For the Want of a Throne: the Kingdom of Aragon (Book 1)
Prologue: Aragon from 1164 to 1196.
The events that marked the reign of Alfonso II took place, in the most part, outside its kingdom, as the king was deeply involved in what was taking place north of the Pyrenees, a natural tendency given the affinity between the Occitan and Catalan dominions of the Crown of Aragon. After all, his realms incorporated not only Provence but also the counties of Cerdanya and Roussillon, and Béarn and Bigorre paid homage to Alfonso. This involvement in the affairs of Languedoc, proved highly beneficial to Aragon, but proved to be a distraction for the king, who could only pay attention from time to time to one his favourite projects: recovering Navarre.
The kings of Aragon had been also the rulers of Navarre until the death of Alfonso I, who died without a heir and prompted the kingdom into a period of uncertainty that was not solved by the ascension to the throne of his brother Ramiro but until his daughter and heir married Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona. However, by then Navarre was lost.
Alfonso II of Aragon was also influenced by the actions of his neighbour and somehow ally, Alfonso VIII of Castille, who was also eager to recover some land lost to Navarre and to conquer the kingdom of Leon, as well as taking lands to the Moors, but the defeat suffered at Alarcos at the ands of the Almohad armies had sent into disarray the plans of the Castillian king, who was greatly weakened by the disaster and forced Alfonso of Aragon to forget the Languedoc for a while.
It would take twenty years to get rid of the Almohad danger.
Prologue: Aragon from 1164 to 1196.
The events that marked the reign of Alfonso II took place, in the most part, outside its kingdom, as the king was deeply involved in what was taking place north of the Pyrenees, a natural tendency given the affinity between the Occitan and Catalan dominions of the Crown of Aragon. After all, his realms incorporated not only Provence but also the counties of Cerdanya and Roussillon, and Béarn and Bigorre paid homage to Alfonso. This involvement in the affairs of Languedoc, proved highly beneficial to Aragon, but proved to be a distraction for the king, who could only pay attention from time to time to one his favourite projects: recovering Navarre.
The kings of Aragon had been also the rulers of Navarre until the death of Alfonso I, who died without a heir and prompted the kingdom into a period of uncertainty that was not solved by the ascension to the throne of his brother Ramiro but until his daughter and heir married Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona. However, by then Navarre was lost.
Alfonso II of Aragon was also influenced by the actions of his neighbour and somehow ally, Alfonso VIII of Castille, who was also eager to recover some land lost to Navarre and to conquer the kingdom of Leon, as well as taking lands to the Moors, but the defeat suffered at Alarcos at the ands of the Almohad armies had sent into disarray the plans of the Castillian king, who was greatly weakened by the disaster and forced Alfonso of Aragon to forget the Languedoc for a while.
It would take twenty years to get rid of the Almohad danger.