View source for Crown of Aragon

{{Short description|Composite monarchy (1164–1707/1715)}}
{{distinguish|Kingdom of Aragon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = {{native name|an|Corona d'Aragón}}<br />{{native name|ca|Corona d'Aragó}}<br />{{native name|es|Corona de Aragón}}<br />{{native name|la|Corona Aragonum}}
| conventional_long_name = Crown of Aragon
| common_name            = Crown of Aragon
| era                    = {{ubl|[[Middle Ages]]|[[Early modern period]]}}
| status                 = Monarchy
| status_text            = [[Composite monarchy]]<ref name="composedmonarchy">Fernández Albaladejo, Pablo (2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=rfA_5X831MMC&pg=PA214&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false  ''Los Borbones: dinastía y memoria de nación en la España del siglo XVIII...''.] Marcial Pons Historia.</ref>
| empire                 = <!--- The empire or country to which the entity was in a state of dependency --->
| government_type        = [[Feudal]] [[monarchy]] subject to [[fuero]]s
<!--- Rise and fall, events, years and dates --->| leader1                = [[Alfonso II of Aragon|Alfonso II and I]]
| year_leader1           = 1164-1196 (first)
| leader2                = [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand II]]
| year_leader2           = 1479–1516
| leader3                = [[Philip V of Spain|Philip IV]] / [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles III]]<ref group="nb">Disputed due to the [[War of the Spanish Succession]].</ref>
| year_leader3           = 1700–1715 (last)
| title_leader           = [[List of Aragonese monarchs|Monarch]]
| year_start             = 1164
| year_end               = 1715
| year_exile_start       = <!--- Year of start of exile (if dealing with exiled government – status="Exile") --->
| year_exile_end         = <!--- Year of end of exile (leave blank if still in exile) --->
| event_start            = Aragon-Barcelona Union
| date_start             = <!--- Optional: Date of establishment, enter dates in this format 1 January 1801--->
| event_end              = [[Nueva Planta decrees]]
| date_end               = 
| event1                 = [[Conquest of Majorca|Conquest of the Kingdom of Majorca]]
| date_event1            = 1231
| event2                 = Conquest of the [[Kingdom of Valencia]]
| date_event2            = 1238–1245
| event3                 = [[Aragonese conquest of Sardinia|Conquest of the Kingdom of Sardinia]]
| date_event3            = 1324–1420
| event4                 = [[Catholic Monarchs|Union of Ferdinand II and Isabella I]]
| date_event4            = 19 October 1469
| event5                 = [[Italian War of 1499–1504|Conquest of the Kingdom of Naples]]
| date_event5            = 1501–1504
<!--- Flag navigation: Preceding and succeeding entities p1 to p5 and s1 to s5 --->| p1                     = Kingdom of Aragon
| flag_p1                = 
| p2                     = County of Barcelona
| flag_p2                = 
| s1                     = History of Spain (1700–1808){{!}}Bourbon Spain
| flag_s1                = Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg
| border_s4              = no
| image_flag             = Royal Banner of Aragón.svg
| flag_border            = no
| flag_type              = Royal flag
| flag                   = Senyera
| image_coat             = Royal arms of Aragon (Crowned).svg
| symbol                 = Coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon
| image_map              = Map of the Crown of Aragon.svg
| image_map_caption      = Diachronic map of the territories subject to the Crown of Aragon
| official_languages     = {{plainlist|
* [[Latin]]
* [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]]
* [[Catalan language|Catalan]] 
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]] (since the 15th century)
}}
| languages_type         = Co-official languages
| languages              = {{plainlist|
* [[Corsican language|Corsican]]
* [[Italian language|Italian]]
* [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]]
* [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]]
* [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]]
}}
| languages2_type        = Minority languages
| languages2             = {{plainlist|
* [[Andalusi Arabic]]
* [[Andalusi Romance]] 
* [[Basque language|Basque]]<ref>{{cite book | author=Jimeno Aranguren, Roldan; Lopez-Mugartza Iriarte, J. C. | year = 2004 | title = Vascuence y Romance: Ebro-Garona, Un Espacio de Comunicación | publisher=Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua | location = Pamplona | isbn = 84-235-2506-6 | pages = 250–255}}</ref> 
* [[Greek language|Greek]]
* [[Maltese language|Maltese]]
* [[Occitan language|Occitan]]
}}
| capital                = See ''[[#Capital|Capital]]'' below
| religion               = Majority religion:<br />[[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] ([[State religion|official]])<ref>{{cite book|title=Orientation: A Journey: Trip Through Europe Asia And Africa|first=Wallace B. |last= Collins|year=2004| isbn=9780595310630| page =428|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|quote=}}</ref> <br />Minority religions:<br />[[Islam]], [[Sephardic Judaism]], [[Greek Orthodoxy]]
| legislature            = {{lang|an|[[Aragonese Corts|Cortz d'Aragón]]}}<br />{{lang|ca|[[Catalan Courts|Corts Catalanes]]}}<br />{{lang|ca|[[Corts Valencianes]]}}
| footnotes              = 
| stat_area1             = 120000
| stat_year1             = 1300
| stat_pop1              = 1 000 000
| ref_pop1               = <ref name="Reilly.1" />||
| demonym                = 
| area_km2               = 
| area_rank              = 
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| HDI                    = 
| HDI_year               = 
| today                  = [[Spain]]
| ref_area1              = <ref name="Reilly.1">{{cite book |last1=Reilly |first1=Bernard F. |title=The Medieval Spains |date=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521397414 |page=139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NdJjn1HpSy4C&pg=PA139 |access-date=11 October 2019 |quote=The new kingdom of Castile had roughly tripled in size to some 335,000 square kilometres by 1300 but, at the same time, its population had increased by the same factor, from one to three millions [...] In the new Crown of Aragon of 120,000 square kilometres the population density would have been about the same for its numbers reached about 1,000,000 in the same period. |language=en |archive-date=29 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329122749/https://books.google.com/books?id=NdJjn1HpSy4C&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
The '''Crown of Aragon''' ({{IPAc-en|US|-|ɡ|ɒ|n}})<ref group="nb">{{langx|an|Corona d'Aragón}} {{IPA|an|koˈɾona ðaɾaˈɣon|}};<br />{{langx|ca|Corona d'Aragó}}, {{IPA|ca|kuˈɾonə ðəɾəˈɣo|ec}};<br />{{langx|es|Corona de Aragón}} {{IPA|es|koˈɾona ðe aɾaˈɣon|}};<br />{{langx|la|Corona Aragonum}} {{IPA|la|kɔˈroːna araˈɡoːnũː|}}.</ref> was a [[composite monarchy]]<ref name="composedmonarchy" /> ruled by one king, originated by the [[dynastic union]] of the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] and the [[County of Barcelona]] (later [[Principality of Catalonia]]) and ended as a consequence of the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. At the height of its power in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Crown of Aragon was a [[thalassocracy]] controlling a large portion of present-day eastern [[Iberian Peninsula]], parts of what is now [[Northern Catalonia|southern France]], and a Mediterranean empire which included the [[Balearic Islands]], [[Sicily]], [[Corsica]], [[Sardinia]], [[Malta]], [[Southern Italy]] (from 1442), and parts of Greece (until 1388).

