2011-03-14
March 14. ANDORRA'S CONSTITUTION DAY
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (I).
COUNTY OF FOIX
History
House of Foix
During the 13th and 14th centuries the counts of Foix figured among the most powerful feudal nobles. Living on the borders of Andorra, having constant interaction with the kingdom of Nabarre, and in frequent communication with England through Gascony and Aquitania, they were in a position favorable to an assertion of independence, and acted more like the equals than the dependents of the kings of France and other kingdoms.
The title of count of Foix was first assumed by Roger of Foix (died ca. 1064), son of Bernard Roger of Couserans, who was a younger son of Roger I de Cominges, Count of Carcassonne, de Couserans et de Razés, when he inherited the town of Foix and the adjoining lands, which had hitherto formed part of the county of Carcassonne.
His grandson, Roger II, took part in the First Crusade in 1095 and was afterwards excommunicated by Pope Paschal II for seizing ecclesiastical property. Subsequently he appeased the anger of the church through rich donations, and when he died in 1125 he was succeeded by his son, Roger III, and his son, Roger Bernard I.
Roger-Bernard's only son, Raymond Roger, went to Palestine in 1190 and distinguished himself at the capture of Acre. He was afterwards engaged in the Albigensian Crusade defending the Cathars, and, on being accused of heresy, his lands were given to Simon IV de Montfort. Raymond Roger came to terms with the Church and recovered his estates before his death in 1223. He was a patron of the Provençal poets and a poet himself.
He was succeeded by his son, Roger Bernard II the Great, who assisted Raymond VII, Count of Tolosa, and the Albigenses in their resistance to the French kings, Louis VIII and Louis IX, was excommunicated on two occasions, and died in 1241.
His son, Roger IV, died in 1265 and was succeeded by his son, Roger Bernard III who, more famous as a poet than as a warrior, was taken prisoner both by Philip III of France and by Peter III of Aragon. He married Marguerite, daughter and heiress of Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn, and he inherited Béarn and Nébouzan from his father-in-law in 1290, which led to the outbreak of a long feud between the Houses of Foix and Armagnac.
From 1278 the counts of Foix, and their legal successors, have also been Co-princes of Andorra.
House of Foix-Béarn
His eldest son, Gaston II, made peace with the house of Armagnac and took part in various wars both in France and Spain, dying at Seville in 1343, when he was succeeded by his young son, Gaston III.
Gaston III (1331–1391), called Phoebus, was the most famous member of the House of Foix-Béarn. Like his father he assisted France in her struggle against England, being entrusted with the defence of the frontiers of Gascony.
When the French king, John II, favored the count of Armagnac, Gaston left his service and went to fight against the pagans of Prussia. Returning to Bearn around 1357, he delivered some noble ladies from the attacks of the adherents of the Jacquerie at Meaux, and was soon at war with the count of Armagnac.
Gaston Phoebus, from an early 15th century copy of his Livre de chasse.
Early in 1380, the count was appointed governor of Languedoc, but when Charles VI succeeded Charles V as king later in the same year, this appointment was cancelled. Refusing, however, to heed the royal command, and supported by the communes of Languedoc, Gaston fought for about two years against John, duke of Berry, who had been chosen as his successor.
When he was bested in the combat, he abandoned the struggle and retired to his estates in Bearn, remaining neutral and independent. He then resided in Orthez, the capital of Béarn. In 1348 Gaston married Agnes, daughter of Philip, Count of Evreux (d. 1343), by his wife Jeanne II, queen of Nabarre. By Agnes, whom he divorced in 1373, he had an only son, Gaston, who met his death in 1381.
Gaston was very fond of hunting, but was not without a taste for art and literature. Several beautiful manuscripts are in existence which were executed by his orders, and he himself wrote a treatise on hunting, the Livre de chasse, known in English as The Hunting Book. Froissart, who gives a graphic description of his court and his manner of life at Orthez in Béarn, speaks enthusiastically of Gaston, saying: "I never saw one like him of personage, nor of so fair form, nor so well made, and again, in everything he was so perfect that he cannot be praised too much".
Left without legitimate sons, Gaston de Foix was easily persuaded to bequeath his lands to King Charles VI, who thus obtained Foix and Béarn when the count died at Orthez in 1391. Almost immediately after Gaston's death Charles granted the county of Foix to Matthew, Viscount of Castelbon, a descendant of Count Gaston I of Foix. When Matthew died without issue in 1398, his lands were seized by Archambault, Count of Grailly and Captal de Buch, the husband of Matthew's sister Isabella (d. 1426), who was confirmed as legitimate count of Foix in 1401.
