WI: Spain and Aragon never united

So, recently, Catalonia's been in the news for it's failed bid at independence and the subsequent dissolution of their government by the Madrid government. This isn't the first time Catalonia and Madrid have been at odds over the region's place in the Spanish nation. Their history goes back to a marriage between Queen Isabella of Spain and King Ferdinand of Aragon, which laid the foundation for Spain as a united country.

So, what if Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Aragon never got married, thereby preventing Spain and Aragon from uniting?
 
This could possibly happen even after Ferdinand and Isabella's union, if Ferdinand is able to have a son via his second wife Germaine de Foix.
 
How long until Aragon's fate is subject to the ambitions of both it's larger and more populous neighbours? I too have been thinking about this scenario sometimes, and I can only see aragon thriving through an alliance with one of the two powers to take out the other. That or some italian shenanigans and an alliance with portugal perhaps.
 
How long until Aragon's fate is subject to the ambitions of both it's larger and more populous neighbours? I too have been thinking about this scenario sometimes, and I can only see aragon thriving through an alliance with one of the two powers to take out the other. That or some italian shenanigans and an alliance with portugal perhaps.

France and Castille both have other regional interests/rivals to consider (Portugal and England, for example), and Aragon could easily serve as a decisive weight in the region at least for some time, especially since they're (Through their Crownlands in Italy) so much better tied into the Mediterranean trade network. Sure, they might sink to second-tier power status, but their mere presence complicates politics in the area enough that a united front of "partition" them seems less likely to form.
 
So, recently, Catalonia's been in the news for it's failed bid at independence and the subsequent dissolution of their government by the Madrid government. This isn't the first time Catalonia and Madrid have been at odds over the region's place in the Spanish nation. Their history goes back to a marriage between Queen Isabella of Spain and King Ferdinand of Aragon, which laid the foundation for Spain as a united country.

So, what if Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Aragon never got married, thereby preventing Spain and Aragon from uniting?

There were many links between Castile and Aragon eve before 1469 : the kings of Aragon are a junior line of the Castilian dynasty. But Aragon looked east, Castile south and west.
 
Oddly, I don't think much changes for Castile/Spain around this point, it will start focusing on the Americas and Portugal; it will continue to do so in TTL, ignoring Aragon for the most part.

As stated above Aragon's interests lie to the east and Italy, so as long as Aragon stays friendly with Castile its independence and possessions in Iberia should be safe.
 
Oddly, I don't think much changes for Castile/Spain around this point, it will start focusing on the Americas and Portugal; it will continue to do so in TTL, ignoring Aragon for the most part.

As stated above Aragon's interests lie to the east and Italy, so as long as Aragon stays friendly with Castile its independence and possessions in Iberia should be safe.

I presume that Aragon will try to get France as an ally against Castille-Leon? But who will be the ally against France?

Another thing- with Crown of Aragon surviving till today, what could be it's name? Kingdom of Aragon is good, but with Catalans as majority there, I'm not so sure that will remain...
 
I presume that Aragon will try to get France as an ally against Castille-Leon? But who will be the ally against France?

Another thing- with Crown of Aragon surviving till today, what could be it's name? Kingdom of Aragon is good, but with Catalans as majority there, I'm not so sure that will remain...
France was Aragon's enemy ever since the Sicilian Vespers and by the time of Ferdinand there were disputes over Rousillon.
 
I presume that Aragon will try to get France as an ally against Castille-Leon? But who will be the ally against France?

Another thing- with Crown of Aragon surviving till today, what could be it's name? Kingdom of Aragon is good, but with Catalans as majority there, I'm not so sure that will remain...

More likely you get a warm Anglo-Aragonese relationship (Assuming Portugal and Aragon can stitch together their relationship... likely since the conflict was over influence in Castile, who are now the regional hegemon trying to influence them), the Aragonese supporting Britain's position on the continent and either trying to annex or at least retain the independence of Navarre.
 
Much depends, I think, on what Castile does. Does it unify with Portugal instead, for instance? What happens to its overseas expansion?

I can imagine Aragon being something of a western Mediterranean thalassocracy.
 
I presume that Aragon will try to get France as an ally against Castille-Leon? But who will be the ally against France?

Another thing- with Crown of Aragon surviving till today, what could be it's name? Kingdom of Aragon is good, but with Catalans as the majority there, I'm not so sure that will remain...

France was Aragon's enemy ever since the Sicilian Vespers and by the time of Ferdinand there were disputes over Rousillon.

I agree with Monter; an alliance with France is not in Aragon's best interest unless it wants to make an enemy of Castile. At the same time, it can't anger France too much if it wants to keep its Mediterranean holdings. However, it is unlikely that Aragon would be able to keep most of its territories outside the Iberian peninsula down the line; outside the Balearic islands, since these were administered as satellite states, ruled by a local elite rather than subjected directly to a centralized government. And even within the peninsula, the Aragon was a relatively decentralized state.

Which brings us to the name; while the country was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Aragon with the County (later Principality) of Barcelona, and it was originally referred to as the Kingdom, Domain, and Crown of Argon and Catalonia, it was known colloquially as the simply Crown (or Union) of Aragon and the monarchs themselves styled themselves as de Aragon. While speakers of the Catalan languages might be the majority, it is difficult to tell how national sentiment will develop later on and how the distribution of languages in the Iberian peninsula would be affected. It is possible that the Catalan languages might be standardized early on and evolve as a single language in TTL (thus no Valencian language controversy); with "Catalan" it being a language of trade and perhaps a standard throughout most of the Mediterranean it soon becomes known as "Spanish" by most outside the Union. In TTL, Castillian wouldn't encroach into Aragon as it did in OTL, and instead, a standardized Catalan "Spanish" pushes inland into Aragon, naturally displacing Aragonese as the language of the elite. Meanwhile, in Italy, the language also spreads well beyond Alghero. Give it a couple hundred years, some internal restructuring, a nationalistic pride of being the "richer and truer" kingdom in the peninsula and the western Mediterranean, but losing some of its Italian holdings, the Union officially gets renamed the United Kingdom of Spain and (pick one) Sardinia/Sicily/Napes.

Meanwhile, Castile remains Castile and where they speak Castilian.
 
What about Aragonese relations with the Arabs/Turks? Will they try to conquer say Algiers or Tunisia?

Or Malta for that matters?
 
What about Aragonese relations with the Arabs/Turks? Will they try to conquer say Algiers or Tunisia?

Or Malta for that matters?
Aragonese trade was affected by piracy so naturally they implied themselves and attempted to combat the problem at its root, sometimes allying themselves with some Arabs against others. If they accumulate enough power, one such conflict could well end in a conquest.
 
But I think that the Crown of Aragon has allmost ideal position for a buffer between France and Castille-Leon. Both France and Castille-Leon have interest in having Aragon as neutral buffer between them. Same thing for Navarre.
 

Lusitania

Donor
Without the unification of Castile and Aragon would Castile be in a position to conquer Granada or would Aragon object?

Also without the resources and conquest of Granada would Columbus find a receptive audience at Castile court?

He had already been refused by Portuguese who secretly had already discovered maritime route to Indian Ocean around Africa. Would he turn to France or England?

The lack of unification would have a huge impact on the new world and the conquest of its two largest native empires Aztec and Inca since any Castilian or other contact would be later.
 
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