Ramiro I of Aragon

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Ramiro I of Aragon

Ramiro I (bef. 1007 – 8 May 1063) was de facto
De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning the fact" or in practice but not necessarily ordained by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation....
the first King of Aragon from 1035 until his death. Apparently born before 1007, he was the natural son of Sancho III of Navarre

Sancho III of Navarre

Sancho III Garc?s , called the Great , was King of Navarre from 1004 until his death and claimed the overlordship of the List of Castilian monarchs from 1017 to his death, appearing in a charter as "king in Castile"....
by his mistress Sancha de Aybar. Ramiro was reputed to have been adopted by his father's wife Mayor after he was the only of his father's children to come to her aid when needed, although there is no surviving record of these events, and the story is probably apocryphal.

During his father's reign, he appeared as witness of royal charters starting in 1011, and was given numerous properties in the county of Aragon, and by the division of Sancho's realm on the latter's death in 1035, the county of Aragon fell to Ramiro with the title of baiulus or steward.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Ramiro I of Aragon'

Start a new discussion about 'Ramiro I of Aragon'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Sancho III of Navarre

Pyrenees

The Pyrenees are a mountain range in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. They separate the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe, and extend for about from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea ....
kingdom with its capital at Jaca

Jaca

Jaca is a city of northeastern Spain near the border with France, in the midst of the Pyrenees in the province of Huesca . Jaca, a ford on the Arag?n River at the crossing of two great early medieval routes, one from Pau, Pyr?n?es-Atlantiques to Zaragoza, was the fortified city out of which the County of Aragon and Kingdom of Aragon develop...
, sometimes called a "petty king") and he was called king by his vassals, neighbors, the church and even his sons, yet he referred to himself always as simply Ranimiro Sancioni regis filio (Ramiro, son of King Sancho). Likewise, in his wills, he refers to his lands as simply having been given him in stewardship by his half-brother García and by God. He is likewise called regulus (rather than rex used for García) and quasi pro rege (acting as if king) in charters from Navarre

Kingdom of Navarre

Moors

In the Spanish language, the term for Moors is Moro; in Portuguese language the word is mouro. There seems to have been some confusion about the relationship of the word moro/mouro to the word moreno , both from Greek language ma?ros, i.e....
and his brother, García. Shortly after the death of his father (the date variously placed from 1036 to 1043), he supported the emir of Tudela

Tudela

Tudela may refer to:*Tudela, Navarre, a small city and municipality in northern Spain.*Tudela, Cebu, a municipality in the Philippines province of Cebu...
in an invasion of the Kingdom of Navarre

Kingdom of Navarre

The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
of his brother García. He was defeated in the Battle of Tafalla, but out of the conflict gained lands, including Sanguesa, and established a state of semi-autonomy. In 1043, apparently with the approval of García, he annexed Sobrarbe

Sobrarbe

Sobrarbe is one of the Comarcas of Spain in the northern part of the province of Huesca , part of the autonomous community of Aragon in Spain. Many of its people speak the Aragonese language locally known as fabla....
and Ribagorza

Ribagorza

Ribagorza is a county, or comarca, in [Aragon]] situated at the north-east of the province of Huesca , Spain. It borders the Haute-Garonne departement in France to the north; and the Catalonia to the east....
, previously held by his youngest legitimate half-brother, Gonzalo

Gonzalo of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza

Gonzalo S?nchez was made Count of Sobrarbe and Count of Ribagorza, two small Pyrenean counties, before 1035 by his father, Sancho III of Navarre....
.

Before he was married, Ramiro had a mistress named Amuña with whom he had a natural son, Sancho Ramírez, in whom he confided the government of the county of Ribagorza.

Ramiro wed his first wife, Gisberga, daughter of Bernard Roger of Bigorre

Bernard-Roger of Foix

Bernard Roger was the count of Couserans, in which capacity he was lord of parts of Comminges and Foix.He was the son of count Roger I of Carcassonne....
, on 22 August 1036. She changed her name to Ermesinda on marrying him. Together the couple had five children: Sancho Ramírez, his successor; García, Bishop of Jaca; Sancha, married Armengol III of Urgel; Urraca, nun in Santa Cruz de la Serós

Santa Cruz de la Serós

Santa Cruz de la Ser?s is an Aragonese village in the province of Huesca, Spain. Located 88 kilometers from the city of Huesca, its beautiful vernacular architecture and its location at a hill side on the way to the Monastery of San Juan de la Pe?a, are some points of interest....
; and Theresa, married William Bertrand

William Bertrand of Provence

William Bertrand , known as William V or Bertrand I or II, was the count and margrave of Provence from 1051 to his death. He succeeded his father Fulk Bertrand of Provence on his death in that year, but did not receive the margravial title at first, for its went to his uncle Geoffrey I of Provence....
.

Ramiro's second wife was Agnes (Inés), a daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine

Duke of Aquitaine

The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of the List of Frankish kings and later the List of French monarchs....
. Ramiro set the advance from Aragon toward Huesca and Zaragossa, after annexation of Ribagorza and Sobrarbe. The first charter for the royal town of Jaca is attributed to him, that will set the example of an ideal community (included well defined laws of protection even to non residents) for later urban rights until late in the Middle Ages.

Ramiro died at the Battle of Graus

Battle of Graus

The Battle of Graus was a battle of the early Spanish Reconquista in spring 1063 . The engagement took place in Graus and was fought between the Aragonese forces of Ramiro I of Aragon and the Moors forces of al-Muktadir, the king of Zaragoza....
in 1063 while trying to take the city.

Sources

Ballesteros y Beretta, Antonio. Historia de España y su Influencia en la Historia Universal. Barcelona: Salvat, 1920.
Chaytor, H. J. . London: Methuen, 1933.
Lourie, Elena. "" Speculum
Speculum

The term speculum may refer to:* Speculum , a medical tool used for examining body cavities* Speculum , a journal of medieval studies published by the Medieval Academy of America...
, Vol. 50, No. 4. (Oct., 1975), pp 635–651.
Nelson, Lynn. The Aragonese Acquisition of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza. Estudios en Homenaje a Don Claudio Sánchez Albornoz en sus 90 Años, 2:227-236 (1982).
Ubieto Arteta, Antonio. "Estudios en torno a la división del Reino por Sancho el Mayor de Navarra", Príncipe de Viana, vol. 21, pp. 5–56, 163–236.