House of Foix-Grailly
Peter, cardinal of Foix (1386–1464), was the fifth son of Archambault of Grailly, and was made archbishop of Arles in 1450. He took a prominent part in the struggle between the rival popes, and founded and endowed the Collège de Foix at Toulouse. The next count was John's son, Gaston IV of Foix, who married Leonora (died 1479), a daughter of John, king of Aragon and Nabarre. In 1447 he bought the viscounty of Narbonne, and having assisted King Charles VII in Guyenne, he was made a peer of France in 1458. In 1455 his father-in-law designated him as his successor in Nabarre, and Louis XI of France gave him the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne, and made him his representative in Languedoc and Guyenne; but these marks of favor did not prevent him from joining a league against Louis in 1471.
His eldest son, Gaston, the husband of Madeleine, a daughter of Charles VII of France, died in 1470, and when Gaston IV died two years later, his lands descended to his grandson, Francis Phoebus (died 1483). Francis Phoebus became king of Nabarre in 1479 and was succeeded by his sister Catherine (died 1517), the wife of Jean d'Albret (d. 1516).
A younger son of Count Gaston IV was John (died 1500), who received the viscounty of Narbonne from his father and married Marie, a sister of the French king Louis XII. He was on good terms both with Louis XI and Louis XII, and on the death of his nephew Francis Phoebus in 1483, claimed the kingdom of Nabarre against Jean d'Albret and his wife, Catherine de Foix. The ensuing struggle lasted until 1497 when John renounced his claim. He left a son, Gaston de Foix (1489–1512), a distinguished French general, and a daughter, Germaine de Foix, who became the second wife of Ferdinand I of Spain.
In 1507, Gaston exchanged his viscounty of Narbonne with King Louis XII of France for the duchy of Nemours, and as duke of Nemours he took command of the French troops in Italy. After delivering Bologna and taking Brescia, Gaston encountered the troops of the Holy League at Ravenna in April 1512 and routed the enemy, but was killed during the pursuit.
There were also younger branches of the house of Foix-Grailly: the viscounts of Lautrec (descended from Pierre de Foix, younger son of Jean III); the Counts of Candale and Benauges (descended from Gaston de Foix, a younger son of Archemboult); the Counts of Gurson and Fleix and Viscounts of Meille (Jean de Foix, Comte de Meille, Gurson et Fleix, was a younger son of Jean de Foix, Earl of Kendal), and the Counts of Caraman, or Carmain, descended from Isabeau de Foix, Dame de Navailles (only child of Archambaud de Foix-Grailly, Baron de Navailles) and her husband Jean, Vicomte de Carmain, whose descendants adopted the name and arms of Foix.
Houses of Albret and the House of Bourbon
Henry III of Nabarre became King Henry IV of France in 1589. In 1607, he united to the French crown his personal fiefs that were under French sovereignty (i.e. County of Foix, Bigorre, Quatre-Vallées, and Nébouzan, but not Béarn and Lower Nabarre, which were sovereign countries outside of the kingdom of France), and so the county of Foix became part of the royal domain.
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (II).
REPUBLIC OF GOUST
Goust is a hamlet in the Pyrenean isthmus, of southeastern Bearn. It was never formally annexed by anybody else, so even as late as the 19th century, visitors described it as an independent rpublic. Noted for its centenarians, one pensioner was reported to have reached the age of 123. Its inhabitants speak Bearnese and French. They are mostly Catholics.
Geography
The community is made up of 10-12 households, with a population fluctuating between 50 and 150 residents. The traditional economy was based on animal husbandry, wool, and silk production, augmented more recently by tourism. All baptisms, weddings, and burials are performed at the Catholic Church in Laruns.
Due to its isolated situation, the inhabitants of Goust evolved a curious funeral custom: the deceased was placed in a coffin and sent down the mountainside via a specially-constructed chute, to be collected at the bottom for burial in the Laruns cemetery.
History
Self-governing for centuries, Goust's independence was allegedly recognized by its neighbors since at least 1648. The government consisted of a Council of Ancients composed of three to twelve citizens, who elected a President for a term of five years.In 1896 the president reportedly proclaimed a ban on publication of any newspaper without executive authorization, which led to an uprising of the
citizens. Although never formally annexed, Goust has not recently asserted its claim to independence, so is de facto a part of the Pyrenean isthmus and generally recognized as such.
2012-03-17
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (III).
The Kingdom of Aragon (Aragonese: Reino d'Aragón), was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Pyrenean istmus.