The component realms of the Crown were not united politically except at the level of the king,<ref name="ryder">{{cite book|author1=Ryder, Alan |title=The Wreck of Catalonia. Civil War in the Fifteenth Century|year=2007|page= v|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-920736-7|quote=This group of states comprised the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia, and Majorca, the principality of Catalonia, and the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne; further afield it embraced the kingdoms of Sicily and Sardinia. These states had no common institutions or bonds save allegiance to a common sovereign}}</ref> who ruled over each autonomous state according to its own laws, raising funds under each tax structure, and dealing separately with each ''Corts'' or ''Cortes'' (parliaments), particularly in the Kingdom of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia, and the [[Kingdom of Valencia]]. The larger Crown of Aragon must not be confused with one of its constituent parts, the Kingdom of Aragon, from which it takes its name.

In 1479, a new dynastic union of the Crown of Aragon with the [[Crown of Castile]] by the [[Catholic Monarchs]], joining what contemporaries referred to as "the Spains",<ref>Kamen, Henry (2002). ''Empire: how Spain became a world power, 1492–1762'', 20.</ref> led to what would become [[Habsburg Spain|the Spanish composite monarchy]] under [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg monarchs]]. The Aragonese Crown continued to exist until it was abolished by the [[Nueva Planta decrees]] issued by King [[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]] in 1707–1716 as a consequence of the defeat of [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Archduke Charles]] (as Charles III of Aragon) in the War of the Spanish Succession.

==Context==
Formally, the political centre of the Crown of Aragon was [[Zaragoza]], where kings were crowned at [[La Seo Cathedral]]. The 'de facto' capital and leading cultural, administrative and economic centre of the Crown of Aragon was [[Barcelona]],<ref name="BufferyMarcer2010">{{cite book|author1=Buffery, Helena |author2=Elisenda Marcer|title=Historical Dictionary of the Catalans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssQhIHb-gx8C&pg=PA106|date=18 December 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7514-2|page=106}}</ref><ref name="Elliott2002">{{cite book|author=Elliott, John|title=Imperial Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0DoY6VKNSC0C&pg=PT33|date=25 July 2002|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0141007038|access-date=30 December 2017|archive-date=29 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329122742/https://books.google.com/books?id=0DoY6VKNSC0C&pg=PT33#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> followed by [[Kingdom of Valencia#Splendour|Valencia]]. [[Palma de Mallorca|Palma]] ([[Majorca]]) also functioned as an additional important city and seaport.

The Crown of Aragon eventually included the [[Kingdom of Aragon]], the [[Principality of Catalonia]] (until the late 12th century the [[County of Barcelona]] and others), the [[Kingdom of Valencia]], the [[Kingdom of Majorca]], the [[Kingdom of Sicily]], [[Malta]], the [[Kingdom of Naples]] and [[Kingdom of Sardinia]]. For brief periods the Crown of Aragon also controlled [[Montpellier]], [[Provence]], [[Corsica]], and the twin [[Duchy of Athens]] and [[Duchy of Neopatras|Neopatras]] in [[Latin Greece]].

In the Late Middle Ages, the southward [[History of the territorial organization of Spain|territorial expansion]] of the Aragonese Crown in the Iberian Peninsula stopped in Murcia, which eventually consolidated as a realm of the [[Crown of Castile]], the [[Kingdom of Murcia]]. Subsequently, the Aragonese Crown focused on the Mediterranean, governing as far afield as Greece and the [[Barbary Coast]]. In contrast, Portugal, which completed its southward expansion in 1249, would focus on the Atlantic Ocean. Mercenaries from the territories in the Crown, known as ''[[Almogavars]]'' participated in the creation of this Mediterranean empire, and later found employment in countries all across southern Europe.

The Crown of Aragon has been considered an empire<ref name="Elliott2002" /> which ruled in the Mediterranean for centuries, with [[thalassocracy|thalassocratic]] power to setting rules over the entire sea, (as documented, for instance, in the ''Llibre del Consolat del Mar'' or ''[[Consulate of the Sea|Book of the Consulate of the Sea]]'', written in [[Catalan language|Catalan]], is one of the oldest compilations of [[maritime law]]s in the world).

However, the different territories were only connected through the monarch's person. A modern historian, Juan de Contreras y Lopez de Ayala, [[Lozoya|marquis of Lozoya]], described the Crown of Aragon as being more like a [[confederation|confederacy]] than a centralised kingdom.<ref>Lozoya, Marqués de (1952). ''Historia de España'', Salvat, vol. II page 60: "El Reino de Aragon, el Principado de Cataluña, el Reino de Valencia y el Reino de Mallorca, constituyen una confederación de Estados".</ref>

==History==
===Origin===
The Crown of Aragon originated in 1137, when the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] and the [[County of Barcelona]] (along with the [[County of Provence]], [[County of Girona|Girona]], [[County of Cerdanya|Cerdanya]], [[County of Osona|Osona]] and other territories) merged by [[dynastic union]]<ref name="bisson_31">
Bisson, Thomas N. (1986). ''The Medieval Crown of Aragon: a short history'', chapter II. The age of the Early Count-Kings (1137–1213) (The Principate of Ramon Berenguer IV 1137–1162), p. 31.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://libro.uca.edu/aarhms/newsletters/AAHRMSFall07text.pdf | title = Els impostos indirectes en el regne de Mallorca. | author = Cateura Benàsser, Pau | access-date = 2008-04-24 | archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081003182453/http://libro.uca.edu/aarhms/newsletters/aahrmsfall07text.pdf | archive-date = 3 October 2008 | url-status = dead }} El Tall dels Temps, 14. (Palma de) Mallorca: El Tall, 1996. {{ISBN|84-96019-28-4}}. 127pp.</ref> upon the marriage of [[Petronilla of Aragon]] and [[Raymond Berenguer IV of Barcelona]]; their individual titles combined in the person of their son [[Alfonso II of Aragon]], who ascended to the throne in 1162. This union respected the existing institutions and parliaments of both territories. The combined state was initially known as ''Regno, Dominio et Corona Aragonum et Catalonie''{{citation needed|date=September 2025}} (only between 1286 and 1291), and later as ''Corona Regum Aragoniae'', ''Corona Aragonum'' or simply ''Aragon''.

