Editing Mequinenza (section)

=== Antiquity and Middle Age ===
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In Roman times the old Octogesa was settled and would be located near the actual place of the town. During the decay of the [[Roman Empire]], Octogesa was conquered by the Gothic army and later conquered by the Berber tribe of the [[Miknasa]], which would give its name to the town. It was known in Andalusian times as ''Miknasa al-Zaytun'', or ''Miknasa of the Olives'', a title also given to [[Meknes]], a Moroccan city of the same etymology. It is believed that ''Miknasa al-Zaytun'' was settled between the years 714 and 719. During this time it is built a small tower defense. [[Muhammad al-Idrisi|Al-Idrisi]], chronicler of the time, describes it like this:
<blockquote>
It is small, but it has a strong fortress of strong aspect and it is in the borders of al-Ándalus.
</blockquote>
With the [[Reconquista]], the first attempt to besiege Mequinenza in 1133 by [[Alfonso the Battler|Alfonso the Battaler]] was successful and, although the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravids]] reconquered the town the following year. Mequinenza is definitively won by the Christians on 24 October 1149 by a Catalan-Aragonese army. Mequinenza, after half a century of direct royal jurisdiction, was a manor of the house of the Moncada, together with [[Aitona]] and [[Seròs]]. These are the ones that built the important Castle of Mequinenza. Although the Christian conquest still stood, the three villages were mostly Muslim. Years later conflicts between [[Fraga]] and Mequinenza arise because of their border boundaries. On 6 September 1246, to avoid battles and litigation, Pere de Moncada and his wife Sibila proceeded to muddle these terms.

[[File:Mequinenza desde el castillo.jpg|thumb|Mequinenza view from the Castle]]

Mequinenza did not avoid the [[Plague (disease)|plague]] of 1348, which caused many victims on this occasion and also in epidemic outbreaks since 1380. As a result, from 1381 to 1387, the infant Juan el Cazador remains on several occasions in the castle. In 1410, after the death without descendants of [[Martin of Aragon]] and during the successive disputes that led to the Commitment of Caspe, the supporters of Count Jaime de Urgel in the [[kingdom of Aragon]] organized their parliament in Mequinenza, in opposition to the parliament of [[Alcañiz]] loyal to [[Ferdinand I of Aragon|Fernando de Trastámara]].