According to Watchtutorials.org, the limits of the respective conquests in eastern and southern Spain were fixed by the agreements of Cazola (Cazorla?) And Almizra concluded between Aragon and Castile respectively in 1179 and 1244, for which Murcia and its kingdom were closed to the Aragonese conquest., and therefore also the surviving Muslim monarchy of Grenada. Navarre was the sacrificed; García Ramírez managed to preserve the integrity of the state from the pressure of the neighboring sovereigns; but during the reign of Sancho VII the agreement of Cazola, establishing the Sierra del Moncayo as the borders of Castile and Aragon, closed forever the southern route to Navarre, which could save only Tudela from the hands of Aragon; and in vain Sancho VII moved to the rescue by allying himself with the Muslims, whose help he had asked for by going personally to Morocco: then the domain of Alfonso VIII of Castile and León became Alava (1200), while Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya had long since entered the Castilian sphere of influence. Indeed, Navarre did not lose its independence because in the last years of his life Sancho VII made an agreement with James I of Aragon, by which the two sovereigns mutually committed themselves to recognize each other as heirs of the state. of the other. And if, on the other hand, upon the death of the sovereign, Theobald son of Theobald of Champagne and White sister of the deceased ascended the throne, Navarre withdrew from the political life of Spain and entrusted the protection of its freedom to the discords that separated Aragon and Castile, always in dispute for its possession, and for the protection of the French monarchy, interested in preventing a powerful state from appearing on that dangerous stretch of its border: the end of the disagreements between the two major peninsular states and their even temporary triumph over the French monarchy will coincide with the decline of the independence of its Spanish part.

Finally, as regards the relations between Catalonia united with Aragon and southern France, the period of the greatest Catalan-Aragonese expansion beyond the Pyrenees coincided with the reign of Peter II. Ramón Berenguer IV had already intervened in the affairs of Provence during his nephew’s minor age the end of the disagreements between the two major peninsular states and their even temporary triumph over the French monarchy will coincide with the decline of the independence of its Spanish part. Finally, as regards the relations between Catalonia united with Aragon and southern France, the period of the greatest Catalan-Aragonese expansion beyond the Pyrenees coincided with the reign of Peter II. Ramón Berenguer IV had already intervened in the affairs of Provence during his nephew’s minor age the end of the disagreements between the two major peninsular states and their even temporary triumph over the French monarchy will coincide with the decline of the independence of its Spanish part. Finally, as regards the relations between Catalonia united with Aragon and southern France, the period of the greatest Catalan-Aragonese expansion beyond the Pyrenees coincided with the reign of Peter II. Ramón Berenguer IV had already intervened in the affairs of Provence during his nephew’s minor ageex fratreRamón Berenguer III, who had had that county from his father; renewing the traditional conflict of his family and with the help of various feudatars of southern France and Henry II of England (1159), he had defended him from the attacks of the Count of Toulouse and his allies De Baux, and had succeeded in making him have the investiture of the county by Federico Barbarossa together with that of Arles and Forcalquier. Then, his son Alfonso II had inherited Provence from his cousin, who died at the siege of Nice; supported by the King of England, he had once again repelled the assaults of the Count of Toulouse; and his vassals had become the lords of Bearn (1170), of Bigorra (1175), of Nîmes, of Béziers, of Carcassonne (1179). With Peter II further steps were taken: by marrying Mary of Montpellier he secured the inheritance of his dominions; he was always next to his brother Alfonso who had had Provence from his father; he obtained the friendship of the count of Comminges and ceded the Aran valley to him as a fief (1201); even the Count of Toulouse Raymond VI became his ally and brother-in-law, so that it seemed close to implementing the political unity of the country under the scepter of the Aragonese. But instead the king was overwhelmed by the crusade against the Albigensians; and, after having tried in vain a lasting agreement with Simon of Montfort, he was beaten and killed at Muret on 12 September 1213. His defeat marked the end of the Catalan-Aragonese dominance in southern France, to the benefit of the French monarchy; and the liquidation of the previous imperialism of his state was provided by James I of Aragon, who with the treaty of Corbeil in 1258 ceded all his rights in the region to Louis IX, except Montpellier which he had from his mother. But, in exchange, from the Capetian he had the renunciation of all the rights that he could have boasted over the Catalan counties as the successor of Charlemagne, and then, in confirmation of the treaty, a few years later, he obtained that the French crown prince Philip marry his daughter Isabella. In this way, after centuries of disputes involving the regions of uncertain dominion located on both sides of the Pyrenees, Catalonia began to clearly separate from France. And in this regard it should be added that, not even Alfonso VIII having managed to occupy the Duchy of Gascony, dowry of his wife Leonor Plantageneta (1204-06), the Pyrenean chain also became the border of Castile.