Petronilla's father [[Ramiro II of Aragon|King Ramiro, "The Monk"]] (reigned 1134–1137) who was raised in the Monastery of Saint Pons de Thomières, [[Viscounty of Béziers]] as a [[Benedictine]] monk was the youngest of three brothers. His brothers [[Peter I of Aragon and Navarre|Peter I]] (reigned 1094–1104) and [[Alfonso the Battler|Alfonso I]] ''El Batallador'' (The Battler, reigned 1104–1134) had fought against Castile for hegemony in the Iberian peninsula. Upon the death of Alfonso I, the Aragonese nobility that campaigned close to him feared being overwhelmed by the influence of Castile. And so, Ramiro was forced to leave his monastic life and proclaim himself King of Aragon. He married Agnes, sister of the [[Duke of Aquitaine]] and betrothed his only daughter [[Petronilla of Aragon]] to [[Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona|Raymond Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona]]. The wedding agreement provided Berenguer with the title of ''Princeps Aragonum'' and ''Dominator Aragonensis'' (Ruler of the Kingdom and Commander of the Aragonese Military) but the title of King of Aragon was reserved for Ramiro II and Berenguer's future sons.

Raymond Berenguer IV, the first ruler of the united dynasty, called himself Count of Barcelona and "Prince of Aragon".<ref name="paynefive">{{cite web| url= http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne5.htm| work= A History of Spain and Portugal| title= Chapter Five. The Rise of Aragon-Catalonia| author= Payne, Stanley G.| access-date= 2008-07-02| author-link= Stanley G. Payne| archive-date= 15 April 2012| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120415194817/http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne5.htm| url-status= live}}</ref><!--already said: The son of Raymond Berenguer IV and Petronilla, [[Alfonso II of Aragon|Alfonso II]], inherited both the titles of King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona, in a style that would be maintained by all subsequent successors to the crown.-->

===Expansion===
{{See also|Catalan Company}}
[[File:Expansión peninsular de la Corona de Aragón.png|thumb|270px|[[History of the territorial organization of Spain|Territorial expansion]] of the Crown of Aragon between 11th and 14th centuries in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands]]
[[File:Roy d'Aragón.jpg|thumb|200px|Equestrian heraldic of king [[Alfonso V of Aragon]] in the ''Equestrian armorial of the [[Order of the Golden Fleece|Golden Fleece]]'' 1433–1435. Collection [[Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal]].]]
Alfonso II inherited two realms and with them, two different expansion processes. The [[House of Jiménez]] looked south in a battle against Castile for the control of the middle valley of the Ebro in the Iberian peninsula. The [[House of Barcelona]] looked north to its origins, [[Occitania]], where through family ties it had significant influence, especially in [[Toulouse]], [[Provence]] and [[County of Foix|Foix]], towards the south along the [[Siege of Tortosa (1148)|Mediterranean coast]] and towards the [[1113–15 Balearic Islands expedition|Mediterranean sea]].

Soon, [[Alfonso II of Aragon|Alfonso II of Aragon and I of Barcelona]] committed to conquering [[Valencia]] as the Aragonese nobility demanded. Like his father, he gave priority to the expansion and consolidation of the [[House of Barcelona]]'s influence in Occitania.

Alfonso II signed the [[Treaty of Cazorla|treaties of Cazorla]], a multilateral treaty between [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]], [[Aragon]], [[Kingdom of León|León]], Portugal, and [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]] to redefine the frontiers and zones of expansion of each kingdom. Alfonso II assured [[Kingdom of Valencia|Valencia]] by renouncing the Aragonese rights of annexing Murcia in exchange for securing the Aragonese frontier with Castile. This action should be seen as result of the aforementioned priority given over the Occitan and Catalan dominions of the Crown of Aragon.<ref name="bisson_36">Bisson T. N. ''The age of the Early Count-Kings (1137–1213) (Dynastic Policy 1162–1213)'', chapter II, p. 36.</ref>

From the ninth century, the [[dukes of Aquitaine]], the [[Kingdom of Navarre|kings of Navarre]], the [[counts of Foix]], the [[counts of Toulouse]] and the [[Count of Barcelona|counts of Barcelona]] were rivals in their attempts at controlling the various counties of the [[Hispanic Marches]] and ''[[pays]]'' of [[Occitania]]. And the [[House of Barcelona]] succeeded in extending its influence to the area that is now south of France through strong family ties, in the areas of the [[County of Provence]], [[County of Toulouse]] and [[County of Foix]]. The rebellion of the [[Cathars]] or Albigensians, who rejected the authority and teachings of the [[Catholic Church]], led to the loss of these possessions in southern France. Pope Innocent III called upon [[Philip II of France]] to suppress the Albigensians—the [[Albigensian Crusade]], which led to bringing Occitania firmly under the control of the King of France, and the [[Capetian dynasty]] from northern France.

[[Peter II of Aragon]] returned from the [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in autumn 1212 to find that [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester]], had conquered [[Toulouse]], exiling Count [[Raymond VI of Toulouse]], who was Peter's brother-in-law and vassal. Peter's army crossed the [[Pyrenees]] and arrived at [[Muret]] where they were joined by Raymond of Foix and Raymond of Toulouse's forces, in September 1213 to confront Montfort's army. The [[Battle of Muret]] began on 12 September 1213. The Catalan, Aragonese and Occitan forces were disorganised and disintegrated under the assault of Montfort's squadrons. Peter himself was caught in the thick of fighting, and died as a result of a foolhardy act of bravado. Thus, the nobility of Toulouse, Foix and other vassals of the Crown of Aragon were defeated. The conflict concluded with the Treaty of Meaux-Paris in 1229, in which the Crown of Aragon agreed to renounce its rights over the south of [[Occitania]] with the integration of these territories into the dominions of the [[Louis VIII of France|King of France]].

