Editing Peter I of Aragon and Pamplona (section)

== Sole reign ==
Peter succeeded to the whole of his father's kingdom on the latter's death while besieging [[Huesca]] in 1094.<ref>Peter adopted his father's title, ''Aragonensium et Pampilonensium rex'' (Aragonese and Pamplonese king), though his father had preferred to name the Pamplonese (Navarrese) kingdom first. Peter also sometimes used the [[patronymic]] ''Sánchez'' (or ''Sangiz'' in contemporary Latinisations), as in a document by which he gave some property in [[Arguiñáriz]] to a lord Diego Álvarez (''Didaco Albarez'') in December 1099.</ref> Peter raised the siege, only to return to it within the year. After 1094 his objectives shifted westwards, towards the valley of the [[Gallega]]. In 1095 Peter renewed his father's oaths to [[Pope Urban II|Urban II]], and Urban renewed his promise of protection, under which Sancho, his sons, and his kingdom had been placed in July 1089. On 16 March 1095 the pope even issued a [[Papal bull|bull]], ''Cum universis sancte'', granting the king and queen of Aragon immunity from [[excommunication]] without the permission of the pope.<ref>Smith, 135.</ref> That same year, while he was besieging Huesca, Peter defeated the relief forces of the [[Taifa of Zaragoza]] at the [[Battle of Alcoraz]].<ref>Antonio Ubieto Arteta (1951), [http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/fichero_articulo?codigo=2110572&orden=81759 "Una narración de la batalla de Alcoraz atribuida al abad pinatense Aimerico,"] ''Argensola: Revista de Ciencias Sociales del Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses'', '''7''':245–56.</ref> Peter later rewarded a certain Sancho Crispo for his contribution of three hundred knights and infantry at Alcoraz.<ref name=Powers>James F. Powers (1987), [http://libro.uca.edu/socwar/war.htm ''A Society Organized for War: The Iberian Municipal Militias in the Central Middle Ages, 1000–1284''] (Berkeley: University of California Press), 23–24. The original source has ''milites et pedones'', literally "men-at-arms and foot soldiers".</ref> He went on to take Huesca on 27 November of that same year.

===''Reconquista'' and war with the Almoravids===
[[File:Creu-Alcoraz-1524-Jeronimo-Martinez-Retablo-San-Jorge.Salvador-Merce-Teruel.jpg|thumb|left|Peter receiving a shield emblazoned with [[St George's Cross]]. According to legend, George appeared on the field of battle at Alcoraz. The heads of four decapitated Moors found on the battlefield were added to George's familiar emblem, creating the [[:es:Cruz_de_Alcoraz|Cross of Alcoraz]] (the basis for the [[Sardinia]]n coat-of-arms).]]

The next year (1096) Peter travelled south to inspect his fortress at [[Castellón de la Plana|Castellón]], though the ''[[Historia Roderici]]'' claims that he came to help Rodrigo.<ref name=Fletcher175>Fletcher, 175.</ref> He met Rodrigo in Valencia and with a large force already assembled they decided to reinforce the southern frontier fort of Benicadell, rebuilt by Rodrigo in 1091. As they were passing by [[Xàtiva]] they were met by an Almoravid force under the command of Mohammed, the nephew of Almoravid leader [[Yusuf ibn Tashfin]], and the commander whom Rodrigo had defeated at the [[Battle of Cuarte]] in 1095. They decided to hastily restock Benicadell and retreat to Valencia via the coast, but were met at the [[Battle of Bairén]] by Muhammad's forces encamped on the high ground that reached almost to the sea. A small Almoravid fleet had been assembled from the southern ports, including [[Almería]], and the Christians were trapped between arrow fire from the ships and the cavalry perched atop the hill. Rodrigo roused the troops with a speech and the next day at midday the Christians charged. The [[Battle of Xàtiva]] ended in a rout, with many Almoravids killed or forced into the river or the sea, where many drowned. Peter and Rodrigo returned to Valencia in triumph and thanking God for the victory, as the ''Historia'' records.<ref name=Fletcher175/>

In 1099, in preparation for the fall of [[Barbastro]], Peter sent [[Ebontius|Ponce]], then [[Bishop of Roda]], to Rome to ask Pope Urban II to transfer the see of Roda to [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón|Barbastro]]. The pope complied with Peter's request, and endowed the transferred diocese with all the re-conquered lands of the [[Diocese of Lleida]]. Peter's motive in this action was probably to curtail any expansion of the [[Diocese of Urgell]] in the direction of Lleida. In any case, Barbastro fell in 1100.