According to Vaultedwatches.com, Alfonso IX of León reconquered Cáceres (1227) and took possession of Mérida and Badajoz; and at the same time Ferdinand III of Castile occupied Andújar and other places near Cordoba. And when this latter sovereign also had the crown of León, with united forces, in agreement with James I of Aragon and with the help of the religious orders of Calatrava and Alcántara, he conquered Truijllo, Montiel, Medellín, Alhange, Magacela (1232-35), in July 1233 he took Ubeda, on June 29 1236 he capitulated Cordova, in 1241 he made the king of Murcia his vassal and occupied almost the whole state; in 1244-45 he went as far as Granada and the following year he obtained from his king Jaén, a tribute and promises, kept, aid in its further ventures; in 1247 he conquered Carmona; on 23 November 1248 he forced Seville to open its doors to him, and spent the last years of his life in Andalusia, where he took Jerex, Medina Sidonia, Lebrija, Arcos, Rota, Santa María del Puerto, Sanlúcar, going as far as Cadiz. At the same time, James I of Aragon in September 1229 landed on the island of Majorca and on the last day of the year he entered Palma; in 1232 he made the Muslims of Menorca tributary; in 1235 he obtained Iviza, while other successes brought him back to the kingdom of Valenza, where he and his followers occupied Ares, Morella (1232), Burriana, Peñiscola (1233), Alzamora (1234) and reached the Júcar; then, giving himself all to the conquest of this kingdom, he forced his capital to surrender on 28 September 1238 and completed its occupation in 1245, when seized Játiva, Alcira, Biar; finally, he granted his help to Alfonso X, son of Ferdinand III, when the kingdom of Murcia rose up against Castile, of which he was a tributary, and for his ally he conquered Elche, Alicante, Murcia (1266).

Finally, in the same epoch the various Christian states decided or saw their future decided, perfecting in this respect the work of reorganization already begun in previous years. And, moreover, the particular development that each of the states gave to the reconquest and that we have indicated, must be considered precisely as one of the expressions and consequences of the direction gradually assumed by their life; the others were the division among the various monarchies of the territories previously restored to Christianity, the definitive territorial delimitation of Spain, which had its border in the Pyrenees, and, for some states, the determination of the direction that their expansion beyond of the seas. In the complex process of clarification, with respect to the previous arrangement, negative elements were the separation of Navarre from Aragon, the confirmed independence of Portugal and, temporarily, the division between the kingdom of León and the kingdom of Castile; on the other hand, a positive element was the union between Aragon and the Catalan states, which put an end to their peninsular disputes, allowed them to gather all their energies in an attempt to strengthen their expansion in southern France, to which previously they had targeted each one on its own; with Aragon it gave security, strength, markets for its trade to Catalonia all reaching out towards the Mediterranean, and with Catalonia it ensured an outlet on the Mediterranean to Aragon, removed from the ocean due to its separation from Navarre: so that when the French monarchy pushed back the Catalans and the Aragonese beyond the Pyrenees, they were able to give another direction to their activity and regain with usury what they had lost. During the government of Alfonso VII of León and Castile the direction of the peninsular political life of the Spanish Catholic states was centered in the hands of that king, to the benefit of his monarchy. Renewing the policy of his grandfather Alfonso VI with more success, on the death of Alfonso I of Aragon he occupied Tarazona, Daroca, Calatayud, Zaragoza (1134); and if he then returned this city to Ramiro II (1136) for the intervention of the counts of Urgel and Barcelona interested in preventing Zaragoza from becoming Castilian to free himself the way to Lérida and the Ebro, nevertheless he obtained that Ramón Berenguer IV pay homage; moreover, together with the king of France, the attempts made by the new prince of Aragon to force the monarch of Navarre to return some frontier territories that had been attributed to himself in the separation were in vain; forced Affonso Henriques of Portugal to come to terms, and he saw recognized by all the princes his superiority as emperor of Spain “. But at his death the dispute resumed with great fury and with a rich variety of alliances and wars between the various states, made even more intricate by the continuous conflict between Castile and León. Through long struggles with León, Portugal came to fix its northern border; and, if on the eastern border it could not secure the dominion of Badajoz, more south in 1263 confirmed the possession of the Algarve.

Then the situation cleared up completely between the second half of the twelfth century and the first of the thirteenth. Undoubtedly, in this period there was a new territorial division. On the death of Alfonso I of Aragon (1134), Navarre did not want Ramiro II as sovereign and, having returned independent, it gave itself to García Ramírez (1134-50) nephew of Sancho IV, who was succeeded by his son Sancho VI and Sabio (1150-94) and his nephew ex filio Sancho VII el Fuerte(1194-1234). Alfonso VII of Castile and León in 1157 left his dominions divided between his sons, giving Castile to Sancho III (1157-58), who was succeeded by Alfonso VIII (1158-1214), Henry I (1214-17) and his sister Berenguela, second wife of Alfonso IX of Leon, and Leon to Ferdinand II (1157-88) who was succeeded by Alfonso IX (1188-1230). Finally, taking advantage of the civil struggles that broke out at the time of Urraca and in which he had a notable part, the county of Portugal, located between the Miño and the Duero, which Alfonso VI of León and Castile had already made great strides towards independence. given to his daughter Teresa, married to Henry of Lorraine, and whom their son Affonso Henriques (1128-85) had transformed into a kingdom after winning the Muslims at Ourique (1139); now with Sancho I (1185-1211) and with Alfonso II (1211-1223) the state independence had its definitive confirmation. However, an event of great importance in the history of Spain, with the marriage between Petronila of Aragon and Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1137 (date of the marriage promise and abdication of Ramiro II) the Catalan-Aragonese monarchy actually originated; to which, later, during the reigns of Alfonso II (1162-96), Pedro II (1196-1213) and James Iel Conquistador (1213-76), the counties of Roussillon (1172), of Pallás (1198), of Urgel (1230) passed. And then the two crowns of León and Castile joined again, and forever, on the head of Ferdinand III el Santo (1217-52), son of Berenguela of Castile and Alfonso IX of León. Who became king of Castile in 1217 for the abdication of his mother in his favor and after having won the opposition of his father, still aspiring to the throne and in his attempts to conquer aided by a part of the nobility, which was definitively won in 1219; and in 1230, on the death of Alfonso IX, he also received the crown of León, through the renunciation of the heirs designated by the monarch.