King [[James I of Aragon|James I]] (13th century) returned to an era of expansion to the South, by conquering and incorporating [[Majorca]], [[Ibiza]], and a good share of the [[Kingdom of Valencia]] into the Crown. With the [[Treaty of Corbeil (1258)]], which was based upon the principle of natural frontiers,<ref name="chaytor_james">{{cite web|url=http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/hac6.htm|work=A History of Aragon and Catalonia|title=Chapter 6, James the Conqueror|author=Chaytor, H. J.|access-date=2008-04-25|archive-date=6 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406065117/http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/hac6.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Capetian dynasty|Capetians]] were recognised as heirs of the [[Carolingian dynasty]], and the Capetian king [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] renounced any historical claim of feudal overlordship over Catalonia. The general principle was clear, Catalan influence north of the Pyrenees, beyond the [[County of Roussillon|Roussillon]], [[Vallespir]], [[County of Conflent|Conflent]] and [[Capcir]], was to cease.<ref name="chaytor_james" /> James I had realized that wasting his forces and distracting his energies in attempts to keep a footing in France would only end in disaster.<ref name="chaytor_james" /> In January 1266, James I besieged and captured Murcia, then settled his own men, mostly Catalans, there; and handed Murcia over to Castile with the [[treaty of Cazorla]].<ref name="bisson_67">Bisson 1986:67</ref>

The [[Kingdom of Majorca]], including the Balearic Islands, and the counties of [[Cerdanya]] and [[Roussillon|Roussillon-Vallespir]] and the city of [[Montpellier]], was held independently from 1276 to 1279 by [[James II of Majorca]] and as a vassal of the Crown of Aragon after that date until 1349, becoming a full member of the Crown of Aragon from 1349.

Valencia was finally made a new kingdom with its own institutions and not an extension of the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] as the Aragonese noblemen had intended since even before the creation of the Crown of Aragon. The [[Kingdom of Valencia]] became the third member of the Crown together with Aragon and the [[Principality of Catalonia]]. The Kingdom of Majorca had an independent status with its own kings until 1349.

In 1282, the [[Sicilians]] rose up against the [[Capetian House of Anjou|second dynasty of the Angevins]] on the [[Sicilian Vespers]] and massacred the garrison soldiers throughout the island. [[Peter III of Aragon|Peter III]] responded to their call, and landed in [[Trapani]] to an enthusiastic welcome five months later. This caused [[Pope Martin IV]] to excommunicate the king, place Sicily under interdiction, and offer the kingdom of Aragon to a son of [[Philip III of France]].<ref name="bisson=87_88">Bisson 1986:87–88</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=A History of Aragon and Catalonia|chapter=7, Pedro III|chapter-url=http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/hac7.htm|author=Chaytor, H. J.|access-date=2008-05-03|archive-date=4 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204144658/http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/hac7.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

When Peter III refused to impose the ''Charters of Aragon'' in Valencia, the nobles and towns united in [[Zaragoza]] to demand a confirmation of their privileges, which the king had to accept in 1283. Thus began the [[Union of Aragon]], which developed the power of the ''[[Justicia de Aragon|Justícia]]'' to mediate between the king and the Aragonese bourgeois.<!--said:The ''Justícia d'Aragón'' institution and the annual Catalan General Courts date from that time.--><ref name="bisson=87_88" />

When [[James II of Aragon]]<ref>Not to be confused with James II of Majorca</ref> completed the conquest of the Kingdom of Valencia, the Crown of Aragon established itself as one of the major powers in Europe.
[[File:Fernando II entre dos escudos del Señal Real de Aragón.jpg|thumb|[[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] on his throne flanked by two shields with the emblem of the [[Royal seal|Royal Seal of Aragon]]. Frontispiece of a 1495 edition of ''[[Catalan constitutions]]''.<ref name="Redondo">{{Cite web|author=Fatás, Guillermo; Guillermo Redondo |url=http://www.derechoaragones.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?posicion=106&path=1269&forma=&presentacion=pagina |title=Blasón de Aragón |publisher=Zaragoza, Diputación General de Aragón |year=1995 |pages=101–102 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131092523/http://www.derechoaragones.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?posicion=106&path=1269&forma=&presentacion=pagina |archive-date=2012-01-31 }}</ref>]]
In 1297, to solve the dispute between the Anjevins and the Aragonese over Sicily, [[Pope Boniface VIII]] created ''[[ex novo]]'' a [[Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica]] and entrusted it as a [[fief]] to the Aragonese King [[James II of Aragon|James II]], ignoring already existing, indigenous states.<ref name="ReferenceA">The ''[[Giudicati]]'', the city of [[Sassari]], and the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] and [[Republic of Pisa|Pisan]] local possessions.</ref> In 1324, James II finally started to seize the Pisan territories in the former states of [[Giudicato of Cagliari|Cagliari]] and [[Giudicato of Gallura|Gallura]]. In 1347 Aragon made war on the Genoese [[Doria (family)|Doria]] and [[Malaspina family|Malaspina]] houses, which controlled most of the lands of the former [[Giudicato of Logudoro|Logudoro]] state in north-western Sardinia, and added them to its direct domains. The [[Giudicato of Arborea]], the only remaining independent Sardinian state, proved far more difficult to subdue. The rulers of Arborea developed the ambition to unite all of Sardinia under their rule and create a single Sardinian state, and at a certain point (1368–1388, 1392–1409) almost managed to drive the Aragonese out. The war between Arborea and Aragon was fought on and off for more than 100 years; this situation lasted until 1409, when the army of Arborea suffered a heavy defeat by the Aragonese army in the [[Battle of Sanluri]]; the capital [[Oristano]] was lost in 1410. After some years during which Arborean rulers failed to organise a successful resurgence, they sold their remaining rights for 100,000 gold florins, and by 1420 the Aragonese Kingdom of Sardinia finally extended throughout the island. The subduing of Sardinia having taken a century,{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} [[Corsica]], which had never been wrested from the Genoese, was dropped from the formal title of the Kingdom.

Through the marriage of [[Peter IV of Aragon|Peter IV]] to [[Maria, Queen of Sicily|Maria of Sicily]] (1381), the [[Kingdom of Sicily]], as well as the [[Duchy of Athens|duchies of Athens]] and [[Neopatria]], were finally implemented more firmly into the Crown. The Greek possessions were permanently lost to [[Nerio I Acciaioli]] in 1388 and Sicily was dissociated in the hands of [[Martin I of Sicily|Martin I]] from 1395 to 1409, but the [[Kingdom of Naples]] was added finally in 1442 by the conquest led by [[Alfonso V of Aragon|Alfonso V]].

The King's possessions outside of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands were ruled by proxy through local elites as [[petty kingdom]]s, rather than subjected directly to a centralised government. They were more an economic part of the Crown of Aragon than a political one.

