Medieval Kingdom of Aragon

En ningún documento de la Edad Media encontramos referencia alguna sobre una supuesta confederación Catalano Aragonesa, ni a “Reyes de Cataluña-Aragón”, ni a “Condes-Reyes”.
Se trata de una construcción historiográfica de finales del siglo XIX que debe su origen a Antonio Bofarull (1821/1892). Historiador y poeta catalán que publicó en 1872 un libro de aire romántico con el título “Confederación Catalano Aragonesa”, en el que confería al Condado de Barcelona el mismo estatuto que al Reino de Aragón.

Resumen El estudio del fondo bibliográfico de manuscritos que hubo en la biblioteca del Monasterio de Piedra es un asunto complejo. Tradicionalmente se ha afirmado que todo se perdió en la desamortización, pero esta afirmación es un tópico. Sería más exacto afirmar que hoy están en paradero desconocido o no es posible su identificación, reconociendo que una buena parte del fondo se perdió irremediablemente. El presente artículo ha permitido identificar, en el arco cronológico que va de 1195 a 1531, con seguridad total, nueve libros, de los cuales, ocho eran manuscritos y uno era impreso. Pese a que es un espectro de información limitado, se abre con él un nuevo campo de análisis y se pone en conocimiento de la comunidad científica la existencia de un centro productor y consumidor de libros durante la Baja Edad Media.

Dónde estamos y quiénes somos. Medio físico y geografía humana de Tauste.
Antonio Ortigosa Laplaza.-

Entre Abirón y San Miguel: un espacio en la historia aragonesa para la Villa de Tauste.
Miguel Ángel Pallarés Jiménez.-

Tauste antes más: nuestra Villa y sus costumbres.
Joaquín Cebamanos Conde.-

Arte y arquitectura en Tauste.
Jesús Criado Mainar.-

Galería de taustanos ilustres.
Enrique Galé Casajús.-

Fotografía. Montse de Vega Mas.-

Il volume propone la corrispondenza intercorsa tra 1484-85 tra l'oratore Giovanni Lanfredini, le magistrature fiorentine (Signoria e Dieci di Balia), Lorenzo de'Medici e altri destinatari diversi (Bartolomeo Scala, Galzerano Requesens, Eleonora d'Aragona, Antonio Pollaiolo, Francesco Sassetti ...). Si tratta di oltre 400 lettere, corredate di regesto e apparati di note storiche e filologiche. L'introduzione offre un'analisi sulla figura dell'ambasciatore e sul suo modo di operare (cancelleria, confezione delle lettere e funzionamento del sistema postale); sul quadro politico-diplomatico; sulla corte aragonese e gli interessi dei mercanti fiorentini operativi nel regno di Napoli. In appendice è proposto l'inventario della documentazione conservata per lo stesso arco cronologico presso gli archivi di Stato di Modena e Mantova e un Itinerario quotidiano di re Ferrante e di suo figlio Alfonso.

Reviewed by:
- R. GONZALES AREVALO in «Anuario de Estudios Medievales» 36 (2006), pp. 465-467.
- M. SIMONETTA in «Roma nel Rinascimento», 28 (2005), pp. 88-89.

Aunque es conocido que la primera fuente pública de Calatayud comienza a construirse a fines del periodo medieval, se tienen muy pocos detalles al respecto. El presente trabajo presenta algunos documentos inéditos procedentes del Archivo de Protocolos Notariales de Calatayud que permiten determinar algo más la cuestión, aportando, como novedad principal, el nombre de los maestros implicados. La cuestión tiene más relevancia de lo que aparenta. En Aragón, la generalización del interés de los municipios por facilitar el acceso público de agua potable al vecindario solamente eclosiona a partir del 1500, siendo las iniciativas anteriores, aun a nivel de meros designios, extraordinariamente raras. Esta circunstancia aureola a la empresa bilbilitana, en tanto precursora de este tipo de operaciones en el reino aragonés, de un gran interés.

It is known that the first public fountain of Calatayud began to be built at the end of the Middle Age, however research about it has been unsuccessful until today. Some unpublished documents, which came from the Notary Public Archive of Calatayud, are offered in this article. These documents present some data about that project, such as the names of the stonemasons who built it. The subject is more significant than it appears to be. Neither enterprises to provide drinking water to the neighborhood, nor even their projects are known before 1500 in Aragón. Consequently, this enterprise in Calatayud can be considered as a precocious one in the Aragonese kingdom.

