidner, duke of Spaichingen Osuna 1692–1694
• President Ferran de Montcada-Aragó i de Montcada 1695–1698
• President Rodrigo Manuel Manrique de Lara y de Tabora 1698–1702
• President Iñigo de la Cruz Manrique de Lara y Ramírez de Arellano, count of Aguilar and Frigiliana 1702–1707

See list of Lieutenants of the Kingdom of Aragón.

The dynastic union of Castile and Aragon in 1479, when Ferdinand II of Aragon wed Isabella I of Castile, led to the formal creation of Spain as a single entity in 1516. See List of Spanish monarchs and Kings of Spain family tree.

Cuisine[link]

With its lush pyrenean pastures, lamb, beef, and dairy by-products are, not surprisingly, predominant in Aragonese cuisine. Also of note is its ham from Teruel; olive oil from Empeltre and Arbequina; longaniza from Graus; rainbow trout and salmon, boar, truffles and wild mushrooms from the upper river valleys of the Jacetania, Gallego, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza regions; and wines from Cariñena, Somontano, Calatayud, and Campo de Borja; and fruit, especially peaches, from its fertile lower valleys. The region also features a unique local haggis, known as chireta, several interesting seafood dishes, including various crab pastes, which developed from an old superstition that crabs help prevent illness and sweets such as "Adoquines del Pilar" and "Frutas de Aragón". There are also other sweets like "Tortas de alma" from Teruel and "Trenza de Almudevar" or "Castañas de Huesca" from Huesca

Notable people from Aragon[link]

Up to the 19th century[link]

• Joseph Calasanz, (1557–1648), born in Aragon, was a Catholic priest who dedicated himself to the education of poor boys at Rome and founded a society pledged to that work.
• Francisco Garcés, (1738–1781), born in Aragon, was a missionary priest to North America who founded two pueblo missions.^[9]
• Elizabeth of Aragon (Queen Saint Elisabeth) (1271–1336) was queen consort of Portugal and a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
• Gaspar Sanz, (1640–1710), composer, guitarist and organist.
• Francisco de Goya, 18th-century painter (1746–1828).
• Michael Servetus, theologian and physician who received numerous charges of heresy by both Catholics and Protestants and was burnt at the stake in Calvin's Geneva during the 16th century.
• Baltasar Gracián, Writer of Spanish Baroque literature.
• Antipope Benedict XIII, (1328–1423) Avignon pope and Aragonese art patron-sponsor.
• Ferdinand II of Aragon, married Isabella I of Castile and united Aragon with the kingdom of Castile, giving form to the actual Spain.

20th and 21st centuries[link]

• Eva Amaral, Singer-songwriter and member of the Rock band Amaral.
• Enrique Bunbury (Enrique Ortiz de Landázuri), is a Spanish rock singer-songwriter for Heroes del Silencio and Enrique Bunbury Band.
• Luis Buñuel, film maker.
• St. Jose Maria Escriva, Spanish Catholic priest, founder of Opus Dei.
• Pablo Gargallo, sculptor and painter.
• José Antonio Labordeta, singer, writer and politician.
• Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the human brain and nervous system.
• Carlos Saura, film maker.
• Pablo Serrano, sculptor.
• Alberto Zapater, footballer.

See also[link]

• Aragonese Wikipedia
• Aragonite
• Auberge d'Aragon
• Catherine of Aragon, 1st queen of Henry VIII of England
• Expo 2008
• List of Aragonese people
• List of mountains in Aragon
• Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon
• Music of Aragon
• Nationalities in Spain
• River Aragón

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aragon

• Aragon at the Classic Encyclopedia, based on the 1911 Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
• (Spanish) Government of Aragon
• Senderos de Aragón Aragon government tourism site.
• (Spanish) Basic statistical data on Aragon
• Complete guide to Aragon
• Guide to the Aragon Pyrenees Mountains.
• Guide to Aragon
• Maps of Aragon