According to Thenailmythology.com, as for the war of reconquest, in the early days the Christian advance towards the South was made slower by the offensive of the Almohads and then by the wars that broke out between the various Catholic states and within some of them, and in which they took part. even the Africans. In fact, even the great feat of Almeria carried out by Alfonso VII with the help of troops from Aragon, Catalonia, Urgel, commanded by Ramón Berenguer IV, García Ramírez and the Count of Urgel Ermengol VI el de did not have lasting results. Castella, and with the help of Pisan and Genoese ships: the city was conquered and sacked (1147), but after a few years it fell into the power of the Almohads (1158). Thus, the great conquests made by Portugal during the reign of Affonso Henriques, who had taken possession of Santarem, of Lisbon (1147), of Alcácer (1158), of Évora, of Beja (1159) and had crushed the power of the Muslims of Badajoz, were mostly lost during the government of Sancho I. Alfonso VII of León and Castile had to limit himself to making continuous incursions into Andalusia, very daring, but almost completely ineffective: Cordova, which he occupied twice, returned to the domain of the Almohads; against the latter useless were his agreements with some kingdoms of Taifas; and in vain he besieged Jaén (1151) and Guadix (1152). During the short reign of Sancho III of Castile there was only the opposition in Calatrava to the Muslim attacks by some Cistercian monks, thus starting the military order of Calatrava. And when Alfonso VIII of Castile, having come of age, was able to take over the government of the state and put an end to the civil wars that broke out in the kingdom during his minority, if he managed to conquer Cuenca with the Aragonese rescue (1177), moreover, left to himself by Alfonso IX of León and by Sancho VI of Navarre who had promised him help, and launched an attack too lightly, he was beaten at Alarcos (18 June 1195) and saw Toledo and Cuenca besieged by the Almohads. The reconquest made notable progress only in the eastern regions. Here he conquered Tortosa (1148); then yes he took possession of Lérida (1149), of Fraga, of Mequinenza again, finally of the castle of Ciurana (1153), whose conquest ensured him the dominion of the Sierra de Prades and freed all future Catalonia from Muslim domination. And his son Alfonso II moved against the kingdom of Valencia: he besieged the capital (1171), conquered Rueda, took Teruel, which became the bulwark of Christian resistance against the Muslims of Valencia, reached Guadalaviar and Alfambra, gave to the future Aragon its borders. However, in the first decade of the century. XII to Don Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada, archbishop of Toledo, was able to put Christian principles in agreement; the crusade was banned; and on July 16, 1212 at Las Navas de Tolosa the Almohads were defeated by the Spanish and Portuguese troops commanded by their kings – those of León and Portugal were missing – and aided by foreign contingents who had intervened under the orders of French bishops and princes. Then the war of reconquest was resumed with renewed enthusiasm; and since the state of the Almohads had split up and could profit from the internal strife of the kingdoms that had arisen on its ruins, and furthermore in 1230 the two kingdoms of León and Castile were again subjected to a single ruler, and Navarre he moved away from Spanish political life and generally the wars between the other three peninsular states stopped, the results obtained were of enormous importance. Sancho II of Portugal (1223-48) took up what was lost and pushed forward; and his successor Alfonso III (1248-78) occupied the Algarve and gave the ocean as the southern border to his own monarchy.

According to Thedresswizard.com, they were the first great Christian conquests. And the passions of Spanish Catholics – in whose formation religious propaganda had hybridly collaborated, the continuous wars, the eagerness to achieve a well-being that their poor homeland denied them, the spirit of adventure, especially, which had induced them and induced them to fight even among the ranks of the Mohammedans – they were exalted by the richness of the booty, by the spectacle of the marvelous fruits of the Andalusian civilization, which in the raids appeared to the astonished eyes of the conquerors and warmed their hopes and increased their desiresî, by brilliant successes that gave them clear awareness of their value and destroyed the myth of Arab military superiority. At that time, in fact, Catholic Spain had its own champion in Rodrigo Díazel Cid, soldier of Alfonso VI of Castile, then defender of the ruler of Zaragoza and his ally of Valenza, finally the real lord of this city. He, a mixture of ferocious and unscrupulous adventurer and magnificent leader, while fighting for his personal interests, did much in favor of Christianity, with his extraordinary deeds he brightly proved that the Spaniards were capable of winning victory over the Arabs and ruling them, yes that “for the firmness of his character and for his heroic valor” even by the Arabs, who were terrified of him, he was called “one of the greatest miracles of the Lord”; he obtained the recognition of his work from the Christian monarchs, who were related to him and placed him on their own level.