In 1328, Constance of Saluzzo, coming from a long line of Subalpine nobles related to the kings of Aragon, married Pietro, heir to the throne of Arborea. They governed peaceably and dedicated themselves to bettering their kingdom; in 1343 they founded a monastery of Poor Clares, for which they obtained particular Papal privileges. Use is made of both published and as yet unpublished documentation to shed light on the different stages of this foundation, the monastic community living first next the church of St. Vincent and then, once the construction was done, next that of St. Clare. Founding the monastery not only made available for the royals a place for their retreats, but also guaranteed them the prayers of the Poor Clares. Great civic and political value was
assigned to these prayers. Indeed, the nuns’ prayers for the royal couple, and for the safety of the kingdom, were thought of as an indispensable resource for the proper functioning of the State

WILLIAM IX THE TROUBADOUR (1071-1126) AND ISLAM

The first troubadour, whose songs are preserved, was as duke of Aquitaine the most important French prince around 1100. His military activity was, at least three times, directed against the Muslims. Her aunts and sisters were married to Iberian Christian kings, whom he defended against Almoravid invasion. In 1100-1102, he participated in Holy Land to a failed crusade. During these expeditions, he had several contacts with Arab courts, in particular with Imâd al-Dawla,  the last emir of Saragossa of Banu Hudi dynasty, expelled of his capital by Almoravids. They were together in the troupe of the king of Aragon fighting them in Cutanda battle (1120). Imâd gave to him the so-called “Vase d’Aliénor d’Aquitaine”, his grand-daughter. It was preserved in Saint-Denis abbey and is nowadays in Louvre Museum. This precious crystal and silver object is not the only gift William IX received from a Muslim prince. At least one of his poems (V, Pasero ed.) seems to contain some Arabic words. Other elements show a possible influence of Hispanic-Arabic poetry in his own work. They nourish the debate on the ‘origins’ of Courtly Love. ‘Origins’ is not probably the good word, but better ‘polygenesis’ or Michel Foucault’s ‘conditions of possibility’. Thus, the study of the relations between William IX and Islam has to be done in an interdisciplinary way, which takes account of political and social history, of art history or of literature and linguistics.

La región del río Matarranya se sitúa entre Aragón, Cataluña y Valencia y tiene una historia que reúne muchos de los elementos característicos de la evolución de estos tres países de la Corona de Aragón en el periodo medieval. Incluye capítulos sobre la dinámica histórica, la lengua, el arte y el patrimonio de esta zona, poco conocida a pesar de su extraordinario interés. El libro puede descargarse íntegramente. Participan en su autoría J. A. Sesma Muñoz, J. M. Ortega Ortega, J. Criado Mainar, C. Villanueva Morte, M. T. Moret Oliver y J. A. Benavente Serrano.

The repopulating process that took place in the Kingdom of Granada after the Castilian conquest, at the end of the 15th century, saw the arrival of new settlers from abroad, including the Crown of Aragon, the Catalan nation in our documents. Although their presence was not significant in the overall process, it is however interesting to examine with care their settlement pattern, which is different from other foreign nations' pattern, mainly the members of the Italian merchant republics. Thus, we analyze the origin of these Catalan settlers and their distribution throughout the Kingdom of Granada, looking for the ultimate reasons. We also have the opportunity to examine the percentage of permanence as well as the socioeconomic background, when the sources allow it

An edition, translation, and study of De nobilitate animi, “On Nobility of Mind,” a Latin treatise written about 1280–1290. The author, Guillelmus de Aragonia, was known as a philosopher for his commentary on Boethius and his works on physiognomy, oneirology, and astronomy; he was also a physician, perhaps a personal physician to the king of Aragon. In a time of intellectual upheaval and civil strife, when nobility was on the verge of being defined with legal precision as it had not been since antiquity, Guillelmus taught that true nobility is an acquired habit, not an inborn quality. Working in the recently renewed Aristotelian tradition, he took an independent and original approach, quoting from philosophers, astronomers, physicians, historians, naturalists, orators, poets, and rustics pronouncing proverbs. This edition presents the Latin text, based on six manuscripts, three of them hitherto unknown. An introduction reviews Guillelmus’s life and work, considering his theory of nobility in the contexts of history, philosophy, and rhetoric, and studies the authorities he quotes with particular attention to the troubadours, lyric poets from the area known today as the south of France. The editors provide a translation and an appendix of sources and analogues.