History
Independent kingdom
This kingdom was originally a Frankish feudal county around the city of Jaca, which in the first half of the 8th century became a vassal state of the kingdom of Pamplona (later Nabarre), its own dynasty of counts ending without male heir in 922.On the death of Sancho III of Nabarre in 1035, the Kingdom of Nabarre was divided in to three parts: (1) Nabarre with some Basque lands, (2) Castile and (3) Sobrarbe, Ribagorza and Aragon. As the most important Christian monarch in the Pyrenean isthmus and the King of all Nabarre, each of his three lands were converted into a Kingdom. Sancho's son Gonzalo inherited Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, but Gonzalo was killed soon after and all the land he owned went to his illegitimate brother Ramiro, creating the future Kingdom of Aragon.
By defeating his brother, Ramiro achieved virtual independence for Aragon. As the kingdom expanded to the south, conquering land from Al Andalus, the capital city moved from Jaca to Huesca (1096), and later to Zaragoza (1118). By 1285 the southernmost areas of Aragon had been taken from the Moors.
Dynastic union with Catalonia
The Kingdom of Aragón gave the name to the Crown of Aragon, after the dynastic union in 1150 of a Count of Barcelona (Ramon Berenguer IV) with a Queen of Aragon (Petronilla of Aragon), their son inheriting all their respective territories in the House of Aragon. The Kings of Aragon had also the title of Count of Barcelona and ruled territories that consisted of not only the present administrative region of Aragon but also Catalonia, and later the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia (see Crown of Aragon). The King of Aragón was the direct King of the Aragonese region, and held also the title of King of Valencia, Count of Provence, King of Majorca (for a time), Count of Barcelona, Lord of Montpellier, and, for a time, 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. In the fourteenth century, his power was greatly restricted by the Union of Aragon.
2012-03-20
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (IV)).
Coat of arms
The Kingdom of Majorca (Catalan: Regne de Mallorca). (1231 - 1349) was founded as an extension of the Pyrenean isthmus by James I of Aragon, also known as James The Conqueror. After the death of his first-born son Alfonso, a will was written in 1262 which created the kingdom in order to cede it to his son James. This disposition was maintained during successive versions of his will such that when James I died in 1276, the Crown of Aragon passed to his eldest son Peter, known as Peter III of Aragon or Peter the Great. The Kingdom of Majorca passed to James, who reigned under the name James II of Majorca.
Geography
The kingdom included the Balearic Islands: Majorca, Minorca (which was still under the rule of Muslims until 1231, when its sovereignty was surrendered to James I), Ibiza and Formentera. The king was also lord of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya and the territories James I kept in Occitania - the signory of Montpellier, the viscountcy of Carlat, in Auvergne, and the barony of Aumelas, contiguous to Montpellier.History
Despite his lack of historic significance, the legacy of James I was significant. This legacy included the creation of a strategic Mediterranean enclave, including territories between two large kingdoms, the Capetians of France and the Crown of Aragon - which were in constant conflict, at the time. Conscious of the fragility of the Kingdom of Majorca, James I undertook the conquest of Cerdanya to unify the new kingdom. He also entered into negotiations to arrange the marriage of his son James to Beatrice of Savoy, daughter to Count Amadeus of Savoy. Neither plan was successful.On the death of James I, the new king of Majorca, James II, decided not to pay tribute to Peter III. Preoccupied with diverse problems within the realm, it was not until 1279 when the Majorcan monarch reconciled to have his states recognized as subordinate to the king of Aragon. As a consequence the Kingdom of Majorca could not hold court, and the king of Majorca was forced to go to Catalonia to present tribute to the king of Aragon. By means of the Treaty of Perpignan in 1279 an imbalance of power between the Kingdom of Aragon and the Kingdom of Majorca was created. The Aragonian king maintained the political and economic control of Aragon over the Kingdom of Majorca, reestablishing the unified jurisdiction of the Crown of Aragon which was broken by the will of James I. This treaty would condition relations between the Kingdom of Majorca and the Crown of Aragon throughout the former's existence. The lack of courts later aggravated the destabilization of a kingdom already on the brink of fracture, which, besides this, lacked any common institution beyond the monarchy.
During the Aragonese Crusade, James II of Majorca allied himself with the Pope and the French against Peter of Aragon. As a result, Peter's successor Alfonso conquered the kingdom in 1286. However, by the Treaty of Anagni in 1295, James II of Aragon was required to restore the Balearics to James of Majorca.
On the death of James's son Sancho I in 1324, James III of Majorca took the throne at the age of nine, necessitating a regency council to govern the realm during his childhood. The situation was difficult, since James II of Aragon didn't renounce his claim of reclamation of the Majorcan throne. In 1325, the regency council secured the renunciation by the Aragonian king of any claim on the rights of succession of the Majorcan throne after the repayment of a great debt incurred by Sancho I during an invasion by Sardinia. While this act solved the problem of succession, it also plunged the kingdom into a serious financial crisis.
