Map about the expansion of the Crown of Aragon in the Mediterranean Sea (13th-15th centuries).

1.CLASSIFICATON

-Type of map:
It is a situation map, because in this map we can see the territories that belonged to Aragón during a period of time, the Late Middle Ages (13^th-15^th centuries)

And it is a political map, because in this map we can see the conquests or the expansion(s) of the Crown of Aragon.

-Title: The expansion of the Crown of Aragon in the Mediterranean Sea (13th-15th centuries)

-Geographic space represented: On the map are represented the different territories of the Mediterranean coasts, In the west and north we can see the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands  the French coasts, the Papal States, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia, in the east, the Byzantine Empire and the Duchies of Athens  and Neopatria and in the south (North of Africa) Barbary States. In the map we can also see the Mediterranean Sea and Central Europe (Holy Roman Empire).

-Chronological period: In the Late Middle Ages during the 13th and 15th centuries that were the period in which these territories belonged to Aragon.

2.DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

DESCRIPTION

On the map we can observe the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, in the west, the Iberian Peninsula (formed by the crown of Castile, The Crown of Navarra and the Crown of Aragon), and we can see the main empires of these centuries, like the Holy Roman Empire, The Byzantine Empire in Europe and the Barbary States in Africa.

As we can see in the map, which represents the positions of the Crown of Aragon during this period, the places that Aragon conquered and the crown of Aragon too are represented in yellow. The places that Aragon added to its territory were the Balearic Islands, the territories of Roussillon, Sicily (which was conquered by Peter III the Great in 1282), The duchies of Athens and Neopatria (conquered by the Almogavars in 1311 and 1319), Sardinia (conquered by James II in 1323) and Naples (conquered by Alphonse  the Magnanimous in 1442). You can see perfectly the dates of the conquests in the map.

And on the map the capitals or major cities of each kingdom are marked with an orange dot, like for example in the crown of Aragon, there is Zaragoza, in Sicily there are Palermo and Syracuse in the Duchies of Athens, there is Athens etc…

-Analysis:

At the beginning of the 9^th century, the Carolingian Empire disintegrated and appeared three new regions: Kingdom of Pamplona, Catalan counties and Aragonese counties. Aragonese counties fell under the influence of Navarre. At the beginning of 11^th century Navarre was he most powerful Christian country: King Sancho III the Great created a big kingdom included Castile, Aragonese counties and had a big influence in Leon. When he died, he divided his kingdom among his sons. Aragon was for his son Ramiro I. In the second half of this century Navarre was added to Aragon that was united between 1076 and 1134.

On the 12^th century  in the Pyrenean region the Crown of Aragon was created, with Petronila of Aragon and Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona’s marriage. From its origin, every part of the crown kept its laws and institutions and the monarchs had to accept and respect them. When Valencia was added to the crown, this principle persisted and the Crown was consolidated as some kind of confederation made up three different territories in the peninsula: Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia.

Aragon’s traditional intervention in the South of France stopped with James I. His father Peter II had died at Muret in 1213, fighting to defend his subjects in Provence from the French intervention to crash the Cathars, declared heretic by Pope Innocent III. James I oriented the expansion to the South and the Mediterranean Sea. The conquest of Valencia (1238 – 1245) and Mallorca in 1287

In 1244 the Treaty of Almizra was signed between James I of Aragón and his future son-in-law Alphonse X the Wise of Castile. They definitely set the limits of the Kingdom of Valencia and agreed on the cession of Murcia to Castile. This treaty was signed after the unfulfillment of previous treaties between Castile and Aragón, signed to establish the borders of both kingdoms (teatries of Tudilén in 1151 and Cazola in 1179). After the inclusion of Murcia in Castile, the crown of Aragon oriented its expansion to the Mediterranean Sea.

Different territories were added:

-          Sicily, conquered by Peter III the Great

-           the duchies of Athens (1311) and Neopatria (1319) in Greece (conquered by the Almogavars, mercenary troops who fought in the Byzantine Empire)

-           Sardinia (1324),conquered by James II

-          and Naples (1442) conquered by Alphonse V the Magnanimous in 1442.

The orientation to the Mediterranean Sea was not equally accepted by the different parts of the Crown. During Peter III’s reign the Aragonese nobles (created a brotherhood called Aragonese Union).

Peter III had to accept respecting the particular laws of Aragon, call the Cortes periodically and promise not to start any foreign intervention without consulting the Cortes. Apparently this was a victory for the nobles, but in 1347 Peter IV defeated the Aragonese nobles, who had defied him, in the Battle of Épila and ordered the destruction of the Privileges of the Union. On the other hand, the constant need for the money to finance the wars led to the creation of some permanent institutions in the Cortes to control the expenses of the money given by the Cortes to the king; the Generalitat in Catalonia (1358) and Valencia (1418) and the Diputación General in Aragón (1436). In this way, the tradition of balance between the monarchs and their privileged subjects was kept.

This expansion contributed to its economic development, especially during the first half of the 14th century: craftsmanship and trade expanded, consulates were created in different parts of the Mediterranean to solve conflicts with trade and the Aragonese ships and merchants competed with the Venetians and the Genoese in the Western Mediterranean. This prosperity broke up with the Black Death epidemic, with strongly hit the Crown of Aragón.

CONCLUSION

In this case, the map reflects the territories that belonged to Aragon during the 13th and 15th centuries and the routes that Aragon followed to conquer these territories. These conquests started when James I oriented the expansion to the South and the Mediterranean Sea.

As for the historical significance of the map, we can relate it to economic development of the Crown of Aragon and the Hispanic Monarchy intervention in Italy during the Modern Era (the Catholic Monarchs and Charles V’s reign). This Mediterranean empire obliged the monarchs to fight in several wars against their traditional enemy (France) and had a high cost in lives and money.