ARAGON
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Before Aragon came
into being as a self-proclaimed kingdom in 1035, the northern counties of
Jaca, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza were all independent marches and Frankish feudal
fiefdoms. In a bid to stem Frankish and Moorish invasions, the counties of
Aragon, Sobrarbe, Ribagorza, and the duchy of Castile united under the
Kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre). After King Sancho's death, the kingdom was
divided between his sons. Ramiro I was initially named king of Aragon in
1035; later, after his brother Gonzalo's death, he was also named king of
Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in 1044. The new kingdom grew quickly, conquering
territories from the Moorish kingdoms to the south. Huesca was taken in 1096
and Zaragoza in 1118. According to Aragonese law, the monarch had to swear
allegiance to the Kingdom's laws before being accepted as king. The King was
considered "Primus inter pares" (first among equals) within the
nobility. A nobleman with the title "Justicia" acted as ombudsman and was responsible for
ensuring that the King obeyed the Aragonese laws. There is an old saying
"En Aragón antes de Rey hubo Ley"
which can be translated as "In Aragon the law was before the king". In the 12th
century Aragon was united with the county of Barcelona by the marriage of the
queen of Aragon with the then count of Barcelona. In the 13th century the
possessions of the House of Barcelona were enlarged with the kingdoms of Valencia, Sardinia and the Island of
Sicily. In the fourteenth century the kingdom of Majorca was added. At the
end of the 15th century a new personal union made Aragon, together with
Castile and Leon into the nucleus of the Kingdom of Spain which was achieved
by the final reconquest of the kingdom of Granada in 1492. The next two
centuries Aragon remained one of the kingdoms of the spanish monarchy until
at the beginning of the 18th century, the kingdom was liquidated by king
Philip V of the house of Bourbon. Several
attempts were made to regain its autonomy, albeit within the kingdom of Spain
but it was only in 1978 that Aragon regained an autonomous status within the
kingdom. In the twelfth
century a kind of board of representatives emerged which developed into a
parliament consisting of representatives from the clergy, the nobility and
the cities and subjects of the king. This parliament, which had a great say
in the affairs of Aragon, was liquidated together with the kigdom by Philip V
and the aragonese affairs were decided since then by the spanish government
in Madrid. |
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See for the early heraldry
until 1134 Æ Pamplona |
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House of Navarre |
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Ramiro I |
1035-1069 |
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Sancho Ramirez |
King of Aragon
1069-1094 King of Pamplona
1076-1094 |
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Peter I |
King of Pamplona and
Aragon 1094-1104 |
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Alfonso I the Battler |
King of Pamplona and Aragon 1104-1134 |
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In his will Alfonso left his kingdoms to the three
Orders, the Templars, the Hospitallers and the Holy Sepulchre. |
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Ramiro II the Monk |
*1075-†1157 King of Aragon 1134-1157 |
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The testament
of Alfonso leaving his kingdom to the three orders was dismissed out of hand
by the nobility of his kingdoms, and possible successors were sought. The
Aragonese nobility rallied around the abbot-bishop Ramiro, Alfonso's only brother, who had been
a Benedictine monk since childhood, even when his commitment to the church,
his temperament and vow of celibacy made him ill-suited to rule a kingdom under
constant military threat and in need of a stable line of succession. The Aragonese
nevertheless took Ramiro out of his monastery and made him king, marrying him
without papal dispensation to Agnes, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine, then betrothing their
newborn daughter to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of
Barcelona, who was then named Ramiro's heir. In
1137 he yielded his executive powers to Raymond Berenger of Barcelona, the
husband of his two-year old daughter Petronilla, providing that the kingdom
should be inherited by their son. For
his tomb in the S.