The fact that the King was keen on settling new kingdoms instead of merely expanding the existing kingdoms was a part of a power struggle that pitted the interests of the king against those of the existing [[nobility]]. This process was also under way in most of the European states that successfully effected the transition to the [[Early Modern]] state. Thus, the [[History of the territorial organization of Spain|new territories]] gained from the [[Moors]]—namely Valencia and Majorca—were given ''[[fuero|furs]]'' as an instrument of self-government in order to limit the power of nobility in these new acquisitions and, at the same time, increase their allegiance to the monarchy itself. The trend in the neighbouring [[kingdom of Castile]] was quite similar, both kingdoms giving impetus to the [[Reconquista]] by granting different grades of self-government either to cities or territories, instead of placing the new territories under the direct rule of nobility.

===Personal union with Castile===
[[Image:IsabellaofCastile05.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand V]] and [[Isabella I of Castile|Isabella I]], [[List of Castilian monarchs|King and Queen of Castile]] and León, and later of Aragon, Majorca, Valencia, and Sicily]]

In 1410, King [[Martin I of Aragon|Martin I]] died without living descendants or heirs. As a result, on the [[Compromise of Caspe]], representatives from each Iberian state of the Crown, the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia and the Principality of Catalonia, chose [[Ferdinand of Antequera]] from the Castilian dynasty of [[House of Trastámara|Trastámara]] as king of the Crown of Aragon as [[Ferdinand I of Aragon]].

Later, his grandson King [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] recovered the northern Catalan counties—Roussillon and Cerdagne—which had been lost to France as well as the [[Kingdom of Navarre]], which had recently joined the Crown of Aragon but had been lost after internal dynastic disputes.

In 1469, Ferdinand married [[Isabella I of Castile|Infanta Isabella of Castile]], half-sister of King [[Henry IV of Castile]], who became Queen of Castile and León after Henry's death in 1474. Their marriage was a dynastic union<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne9.htm|work=A History of Spain and Portugal|title=Chapter Nine, The United Spanish Monarchy|author=Payne, Stanley G.|access-date=2008-04-17|author-link=Stanley G. Payne|archive-date=8 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208075612/http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne9.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/hac16.htm|work=A History of Aragon and Catalonia|title=Juan II. Union of Aragon with Castile|author=Chaytor, H. J.|access-date=2008-04-17|archive-date=6 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406064746/http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/hac16.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://libro.uca.edu/herr/ms03.htm|work=An historical essay on modern Spain|title=Chapter 3, The Making of Spain|author=Herr, Richard|access-date=2008-04-17|archive-date=8 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208075820/http://libro.uca.edu/herr/ms03.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> which became the constituent event for the dawn of the [[Monarchy of Spain]]. At that point both the [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and the states of the Crown of Aragon remained distinct polities, each keeping its own traditional institutions, parliaments and laws. The process of [[History of the territorial organization of Spain|territorial consolidation]] was completed when their grandson King [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles I]], known as Emperor Charles V, in 1516 ruled over all of the kingdoms on the Iberian peninsula, save the Kingdoms of Portugal and the Algarve, under one monarch—his co-monarch and mother Queen [[Joanna of Castile|Joanna I]] in confinement—thereby furthering the creation of the Spanish monarchy, albeit a [[composite monarchy|composite]] and decentralized one.

===Dissolution===
The literary evocation of past splendour recalls correctly the great age of the 13th and 14th centuries, when Majorca, Valencia and Sicily were conquered, the population growth could be handled without social conflict, and the urban prosperity, which peaked in 1345, created the institutional and cultural achievements of the Crown.<ref name="bisson_188_189">Bisson, T. N. "Epilogue", pp. 188–189.</ref>

The Aragonese crown's wealth and power stagnated and its authority was steadily transferred to the new Spanish crown settled in Castile after that date—the demographic growth was partially offset by the [[Alhambra Decree|expulsion of the Jews]] from Spain (1492), [[Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain|Muslim]]s (1502) and the [[expulsion of the Moriscos]] (1609).<ref name="bisson_189"/> It was unable to prevent the separation of Sicily and Naples due to the establishment of the Council of Italy, the loss of Roussillon in 1659 after the [[Reapers' War]] in the [[Principality of Catalonia]], the loss of Minorca and its Italian domains in 1707–1716, and the imposition of French language on Roussillon (1700) and Castilian as the language of government in all the old Aragonese Crown lands in Spain (1707–1716).<ref name="bisson_189"/>

The Crown of Aragon and its institutions and [[public law]] were abolished between 1707 and 1716 only after the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] (1701–1714) by the [[Nueva Planta decrees]], issued by [[Philip V of Spain]].<ref name="bisson_189"/> The original political structure was swept away, the administration was subsumed into the Castilian laws, the states of the Crown of Aragon loss their status of separate entitites and were united formally with those of Castile to legally form a single state, the [[History of Spain (1700–1808)|Kingdom of Spain]], as it moved towards an absolutist [[centralized government]] under the new [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] dynasty.<ref name="bisson_189">Bisson, T. N. "Epilogue", p. 189.</ref>

===Nationalist revisionism===
Some of the [[Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain|nationalist movements]] in Spain consider the former kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon to be the foundation of their nations, the Catalan nationalist movement being the most prominent. [[Spanish nationalism]], on the other hand, tends to place more importance on the later dynastic union with the [[Crown of Castile]], considering it the origin of one Spanish nation.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

The [[Romanticism]] of the 19th century Catalan [[Renaixença]] movement evoked a "Pyrenean realm" that corresponded more to the vision of 13th century [[troubadour]]s than to the historical reality of the Crown.<ref name="bisson_188">Bisson, T. N. "Epilogue", p. 188.</ref> This vision survives today as "a nostalgic programme of politicised culture".<ref name="bisson_188"/> Thus, the history of the Crown of Aragon remains a politically loaded topic in modern Spain,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldo.es/noticias/aragon/2012/11/29/la_web_generalitat_rebautiza_corona_aragon_como_quot_nacion_catalana_independiente_quot_213297_300.html|title=La web de la Generalitat rebautiza la Corona de Aragón como "nación catalana independiente|date=30 November 2012|language=es|access-date=15 September 2013|archive-date=16 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116204708/http://www.heraldo.es/noticias/aragon/2012/11/29/la_web_generalitat_rebautiza_corona_aragon_como_quot_nacion_catalana_independiente_quot_213297_300.html?|url-status=live}}</ref> especially when it comes to asserting the level of independence enjoyed by constituents of the Crown, like the Principality of Catalonia, which is sometimes used {{Request quotation|date=October 2017}} to justify the level of autonomy (or independence) that should be enjoyed by contemporary Catalonia and other territories.