James was forced to develop policies similar to that of Aragon's. To that end, he was forced to participate in the war against Genoa (1329-1336), which resulted in the loss of various economic markets for the kingdom. Again it was necessary to impose new taxes and fines on the Jewish community, though this was insufficient to resolve the financial crisis. The problems of the kingdom did not appear to have an end, since in 1341, Peter IV of Aragon closed relations with the Kingdom of Majorca as a prelude to invasion. In May 1343, Peter IV invaded the Balearic Islands, and followed that in 1344 with the invasions of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya. With this, the Kingdom of Majorca was definitively incorporated into the Crown of Aragon.
- The extinction of the Kingdom of Majorca was inevitable in the international context of the age characterized by different conflicts: the Hundred Years War, between France and England, the war of the benimerines, which involved Castile and the Crown of Aragon, and the attempts to make the Balearics a satellite state by the Genoese. In this context, it was not possible to remain neutral due to the lack of stability and strength. In the case of the kingdom of Majorca, it could not afford neutrality. In addition, increased taxes to fund the kingdom's economy during neutrality only managed to unsettle the people of the kingdom.
2012-04-07
- FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (V).
The County of Barcelona corresponds to the territory ruled by the Counts of Barcelona from the ninth century and the eighteenth century, where historically formed Catalonia as a political entity of The Pyrenean Isthmus.
| County of Barcelona Comtat de Barcelona | ||||
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| Capital | Barcelona | |||
| Language(s) | Catalan | |||
| Government | County | |||
| Count | ||||
| - 801–820 | Berà | |||
| - 1131–1162 | Ramon Berenguer IV | |||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||
| - Established | 801 | |||
| - Disestablished | 1162 | |||
Origins
Its origins date back to the eighth century, when the occasion of the Muslim expansion into the domains of the Visigothic kingdom and its subsequent expansion into modern France, together with the confrontation between the Franks and the Muslim forces, led to a defensive response of the Carolingian monarchs, consistent in the creation of the so-called Marca Hispanica. This was achieved through the domination of territories of the Pyrenean Isthmus and resulted in the formation of a group of small counties. The Frankish domination became effective after the conquest of Gerona (785) and especially when, in 801, the city of Barcelona was conquered by King Louis the Pious of Aquitaine (or Louis the Pious) and was incorporated into the Frankish kingdom, She settled in the county of Barcelona, reporting to the French king. The first Count of Barcelona was Bera (801-820).Initially, the county authorities went to the local aristocracy, tribal or Visigothic, but Bera policy favorable to preserve peace with Al-Andalus, motivated he was accused of treason before the king. After losing a duel, according to the Visigothic legal tradition, Bera was deposed and exiled, and the government of the county went to Frankish nobles, and Bernard of Septimania or Rampone. However, the Visigothic nobility regained real confidence with the appointment of Urgel-Sunifred I Cerdanya as Count of Barcelona in 844. Nevertheless, the ties of dependency of the Catalan counties with respect to the Frankish monarchy were weakened.
Autonomy is bound to assert the rights of inheritance between county families. This trend was accompanied by a process of unification of counties to form larger political entities. Count Wilfred the Hairy, and last son of Count Sunifred appointed by the Frankish kings, represented this orientation. He brought together under his command a number of counties and transmitted as an inheritance to his children. Although Wilfred died at the hands of Muslims, their counties divided among his sons, the core counties of Barcelona, Gerona and Osona remained undivided (although some historians, such as Ramon Martí, question whether Gerona was kept initially under the domain of the children of Wilfred, and suggests that the County of Empúries dominated the county until the year of 908).
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (VI).
COUNTY OF PALLARS SOBIRA
The County of Pallars Sobirà or (Pallás) Sobirá meaning Upper Pallars, was a county in the Pyrenean Isthmus during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It was a division of the County of Pallars, which had been de facto, and possible de jure, independent since the late ninth century. It roughly corresponded with the modern Catalan comarca of Pallars Sobirà.
Coat of arms of the Counts of Pallars.
In 1011, Sunyer of Pallars died and by his testament his county was divided between his sons, the eldest, Raymond III, receiving Pallars Jussà and the younger, William II, receiving Pallars Sobirà. Pallars Sobirà comprised the original heartland of the county of Pallars: the upper valley of the Noguera Pallaresa.