The Great Western Schism was a real mental cataclysm occurred in the late Middle Ages in Europe. Reason of deep political disagreements, this spiritual fracture of Christianity was expressed in various works of the time. In our case, Lo somni (The Dream), Bernat Metge inserts, as one of the themes of Book II, when the spirit of John I the Hunter (1350-1396), King of Aragon and Valencia, Metge regrets his luck in Hereafter: the destiny of his soul was, in large part, determined by choosing the (anti) Pope of Avignon. The proposal of our article is to analyze how the "Great Schism" was manifested literarily in Lo somni.

Il presente volume, secondo in ordine di pubblicazione e quarto della collana, offre un’ampia raccolta dei Dispacci milanesi da Napoli del 1461. Secondo il progetto iniziale avrebbe dovuto accogliere la documentazione relativa al biennio 1461-1462, ma l’abbondanza dei materiali – le cartelle 205-209 della serie Napoli del fondo sforzesco conservato nell’Archivio di Stato di Milano sono tra le più ricche –, e l’impossibilità di operare su di essi consistenti sfrondature in ragione della elevata qualità informativa delle carte, hanno consigliato questa correzione nella scansione delle parti.
A differenza del primo, dove la prospettiva della documentazione era prevalentemente aperta sulle relazioni interstatali, conseguenti alla politica estera del re di Napoli, questo quarto volume (e così anche il terzo e in parte anche il secondo) guarda agli aspetti interni della vita del regno, e risponde nel modo migliore alla griglia di selezione dei materiali assunta nel progetto editoriale. Forte di una salda unità tematica, esso documenta la lenta fase di recupero delle province del regno che  Ferrante attua dopo il tracollo militare del 1460. Ogni evento bellico, anche minimo, ogni cambiamento della tattica, ogni oscillazione negli equilibri delle forze in campo è qui riferita dagli oratori e dagli
emissari sforzeschi che seguono l’esercito regio nei suoi spostamenti, relazionando quotidianamente sui fatti accaduti e fungendo da collettori di notizie dagli altri fronti di lotta.
Speciale attenzione è stata posta dal curatore nel mantenere, con la sua scelta documentaria, l’integrità e la complessità di questo scenario, polarizzando l’attenzione sulla prospettiva napoletana, attraverso la pubblicazione, accanto alle dettagliate relazioni degli oratori sforzeschi,
anche di missive vergate da funzionari, oratori, baroni e condottieri regnicoli, inviate direttamente a Milano o pervenute colà in copia, e recuperando ogni notizia utile a dare informazione sulla geografia feudale del regno, un aspetto questo fondamentale, e che la stessa ambientazione militare aiuta a mettere a fuoco.

Resumen Los señoríos constituyeron una efectiva fórmula de articulación político-adminis-trativa, militar y social del territorio en la Edad Media. El conocimiento de su origen y formación da las claves para comprender la evolución del paisaje y de las formaciones sociales que lo habitaron. Muchos de estos señoríos nacieron en el período de grandes expansiones territoriales (siglos XII y XIII) y estuvieron en ma-nos de familias nobiliarias que proyectaron su influencia política, civil y militar sobre los territorios controlados, alcanzando un prestigio social y económico que los situó dentro de la elite de poder. El señorío de Bureta se enmarca dentro de la dinámica feudal medieval y supone un ejemplo para conocer el funcionamiento de la tenencia de tierras dentro de la administración del reino de Aragón. Hoy todavía perviven las huellas de sus orígenes medievales y siguen vigentes sus títulos nobi-liarios. Abstract The formation of medieval manors is the origin of the spaces where we still inhabit nowadays. Through knowing how they were formed, we can understand some keys about the environment around us. Many of these manors were in the hands of major noble families. They projected their political, civil and military influence

This article explores the involvement of the Norman nobility in the wars between Christians and Muslims in the Ebro Valley in the  rst half of the 12th Century. The work recognises how the participation of this particular ethno-cultural group in the peninsula was renovated to a certain degree by the deeds and religious transformation that took place as a result of the preaching and success of the First Crusade. Furthermore, by exploring the careers of Rotrou of Perche, Robert Burdet and Walter Guidvilla this piece demonstrates how their religiosity as well as the  lial relations and traditional desire for wealth that characterise this group of warriors, made the Iberian theatre of con ict so attractive at this particular period. Also, this article, tries to show how their Iberians lay and clerical coreligionists perceived the usefulness of these Norman contingents in their con ict with the Almoravids.

Frontier and feudal conquest are two concepts that are utilized enough, especially by anglophone historians, to describe the cultural and social evolution in the zones of contact with the Islam. This article intends to explore this perspective since a specific point of view, the local analysis. For it, we study the evolution in a locality close to Zaragoza, Tauste, since the moment in which begins the feudal pressure to its conquest, underlining the creation of the local customs and the ecclesiastical organization, like factors of normalization of the social processes.