According to what is probably a legend, at the urging of the monks of [[San Juan de la Peña]] Peter planned to join on the [[Crusade of 1101]] and make a pilgrimage to [[Jerusalem]], but [[Pope Paschal II]] refused to allow it and ordered him to make war on Zaragoza instead. Peter, probably aided by knights from [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]],<ref>Reilly, 304, deduces this from the presence of [[Berengar (Bishop of Barcelona)|Berengar]], [[Bishop of Barcelona]], in Barbastro on 5 May 1101 to attend the reconsecration of the mosque as a Christian church.</ref> certainly did make war on Zaragoza in 1101, in a campaign that lasted the whole year. He may have been inspired by the [[First Crusade]]rs, since contemporary accounts of the 1101 campaign call him a "cross-bearer" (''crucifer'').<ref>[[Christopher Tyerman]] (2006), ''God's War: A New History of the Crusades'' (London: Penguin Books), 659.</ref> The size of his forces so impressed a contemporary scribe in [[Kingdom of León|León]] that he remarked in the dating formula of a document of 12 February that "Peter, Aragonese king, with his infinite multitude of armed men, the city of Zaragoza, with Christ's banner, fought".<ref>Reilly, 304: ''Petrus quoque rex aragonensis eum infinita armorum multitudine Cesaraugustam civitatem cum Christi vexillo preliante''.</ref> By June Peter had begun the siege of [[Zaragoza]] itself. For the siege he had a fortress built named [[Juslibol]] (a corruption of the Latin slogan ''[[Deus lo volt]]'' [God wills it] used by the First Crusaders) and ringed the city with banners bearing the cross.<ref>Tyerman, 662. Today [[:es:Juslibol|Juslibol]] is a town three kilometres from Zaragoza.</ref> In August he was conducting a ''[[Razzia (military)|razzia]]'' (raid) as far south as [[Alpenes]] and the [[river Ebro]], but the campaign was eventually aborted due to insufficient cavalry.<ref name=Powers/> By the end of the year he had expanded Aragon and Navarre in the west almost as far as the walls of Zaragoza and [[Tudela, Navarre|Tudela]], though the cities both remained in Muslim hands.

===Administration of the realm and the granting of ''fueros''===
[[File:Pietro I d'Aragón.jpg|thumb|upright|Late and fanciful painting of Peter I. The hand on the sword is an accurate pictorial comment on his reign.]]
During his reign Peter bestowed ''[[fuero]]s'' on Barbastro (1100), [[Caparroso]] (1102), and [[Santacara]] (1102). The last was repopulated partly by Frenchmen, whose influence on local customs is apparent. According to Peter's ''fueros'', citizens were required to serve in local campaigns and castle defence, but were exempted from long-term service in the "host".<ref name=Powers/> Horse-owners resident in the towns of Barbastro and [[Santa Cristina de Somport]] (1104) were also exempted from [[Knighthood|knight-service]], known as ''cavalcata''. In 1101 Peter delineated the boundaries of the diocese of Barbastro–Roda, and those that would belong to Lleida after its reconquest.<ref>Damian J. Smith (2004), ''Innocent III and the Crown of Aragon'' (Ashgate Publishing), 206. Peter's [[charter]]s and other diplomata have been collected and edited by Antonio Ubieto Arteta in ''Colección diplomática de Pedro I de Aragón y Navarra'' (Zaragoza: 1951).</ref> On 11 December 1102 Peter was in [[Estella-Lizarra|Estella]] on the border with [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]], perhaps seeking the aid of [[Alfonso VI of Castile|Alfonso VI]] after a particularly disastrous autumn for the Christians of eastern Spain.<ref>Reilly, 312.</ref> In 1104 Peter granted a ''fuero'' to all the ''[[infanzones]]'' of his realm, retaining his right to require three-day field service.<ref>Alfonso the Battler later extended this ''fuero'' to Zaragoza in January 1119.</ref>