By the year 1000, the economic and social centre of Pallars was located in Pallars Jussà. It was wealthier than Pallars Sobirà and capable of expansion in the Reconquista against the Muslim territory to its south. During the eleventh century, the comital power in Pallars Jussà was violently reduced by the incessant attacks of Artau I of Pallars Sobirà in alliance with Ermengold III of Urgell.Because Pallars Jussà was so much richer and populous than the poor and mountainous Pallars Sobirà, the nobles of the latter country designed to eliminate the authority of Raymond IV in the former country. Artau himself was barely a count, rather more like the war leader of a band of powerful feudatories whose objective was the pillage of the wealthier rural communities of the lower territories of Pallars Jussà and the repeal of their rights of tax exemption and other immunities.
The peasants of Pallars Sobirà were heavily burdened by arbitrary exactions, forced labour, and military service. The barons had the right to exact toltae, forciae, and usatici, that is, "customary levies." In the ensuing war, Raymond IV lost most of his fortresses, including his capital, Segur, to Sobirà. However peace was established between the two countries and Raymond regained his position after Artau's death. Artau's son, Artau II (1081–1124), is recorded as never having fought with his relatives of Pallars Jussà.
Pallars Sobirà was isolated high in the Pyrenees. and of no importance to affairs in the isthmus on a larger scale. Artau III and Artau IV neither they nor their successors took part in the succession to the county of Pallars Jussà before it passed to the County of Barcelona in 1192. By 1199, Pallars Sobirà was inherited by a woman, Guillelma, who sold her county to her husband, Roger of Comminges, and retired to a convent.
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (VII).
COUNTY OF URGELL
The County of Urgell (Catalan: Comtat d'Urgell, IPA: [kumˈtad durˈʒeʎ]; Latin: Comitatus Urgellensis) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of Pallars and Cerdanya. The county was carved by the Franks out of a former section of the Mark of Toulouse when the Alt Urgell area became part of the Carolingian Empire between 785 and 790.
Coat of arms
The original territory was made up of the Alt Urgell, also known as Urgellet from the end of the 12th century onwards, with the see at La Seu d'Urgell. From 839 onwards it would include 129 villages, the valleys of the Valira river, namely Andorra and Sant Joan Fumat, the Segre riverine area as well as the valleys located between El Pont de Bar and Oliana.
Its maximal extension territory was between the Pyrenees and the taifa of Lleida, that is, the current comarques of Alt Urgell or Urgellet, Noguera, Solsonès, Pla d'Urgell, Baix Urgell and the still independent country of Andorra. The historical capital was first la Seu d'Urgell and later Balaguer. The county of Urgell was extinguished and absorbed by the County of Barcelona in 1413, after the revolt of the last count, James II of Urgell, against the king Ferdinand I of Aragon.
There is also a diocese of Urgell. The diocese was an old one, and traditions of the early Christian church lingered; Felix of Urgel's tendencies towards the heretical position of adoptionism was attacked by Alcuin of York in Contra Felicem (Runciman, 1947). Andorra was ceded to the bishop of Urgell by the count Ermengol IV of Urgell in the twelfth century. There is still a bishop of Urgell, who since 2003 has been Joan Enric Vives Sicília. This role carries with it the position of joint head of state of Andorra.
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (VIII).
KINGDOM OF VALENCIA
The Regne de València, was located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon.
The Kingdom of Valencia was formally created in 1238 when the Moorish taifa of Valencia was taken in the course of the Reconquista. It was dissolved by Philip V of Spain in 1707, by means of the Nueva Planta decrees, as a result of the Spanish War of Succession.
During its existence, the Kingdom of Valencia was ruled by the laws and institutions stated in the Furs (charters) of Valencia which granted it wide self-government under the Crown of Aragon and, later on, under the Spanish Kingdom.
The boundaries and identity of the present Spanish Autonomous Community of Valencia are essentially those of the former Kingdom of Valencia.
| Kingdom of Valencia Regne de València (Valencian) |
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| Realm of the Crown of Aragon | |||||
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| Capital | Valencia | ||||
| Language(s) | Catalan/Valencian, Castilian and Latin | ||||
| Religion | Majority religion: Roman Catholicism Minority religions: Islam, Judaism |
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| Government | Monarchy | ||||
| King | |||||
| - First | James I | ||||
| - Last | Philip IV | ||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||
| - Established | 1238 | ||||
| - Nueva Planta decrees | 1707 | ||||
The conquest of what would later become the Kingdom of Valencia started in 1232 when the king of the Crown of Aragon, James I, called Jaume I el Conqueridor or the Conqueror, took Morella, mostly with Aragonese troops. Shortly after, in 1233, Borriana and Peniscola were also taken from the بلنسية Balansiyya (Valencia in the Arabic language) taifa.