But in recent years, through the same complex of struggles which, as we have seen, intertwine with the conquest campaigns, contribute to the formation of new states, they give the life of Spain a marked unity of direction and political methods and therefore the its peculiar character, the various Christian states – which arose from the earlier more minute fragmentation of the Catholic country and animated by the same passions of their subjects – set out to give themselves a reason for living, to fix their own future, to suffer what was imposed on them. The struggle burned between Castile, Navarre, Aragon; and then, when Navarre and Aragon had a single sovereign, the Aragonese monarch persevered in the fight against Castile with united forces, finally, the counts of Barcelona, ​​Urgel and Pallás also took part in the conflicts.el Mayor(because Fernando I had conquered his brother and occupied part of his kingdom, to then fall back before the coalition of Sancho IV with Ramiro I), and some of them in fact autonomous; on the contrary, it is to be believed that Navarre at the death of Sancho IV also gave itself to the Aragonese to receive help against Alfonso VI, who had taken possession of the Rioja. And it was a question of sharing the possession of the great roads of the South, towards which the Christian states were now anxiously pointing, which amounted to determining the respective areas of influence in the Muslim territories and to fix in advance the future borders of the various monarchies – to avoid d ‘ being cut off in the reconquest of the country and thus losing the possibility of further expansion. Indeed, Alfonso VI of León and Castile already besieged Zaragoza, when he had to interrupt the operations for the invasion of the Almoravids, and then tried to oppose the Aragonese advance by supporting the Muslims of Huesca in their resistance against Peter I. Instead Zaragoza fell into the hands of Alfonso I, when Castile, during the government of Urraca, was drawn into civil strife; and indeed the Aragonese in the last years of his life with the possession of Mequinenza advanced towards the banks of the Segre and the lower course of the Ebro. However, if, as in the past, Alfonso I saw the counts of Urgel and Pallás leaning towards his monarchy, on the road to Lérida, a very important road junction, he found himself up against Ramón Berenguer III. Thus, the interests of the major monarchies were clearly clarified in the first half of the century. XII blatantly failed the dream of Alfonso VI who, giving his daughter Urraca in marriage to Alfonso I, he had thought of uniting the three royal crowns of Christian Spain, and the separation between the respective states became deeper: after years of chaotic conflicts, in which all ties and anarchy took over in a confused jumble of revolts and wars, Alfonso I gave up the fight in disgust; and, conversely, on his death, during the reign of his brother Ramiro IIel Monje(1134-37), the Aragonese nobility opposed a marriage between his daughter and heir Petronila with the eldest son of the king of León and Castile. Moreover, in the same years, taking advantage of the conditions of southern France, a profound work of political expansion in the lands beyond the Pyrenees began Alfonso I and the counts of Barcelona: which was, at least, a clear demonstration of the independence of that part. of Spain from the Capetian monarchy, heir to the rights of the Carolingian, which had already dominated it. The first in 1116 welcomed the count of Toulouse as a vassal, in 1122 he went to Gascony to receive the vassalage of the count of Bigorra and to help him, and in 1130 he sided in favor of Gastone de Bearne and besieged and conquered Bajona, so that the Gaul already gota submitted to his dominion; seconds, Ramón Berenguer I for his marriages with princesses of the South of France ended up being engaged in the local feudal struggles, and Ramón Berenguer III, marrying Dolce di Provence in third marriage, acquired the right to succeed her in this county, which he occupied in part after a few years of struggle with the count of Toulouse (1125) and which he then left to his son Berenguer Ramón, while the eldest son Ramón Berenguer IV became count of Barcelona. Finally Ramón Berenguer III himself began to turn his attention to the sea; it was in relations with the Italian maritime republics; he participated in a crusade promoted by Pisa (1114) against the Balearics, and, if this latter undertaking was of little immediate use, since it was only possible to reduce piracy, it was nevertheless the first manifestation of the nascent maritime power of the Catalan state:Liber maiolichinus.

At the same time great progress was made towards Catalan unity: and even in Barcelona fratricide bloodied the count’s throne if, as it seems, Ramón Berenguer II was killed by his brother Berenguer Ramón II, sons and heirs of Ramón Berenguer I, who had left to them their own domains. With this count (1035-76), son of Berenguer Ramón I el Corbat (el Curvo, 1018-35), the county of Barcelona placed itself at the head of the various counties of the region: the brothers gave up the paternal inheritance in his favor and some accounts entered into agreements with him or declared themselves his vassals. Then, Ramón Berenguer III el Gran (el Grande, 1096-1131) obtained the counties of Besalú (1111) and Cerdaña (1117); so that, at his death, only the counties of Urgel, Roussillon and Ampurias, of Pallás remained independent.