Pedro la Vieja a tomb of a roman official from the 2nd-3rd century AD was
reused. It shows a clipeus with the
portrait of the official supporterd by
two angels. |
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Petronilla |
*1135-†1173 Queen of Aragon
1157-1164 ¥
1137/1151 Raymond Berengar
IV, Count of Barcelona *1113-1161 |
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Petronilla was two years old when she
inherited the crown of Aragon from her father and married with Ramon
Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona who reigned in name of his spouse with the
title of Prince of Aragon only. The marriage was ratified in 1151 and
after the death of Raymond in 1162 Petronilla convocated a General Assembly
in Huesca and approved all the dispositions of her husbands will and
abdicated in favor of her son Alfonso II. |
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Raymond Berengar IV, the Saint |
*1113-†07.08.1162 Count of Barcelona
1131-1162 ¥
1137/115 Petronilla, queen of Aragon
1137-1164 Prince of Aragon
1137-1162 |
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At the age of 24 he married Petronilla, the two-year old daughter of the
king of Aragon. The marriage was ratified in 1151. In the act by which king
Ramiro abdicated Raymond is called the prince of Aragon and the count of
Barcelona to be respected as a king (tamquam
regi) by his subjects. This position seems to have been intended to be equal to an alférez as Raymond should command the
army for his father-in-law who had proved to be utterly un-suited to command
an army as had his brother before. í In medieval Iberia, an alférez
was a high-ranking official in the household of a king or magnate. The term
is derived from the Arabic الفارس (al-fāris),
meaning "horseman" or "cavalier", and it was commonly
Latinised as alferiz or alferis, although it was also
translated into Latin as armiger or armentarius, meaning "armour-bearer".
The connexion with arms and armour is visible in several Latin synonyms: fertorarius,
inferartis, and offertor. The office was sometimes the same as
that of the standard-bearer or signifer. The alférez was
generally the next highest-ranking official after the majordomo. He was
generally in charge of the king or magnate's mesnada (private army),
his personal retinue of knights, and perhaps also of his armoury and his
guard. He generally followed his lord on campaign and into battle. [1] Title:
X RAIMVNDVSS BERENGARII COMES BARCHINONENSIS X ET PRINCEBS REGNI ARAGONENSIS. The seals
of Raymond Berengar are his seals as a prince of Aragon by right of his
marriage. On these
seals he is represented as a warrior, dressed in a coat of arms of which the
arms show vertical bars and a gironny of narrow lines which is thought to
have been a carbuncle or thunderbolt. Of this
shield the carbuncle was copied from the shield of Alfonso I the Battler. As such
the shield is an early example of a mark of cadency (the pales Or added to
the red shield of Alfonso) or of marshalling (the conjoining of the carbuncle
of Alfonso with the pales of Ramon Berenger). The
vertical bars later developed to a paly Gules and Or. Opinion agrees that
these are the colours of the county of Barcelona which in last instance were
the colours of temporal power of the Empire and of France of which Barcelona
was a fief. About the
carbuncle much confusion and difference of opinion exists. The supposed
office of a kind of alférez or
commander of Aragon suggests that the figure was taken from the shield of
Alfonso I the Batallador, the immediate predecessor of Raymond in Aragon.
1150 Equestrian seal: Arms: Pales (?) and
studs. L.: ...MES : BARCHIONE.... On the
reverse .... PRINCEPS R ..... (Arch.
Hist. Nac.)
1157 Equestrian seal: Arms: Pales (?) and
studs. L.: [et princebs regni a] rago [nensis].
On the obverse the same picture and legend [X RAIMUNDU]S
BEREN [GARII COMES BARCHIONENSIS]. [2] |
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House of Barcelona |
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Alfonso II the Chaste |
*1152-†1196 Count of Barcelona
1162-1196 King of Aragon
1164-1196 |
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During his
reign Aragonese influence north of the Pyrenees reached its zenith, a natural
tendency given the affinity between the Occitan and Catalan dominions of the
Crown of Aragon. His realms incorporated not only Provence (from 1166 or just
before), but also the counties of Cerdanya (1168) and Roussillon (inherited
in 1172). Béarn and Bigorre paid homage to him in 1187. Alfonso's involvement
in the affairs of Languedoc, proved highly beneficial, strengthening
Aragonese trade and stimulating emigration from the north to colonise the
newly reconquered lands in Aragon. From 1162
until 1196, the office of alférez
was held by Jimeno de Artosilla, Gonzalvo Copelino, Sancho Ramirez and
Artoldo de Alagón, Tarino and Portolez (who was also Grand Senechal). [3] Æ This may explain why the studs,
carbuncle or thunderbolt disappeared from the arms as the command of the army
was not in the hands of the king.
