Editing Alfonso II of Aragon

{{Short description|King of Aragon from 1164 to 1196}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Alfonso the Chaste
| image        = Alfonso II de Aragón from Liber feudorum maior.jpg 
| image_size   = 150px
| caption      = Portrait from the 12th-century manuscript ''[[Liber feudorum maior]]''
| succession   = [[King of Aragon]]<br>[[Count of Barcelona]]
| reign        = 18 July 1164<ref name="Cuellar"/> – 25 April 1196
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Petronilla of Aragon|Petronilla]]
| regent       = Petronilla (until 1173)
| successor    = [[Peter II of Aragon|Peter II]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon|Sancha of Castile]]|1174}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
* [[Peter II of Aragon]]
* [[Constance of Aragon, Holy Roman Empress|Constance of Aragon]]
* [[Alfonso II, Count of Provence]]
* [[Eleanor of Aragon, Countess of Toulouse|Eleanor, Countess of Toulouse]]
* [[Sancha of Aragon, Countess of Toulouse|Sancha, Countess of Toulouse]]}}
| issue-link   = #Marriage and descendants
| issue-pipe   = among others...
| house        = [[House of Barcelona|Barcelona]]
| father       = [[Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona]]
| mother       = [[Petronilla, Queen of Aragon]]
| birth_date   = 1–25 March 1157<ref name="Cuellar"/><ref name="colectanea"/><ref name="nacimiento"/>  
| birth_place  = [[Huesca]],<ref name="Cuellar"/><ref name="colectanea"/><ref name="nacimiento"/><br>[[Kingdom of Aragon]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|df=y|1196|4|25|1157|3|25}}
| death_place  = [[Perpignan]], [[Principality of Catalonia]]
| burial_date  =
| burial_place = [[Poblet Monastery]]
}}
'''Alfonso II''' (1–25 March 1157<ref name="Cuellar">Benito Vicente de Cuéllar (1995), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Znm_7xrldpwC&pg=PA630 «Los "condes-reyes" de Barcelona y la "adquisición" del reino de Aragón por la dinastía bellónida»], p. 630-631; in ''Hidalguía''. XLIII ('''252''') pp. 619–632.</ref><ref name="colectanea">"Alfonso II el Casto, hijo de Petronila y Ramón Berenguer IV, nació en Huesca en 1157;". ''Cfr''. Josefina Mateu Ibars, María Dolores Mateu Ibars (1980). [https://books.google.com/books?id=aEx8TJoXiAEC&pg=PA538 ''Colectánea paleográfica de la Corona de Aragon: Siglo IX-XVIII'']. Universitat Barcelona, p. 546. {{ISBN|84-7528-694-1}}, {{ISBN|978-84-7528-694-5}}.</ref><ref name="nacimiento">Antonio Ubieto Arteta (1987). [http://www.derechoaragones.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?path=1457 ''Historia de Aragón. Creación y desarrollo de la Corona de Aragón'']. Zaragoza: Anúbar, [http://www.derechoaragones.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?posicion=209&path=1457&forma=&presentacion=pagina pp. 177–184] § "El nacimiento y nombre de Alfonso II de Aragón". {{ISBN|84-7013-227-X}}.</ref> – 25 April 1196), called '''the Chaste''' or '''the Troubadour''', was the [[King of Aragon]] and, as '''Alfons I''', the [[Count of Barcelona]] from 1164 until his death.<ref name="Cuellar"/><ref>Ernest Belenguer (2006), [http://www.seacex.es/Spanish/Publicaciones/126/corona_aragon_05_aprox.pdf "Aproximación a la historia de la Corona de Aragón"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320120610/http://www.seacex.es/Spanish/Publicaciones/126/corona_aragon_05_aprox.pdf |date=2012-03-20 }}, p. 26, in Ernest Belenguer, Felipe V. Garín Llombart and Carmen Morte García, ''La Corona de Aragón. El poder y la imagen de la Edad Media a la Edad Moderna (siglos XII – XVIII)'', Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior (SEACEX); Generalitat Valenciana and Ministerio de Cultura de España: Lunwerg, pp. 25–53. {{ISBN|84-9785-261-3}}</ref> The eldest son of Count [[Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona]] and Queen [[Petronilla of Aragon]],<ref name=Previte-Orton825 /> he was the first King of Aragon who was also Count of Barcelona. He was also [[Count of Provence]],<ref name=Alfonsoprovenza/> which he secured from [[Douce II]] and her would-be father-in-law [[Raymond V|Raymond V, Count of Toulouse]], from 1166 until 1173, when he ceded it to his brother, [[Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Provence|Ramon Berenguer III]]. His reign has been characterised by nationalistic and nostalgic Catalan historians as ''l'engrandiment occitànic'' or "the Pyrenean unity": a great scheme to unite various lands on both sides of the [[Pyrenees]] under the rule of the [[House of Barcelona]].<ref>[[Thomas Arthur Bisson|T. N. Bisson]], "The Rise of Catalonia: Identity, Power, and Ideology in a Twelfth-Century Society," ''Annales: Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations'', xxxix (1984), translated in ''Medieval France and her Pyrenean Neighbours: Studies in Early Institutional History'' (London: Hambledon, 1989), pp. 179.</ref>