A second and more relevant wave of expansion took place in 1238, when James I defeated the Moors from the Balansiya taifa. He entered the city of Valencia on 9 October 1238, which is regarded as the dawn of the Kingdom of Valencia.
A third phase started in 1243 and ended in 1245, when it met the limits agreed between James I and the heir to the throne of Castile, Alfonso the Wise, who would succeed to the throne as Alfonso X in 1252. These limits were traced in the Treaty of Almizra between the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon, which coordinated their Reconquista efforts to drive the Moors southward by establishing their respectively desired areas of influence. The Treaty of Almizra established the south line of Aragonese expansion in the line formed by the villes of Biar and Busot, today in the north of the Alicante province. Everything south of that line, including what would be the Kingdom of Murcia, was reserved by means of this treaty for Castile.
The matter of the large majority of Mudéjar population, left behind from the progressively more southern combat front, lingered from the very beginning until they finally were expelled en masse in 1609. Up to that moment, they represented a complicated issue for the newly established Kingdom, as they were essential to keep the economy working due to their numbers, which inspired frequent pacts with local Muslim populations, such as Mohammad Abu Abdallah Ben Hudzail al Sahuir, allowing their culture various degrees of tolerance but, on the other side, they were deemed as a menace to the Kingdom due to their lack of allegiance and their real or perceived conspiracies to bring the Ottoman Empire to their rescue.
There were indeed frequent rebellions from the Moor population against Christian rule, the most threatening being those headed by the Moor chieftain Mohammad Abu Abdallah Ben Hudzail al Sahuir, also known as Al-Azraq. He led important rebellions in 1244, 1248 and 1276. During the first of these, he briefly regained Muslim independence for the lands South of the Júcar, but he had to surrender soon after. During the second revolt, king James I was almost killed in battle, but Al-Azraq also was finally subjugated, his life spared only because of a long time relationship with the Christian monarch. During the third rebellion, Al-Azraq himself was killed but his son would continue to promote Muslim unrest and local rebellions remained always at sight.
James II called Jaume II el Just or the Just, a grandson of James I, initiated in 1296 a final push of his army further southwards than the Biar-Busot pacts. His campaign aimed at the fertile countryside around Murcia and the Vega Baja del Segura whose local Muslim rulers were bound by pacts with Castile and governing by proxy on behalf of this kingdom; Castilian troops often raided the area to assert a sovereignty which, in any case, was not stable but was characterized by the typical skirmishes and ever changing alliances of a frontier territory.
The campaign under James II was successful to the point of extending the limits of the Kingdom of Valencia well south of the previously agreed border with Castile. His troops took Orihuela and Murcia. What was to become the definite dividing line between Castile and the Crown of Aragon was finally agreed by virtue of the Sentencia Arbitral de Torrellas (1304), amended by the Treaty of Elche (1305), which assigned Orihuela (also Alicante and Elche) to the Kingdom of Valencia, while Murcia went to the Crown of Castile, so drawing the final Southern border of the Kingdom of Valencia.
Modern historiography sees the conquest of Valencia under the light of similar Reconquista efforts by the Crown of Castile: as a fight led by the king in order to gain new territories as free as possible of serfdom to the nobility. The new territories would then be only accountable to the king, thus enlarging and consolidating his power versus that of the nobility. Making it part of a growing trend evident in Spain in the Middle Ages (said to end in 1492 with the final acts of the Reconquista in the capitulation of Kingdom of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews) and well into the era of Habsburg Spain.
It is under this approach that the repopulation of the Kingdom is assessed today. The new Kingdom population was initially overwhelmingly Muslim and often subjected to revolts and the serious threat of being taken by any given fellow Muslim army put together for this purpose in the Maghreb.
The process by which the monarchy strove to free itself from any noble guardianship was not easy as the nobility still held a big share of power and was determined to retain it as much as possible. This fact marked the Christian colonization of the newly acquired territories, ruled by the Lleis de Repartiments. Finally the Aragonese nobles were granted several domains but only managed to obtain the inland, mostly mountainous and sparsely populated parts of the Kingdom of Valencia. The king reserved the fertile and highly populated lands in the coastal plains to free citizens and incipient bourgeoisie whose cities were given Furs or royal charters regulating civil law and administration locally, always accountable to the king.
This had linguistic consequences.:
- The innerland was mostly repopulated by speakers of the Aragonese language, a Western Romance language of the Pyrenean–Mozarabic group. Their language was a close relative of the Mozarabic language and a close relative of the Castilian language, which would evolve into the Spanish language also by adding traits from neighbouring Romance languages such as Aragonese.