Selección de 228 documentos relativos a la villa de sos en época medieval, conservados en archivos notariales, municipales y eclesiásticos, así del Archivo de la Corona de Aragón, del Archivo Histórico Provincial de Zaragoza y del Archivo de la Diputación de Zaragoza.

Resumen: Más allá de la simple existencia, se sabía muy poco de la explotación medieval de los yacimientos férricos del Moncayo. El presente estudio demuestra que se remonta, de forma probada, al siglo XIII, aunque es muy posible que sus raíces se retrotraigan, como mínimo, al siglo anterior. Reproduciendo con notable fidelidad los grandes flujos de avance y retroceso de la minería europea e integrando las novedades tecnológicas en el ámbito de la forja que iban sucediéndose, la producción de hierro del Moncayo alcanza cotas interesantes a fines de la Edad Media. Estos resultados, aunque modestos en comparación con los de las grandes áreas férricas del Cantábrico, debieron tener un efecto visible en la economía regional.

Palabras clave: hierro, siderurgia, minería, Moncayo, Aragón.

Abstract: We have few information about working on iron beds in the area of mount Moncayo in the Middle Ages, except for its only existence. This  study shows that those works can be proved for XIIIth century and,  perhaps they have some roots, at least, in the previous century. The iron production in mount Moncayo reaches interesting levels at the end of Middle Ages. It reproduces accurately the movements of European mining, going ahead or going back, and it integrates technological advances that were made in industrial sector. These results, even though they seem not very big, -if we compare them with the rest of great mining areas in the Cantabric coast-, must have been quite profitable for the local economy.

Keywords: Iron, iron industry, mining, Moncayo, Aragon.

La participación aragonesa en la conquista de Granada por los RRCC es un tema que ha atraído muy poco la atención y sobre el que se dispone de muy poca información. El presente artículo identifica uno de los guerreros aragoneses que se alistaron en dicha empresa, el escudero Alfonso de Liñán, habitante de Calatayud y “señor de la casa” de Castejón de las Armas, y caracteriza sus motivaciones y su entorno social, económico y familiar. El resultado tiene un alto valor ejemplar.
Porque, aunque los infanzones aragoneses distan mucho de ser unos desconocidos, las oportunidades de bucear en el entorno de uno de ellos que ejerce realmente como combatiente de base -un papel que eludieron la inmensa mayoría, por una causa o por otra-, no se prodigan, ni para la guerra granadina ni para cualquier otra del periodo.

The Aragonese participation in the conquest of Granada, accomplished by the Catholic Kings, has never been a very attractive issue, therefore very few information about it is available. The squire Alfonso de Liñán, inhabitant of Calatayud and “señor de la casa” of Castejón de las Armas, and enlisted in that enterprise is presented in this article. In addition to this, the present document clarifies his motivations and his social, economic and familiar environment. It should be considered that Aragonese noblemen are generally well-known, though not as real combatants, situation avoided by the greatest part of them. The result of the research is priceless, since the opportunities of doing some research about such a character -a real combatant member of the lowest rank of nobility- are not at all numerous, neither in the case of the war of Granada, nor in the case of any other one of the era.

Re Ferrante d'Aragona (1458-1494) perseguì, sulle orme del padre Alfonso I, un coerente progetto politico-militare, volto a limitare l'autonomia dei condottieri e ad esautorare le milizie dei baroni attraverso la creazione di una cavalleria stanziale alle dirette dipendenze della Corona.

This book is a study of medieval queenship – an examination of the nature and role of feminine authority and power and the monarchy in the late Middle Ages.  Based on thorough and rigorous original archival research, it examines the life and career Maria de Luna, queen-consort of the Crown of Aragon (1396–1406); a woman who also served as lieutenant-general (second-in-command) for her husband, King Martí I (1396–1410).  It is not, however, a biography, nor does it focus narrowly on themes which tend to be considered “political.” It approaches the phenomenon of queenship from an array of perspectives, and by uncovering networks of religious, cultural, familial patronage demonstrates that “political” activities cannot be sectioned off from the wider activities of the royal and queenly court. A revised Spanish translation was published in 2012, María de Luna. Poder, piedad y patronazgo de una reina medieval. Zaragoza: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC, 2012.

Les auteurs portent à la connaissance de la communauté scientifique deux découvertes inédites du XIXe siècle de monnaies sur la commune de Villemur-sur-Tarn (Haute-Garonne), grâce à une lettre retrouvée dans les archives municipales de Toulouse.