According to Sunglassestracker.com, the formation of these vast political organisms, as well as the means employed to achieve it, and, in contrast, the contemporary splitting of Muslim Spain facilitated and hastened the Christian reconquest. Indeed, the “kingdoms of Taifas” by their weakness were in themselves incapable of supporting the reinforced Catholic offensive; and, on the other hand, by siding with this or that prince in their struggles, thus increasing the matter of the dispute and justifying at least part of the expeditions made by Christian monarchs against them as allies of their adversaries, they made the conquest of their opponents easier. territories. Ferdinand I of León and Castile took possession of Viseo, Lamego (1057), Coimbra (1064), brought the frontier from Duero to Mondego, won the king of Valenza, he made tributaries the king of Zaragoza (from whom he took away the fortresses south of the Duero) and the kings of Toledo, Badajoz, Seville (1063), and in a raid he went as far as the vicinity of this city. His son Alfonso VI returned to invade the kingdom of Seville, which had supported García of Galicia, reaching as far as Tarifa (1082); with the occupation of Toledo (1085) it reached the Tagus and was able to consolidate the previous conquests between the Duero and this river, populating or seizing numerous cities, such as Salamanca, Ávila, Medina, Segovia, Talavera, Madrid, Uceda, Guadalajara, Mora, Alarcón, Uclés, Cuenca; he took possession of the castle of Aledo, near Lorca, which allowed him to dominate the kingdom of Almeria; besieged Zaragoza; he forced the monarch of Seville to give him the territories belonging to the kingdom of Toledo and usurped by him; he gave Valenza to his ancient ally in the struggles against Sancho, the former ruler of Toledo, who had been thrown from the throne by a revolution before the occupation of the city by the Castilians. In the same years Aragon also moved: Sancho Ramírez, fighting against the Muslims of Lérida, Tortosa, Huesca, with the help of the Count of Urgel, took possession of Barbastro (1065), conquered Graus (1083) and Monzón (1089), besieged Huesca, under whose walls he was mortally wounded. Finally, the count of Barcelona also took up arms: Ramón Berenguer I took some lands from the kingdom of Zaragoza and reached the Segre in Camarasa (1060) and in 1091 Berenguer Ramón II occupation of the city by the Castilians. In the same years Aragon also moved: Sancho Ramírez, fighting against the Muslims of Lérida, Tortosa, Huesca, with the help of the Count of Urgel, took possession of Barbastro (1065), conquered Graus (1083) and Monzón (1089), besieged Huesca, under whose walls he was mortally wounded. Finally, the count of Barcelona also took up arms: Ramón Berenguer I took some lands from the kingdom of Zaragoza and reached the Segre in Camarasa (1060) and in 1091 Berenguer Ramón II occupation of the city by the Castilians. In the same years Aragon also moved: Sancho Ramírez, fighting against the Muslims of Lérida, Tortosa, Huesca, with the help of the Count of Urgel, took possession of Barbastro (1065), conquered Graus (1083) and Monzón (1089), besieged Huesca, under whose walls he was mortally wounded. Finally, the count of Barcelona also took up arms: Ramón Berenguer I took some lands from the kingdom of Zaragoza and reached the Segre in Camarasa (1060) and in 1091 Berenguer Ramón IIel Fratricida(1076-97) conquered Tarragona. In this way it was also possible to resist the Almoravid offensive, which, indeed, at a later time, some sovereigns did not prevent them from progressing towards the south. Alfonso VI was defeated in Zalhaca (October 1086), but for several years he was able to keep most of his advanced positions, he returned to ally himself with the rulers of Granata, Seville, Badajoz, from the latter he obtained the sale of Santarém, Cintra, Lisbon (1093).

And if he was beaten at Uclés (1108), where his only son fell and where the Almoravids consolidated their power over almost all of Muslim Spain, and if on his death (1109), during the government of his daughter and heir Urraca (1109-26), the state was overwhelmed in very serious disputes; however, then the defense of the Leonese-Castilian monarchy was assumed directly and indirectly by Alfonso I of Aragon, husband of Urraca and fighting with her; Toledo still remained Christian, and the offensive was then resumed with ardor by his nephewex filiaof Alfonso VI, Alfonso VII (1126-57). At the same time, Peter I of Aragon defeated the troops of Saragossa in Alcoraz, rushed to the aid of Huesca and took possession of this city (1096), subjected Barbastro to his own dominion (1101); and his son Alfonso I, although distracted by the struggle he had to endure with his wife Urraca of Castile, won the ruler of Zaragoza in Valtierra, who fell in the battle; took Tudela (1114); after four years of siege he had Zaragoza, which in 1110 had fallen into the hands of the Almoravids (1118); in Cutanda he defeated the latter, rushed to regain the lost (1120); between 1120 and 1121 he occupied Magallón, Borja, Tarazona, Calatayud, Bubierca, Ariza, Daroca, Monreal del Campo; and took Mequinenza in the fight against the Muslims of Lérida and Fraga: a fight which, moreover, was not entirely lucky for him, because he was unable to overcome the opposition of the Count of Barcelona, ​​who desired Lérida for himself, and the resistance of Valenza de Murcia and Cordova, who intervened to defend their independence in the city. Finally, in the same years, Ramón Berenguer III with the help of the Count of Urgel conquered Balanguer, he initiated a crusade against the Muslims, which gave him the dominion of Valence for a short time; and, even if it was won by them (1124), nevertheless it was able to resist the incursions of the Almoravids, who came to threaten Barcelona. also in the same years, Ramón Berenguer III with the help of the count of Urgel conquered Balanguer, he initiated a crusade against the Muslims, which gave him the dominion of Valenza for a short time; and, even if it was won by them (1124), nevertheless it was able to resist the incursions of the Almoravids, who came to threaten Barcelona. also in the same years, Ramón Berenguer III with the help of the count of Urgel conquered Balanguer, he initiated a crusade against the Muslims, which gave him the dominion of Valenza for a short time; and, even if it was won by them (1124), nevertheless it was able to resist the incursions of the Almoravids, who came to threaten Barcelona.