- The coastal lands were mostly repopulated by speakers of the Catalan language from the Principality of Catalonia. Theirs was a Romance language of the Gallo-Iberian group. In particular, part of the Iberian Romance languages. The language of these settlers would evolve into Valencian, a distinctive variant of Catalan which has gained its own currency within the Catalan domain.
Height of power
In the city of Valencia the Taula de canvis was created, functioning partly as a bank and partly as a stock exchange market; altogether it boosted trading. The local industry, especially textile manufactures, achieved great development and the city of Valencia turned into a Mediterranean trading emporium where traders from all Europe worked. Perhaps the feature which best symbolises this flamboyant period is the Silk Exchange, one of the finest European examples of civil Gothic architecture and a major trade market in the Mediterranean by the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th century.
Valencia was one of the first cities in Europe to install a movable type printing press as per the designs of Johannes Gutenberg. Valencian authors such as Joanot Martorell or Ausiàs March conformed the canon of classic Valencian literature to the Valencian dialect of Catalan.
During the 16th century Valencia lost its status as a preeminent commercial center of Europe to the rapidly developing cities of Northern and Central Europe. Valencia was in frequent conflict with the Ottoman Empire which controlled most of the eastern Mediterranean. They prevented each other from reaching certain ports while Ottoman privateers such as Barbarossa preyed on trade ships. The Barbary pirates such as Dragut, operating out of Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, Salé and ports in Morocco, attacked shipping in the western Mediterranean, which included destructive raids in Christian ports along the coast. This decline in trade greatly inhibited the economy in Valencia, which had already been economically affected by the Alhambra decree which had expelled the Jews back in 1492.
In 1519, the young King Charles I granted the Germanies (literally "brotherhoods") permission to arm themselves to fight off the Muslim raiders. The Germanies were artisan guilds who also, at first with the government's permission, served as civilian militias to fight raiding pirates. However, the Germanies also had an economic agenda favoring the commoner-dominated guilds that clashed with the aristocracy. After the recently appointed Viceroy of Valencia Diego Hurtado de Mendoza refused to seat elected officials who favored the Germanies in 1520, a full fledged revolt broke out, the Revolt of the Brotherhoods (Revolta de les Germanies).
Because of the exhausted forces left by the clashes between nobles and high bourgeoisie versus the general populace and lesser bourgeoisie, the king was able to use the power vacuum to enlarge his share of power and gradually diminish that of the local authorities; this meant that his requests for money in order to enlarge or consolidate the disputed possessions in Europe were progressively more frequent, more imperative and, conversely, less reciprocated for the Kingdom of Valencia.
Then the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609 was the final blow for the Kingdom of Valencia, as thousands of people were forced to leave, entire villages were deserted, and the countryside lost its main labor force. In all, some 125,000 people are supposed to have left the land. This expulsion was broadly welcome with the Valencian citizenry, especially for its more popular segments. Since the expulsion meant the loss of a cheap workforce for the nobility, they and the upper bourgeoisie had to turn to the king seeking protection from the general populace, which meant they had to renounce their former check and balance role before the requests of the kings, which was one of the driving forces of the Kingdom's autonomy.
The Kingdom of Valencia as a legal and political entity was finally ended in 1707 as a result of the Spanish War of Succession. The local population mostly took the side of and provided troops and resources for Archduke Charles, the pretender who was arguably to maintain the legal status quo. His utter defeat at the Battle of Almansa, near the borders of the Kingdom of Valencia, meant its legal and political termination, along with other autonomous parliaments in the Crown of Aragon, as the Nueva Planta Decrees were passed.
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (IX).
TAIFA OF ZARAGOZA
The taifa of Zaragoza was an independent Muslim state in Moorish Al-Andalus, in the Pyrenean Isthmus, which was established in 1018 as one of the taifa kingdoms, with its capital in islamic Saraqusta (Zaragoza) city. The zaragoza's taifa emerged in the 11th century following the destruction of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the Moorish Iberian Peninsula.
During the first three decades of this period (1018–1038) the city was ruled by the Banu Tujibi. They were replaced by the Banu Hud, who had to deal with a complicated alliance with El Cid of Valencia and his Castilian Masters against the Almoravids who managed to bring the Taifas Emirates under their control. After the death of El Cid, his kingdom was conquered by the Almoravids, and by 1100 they had crossed the Ebro into Barbastro, which brought into direct contact with Aragon.