==Pennon==
{{main article|Coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon}}

[[File:Royal arms of Aragon (Lozenge shaped and Crowned).svg|thumb|Coat of arms of Aragon (Lozenge shaped variant)]]
The origin of Coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon is the familiar coat of the [[Counts of Barcelona]] and [[Kings of Aragon]].<ref>Jéquier, Léon (1981). ''Actes du II Colloque international d'héraldique''. Breassone. Académie internationale d'héraldique. Les Origines des armoiries. Paris. {{ISBN|2-86377-030-6}}.{{in lang|fr}}</ref> The Pennon was used exclusively by the monarchs of the Crown and was expressive of their sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.aragob.es/pre/cido/bandera.htm | title = La bandera de Aragón | publisher = Autonomous Government of Aragon | date = 6 March 1997 | access-date = 2008-04-20 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080107013054/http://www.aragob.es/pre/cido/bandera.htm | archive-date = 7 January 2008 }} Page on the official flag of Aragon and the origin of the "palos de gules" or "barras de Aragón" {{in lang|es}}</ref> [[James III of Majorca]], vassal of the Crown of Aragon, used a coat of arms with four bars, as seen on the [[Leges palatinae]] miniatures.

==Institutions==
As separate states united to the Crown under the ''[[aeque principaliter]]'' principle, Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia each had a legislative body, known as the ''Cortes'' in the Kingdom of Aragon (the [[Cortes of Aragon|Courts of Aragon]]) or ''Corts'' in the Principality of Catalonia (the [[Catalan Courts]]) and the Kingdom of Valencia (the [[Corts Valencianes|Valencian Courts]]). A ''Diputación del General'' or ''Diputació del General'' was established in each, becoming known as a ''Generalidad'' in Aragon and ''[[Generalitat]]'' in Catalonia and Valencia.

From the 15th century onwards, every realm of the Crown was granted its own court of justice in the form of [[Real Audiencia|Royal Audience]], resulting from the division of the Royal Court and the establishment of the [[Council of Aragon]] in its place. After the dynastic union with Castile and the establishment of the monarchs in that realm, the king began to be permanently represented in the realms of the Crown of Aragon by [[viceroy]]s, one for each state, including Mallorca and Sardinia.

==Capital==
The house of the Crown was the [[Cathedral of the Savior of Zaragoza]] from Peter II (12th century).<ref>{{cite web|title=Coronación real.|url=http://www.enciclopedia-aragonesa.com/voz.asp?voz_id=4287|website=Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa|access-date=27 December 2017|archive-date=19 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919085858/http://www.enciclopedia-aragonesa.com/voz.asp?voz_id=4287|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Español |first1=Francesca |title=Hagiografia peninsular en els segles medievals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mA__E1IntW0C&q=saragossa&pg=PA1 |language=ca |edition=Universitat de Lleida |year=2008 |page=180 |publisher=Universitat de Lleida |isbn=978-8484093572 |access-date=10 November 2020 |archive-date=29 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329122751/https://books.google.com/books?id=mA__E1IntW0C&q=saragossa&pg=PA1#v=snippet&q=saragossa&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The General Courts of the Crown (the simultaneous meeting of the Courts of Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia) used to gather at [[Monzón]] (13th to 16th centuries), the remaining meetings took place at [[Fraga]], [[Zaragoza]], [[Calatayud]] and [[Tarazona]]. The councillor headquarters were located at [[Barcelona]] (13th to 16th centuries) and [[Naples]] during the kingdom of Alfonso V.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Actes del cinquè Col·loqui Internacional de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes: Andorra, 1–6 d'octubre de 1979|date=1980|publisher=Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat|others=Bruguera, J. (Jordi); Massot i Muntaner, Josep|isbn=8472024091|location=Montserrat|pages=189|language=ca|oclc=8347469}}</ref>

On the other hand, the [[General Archive of the Crown of Aragon]] (originally known as the Royal Archive of Barcelona), which was the official repository of royal documentation of the Crown since the reign of James II (14th century), has its seat in Barcelona, being founded in 1318, after the unification of the documentary deposits of the Kingdom of Aragon, located in the [[Monastery of Santa María de Sigena]], and that of the County of Barcelona, located in the house of the [[Knights Hospitaller]] of the city.<ref>{{cite encyclopaedia |url=http://www.enciclopedia-aragonesa.com/voz.asp?voz_id=3019 |encyclopedia=Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa |title=Cancillería real aragonesa |place=Zaragoza |publisher=El Periódico de Aragón |access-date=27 December 2017 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195549/http://www.enciclopedia-aragonesa.com/voz.asp?voz_id=3019 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="carlos">{{cite book|title= Qué es el Archivo de la Corona de Aragón? |author= Rodríguez, Carlos López  |editor= Mira Editores |isbn= 978-84-8465-220-5 |date= April 2007 |pages= 32–33, 35–38, 41|publisher= Mira Editores }}</ref>

In the early 15th century, the de facto capital was Valencia until [[Alfonso V of Aragon|Alfonso V]] came to the throne.
During the 15th and the 16th centuries, the Crown's ''[[de facto]]'' capital was [[Naples]]. After [[Alfonso V of Aragon]], [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] settled the capital in Naples. Alfonso, in particular, wanted to transform Naples into a real Mediterranean capital and lavished huge sums to embellish it further.<ref>History books (Donzelli), ''Medieval Historic'', Rome 1998, {{ISBN|88-7989-406-4}}</ref> Later the courts were itinerant<ref name="uib">{{cite web|url=http://www.uib.es/servei/comunicacio/sc/projectes/arxiu/nousprojectes/FelipII/FelipIIcast.pdf|author=A team of investigators of the [[University of the Balearic Islands|UIB]] directed by Doctor Josep Juan Vidal|publisher=Servei de Comunicacions de la UIB|title=Felipe II, the King that defended Majorca but didn't want to recognize all its privileges|access-date=2008-04-17 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080529123503/http://www.uib.es/servei/comunicacio/sc/projectes/arxiu/nousprojectes/FelipII/FelipIIcast.pdf |archive-date = 29 May 2008|language=es}}</ref> until [[Philip II of Spain]]. The Spanish historian Domingo Buesa Conde has argued that Zaragoza ought to be considered the permanent political capital, but not the economic or administrative capital, owing to the obligation for kings to be crowned at the [[Cathedral of the Savior of Zaragoza]].<ref group="nb">Domingo J. Buesa Conde, in ''El rey de Aragón'' (Zaragoza, CAI, 2000:57–59. {{ISBN|84-95306-44-1}}) postulates that the Crown of Aragon's political capital of Zaragoza though it was not the economic or the administrative one since the court was itinerative in the 14th century and took its start from the decrees of Peter IV of Aragon establishing his coronation there:<!--postula la capitalidad política (que no económica, ni administrativa—puesto que las cortes eran itinerantes en el siglo XIV—) de Zaragoza para la Corona de Aragón a partir de los mandados de Pedro IV de Aragón establecidos para su propia coronación--> "Pedro IV parte (...) de la aceptación de la capital del Ebro como 'cabeza del Reino'. [...] por eso hizo saber a sus súbditos que 'Mandamos que este sacrosanto sacramento de la unción sea recibido de manos del metropolitano en la ciudad de Zaragoza' al tiempo que recordaba: "... y como quiera que los reyes de Aragón están obligados a recibir la unción en la ciudad de Zaragoza, que es la cabeza del Reino de Aragón, el cual reino es nuestra principal designación—esto es, apellido—y título, consideramos conveniente y razonable que, del mismo modo, en ella reciban los reyes de Aragón el honor de la coronación y las demás insignias reales, igual que vimos a los emperadores recibir la corona en la ciudad de Roma, cabeza de su imperio. Zaragoza, antigua capital del reino de Aragón, se ha convertido en la capital política de la Corona (...)".</ref>