Equestrian seal. Arms: Pales on shield and horse-cloth. L.: ...... CIE Date: 1186 [4]
Equestrian seal. Arms: Pales on horse-cloth. L.:
COMITIS BARCH MARCHIO PROVINCIA. Date: 1193
Reverse of the seal of Alfonso II. 1195 Seal of majesty. The king on his throne. L.: X SIGILLUM
ILDEFONSI REGIS [GO] NENSIS. Date: 1195 Equestrian seal. Arms: ? Pales on horse-cloth. L.: COMITIS BARCHIONENSIS MARCHIONIS ... VINCIE. Date:
1195. [5] Union of Barcelona with Aragon |
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Peter II, the Catholic |
1176-†1213 1196-1213 Crowned 1204 |
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The idea of
hereditary succession gained early acceptance, but the vestiges of election
could still be detected in the acclamation of a new king. Following
Visigothic custom, the king occasionally was anointed and crowned. Peter II of Aragon, who received his crown
in Rome from the pope, became a papal vassal and held his kingdom as a papal
(i.e. Innocentius III) fief. The renewal of
the infeudation of Aragon (after the renouncement of the will of Alfonso I)
took place by the coronation of Peter II by Pope Innocentius III in St.
Pancratius church in Rome on 4 Februari 1204. From that date and by grant of
the Holy See of 6 June 1205, the monarchs of Aragon could be crowned by the
archbishop of Tarragona after having obtained the approvement of the Pope.
This applied also to the queen. It is only
after the coronation of Peter II in 1204 that his arms as a count of
Barcelona became also his arms as a king of Aragon and consquently his
personal arms. This is demonstrated by this fragment of his seal of 1207 on
which the knight on horseback is called “king” and wears a coat of arms with
pales formerly being only the coat of arms of the count of Barcelona.
Nevertheless, Barcelona and Aragon remained separate domains as Barcelona was
a fief of the crown of France and Aragon was a papal fief, be it in a
personal union.
Equestrian seal. Arms: Pales on shield and horse-cloth. L.: ... P REG Date:
1207 [6] On his
two-sided seal of 1210 this is more clear as Peter is called there a king of
Aragon as wel as a count of Barcelona on both sides.
1210 Seal of majesty. The king on his
throne with sceptre and globe. A sword on his knees. L.: P DE GRA REG ARAG COMIT BARCE DNI MOIRE ISSVLI. 1210 Equestrian seal. Arms: Pales on
shield and horse-cloth. L.: As before. |
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James I the Conqueror |
*1205-†1276 1213-1276 King of Valencia
1238 French suzereinty of Catalonia abolished 1258
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By the middle of the 13th century, the kingdoms of Castile-León, Aragon-Catalonia,
Navarre, and Portugal reached the frontiers that they would keep, with
minimal alteration, until the end of the Middle Ages. As a confederation of
the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia, and Majorca and the principality of
Catalonia, the Crown of Aragon had a distinctive character among the
Christian states. |
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Equestrian seal (fragment): Crowned knight on
horseback. Arms: Aragon/Barcelona. Date:
1220 [7] |
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Detail of the York glasses with the Arms of Aragon Peter the Dene
Window, York Minsterl, north aisle. 13th cent In York
Minster there is a painted window on which the arms of the emperor and of the
king of the Roman Empire are represented. Also there is a coat of arms with
the pales of Barcelona/Aragon and this representation is the oldest known
representation of the arms in color. The window certainly has
been made after 1234 because the arms of Navarre with the
carbuncle dates from that time (after 7 April 1234). [8] The imperial
arms with the two-headed eagle disapperared for some time after the reign of
Frederick II which dates the window before 1245-’50. In that period Henry VII was the
only crowned Roman King because his half-brother Conrad IV was elected a
Roman king indeed but was never crowned. We cannot suppose that Henry Raspe and William of Holland
have contributed to the window [9] Also the arms of
the papacy are on the window and it is unlikely that this was represnted together
with the arms of Fredrick II after he had been excommunicated for the second
time in 1239. [10] This taken into
account the program for the window was made before about 4 July 1235 because
at that date Henry VII was deposed by his father, and taken prisoner even
before the marriage of Frederrick II with Isabella Plantagenet of England in
1235. The window for that reason has been finished even during the
negotiations for that marriage between 1234-’35. [11] After the
Conquest of Valencia in 1238 the title of James I read: X IA: DI: GRA: REG: ARAG: ET MOIORI ET VALENCIE X COMITIS : BARCHI: ET URGELLI: ET DNI: MONTIS:
PLANI It is on
bothe sides of his seal: Seal of majesty: James I on his throne with a sword on his
knees. L.: ...A DI GRA REG ARAG & MAIOR .