Later, in the century. XI these states managed to overcome the Muslim reaction directed by ‛Abd ar-Raḥmān III and by al-Manṣūr, even if they were forced to recognize the supremacy of the caliph. Indeed, Sancho I of Navarre (905-25), won at Valdenjunquera together with Ordoño II (920) and pursued as far as Pamplona, ​​which was sacked and partly destroyed (924), managed to push on Nájera and Tudela. occupy Viguera, and with the help of León and Castile, perhaps, even to win just before dying. And then his state, strengthened with the annexation of Aragon – which Endregodo Galíndez, daughter of Count Galindo Aznáres, brought as a dowry to her husband, King García Sánchez (925-70) – during the reign of this sovereign and his mother and guardian, Queen Tota, he saw his troops fighting in Simancas alongside those of Ramiro II of León, he actively participated in the civil wars that broke out in León and shared the policy of Sancho I of León towards al-Manṣūr. At the same time, although at the death of Guifre I the unity of his state, divided between his sons, was broken and al-Manṣūr came to conquer Barcelona (985), nevertheless Borrell II, count of Barcelona, ​​Ausona and Gerona (died in 992), he managed to retake the city with his own strength – and then he refused to make an act of vassalage to the Capetians, who had put this condition to help him – and his son Ramón Borrell (992-1018) took part in the Christian incursion, which he reached as far as Cordova (1010). he actively participated in the civil wars that broke out in León and shared the policy of Sancho I of León towards al-Manṣūr. At the same time, although at the death of Guifre I the unity of his state, divided between his sons, was broken and al-Manṣūr came to conquer Barcelona (985), nevertheless Borrell II, count of Barcelona, ​​Ausona and Gerona (died in 992), he managed to retake the city with his own strength – and then he refused to make an act of vassalage to the Capetians, who had put this condition to help him – and his son Ramón Borrell (992-1018) took part in the Christian incursion, which he reached as far as Cordova (1010). he actively participated in the civil wars that broke out in León and shared the policy of Sancho I of León towards al-Manṣūr. At the same time, although at the death of Guifre I the unity of his state, divided between his sons, was broken and al-Manṣūr came to conquer Barcelona (985), nevertheless Borrell II, count of Barcelona, ​​Ausona and Gerona (died in 992), he managed to retake the city with his own strength – and then he refused to make an act of vassalage to the Capetians, who had put this condition to help him – and his son Ramón Borrell (992-1018) took part in the Christian incursion, which he reached as far as Cordova (1010).

According to Sportsqna.com, the formation of the great Christian monarchies. – A first grouping of these states occurred in the first half of the century. XI: it was made possible precisely by those old and new kinship of their sovereigns and by that commonality of interests, to which we have mentioned, and was facilitated by the particular conditions of Muslim Spain, which, on the other hand, was divided into the “kingdoms of Taifas “, and, torn by deep internal struggles, it could no longer control the progress of the Christian monarchies. Indeed, to the inherited possessions (Navarre and Aragon) Sancho III of Navarre el Mayor(about 1000-35) between 1015 and 1025 he added a large part of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza by right of succession or conquest; he also strengthened his authority over the Cantabria already occupied by his grandfather; as husband of the daughter of Sancho García of Castile, on the death without male descent of his brother-in-law García Sánchez (1028) he took possession of his county; exploiting the tragic end of Alfonso V el Nobleof León (999-1027), which fell during the siege of Viseo, and the weakness of his heir Bermudo III (1027-37), occupied the part between the Pisuerga and the Cea of ​​the kingdom of León. Finally, fearful of his power, other princes also had to recognize his sovereignty: it is certain that he assumed the titles of king of Pamplona, ​​Aragon, Sobrarbe, Ribagorza, Castile, Ávila, León, Asturias, Astorga, Pallás, even of Gascogne. and Barcelona. Now, undoubtedly, this unity lasted a few years, because, at his death, Sancho divided the state among his sons, and left Navarre with the city of Nájera, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya to the eldest son García; Castile and the aforementioned part of the kingdom of León, all elevated to a kingdom, to Ferdinand; Sobrarbe and Ribagorza to the youngest son Gonzalo, and Aragon, again promoted to kingdom,el Magno(1035-65) divided his state among his sons and assigned Castile to Sancho II (1065-72), León to Alfonso VI (1065-1109), Galicia to García, the lordship of Zamora to Urraca, that of Toro to Elvira. However, the movement then started, despite some stops and some retreats, continued in the following years, through an intricate succession of complex disputes, in which no means were spared: not the fratricidal struggle, because García of Navarre died in the battle of Atapuerca, near Burgos, in 1054 fighting against his brother Ferdinando; not the alliance with Muslim princes, since, for example, García himself in his war against Ferdinand I made use of Mohammedans; Alfonso VI and García of Galicia appealed for aid to the rulers of Toledo and Seville respectively in their dispute with Sancho II, and García of the same previous ally in that against Alfonso VI. Fernando I as the husband of the sister of Bermudo III of León, was able to occupy the still independent part of this kingdom, when Bermudo fell in the battle of Támara (Palencia) in 1037, in a vain attempt to regain the territories of his state which were in the dominion of the brother in law; and the unity of his Leonese-Castilian monarchy was reconstituted by Alfonso VI, when Sancho II was killed at the siege of Zamora, who had already defeated his brothers and was about to submit to his authority all the dominions of his father, and when the fate of arms turned unfavorable to García of Galicia, who rushed in vain to uphold his rights. Furthermore, Ramiro I of Aragon (1035-1063) took possession of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza; his son Sancho Ramírez (1063-94) also became king of Navarre, when Sancho IV (1054-76), successor of García of Navarra (1035-54), was killed in Peñalén by his bastard brother; and the two crowns remained on the heads of the kings of Aragon Pedro I (1094-1104) and Alfonso Iel Batallador (1104-34).