==Reign==
Born at [[Huesca]],<ref name="colectanea"/> Alfonso, called indistinctly from birth Alfonso and Ramon,<ref name="Ubieto1">[http://www.derechoaragones.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?path=1457&forma=&presentacion=pagina&forma=&posicion=216&accion_ir=Ir%20Ubieto%20 Ubieto (1987:184–186)]</ref> ascended the united throne of Aragon and Barcelona as Alfonso, in deference to the Aragonese, to honour [[Alfonso the Battler]].<ref>Luis Suárez Fernández (1976). ''Historia de España Antigua y Media''. Madrid: Rialp,  [https://books.google.com/books?id=OeiQxLSvC2IC&dq=Alfonso+II++%22Alfonso+Ram%C3%B3n%22&pg=PA598 p. 599]{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. {{ISBN|978-84-321-1882-1}}.</ref>

For most of his reign he was allied with [[Alfonso VIII of Castile]], both against
[[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]] and against the [[Moorish]] [[taifa]]s of the south. In his
[[Reconquista]] effort Alfonso pushed as far as [[Teruel]], conquering this important
stronghold on the road to [[Valencia]] in 1171. The same year saw him capturing [[Caspe]].

Apart from common interests, kings of Aragon and Castile were united by a formal bond of vassalage the former owed to the latter. {{Cn|date=January 2021}} Besides, on January 18, 1174, in [[Zaragoza]] Alfonso married [[Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon|Sancha]], sister of the Castilian king.<ref>[http://www.derechoaragones.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?posicion=238&path=1457&forma=&presentacion=pagina Ubieto (1987:202)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316113146/http://www.derechoaragones.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?posicion=238&path=1457&forma=&presentacion=pagina |date=2012-03-16 }}</ref> Another milestone in this alliance was the [[Treaty of Cazorla]] between the two kings in 1179, delineating zones of conquest in the south along the watershed of the rivers [[Júcar]] and [[Segura (river)|Segura]]. Southern areas of Valencia including [[Denia]] were thus secured to Aragon. Alfonso also reached an agreement, the [[Treaty of Sangüesa]] (1168), with [[Sancho VI of Navarre]] dividing the territory of the [[Taifa of Murcia]] between them.

During his reign Aragonese influence north of the [[Pyrenees]] reached its zenith, a natural tendency given the affinity between the Occitan, Catalan and Aragonese dominions of the [[Crown of Aragon]]. His realms incorporated not only [[Provence]] (from 1166 or just before),<ref name=Alfonsoprovenza>Víctor Balaguer. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQJXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA11 § "Muerte del Conde de Provenza. Guerras  entre el Rey de Aragón y el Conde de Tolosa. Don Alfonso se apodera de la Provenza. (De 1166 a 1168)"], in ''Historia de Cataluña y de la Corona de Aragon''. Barcelona: Salvador Manero, 1861, vol. II, book V chap. 2, pp. 11–18.</ref> but also the counties of [[Cerdanya]] (1168) and [[Roussillon]] (inherited in 1172).<ref>Gerardo II of Rosellon (1164–1174) willed in his testament that "the entire Rosellon I give to my lord the king of Aragón" for the loyalty that he had in his sovereign, Alphonso II, who was immediately recognized as king in Perpignan. See José Ángel Sesma Muñoz (2000). ''La Corona de Aragón''. Zaragoza: CAI (Colección Mariano de Pano y Ruata, 18), pp. 59–60.</ref> [[Béarn]] and [[Bigorre]] paid homage to him in 1187. Alfonso's involvement in the affairs of [[Languedoc]], which would cost the life of his successor, [[Peter II of Aragon]], for the moment proved highly beneficial, strengthening Aragonese trade and stimulating emigration from the north to colonise the newly reconquered lands in Aragon.

In 1186, he helped establish Aragonese influence in [[Sardinia]] when he supported his cousin Agalbursa, the widow of the deceased [[Judge of Arborea]], [[Barisone II of Arborea|Barison II]], in placing her grandson, the child of her eldest daughter Ispella, [[Hugh I of Arborea|Hugh]], on the throne of [[Giudicato of Arborea|Arborea]] in opposition to [[Peter I of Arborea|Peter of Serra]].