Moral y transgresión en Tauste y su entorno durante la Edad Moderna.
Raquel Cuartero Arina. -

Aportación al conocimiento de las fiestas patronales de la villa de Tauste.
Joaquín Cebamanos Conde. -

Aviando el puchero. ¿Qué se comía en las Cinco Villas en la Edad Media?.
Elena Piedrafita Pérez. -

Sociedad y Cultura Material desde la Edad del Bronce hasta el final de la Iª Edad del Hierro en las Cinco Villas y en el valle medio del Ebro: El proceso histórico a través de la Arqueología.
José Ignacio Royo Guillén. -

El valle del Ebro: frontera del Islam, Islam de frontera.
Jesús Lorenzo Jiménez. -

Abstract: The viticulture production acquires importance within the geographic framework of Aragon from the 11th century, due to the establishment of the new political, social, economic and religious order in the spaces controlled and dominated by Islam until that century. During the period of military advances and consolidation of borders (11th-13th centuries), the vineyard was the great bet in the economic and social colonization of the territory and in the creation of new agricultural spaces in a geographic area in which the climate, the relief and the ground were an obstacle to repopulation and to the expansion of new crops and resources. General laws, local norms and legal formulae relative to earth property and soil explotation fomented the cultivation of the grapevine and facilitated the generalized possession of vines among the rural population. From the 13th century onwards the development of the cities and the need for wine supplies as a nourishing staple product gave a definitive impulse to the culture of the vineyard in the suburban areas. In this way, in the medieval Aragón there was a transition from a self-supplying culture integrated in a system of agricultural expansion to an intensive grapevine monoculture in the most productive lands, close to consumption and distribution markets.
Key words: Middle Age, Aragon (Spain), viticulture history,
viticulture expansion, consumption of wine.
Resumen: El establecimiento del orden feudal cristiano aporta una relevancia especial a la producción vitícola y el consumo de vino a partir del siglo XI. En el reino de Aragón, durante el período de avances militares y consolidación de fronteras (ss. XI-XIII), el viñedo fue la gran apuesta en la colonización económica y social del territorio y en la creación de nuevos espacios agrícolas en un ámbito geográfico en el cual el clima, el relieve y el suelo dificultaron la repoblación y la extensión de otros cultivos y aprovechamientos. Leyes generales, normativas locales y fórmulas jurídicas de propiedad y explotación de la tierra fomentaron el cultivo de la vid y facilitaron la posesión generalizada de viñas entre la población rural. A partir del siglo XIII, el desarrollo de las ciudades y la necesidad de abastecimiento de vino como producto básico alimentario dieron un impulso definitivo al cultivo del viñedo en las áreas periurbanas. De este modo, en el Aragón medieval se constata la transición de un cultivo integrado en un sistema de expansión agrícola y autoabastecimiento a un monocultivo intensivo de la vid en los terrenos más productivos y próximos a los mercados de consumo y distribución.
Palabras clave: Edad Media. Aragón (España), historia de la viticultura, expansión vitícola, consumo de vino.

This paper will address the relationship of Tomás de Torquemada with the Spanish Inquisition in the fifteenth century, analyzing the importance of his presence as inquisitor and studying his role in the
Church and Politics of the time. In the second half of the fifteenth century, the Iberian Peninsula had converted more Jews than any other region. Occupied for centuries by the Muslims, which granted the
Jews and Christians freedom of worship in return for a special tax, the Iberian Peninsula became a haven and an ideal setting for an intense exchange of cultures between elements of civilization Christian, Muslim and Jewish. Among the fruits of this exchange, there is astrology, almost
disappeared in Europe for several centuries and returning to the mainland just through contact with the Islamic world, in the Mediterranean region. With the gradual unification of Spain (result of the union of the kingdoms of Leon and Castile, and later, those with Aragon) Muslims and Jews were gradually "pushed" to the south, forced to migrate to Morocco or to make a forced conversion to Christianity,
however, such conversion was always viewed with suspicion, since in most cases, these people continued secretly to practice their ancient cults. Tomas de Torquemada ( Valladolid , 1420 - Avila ,
on September 16 of 1498 ) or The Grand Inquisitor, was general Inquisitor of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon in the fifteenth century and confessor of Queen Isabella the Catholic. He was famously described by the Spanish chronicler Sebastián de Olmedo as "The hammer of heretics, the light of Spain, the savior of his country's honor." Torquemada is known for his campaign against the converted Jews and Muslims of Spain.