The origins of the states that arose in the regions located along the Pyrenees are very uncertain: Navarre, Aragon, Sobrarbe, Ribagorza, Pallás, Urgel, Cerdaña, Catalan territories. As we said, in the central area the Muslims did not touch or at least did not permanently occupy the town located north of Alquézar (Sobrarbe), Roda (Ribagorza), Ager (Pallás), and perhaps the upper Urgel and the Cerdaña; territories of transit for the expeditions to Gaul were, on the one hand, Navarre, where it seems that Pamplona was the domain of Mūsà and then of ‛Oqba, and, on the other, the Catalan territories, between Lérida and Barcelona, ​​where the Arabs took possession of Barcelona around 718. Now, in these regions, for centuries, local autonomist tendencies existed: very marked especially in the Basque provinces, whose residents had been in constant struggle with the Gothic monarchy and in their incursions they had come down to the valley, towards Zaragoza; made more tenuous elsewhere by previous dominations, but ready to rise again. And these had to find nourishment in the changes brought about in the political situation of the country by the Arab invasion, and were strengthened both in the occupied territories closest to the Pyrenees, where even the Visigoths who became Muslims aspired to become independent from the emirs, as in the territories left free and abandoned to themselves. Then, in this territorial division and in the initial scarce differentiation between Christians and Muslims, to give spiritual depth and some political unity to the opposition of Christians against the Mohammedans and to the disputes that broke out within the emir’s northern dominions, intervened: religious propaganda promoted by monasteries, sanctuaries and bishoprics – such as San Salvador de Leyre (Navarra), San Juan de la Peña (Aragon), San Victorián (Sobrarbe), Ovarra and Roda (Ribagorza), Ager and Aláon (Pallás), the bishopric of Urgel – and the Carolingian conquest, which put Franks and Spaniards in direct contact, opened a new field of action to the former, began to give a precise direction to the political life of the latter, both Christians and Muslim neophytes of the plain, which, in order to become independent, began to navigate between Muslims and Catholics. It was then that the Christians of the Pyrenees most likely submitted to princes who came from overseas or recognized the supremacy of Toulouse. And in 778 the first expedition of Charlemagne, who, accepting the invitation of Zaragoza, Lérida and Barcelona, he passed the Pyrenees and conquered Pamplona, ​​Huesca and Gerona, but was defeated at Roncesvalles by the Basques; of 785 the second, which gave him possession of Gerona, the first nucleus of thatMarca Hispanica, which in 801 had Barcelona as its capital, then reconquered to Christianity. Thus, in the early years of the century. IX the border line between the Catholic world and the Muslim had at the extreme points, on the one hand, this “Marca”, which came to include the counties of Gerona, Ausona (Vich), Ampurias, Barcelona, ​​etc., and that in 817 together with the Septimania formed the marquisate of Gotia ; and, on the other hand, a state of Navarre, or rather Pamplona, ​​perhaps created as the Marca Hispanicaand ruled by elements from the regions beyond the Pyrenees, and perhaps also partly dominated by the Asturian kings and the counts of Castile. And in the central area this border passed through Uncastillo, Sarsamarcuello, Loarre, Alquézar, Roda, Ager, and limited the small states of Aragon, including the high valley of the river of the same name, Ribagorza, Pallás, Urgel, Cerdaña, perhaps Sobrarbe, generally counties belonging to the Duchy of Toulouse.

According to Sourcemakeup.com, the political events of these small states were closely linked to those of the Carolingian Empire. The weakening of central power in the Frankish state led, here as elsewhere, to a rupture of the previous relations of dependence; and now that the Muslim danger had subsided, the detachment was sharpened by the resurgence of the ancient passions of the individual regions, autonomous like the Basque provinces, opposed to a Frankish domination, like the Catalans, who at the time of the Visigoths had always been in arms against the Merovingians. Almost contemporary was the rise of organizations that soon became independent from the Frankish state and began to live a common life, together with the Asturian monarchy and the county of Castile: participating in the struggle against Muslims, intervening reciprocally in their own civil struggles, binding themselves with each other with close kinship ties between the princes. In the first half of the century. IX in Navarre there was an Iñigo Arista as king of Pamplona; and Count of Aragon, in Jaca, became an Aznar Galindo. In the second half of the same century also Ribagorza and Pallás, Ampurias and Roussillon had their own accounts; and became independent Guifreel Pilós (Vifredo el Velloso), Count of Barcelona, ​​Urgel, Cerdaña, Gerona, Besalú, Conflent, Ausona.

The state of which we have the most information and which, at least according to tradition, was the first to arise, is the Asturian, born in Oviedo’s Asturias and commonly regarded as a restoration of the Visigothic monarchy. Its first organizer and king would have been the Visigoth Pelayo, a noble already persecuted by Witiza and then protected by Rodrigo, who, sheltered in the mountains of Cangas de Onís, defeated the Muslim troops in Covadonga between 721 and 725, in a clash., without a doubt, of a short time – one of the many mountain ambushes that must have taken place in that alpine area at the time – but which legend transformed, like the winning hero, into a real symbol.

