Editing Aragon (section)

=== Middle Ages ===
{{See also|Kingdom of Aragon|Crown of Aragon}}
[[File:Castell de Fontova.jpg|thumb|Castle of Fantova, 10th century Christian fortification, ([[La Puebla de Fantova]], [[Graus]])]]
[[File:Estancias testero norte aljaferia.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Aljafería]], of the 11th century, was residence of the [[Banu Hud]] kings of the [[Taifa of Zaragoza|Taifa of Saraqusta]].]]

After the disintegration of the [[Western Roman Empire]], the current area of Aragon was occupied by the [[Visigoths]], forming the [[Visigothic Kingdom]].

In the year 714 [[muslims]] from North Africa conquered the central area of Aragon, converting to [[Islam]] the ancient Roman cities such as [[Taifa of Zaragoza|Saraqusta]] (Zaragoza) or Wasqa ([[Huesca]]). It was at this time that an important [[Muwallad]] family arose, the [[Banu Qasi]] (بنو قاسي), their domains were located in the [[Ebro Valley]] between the 8th and 10th centuries.
After the disappearance of the [[Caliphate of Córdoba]] at the beginning of the 11th century, the [[Taifa of Zaragoza]] arose, one of the most important [[Taifa]]s of [[Al-Andalus]], leaving a great artistic, cultural and philosophical legacy.

The name of Aragon is documented for the first time during the [[Early Middle Ages]] in the year 828, when the small [[County of Aragon]] of [[Franks|Frankish]] origin, would emerge between the rivers that bear its name, the [[Aragón (river)|Aragón river]], and its brother the [[Aragón Subordán|Aragón Subordán river]].

[[File:Castillo de Loarre 2006.jpg|thumb|[[Castle of Loarre]] was built and expanded to serve as a frontier advance towards Muslim territories. It is one of the most important intact Romanesque castles in Europe.]]
[[File:Monasterio Antiguo de San Juan de la Peña - CS 22082009 160730 45635.jpg|thumb|[[Royal Monastery of San Juan de la Peña]]. In its Royal Pantheon a good number of kings of Aragon and some kings of Navarre are buried.]]

That County of Aragon would be linked to the [[Kingdom of Pamplona]] until 1035, and under its wing it would grow to form a dowry of [[García Sánchez III of Pamplona]] until the death of the king [[Sancho III of Pamplona|Sancho "the Great"]], in a period characterized by Muslim hegemony over almost the entire Iberian Peninsula. During the reign of [[Ramiro I of Aragon]] the borders would be extended following the annexation of the counties of [[County of Sobrarbe|Sobrarbe]] and [[County of Ribagorza|Ribagorza]] (year 1044), after having incorporated the populations of the historical comarca of [[Cinco Villas, Aragon|Cinco Villas]].

In 1076, on the death of [[Sancho IV of Pamplona]], Aragon incorporated part of the Navarrese kingdom into its territories while Castile did the same with the western area of the former domains of Sancho "the Great". During the reigns of [[Sancho Ramírez]] and [[Peter I of Aragon and Pamplona]], the kingdom extended its borders to the south, established threatening fortresses in the capital of Zaragoza in [[El Castellar]] and [[Juslibol]] and took [[Huesca]], which became the new capital.

The reign of [[Alfonso the Battler|Alfonso I of Aragon]] saw the conquering of the lowlands of the middle Ebro Valley for Aragon: [[Ejea de los Caballeros]], [[Valtierra]], [[Calatayud]], [[Tudela, Navarre|Tudela]] and [[Zaragoza]], the capital of the [[Taifa of Zaragoza|Taifa of Saraqusta]]. Upon his death the nobles would choose his brother [[Ramiro II of Aragon]], who left his religious life to assume the royal scepter and perpetuate the dynasty, which he achieved with the dynastic union of the [[House of Barcelona|House of Aragon]] with the owner of the [[County of Barcelona]] in 1137, year in which the union of both patrimonies would give rise to the [[Crown of Aragon]] and would add the forces that would make the conquests of the [[Kingdom of Majorca]] and the [[Kingdom of Valencia]] possible. The Crown of Aragon would become the hegemonic power of the Mediterranean, controlling territories as important as [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]], [[Corsica]], [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1324–1720)|Sardinia]] or [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]].

The monarch was known as King of Aragon and also held the titles 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 the specific region, and the titles changed as territories were lost and won.

According to [[Fuero#Basque and Pyrenean fueros|Aragonese law]], the monarch had to swear allegiance to the kingdom's laws before being accepted as king. Like other Pyrenean and Basque realms, the Aragonese justice and decision-making system was based on Pyrenean [[Custom (law)|consuetudinary law]], the King was considered ''[[primus inter pares]]'' ('first among equals') within the nobility. A nobleman with the title "[[Chustizia d'Aragón]]"<ref name="English Web of Justia de Aragon">{{cite web|url=http://www.eljusticiadearagon.com/index.php?cambia_idioma=3&zona=que_es |title=El Justicia de Aragón |publisher=Eljusticiadearagon.com |date=2007-02-27 |access-date=2012-06-04}}</ref> acted as ombudsman and was responsible for ensuring that the King obeyed the Aragonese laws. An old saying goes, "en Aragón antes de Rey hubo Ley" ("in Aragon Law came before King"), similar to the saying in Navarre, "antes fueron Leyes que Reyes", with much the same meaning.

The subsequent legend made the [[Crown of Aragon|Aragonese monarchy]] eligible and created a phrase for the coronation of the king that would be perpetuated for centuries:
{{Blockquote|We, who are worth as much as you we make you our King and Lord, as long as you keep our [[fuero]]s and liberties, and if not, not.|The [[Chustizia d'Aragón]]}}

[[File:Aragonese Empire 1443.svg|thumb|right|The [[Crown of Aragon]] in the middle of the 15th century]]
This situation would be repeated in the Commitment of Caspe (1412), which avoids a war that had dismembered the [[Crown of Aragon]] when a good handful of aspirants to the throne emerged after the death of [[Martin of Aragon]] a year after the death of his first-born, [[Martin I of Sicily]]. [[Ferdinand I of Aragon]] is the chosen one, of the Castilian [[House of Trastámara]], but also directly connected with the Aragonese king [[Peter IV of Aragon]], through his mother Eleanor of Aragon.

Aragon was already a large-scale political entity: the Crown, the [[Cortes of the Kingdom of Aragon|Cortes]], the [[Deputation of the General of the Kingdom of Aragon|Deputation of the Kingdom]] and the [[Foral Laws|Foral Law]] constituted its nature and its character. The marriage of [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] with [[Isabella I of Castile]], celebrated in 1469 in [[Valladolid]], derived later in the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, creating the basis of the [[State (polity)#Modern state|Modern State]].