The Banu Hud stubbornly resisted the Almoravid dynasty and ruled until they were eventually defeated by the Almoravids in May 1110. The last sultan of the Banu Hud, Abd-al-Malik, and Imad ad-Dawla of Saraqusta, was forced to abandon the capital. Abd-al-Malik allied himself with the Christian Aragonese under Alfonso I of Aragon and from the time the Muslims of Saraqusta became military regulars within the Aragonese forces. They were knowed as Almogavars.
The Almoravids (Berber: ⵉⵎⵕⴰⴱⴹⴻⵏ Imṛabḍen, Arabic: المرابطون Al-Murābiṭūn) were a Berber dynasty of Morocco, who formed an empire in the 11th-century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Their capital was Marrakesh, a city which they founded in 1062 CE. The dynasty originated amongst the Lamtuna and the Gudala, which were nomadic Berber tribes of the Sahara traversing the territory between southern Morocco, the Niger river and the Senegal river.
| Taifa of Zaragoza | ||||
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| Capital | Zaragoza | |||
| Language(s) | Arabic, Mozarabic , Hebrew | |||
| Religion | Islam, Roman Catholicism, Judaism | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||
| - Downfall of Caliphate of Cordoba | 1013 | |||
| - Conquered by the Almoravids | 1110 | |||
| Currency | Dirham and Dinar | |||
The Almoravids were crucial in avoiding a precipitated fall of Al-Andalus to the Iberian Christian kingdoms, when they decisively beat a coalition of the Castilian and Aragonese armies at the Battle of Sagrajas. This enabled them to control an empire that stretched 3,000 kilometers north to south. However, the rule of the dynasty was relatively short-lived and the Almoravids fell - at the height of their power - when they failed to quell the Masmuda-led rebellion initiated by Ibn Tumart. As a result, their last king Ishaq ibn Ali was killed in Marrakesh in April 1147 CE by the Almohads who replaced them as a ruling dynasty both in Morocco and Al-Andalus.
The Almohad Dynasty ("the monotheists" or "the Unitarians"), was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.
The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his death in 1163, the Almohads defeated the ruling Almoravids, extending their power over all of the Maghreb. Al-Andalus, Moorish Iberia (modern Portugal and southern Spain) under the Almoravid dynasty, followed the fate of Africa.
The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian princes of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Córdoba and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.
The Almohads continued to rule in Africa until the piecemeal loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies, the Marinids in 1215. The last representative of the line, Idris II, "El Wathiq"' was reduced to the possession of Marrakesh, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269; the Marinids seized Marrakesh, ending the Almohad domination of the Western Maghreb.
The holy place and the tomb of the Almohads remains in Morocco, along with the tomb of their rivals and enemies, the Almoravids.
FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (X).
KINGDOM OF ILTRIDA AND ILERDA
In ancient times the city, named Iltrida and Ilerda, was the chief city of the Ilergetes, an Iberian tribe. Indibil, king of the Ilergetes, and Mandoni, king of the Ausetanes, defended it against the Roman invasion.
Flag
Under the Romans, the city was incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis, and was a place of considerable importance, historically as well as geographically. It stood upon an eminence, on the right (west) bank of the river Sicoris (the modern Segre), the principal tributary of the Ebre, and some distance above its confluence with the Cinga (modern Cinca); thus commanding the country between those rivers, as well as the great road from Tarraco (modern Tarragona), the provincial capital, in the Pyrenean Isthmus, which here crossed the Sicoris.
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Its situation induced the legates of Pompey in the isthmus to make it the key of their defense against Caesar, in the first year of the Civil War (49 BCE). Afranius and Marcus Petreius threw themselves into the place with five legions; and their siege by Caesar himself (Battle of Ilerda), as narrated in his own words, forms one of the most interesting passages of military history. The resources exhibited by the great general, in a contest where the formation of the district and the very elements of nature seemed in league with his enemies, have been frequently extolled; but no epitome can do justice to the campaign. It ended by the capitulation of Afranius and Petreius, who were conquered as much by Caesar's generosity as by his strategy.In consequence of the battle, the Latin phrase Ilerdam videas is said to have been used by people who wanted to cast bad luck on someone else.
Under the Roman empire, Ilerda was a very flourishing city, and a municipium. It minted its own coins. It had a fine stone bridge over the Sicoris, (the bridge was so sturdy that its foundations support a bridge to this day). In the time of Ausonius the city had fallen into decay; but it rose again into importance in the Middle Ages.
It was part of Visigothic and Muslim Hispania until it was conquered from the Moors by the Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1149. It used to be the seat of a major university, the oldest in the Crown of Aragon, until 1717, when it was moved by Philip V to the nearby town of Cervera.
During the Reapers' War, Lleida was occupied by the French and rebel forces. In 1644 the city was conquered by the Spanish under D. Felipe da Silva.