According to Shoefrantics.com, the territorial expansions began with Alfonso I (739-57), when the Berbers abandoned the north of the peninsula and fell back on Coimbra and Coria: then Galicia, Liébana, Bardulia, perhaps the city of León, were occupied or conquered; daring raids were carried out in the surrounding territories; and only due to the impossibility of presiding over and populating it was the vast almost desert area which now separated the new Christian dominions from the Muslim ones not permanently occupied. Then, an arrest in the reconquest march led, on the one hand, to a series of civil wars between monarch and nobility and, on the other, the strengthening of the Arab state by ‛Abd ar-Raḥmān. However, the war was resumed with renewed ardor by Alfonso II the impossibility of garrisoning it and populating it, the vast, almost desert area that now separated the new Christian dominions from the Muslim ones was not permanently occupied. Then, an arrest in the reconquest march led, on the one hand, to a series of civil wars between monarch and nobility and, on the other, the strengthening of the Arab state by ‛Abd ar-Raḥmān. However, the war was resumed with renewed ardor by Alfonso II the impossibility of garrisoning it and populating it, the vast, almost desert area that now separated the new Christian dominions from the Muslim ones was not permanently occupied. Then, an arrest in the reconquest march led, on the one hand, to a series of civil wars between monarch and nobility and, on the other, the strengthening of the Arab state by ‛Abd ar-Raḥmān. However, the war was resumed with renewed ardor by Alfonso IIel Casto (791-842), who in his raids not only reached the Tagus, but also brought his court further south, in Oviedo; he was in relations with Charlemagne; with the help of Aquitaine he managed to curb the impetus of the Muslims who, if they came to occupy Oviedo, were unable or unwilling to keep their conquests and suffered various defeats, such as the disastrous one of Lutos (794); finally, in his expeditions he freed many Mozarabs, with whom he began the repopulation of the country, which was essential to advance the conquest. And later the resistance to Arab attacks, to which the Norman raids on the coasts were added, and the policy of repopulation continued during their reigns Ramiro I (842-50) and especially Ordoño I (850-66) and Alfonso III el Magno(866-910): because, if the Christian state was again shaken by dynastic struggles and by the revolt of the Galicians, who had risen against the Asturians, nevertheless its sovereigns were able to compensate for their weakness with that of the enemy, who too had become the prey of serious upheavals. Thus, the southern frontier, carried on the Duero, was defended with the construction of the fortresses of Zamora, Simancas, San Esteban de Gormaz and Osma, which formed a robust line; the eastern one was protected from the assaults of Mūsà of Zaragoza with a daring expedition that reached Albelda and led to the victory of Clavijo (860), and from Muslim raids, in general, with a series of castles, which then gave the region its name of Castile. Within these borders León (856), Astorga, Túy, Amaya (860), Oporto, Braga, Viseo, Lamego, perhaps Burgos (882-84); beyond, the zone of influence reached Coimbra, Salamanca, Toledo; the capital was carried further south, to León.

Then, to the vigorous Muslim counteroffensive led by ‛Abd ar-Raḥmān III, who in his raids came to take Burgos, Ordoño II (914-24), who in a raid plundered the territories of Mérida, opposed valid resistance, but was not always lucky, because, having won the caliph in San Esteban de Gormaz (917), he was defeated in the clash of Valdejunquera (920); and especially Ramiro II (931-51), who defeated the Muslims in the battle of Simancas (939), the first of European resonance, and was able to repopulate the region bathed by the Tormes. The situation changed in the following years. Already during the last days of the reign of Ramiro II the separatist revolt that broke out in the county of Castile under the direction of Fernán Gonzáles (circa 923-circa 970), the hero of Castilian legend and poetry, had assumed serious proportions, and supported by ‛ Abd ar-Raḥmàn III; and moreover it had allowed the latter to take possession of Medinaceli (Soria), the key to the state. During the reigns of Ordoño III (951-56), of Sancho Iel Craso (956-66), of Ordoño IV (958), the monarchy fell prey to dynastic and civil struggles, in which the Castilian count played a large part, who then became completely independent; and anarchy grew under Ramiro III (966-82) and Bermudo II el Gotoso(982-99), when, following the example of the Castilian one, the other counts also tried to become autonomous from the sovereign, the Normans renewed their attacks, and al-Manṣūr, called to his aid by Bermudo and became the true ruler of the state, to the attempts made by the monarch to free himself from his tyranny, he responded by putting the whole country to fire and sword and destroying Santiago de Compostela, which had risen around the tomb of the Apostle, already discovered at the time of Alfonso II and become the destination of ‘impressive pilgrimages. However, even in such tragic years the state managed to save itself from destruction, and thanks to ‛Abd ar-Raḥmān and al-Mansūr, who intervened in the disputes ensuring the triumph of this or that opponent, and limited themselves to making vassals the monarchs and reduce their dominions. Particularly characteristic is what happened to Sancho I, who had a doctor from ‛Abd ar-Raḥmān who took care of his health and was supported by him against the aspirations to the throne of Ordoño III; then it seems that he went to Cordoba together with the queen of Navarre, his grandmother.