Rev.: Equestrian
seal. Arms: 7 Pales. On the horse-cloth: Pales. In front of the rider ,
armed with a spear with pennon an 8-pointed star.. L.:
.......ELLI & DNI MONTIS PLANI
[12] |
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It was not until 1258, by the Treaty of
Corbeil, that the king of France formally relinquished his feudal
overlordship over the counties of the Principality of Catalonia to the king
of Aragon James I, descendant of Ramon Berenguer IV. This Treaty turned
the de facto independence into a
full de jure direct transition from
French to Aragonese rule. It also solved a historic incongruence. As part of
the Crown of Aragon, Catalonia became a great maritime power, helping to
expand the Crown of Aragon by trade and conquest into Valencia, the Balearic
Islands, and even Sardinia or Sicily. Å The arms
of the le.Roy
darragon were represented in color by
the Armorial of Wijnbergen (1272 ca.) n°
1262
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.....
and in 1275 ca. by Walfords Roll: Le
roy de Aragon, paly d'or et de gules
[13] |
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Peter III the Great |
*1236-†1285 King of Aragon
1276-1285 King of Valencia King of
Sicily-Trinacria 1282-1285 |
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1280
ca. Le rey de Aragon ... l'escu palé d'or et de goules. (Camden D6)
Goldcoin of Peter and of Aragon and Constance
Hohenstaufen, 1282 The arms of Barcelona and the eagle of
Sicily The legends read: SUMMA POTENCIS EST IN DEO/
P. DEI GR ARAGON SICILI REX; and: XPS VINCIT XPS
REMAT XPS IMPAT / COSTA DEI GR SESURA SICIL REG. |
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Alfonso III the Liberal |
1285-1291 |
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James II the Just |
King of Sicily
1285-1296 King of Aragon and Valencia 1291-1327 King of Sardinia
1297-1327 |
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For his
arms as a king of Sicily see: Sicily-Trinacria Æ Royal Arms King of Aragon and Valencia 1293 Seal of
majesty: De Koning op zijn troon met leliescepter en rijksappel met
dubbelkruis. (CASC [=
Cagliari Archivo Storico del Comune]. On the reverse the Heraldic seal with moors’
heads Count of Barcelona
Equestrian seal. Crowned knight on horseback. Arms: Pales. Date: 1300 ca (?) [14]
Equestrian seal. Crowned knight on horseback. Arms: Barcelona. Date: 1317 |
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Alfonso IV, the
Benign |
*1302-†1336 1327-1336 |
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Equestrian seal: Crowned knight on horseback. Arms: Barcelona. Date: 1331 [15] |
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Peter IV, the Ceremonious |
*1319-†1387 King of Aragon
1336-1387 King of Majorca 1343 ¥ 1349 Eleonor of Sicily († 1374) |
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Equestrian seal. Arms:
Barcelona. L.: ?