== Culture ==
During the Crown of Aragon, the Catalan culture and language underwent a vigorous expansion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ferrando |first=Antoni |title=Manual of Catalan Linguistics |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110450408-018/html |chapter=11. The Growth and Expansion of Catalan (1213–1516) |date=2020-04-06 |pages=471–484 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-045040-8 |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110450408-018 |s2cid=216504074 |access-date=2 April 2022 |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402080149/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110450408-018/html |url-status=live }}</ref> During the period of trade, Occitan-Catalan contributions to [[Maltese language|Maltese]] occurred.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Biosca |first1=Carles |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110565744-003/html |title=Aspects of the comparison between Maltese, Mediterranean Lingua Franca and the Occitan-Catalan linguistic group (13th–15th centuries) |last2=Castellanos |first2=Carles |date=2017-09-25 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |isbn=978-3-11-056574-4 |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110565744-003 |access-date=2 April 2022 |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402080243/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110565744-003/html |url-status=live }}</ref>

King [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Fernando II]] and [[Isabella I of Castile|Queen Isabella]], as the [[Catholic Monarchs of Spain|Catholic Monarchs]] who began the [[Inquisition]], were contrary to the more plural development that preceded in the Crown of Aragon. The previous religious background was described as "longstanding tradition of [[Mudéjar|Mudejarism]], the royal sanctioning and protection of subject Muslim populations within Christian realms."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Muslims of Valencia |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft2q2nb14x&chunk.id=d0e256&toc.id=d0e256&brand=ucpress |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=publishing.cdlib.org |archive-date=2 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902041510/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft2q2nb14x&chunk.id=d0e256&toc.id=d0e256&brand=ucpress |url-status=live }}</ref> Aesthetic [[Mudéjar architecture of Aragon]] has been observed as demonstrating the influence of [[Andalusia]]n and [[Arab]] culture in Aragon proper. [[Gothic architecture]] was also developed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gothic Architecture in Spain: Invention and Imitation |url=https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/research-resources/publications/courtauld-books-online/gothic-architecture-in-spain-invention-and-imitation/1-gothic-architecture-in-spain-invention-and-imitation-tom-nickson/ |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=The Courtauld |language=en-US |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402081743/https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/research-resources/publications/courtauld-books-online/gothic-architecture-in-spain-invention-and-imitation/1-gothic-architecture-in-spain-invention-and-imitation-tom-nickson/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:El_mar_Mediterráneo_en_el_Atlas_catalán_de_Cresques_Abraham.jpg|thumb|Map of Europe and the Mediterranean from the [[Catalan Atlas]] of 1375]]
The [[Mediterranean Lingua Franca]] was a mixed language used widely for commerce and diplomacy and was also current among slaves of the [[bagnio]], [[Barbary pirates]] and European renegades in precolonial [[Algiers]]. Among the speakers who created the language, also called Sabir, were Muslims from Aragon called "Tagarins" (a term mentioned by [[Miguel de Cervantes|Miguel Cervantes]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cifoletti |first=Guido |title=Migrating Words, Migrating Merchants, Migrating Law |chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004416642/BP000006.xml |chapter=Lingua Franca and Migrations |date=2019-11-07 |pages=84–92 |publisher=Brill Nijhoff |isbn=978-90-04-41664-2 |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004416642_006 |s2cid=214457931 |access-date=2 April 2022 |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402083746/https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004416642/BP000006.xml |url-status=live }}</ref> Historically, the first to use it were the [[Italian Levantine|Genoese and Venetian trading colonies]] in the eastern Mediterranean after the year 1000.
{{Blockquote|As the use of Lingua Franca spread in the Mediterranean, dialectal fragmentation emerged, the main difference being more use of Italian and Provençal vocabulary in the Middle East, while Ibero-Romance lexical material dominated in the Maghreb. After France became the dominant power in the latter area in the 19th century, Algerian Lingua Franca was heavily gallicised (to the extent that locals are reported having believed that they spoke French when conversing in Lingua Franca with the Frenchmen, who in turn thought they were speaking Arabic), and this version of the language was spoken into the nineteen hundreds...<ref>{{cite web| url=https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/corre/www/franca/edition3/foreword.html| title=Foreword to A Glossary of Lingua Franca| last=Parkvall| first=Mikael| author-link=Mikael Parkvall| editor=Alan D. Corré| editor-link=Alan D. Corré| date=2005| edition=5th| location=Milwaukee, WI, United States| access-date=4 December 2015| archive-date=4 March 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115405/https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/corre/www/franca/edition3/foreword.html| url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
The similarities contribute to discussions of the classification of the [[Mediterranean Lingua Franca]] as a language. Although its official classification is that of a pidgin, some scholars adamantly oppose that classification and believe it would be better viewed as an [[interlanguage]] of Italian.

