8. A potted history of the Aragonese kingdom 1035-1469
Aragon emerged as a kingdom in 1035 when it was separated from the territory of Navarre. It acquired Barcelona in 1137 and Catalonia in 1162. It was during the reign of James I (1213-76) that Aragon expanded its territories most quickly, conquering Majorca, and then most of Valencia from the Moors, and also extending its control into Languedoc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jaume_I_Palma.jpg
Further expansion contined right through until the 15th century. Sardinia and Corsica were added in 1297 when granted to Aragon by Pope Boniface VIII; the kingdom of Sicily was acquired by the marriage of the grandson of King Peter IV (Martin) to Maria of Sicily in 1389; and Naples conquered by Alfonso V in 1442. Aragon also briefly controlled the duchies of Athens and Neopatria during the 1380s.
This is what Mike looks like. Notice the "arrogant-knees" gleam in is eye!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alfon ... nanimo.jpg 1416-58
The way the kingdom worked was a bit unusual, to say the least. The territories outside of Aragon and the Balearic islands were not subject to the central govenment but were allowed a certain amount of autonomy inasmuch as they were ruled by the local elites on a day-to day basis. To that extent it really was a sort of confederacy rather than a unified state. Apparently, the technical term for this sort of arrangement is "thalassocracy" (meaning a state that primarily consists of overseas territories).
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... svg&page=1
There was a change of dynasty at the beginning of the 15th century. When King Martin I died in 1410 without any surviving descendants, it was decided by the Pact of Caspe that Ferdinand of Antequera (from the Castilian dynasty of Trastámara) should receive the Crown of Aragon and be known as Ferdinand I of Aragon. It was his grandson, King Ferdinand II of Aragon, who recovered the northern Catalan countie of Roussillon and Cerdagne from France and the territory of Navarre that had been briefly lost after an internal power struggle.
It is also important to realise that the de facto capital of Aragon in the 15thC was Naples although Aragonese kings still had to be crowned at Zaragoza.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... svg&page=1
Then, in 1469, a dynastic union of the Crown of Aragon with the Crown of Castile by the Catholic Monarchs took place, which eventually saw the Kingdom of Spain established as a leading European power in the 16th century..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Isabe ... tile05.jpg
That was the last in the series of "potted histories" for this campaign - I hope that you enjoyed them.