First I want to make a clarification. Whoever comes to read this entry looking for controversies, positioning on current political problems or arguments for or against any of these positions, is in the wrong forum. This is an entry about events that occurred in the 12th century and does not intend to enter into controversy about different political sensitivities existing in the 21st century (all of them perfectly respectable) much less project arguments in favor of one or another of those sensitivities.
Ramiro II the Monk was the son of Sancho Ramírez, who was king of Aragón between 1063 and 1094 and of Pamplona between 1076 and 1094. Sancho consolidated and considerably increased the Aragonese territory, managed re-unify Aragon and the kingdom of Pamplona under a single crown and had three sons who would successively occupy the Aragonese throne (not all of Pamplona) and who would be decisive in the history of Aragon:Pedro I (1094-1104), Alfonso I the Battler (1104-1137) and Ramiro II the Monk (1134-1137).
After being widowed by the death of his first wife, Isabel de Urgel (from whom his eldest son Pedro had been born), Sancho Ramírez made a pilgrimage to Rome where he made the kingdom of Aragon a vassal of the Holy thirst; In gratitude, Pope Alexander II gave the Aragonese kingdom the right to use the red and yellow colors of the Vatican, which for many is the origin of the colors that appear on the bars of the coat of arms of Aragon. Anyone who wants to learn more about the different theories about the origin of the bars of Aragon can listen to this interesting podcast (like all of theirs) from the program Historia de Aragón, which has kindly allowed me to link to their program. (Itunes, Ivoox).
It seems that it was on the way back from this trip that he met the French noblewoman Felicia de Roucy, whom he married in the year 1070 and who would give him Ferdinand as children, who He died before his father, Alfonso and Ramiro.
In the year 1076 King Sancho Garcés IV of Pamplona died, murdered in Peñalén by his brother Ramón, who wanted to succeed him to the throne. But the Navarrese did not accept the regicide and offered the crown to Sancho Ramírez de Aragón who was the grandson of Sancho III el Mayor. That same year of 1076 he was proclaimed king of Pamplona and again unified Aragon and Pamplona. The name of the kingdom of Pamplona was changed to that of the kingdom of Navarra, which would take place later, already under the reign of Sancho VI el Sabio in 1162.
As we have indicated, Sancho Ramírez died in 1094 and was succeeded to the throne by his eldest son, Pedro I. When he died without issue in 1104, the crown passed to his half-brother Alfonso I el Batallador, who, among other conquests, achieved the extremely important capture of Zaragoza in 1118. The tempestuous marriage of this Aragonese king with Urraca of Castile and León would give more than one blog entry, but for the purposes that interest us in this Suffice it to say that their union was not blessed with an heir to occupy the throne, which caused a major succession problem in Aragon.
Alfonso had designated the Overseas Military Orders as his heirs, which was not accepted by the Aragonese or Pamplona, who were divided. The first name proposed was that of the deceased king's brother, Ramiro II, called El Monje for having held that position for more than forty years, who was crowned as the Aragonese monarch. The people of Pamplona opposed this appointment and proposed and appointed their own candidate, García Ramírez, separating the two kingdoms again.
The differences between the Aragonese nobles regarding the legitimacy of Ramiro II meant that he, already reluctant to abandon his monastic retirement, found himself in great difficulties in governing the kingdom . The legend known as "The Bell of Huesca" tells how Ramiro summoned his nobles in that city announcing that he had melted down a bell whose tolling would be heard throughout Aragon. Always according to legend, he made the most rebellious of his subjects one by one go to a room where he cut off their heads and placed all of them forming a circle in the center of which was, as a clapper, that of the most rebellious of his followers. nobles. In this way the tolling of the Bell of Huesca resounded, effectively, throughout Aragon.
Although the story of the Bell of Huesca belongs to the realm of legend, there is a historical episode that is quite similar to it. When a group of seven nobles broke the truce that Ramiro had signed with the Muslims, the king quickly took action on an issue that endangered the kingdom's borders (provoking the Arabs to attack Mequinenza) and ordered the beheading of the seven nobles. The truth is that the three years of Ramiro II's government were extraordinarily convulsive, as is narrated in the blog entry dedicated to Talesa de Bearn.
The main concern of the Aragonese king was to give the kingdom an heir who would ensure dynastic continuity and thus be able to return to his monastic retirement. To this end, he married Agnes of Poitiers. The queen was crowned in Zaragoza on September 29, 1134, and she soon became pregnant. It seemed that with this the tranquility of the succession was guaranteed, and probably this would have happened if Inés had given birth to a boy; but on June 29, 1136, the queen had a daughter named Petronila.
With Ramiro firmly determined to abdicate and return to religious life, the most pressing issue was finding a suitable husband for his would-be successor, the Infanta Petronila. Alfonso VII, King of León and Castile, who in 1135 had himself crowned as Imperator Totius Hispaniae , he was keenly interested in marrying the Aragonese infanta to her eldest son. Petronila even traveled to Castile, but the Aragonese nobility greatly distrusted an alliance with a kingdom with which confrontations had proliferated in recent years (Alfonso VII had occupied Zaragoza and proclaimed himself king of Calatayud and Aragón) and the link was not came to celebrate.
The Aragonese then turned their eyes to the east and towards the figure of Ramón Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona. After the relevant negotiations, a betrothal contract was signed in Barbastro on August 11, 1137. In that agreement, Ramiro II abdicated in favor of his daughter and placed the kingdom of Aragon under the tutelage and protection of Ramón Berenguer IV. This, for his part, promised to respect the commitments assumed by the Aragonese with Alfonso VII of Castile (which included the delivery of Zaragoza until the death of the Leonese king) and the transfers of land made to García Ramírez de Navarra.
The count also promised not to alienate the kingdom, to give the Aragonese monarch (who retained dominion over the churches of the kingdom and various monasteries) due consideration as lord , father and king until his death, and to respect the Fueros, liberties and customs of Aragon. The marriage contract also stated that if Petronila died childless, Ramón Berenguer IV would inherit the crown.
Once this was done, Ramiro II retired to the monastery of San Pedro el Viejo in Huesca, where he remained until his death in 1157. Given the circumstances and given that he would not be allowed to marry again, his wife, Inés de Poitiers, also retired to a convent.
When Petronila reached the age of fourteen, in 1151, the marriage ceremony between her and the Count of Barcelona was formally celebrated, Petronila kept the title of queen and Ramon Berenguer IV was he conferred on him the title of Prince of Aragon and both received an oath of fidelity from the Aragonese. Two children were born from the marriage, Alfonso and Dulce, who would marry King Sancho I of Portugal.
As for Alfonso, born in 1157, he became king of Aragon and count of Barcelona on the death of his father in 1162 and after Petronila abdicated on him the crown of Aragon. During the first years of his reign, the one who would be known as Alfonso II the Chaste, he had the tutelage of his mother (who died in 1173) and of the King of England Henry II, the first Plantagenet. Q>
Image| Wikimedia Commons
Angel J. Martin Duke. From the kingdom of Pamplona to the kingdom of Navarra .