Date: 1337 [16] After the
conquest of Majorca in 1343 and the Union of Valencia of 1348 the crown on
the helmet was completed with blue lambrequines charged with a cross patée
fitchée and a crest consisting of a dragon issuant.
1363 Equestrian seal. W.: Palen. Helmteken: een uitkomende draak.
Arms of Pedro the Ceremonious above the Kings Gate of the
Monastery of Poblet (Catalunya), showing the dragon crest. The inscription means: This
work was begun in the time of Pedro, king of Aragon.
The arms of the king of Aragon and his vassals Armorial du Héraut Gelre,
KB. Brussel, Ms. 15652-56 fol. 62v. Arms: Or, four pales Gules (Barcelona) Crest: On a crowned helmet, lambrequiened Azure a
cross patée fitchée Argent, a dragon issuant Or. Legend: Die Conic va arragoen. The
banners correspond with the title: X PETRVS: DEI: GRA: REX: ARAGON: VANC: MAIORIC: SARDIN: ET CORSICE:
COMESQUE BARCHN: ROSSILIOIS: ET: CERITAN They are: Valencia: Azure, a square cross patée fitchée Argent.
L.: Arragoen. Aragon: Argent, a cross Gules between four moor’s
heads Sable.L.: Sardaenge Majorca: Paly of nine Gules and Or. L.: Mayurc Sardinia and Corsica: Or, a moor’s head Sable with a
headscarf Argent. L.: Corse. This leaf
represents [a part of] the structure of command of the royal army. The
supreme commander is the king and there are four divisions from the nations
of his kingdom. Lower commands are of his marshal (a prince Moncada) and the
heads of several families being his vassals. |
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John I, the Hunter |
*1350-†1395 1387-1395 |
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Equestrian seal. Arms: Barcelona. Crest: Dragon issuant Date:
1387 |
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Martin I the Humane |
*1356-†1410 King of Aragon 1395-1410 King of Sicily
1409-1410 |
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As a
second son of Peter IV, Martin bore: Or, four pales Gules and a label of four
Argent, each label charged with an eagle sable. These arms are documented in
the Bellenville Roll of Arms, fol. 7v°. As a king
of Aragon he bore the usual arms of the House of Barcelona. This is to be
seen on his equestrian
seal.
Equestrian seal. Arms: Aragon/Barcelona Crest: Dragon
issuant. L.: MARTINUS DEI GRACIA REX ARAGONUM, VALENCIE, MAIORICARUM, SARDINIE ET
CORSICE COMESQUE BARCHINONE, ROSSI-LIONIS ET CERITANIE..... Date: 1399 [17] |
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Shield with the arms of Martin the Humane, used at his wedding with Mary de Luna, 1372. Museum of the Monastery of
Poblet |
Crest of King Martin the Humane. Made in Majorca between 1396
and 1410. Gilt parchment and plaster. Madrid, Real Armeria. |
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Interregnum |
1410-1412 |
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House of Castile-Trastamare |
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Ferdinand I of Antequera |
*1380-†1416 King of Aragon &
Sicily 1412-1416 |
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Infante As an
Infante Ferdinand bore a parti of the
arms of his mother Eleonore of Aragon and of his father John I of Castile,
surrouned by the kettles of the arms of his great-grandmother Eleonore Guzman
(†1351)
Arms of Infante Ferdinand of Castile. In the museum of Poblet
Monastery Arms: 1|2: 1. ½ van Castile and Leon; 2. Aragon; and a bordure of Guzman. King of Aragon As a king
of Aragon he could bear the pales of Barcelona. In the Chronicle of the Council of Constanz
by Ulrich Richental fol. 138v°, his arms with the pales are given with the legend
Regis portigalie. As a king of Sicily he
bore the quarterly in saltire. Also he
can have borne the arms parti of
Aragon and Sicily-Trinacria like his uncle and nephew, however no seals or
other representations of these arms from his short reign are available. |
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Alfonso V the Magnanimous |
*1394-†1458 King of Aragon and
Sicily-Trinacria 1416-1458 King of
Sicily-Naples 1442-1458 Knight T. d’O N° 42,
1445 |
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1440 ca. Mannequin of the King of
Aragon: Arms: Barcelona. Crest: On a crowned helmet, lambrequiened Azure a cross patée
fitchée Argent, a dragon issuant Or. (Toison d’Or pp. 158-159). In his
kingdoms of Sicily-Trinacria and Sicily-Naples he
bore bore the arms quarterly in saltire of Sicily-Trinacria and a quarterly
of Hungary-Anjou-Jeruzalem and Aragon respectively. His
dynastical arms however were the arms of the House of Barcelona. |
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Photo H.d.V. Arms of Alfonso V as a
knight of the Fleece for the Chapter at The Hague, 1456 Grote Kerk, The Hague |
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John II |
*1397 - †1479 ¥ 1425 Blanche of Navarre
King of Navarre
1425-1479 King of Aragon etc.