Linguist Steven Dworkin hypothesized that Catalan was the point of entry for Mediterranean Lingua Franca terms into Spain, arguably the source of several Italian and Arabic loanwords in Spanish, citing the [[Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico|DCECH]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dworkin |first=Steven N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V4f8ZpJAhgIC&pg=PA193 |title=A History of the Spanish Lexicon: A Linguistic Perspective |date=2012-06-07 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-954114-0 |language=en |access-date=2 April 2022 |archive-date=29 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329122744/https://books.google.com/books?id=V4f8ZpJAhgIC&pg=PA193#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Composition==
The crown was made up of the following territories (which are nowadays parts of the modern countries of Spain, France, Italy, Greece, [[Malta]], and [[Andorra]]).

Sort by "Earliest annexion" to see the states in the chronological order they were joined to the crown.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col" style="text-align: left; width: 7em;" | Name
! scope="col" style="text-align: left;" | Type of entity
! scope="col" style="text-align: left;" | Notes
! scope="col" style="text-align: left;" | Earliest annexion
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Coat of arms of Andorra (Before 16th Century).svg|20px]] [[Andorra]]
| [[Co-principality]]
| Briefly annexed by Aragon in 1396 and again in 1512 || 1396
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Aragon arms.svg|20px]] [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]]
| [[Monarchy|Kingdom]]
| Joined with the [[County of Barcelona]] in 1162 to form the Crown || 1162
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Arms of the House of de la Roche.svg|20px]] [[Duchy of Athens|Athens]]
| [[Duchy]]
| Conquered by the [[Catalan Company]] in 1311; Inherited through the Kingdom of Sicily in 1381; lost in 1388. [[Lordship of Salona]] remained under the Fadrique branch of the House of Barcelona until 1394. || 1311/81
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Aragon arms.svg|20px]] [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]], originally [[County of Barcelona|Barcelona]]
| [[Principality]], originally a [[county]]
| Joined with Aragon in 1162 to form the Crown. Through the 12th and the 14th centuries, the County of Barcelona developed common institutions and legislation with the other [[Catalan counties]], such as the [[Catalan constitutions|Constitutions]], the [[Catalan Courts]] and the [[Generalitat of Catalonia|Generalitat]], establishing the Principality of Catalonia as a [[polity]] || 1162
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Blason province fr Gevaudan.svg|20px]] [[Gévaudan]]
| County
| Inherited in 1166 by [[Alfonso II of Aragon|Alfonso II]]; lost in 1307 || 1166
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Armoiries Majorque.svg|20px]] [[Kingdom of Majorca|Majorca]]
| Kingdom
| Established in 1231 by James I, including [[Roussillon]] and [[Montpellier]], as part of the Crown || 1231
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Coat of Arms of Ferdinand I of Naples.svg|20px]] [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]]
| Kingdom
| Successfully wrested by [[Alfonso V of Aragon|Alfonso V]] from [[House of Valois|Capetian]] rule in 1442; briefly gained independence ; in 1494, contended again by the French King [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]], then reconquered by [[Crown of Castile|Spain]] in the [[Italian War of 1499–1504]]; lost permanently in 1714, after the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] || 1442
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Navarre.svg|20px]] [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]]
| Kingdom
|[[John II of Aragon]] became co-ruler of Navarre ''[[jure uxoris]]'' in 1425 and became sole ruler in 1441. After he and his daughter [[Eleanor of Navarre|Eleanor]] died in 1479, Aragon lost control again. || 1425
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Neopatria.svg|20px]] [[Duchy of Neopatria|Neopatria]]
| Duchy
| Conquered by the [[Catalan Company]] in 1319; Inherited through the Kingdom of Sicily in 1381; lost in 1390 || 1319/81
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Aragon arms.svg|20px]] [[Provence]]
| County
| Inherited with the county of Barcelona in 1162 || 1162
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Arms of Sardinia.svg|20px]] [[Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica|Sardinia]] and Corsica
| Kingdom
| In 1297 [[Pope Boniface VIII]] created ''[[ex novo]]'' this kingdom<ref>Formally including [[Corsica]], which was never conquered or controlled by the Aragonese or the Spanish.</ref> and entrusted it in [[fiefdom]] to the Aragonese King [[James II of Aragon|James II]], ignoring the [[Sardinian medieval kingdoms|already existing, indigenous states.]]<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Corsica was never conquered durably. The kingdom was lost in 1714. || 1324
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Aragon-Sicily Arms.svg|20px]] [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]]
| Kingdom
| Inherited through [[Constance II of Sicily]], lost in 1713,<ref>Including [[Malta]]. In 1530 [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles V]] gave the islands to the [[Knights Hospitaller]] under the leadership of [[Philippe de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam]], [[Grand Master (order)|Grand Master of the Order]], in perpetual lease for which they had to pay the [[Tribute of the Maltese Falcon]]. These knights, a military religious order now known as the [[Knights of Malta]], had been [[Siege of Rhodes (1522)|driven out]] of [[Rhodes]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1522.</ref> also known as [[Kingdom of Trinacria]]. || 1282
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align: left;" | [[File:Escut de la Ciutat e Regne de València.svg|20px]] [[Kingdom of Valencia|Valencia]]
| Kingdom
| Established in 1238, as part of the Crown, following the conquest of the [[Taifa of Valencia|Moorish]] [[taifa]] || 1238
|}

==Coat of arms of the kings of the Crown of Aragon==
<gallery class="centre">
File:Arms of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona (Golden escarbuncle variant).svg|Coat of arms from [[Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona]] to [[Alfonso II of Aragon]]
File:Royal arms of Aragon.svg|Coat of arms from [[Alfonso II of Aragon]] to [[Peter II of Aragon]]
File:Royal arms of Aragon (Crowned).svg|Coat of arms from [[Peter II of Aragon]] to [[Peter IV of Aragon]]
File:Arms of Aragonese Monarchs (13th-15 centuries).svg|Coat of arms from [[Peter IV of Aragon]] to [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Cortes of Tarazona (1592)]]
* [[List of Aragonese monarchs]]
* [[List of Sicilian monarchs]]
* [[Prince of Girona]]
* [[Catalan Company|Great Catalan Company]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book | title = The medieval Crown of Aragon. A short history | year = 1986 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford | author = Bisson, T. N. | isbn = 0-19-820236-9 }}<!--| access-date = 2008-05-03 -->

==External links==
{{Commons category|Crown of Aragon}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161207030632/http://www.mecd.gob.es/cultura-mecd/en/areas-cultura/archivos/mc/archivos/aca/fondos-documentales/introduccion.html Archive of the Crown of Aragon, pl. del Rei, Barcelona.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927003202/http://www.lluisvives.com/FichaClasificacionMaterias.html?Ref=821.134.1&idGrupo=convencional&portal=126 Catalan literature in Crown of Aragon]

{{Spanish Kingdoms |state=expanded}}
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