Alfonso II provided the first land grant to the [[Cistercian]] [[monk]]s on the banks of the [[Ebro River]] in the Aragon region, which would become the site of the first Cistercian [[monastery]] in this region. The [[Monasterio de Piedra]] was founded in 1194 with thirteen monks from [[Poblet Monastery]], in an old castle next to the [[Piedra (Spain)|Piedra river]], the [[Real Monasterio de Nuestra Senora de Rueda]] was founded in 1202 and utilized some of the first hydrological technology in the region for harnessing water power and river diversion for the purpose of building [[central heating]]. He also became a patron to the [[Carthusians]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Dennis D. |title=Carthusian Spirituality The Writings of Hugh of Balma and Guigo de Ponte |date=1997 |publisher=Paulist Press |isbn=9780809136643 |page=xi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tqqMvwJ9qwMC |access-date=27 November 2023}}</ref> and founded the first [[Cartoixa d'Escaladei|chapterhouse of Scala Dei]] in 1196.<ref>{{cite web |title=Carthusian Monastery of Escaladei |url=https://patrimoni.gencat.cat/en/monuments/monumentos/carthusian-monastery-of-escaladei |website=Monuments de Catalunya |publisher=Generalitat de Catalunya |access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref>

He died at [[Perpignan]] in 1196.

==Literary patronage and poetry==
He was a noted [[poet]] of his time and a close friend of King [[Richard I of England|Richard the Lionheart]]. One [[tensó]], "Be·m plairia, Seingner En Reis",<ref>Ruth Harvey and Linda Paterson. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zQXmiNKfh9MC "The Troubadour Tensos and Partimens. A Critical Edition"], Cambridge 2010, pp. 699-705</ref> apparently composed by him and [[Giraut de Bornelh]], forms part of the [[poetical debate (Occitan literature)|poetical debate]] as to whether a lady is dishonoured by taking a lover who is richer than herself.  The debate had been begun by [[Guilhem de Saint-Leidier]] and was taken up by [[Azalais de Porcairagues]] and [[Raimbaut of Orange]]; there was also a ''[[jeu parti|partimen]]'' on the topic between [[Dalfi d'Alvernha]] and [[Perdigon]].

Alfonso and his love affairs are mentioned in poems by many troubadours, including [[Guillem de Berguedà]] (who criticized his dealings with [[Azalais of Toulouse]]) and [[Peire Vidal]], who commended Alfonso's decision to marry Sancha rather than [[Eudokia Komnene, wife of William VIII of Montpellier|Eudokia Komnene]] that he had preferred a poor Castilian maid to the emperor [[Manuel I Komnenos|Manuel]]'s golden camel.

[[File:Alfons2Aragona-Sancha Liber.jpg|thumb|Alfonso II of Aragon and his wife Sancha, surrounded by the women of court. From the ''[[Liber feudorum maior]]''.]]

==Marriage and descendants==
Alfonso married [[Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon|Sancha of Castile]], daughter of king [[Alfonso VII of Castile]].<ref name=Previte-Orton825>{{cite book |title=The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History |first=C.W. |last=Previte-Orton |volume=II: The twelfth century to the Renaissance |publisher=Cambridge at the University Press |year=1960 |page=825 }}</ref> They had:
* [[Peter II of Aragon|Peter II]] (1174/76 – 14 September 1213), King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier<ref name=Previte-Orton825 />
* [[Constance of Aragon, Holy Roman Empress|Constance]] (1179 – 23 June 1222), married firstly King [[Emeric of Hungary]] and secondly [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]]<ref name=Previte-Orton825 />
* [[Alfonso II, Count of Provence|Alfonso II]] (1180 – February 1209), Count of Provence, Millau and Razès.<ref>[[Thomas N. Bisson]], ''The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History'', (Oxford University Press, 1991), 199.</ref>
* [[Eleanor of Aragon, Countess of Toulouse|Eleanor]] (1182 – February 1226), married [[Raymond VI of Toulouse]]<ref name=Previte-Orton825 />
* Ramon Berenguer (ca. 1183/85 – died young).
* [[Sancha of Aragon, Countess of Toulouse|Sancha]] (1186 – aft. 1241), married [[Raymond VII of Toulouse]], in March 1211<ref name=Previte-Orton825 /> 
* Ferdinand (1190 – 1249), cistercian monk, Abbot of [[Montearagón, Toledo|Montearagón]].
* Dulcia (1192 – ?), a nun at Sijena.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Alfonso II of Aragon}}
* {{cite web |last=Marek |first=Miroslav |url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/barcelona/barcelona2.html |title= Miroslav Marek, genealogy.euweb.cz |publisher= Genealogy EU}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Petronilla of Aragon|Petronilla]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Aragonese monarchs|King of Aragon]]<br/>[[List of Counts of Barcelona|Count of Barcelona]]|years=1164–1196}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Peter II of Aragon|Peter II]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Douce II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Counts of Provence|Count of Provence]]|years=1166–1171}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Provence|Ramon Berenguer III]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Infantes of Aragon}}
{{Aragonese monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso 02 Of Aragon}}
[[Category:1157 births]]
[[Category:1196 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century Aragonese monarchs]]
[[Category:House of Aragon]]
[[Category:Counts of Barcelona]]
[[Category:Counts of Provence]]
[[Category:Catalan-language poets]]
[[Category:12th-century Spanish troubadours]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:Burials at the Poblet Monastery]]
[[Category:Aragonese infantes]]
[[Category:House of Barcelona]]
[[Category:Spanish male composers]]
[[Category:Sons of queens regnant]]