1458-1479 King of
Sicily-Trinacria 1458-1468 Knight T. d’Or. N°
59, St. Omaars 1461 |
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The
arms of Juan II are described in an armorial of the Golden Fleece written somewhat
after 1478. It is blasoned in spanish as follows: Juan II de
Aragón y de Navarra: Trae de Aragón, que es de oro con cuatro palos de gulas
[Aragón-Barcelona]; con el tymbre de Aragó debat escrit (una corona de oro
con la rrata penada de mismo con lengua de gulas teniendo un dardo en la mana
con un cuento de plata. [18]
On these
coins of John II there are his crested arms and the arms of Barcelona crested
with the cross patée fitchée of the lambrequines. On the coin below are his titles
of Aragon, Naples, Sicily, Valencia and Majorca. In 1479
John II legated Aragon to his son Ferdinand and Navarre to his
daughter Leonore who died the same year. |
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Counterkings in Catalonia |
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During
the Civil War (1462-’72), John II was declared “an enemy of the country” and
dethroned by the autonomous institutions, and the Catalan crown was bestowed successively
and with little fortune on three foreign princes, descendants of the House of
Barcelona on the female side: Henry of Castille, Peter of Portugal and Renat
of Anjou. |
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House of Castile-Trastamare |
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Ferdinand II, the
Catholic |
*1452-†1516 King of
Sicily-Trinacria 1468-1515 ¥ 1469 Isabella I
of Castile Knight T. d’Or. n°
73, Valencijn 1473 King of Castile
1474-1516 King of Aragon
1479-1516 King of Granada
1492-1516 Koning of
Sicily-Naples 1503-1515 ¥ 1506 Germaine of
Foix King of Navarra
1512-1516 |
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Before Ferdinand succeeded in Aragon after the
death of his father John II, he bore several
coats of arms corresponding with his kingship of Sicily and his
co-regency of Castile and Leon. Coins struck in Sicily for example, show a
quarterly of: 1. Aragon, 2&3 Castile, 4. Leon. On others there is a
quarterly of: 1. Castile, 2. the eagle of Sicily, 3. Aragon and 4. Leon.[19] On still others the arms of Castile-Leon and of
Sicily are separated:
Coin of Isabella
and Ferdinand with their respective coats of arms Obv.:
Crowned arms of Castile-Leon supported by a nimbused eagle. L.: FERNANDVS * ET *
ELISABET Rev.: Crowned
arms of Aragon and Sicily-Trinacria. L.: DOMINVS * MICHI * ATIVTOR. or in alliance:
When Isabella had ascended the throne of Castile
and Leon in 1474 it was agreed the next year that both Isabella and Ferdinand
should bear the same coat of arms quarterly of Castile and Sicily, but with
that difference that the arms of Isabella were supported by a nimbused eagle
and the arms of Ferdinand II should be crested, symbolizing his armed
authority. So, when at last in 1479 Ferdinand succeeded in
Aragon he bore: |
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Seal of Ferdinand II until 1492 Heraldic seal: Arms: ¼: 1&4: ¼ Castile and
Leon; 2&3: 1|2 Aragon and Sicily. Crest: Crown and dragon issuant. L.: SIGILLVM FERDINANDI REGIS
CASTELLE : ARAGONUM LEGIONIS SICILIE. Date: 1488/1492
[20] |
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After the conquest of Granada in 1492 the arms of
Granada were enté en point:
Seal of Ferdinand II the
Catholic dated 18.02.1496 Heraldic seal. Arms: ¼: 1&4 Castile and Leon;
2&3: 1|2 Aragon and Sicily; Enté en point of Granada. Crest: Crown and dragon issuant. L.: SIGILLVM
FERDINANDI REGIS CASTELLE ARAGONVM LEGIONIS SICILIE TOLETI VALENCIE. Date: 1496.02.18 [21] The
arms are blasoned in spanish as follows: El rrey de
Castilla y de león, de Aragón y de Cecylia y de Granada. Trae por armas un
escudo escuartelado, y el prymer cuartel es escuartelado de Castilla y de
León; de Castilla, de colorado con un castilla levantado de oro y
aventananado de azul, y el de León de plata con un león de púrpura; y el
segundo cuartel es partido en palo de Aragón y de Çeçylia: el de Aragón es de
oro con cuatro palos de colorado, y el de Çeçylia son las armas de Aragón con
dos flans de Çeçylia, que son de plata con cada un ágila de negro myrando el
una a la otra; el escudo partydo en punta de las armas de Granada, que es de
plata con una granada muy madura y endida, con sus ramas verdes. [22] To be continued at Spain |
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In the
time of Peter IV, when the crest appeared on the royal arms, the arms were crowned
at the same time. This is not a great development because in fact the kings bearing the arms were crowned earlier
on equestrian seal of James I and his successors. So the crowned arms was
just a matter of presentation of crown and arms. A
representation of the crowned arms as such can be seen on the counterseal of
the wife of Peter IV Eleonore (do. of Peter II of Sicily). These
arms symbolize the royal administrative authority, the crown being a badge of
administrative rank. Seal of Eleonora. The queen standing between D.: The arms of
Aragon and Sicily; S. The arms of Sicily and Aragon. L.: A/LIENORA
DEI GRACIA REGINA ARAGONUM / VALENCIE
MAIORICANUM SARDINIE ET
C/O//RSICE COMITISSAQ(UE) BARCHINO/NE ROSSILIONIS ET CERITANIE.
Counterseal: Arms: Barcelona,
crowned. Date: 1374 [23] Afterwards
the crowned arms appears regularly until about the middle of the 17th
century.
Crowned arms of Alfonso V, 1450 ca San Martino Museum, Naples
Ferdinand II, the Catholic presiding the States of
Catalonia From a 15th c. mansucript. |
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Albrecht
Dürer 1517 |
Virgil
Solis 1555 |
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Martin Schrot 1581 |
Ad Regum Aragonum, 1587 |
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Aragonensium Rerum, 1588 |
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Coin of Philip III, 1611 After the reign of Philip III the crowned royal arms for Aragon
disappeared |
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Liquidation of the Kingdom of Aragon, 1713 After the
liquidation of the United Kingdom sometimes the royal arms for the different former
kingdoms were used for the purpose. These were:
An
arrangement of the Royal arms of king Charles III of Bourbon (1759-‘88) and the royal arms of the
former parts of the United Kingdom is on a charter giving permission for the
transfer the archives from the Royal Palace to the Palace of Justice, dated
El Pardo, 18 February 1772.
Front cover of the a charter of King Charles III,
18.02.1772 Showing the royal arms of surrounded by the arms of the former United
Kingdom of Aragon. To demonstrate
the satisfaction of the king with the efforts of the officials of the
archives the charter is written on parchment an has a luxuriuosly decorated
cover. |
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The
principal officials of the royal household were the chancellor, usually an
ecclesiastic, who was responsible for the issuance of royal letters and the preservation
of records; the mayordomo, a magnate, who supervised the household and
the royal domain; and the alférez (Catalan: senyaler), also a
magnate, who organized and directed the army under the king's command. The merinos
or, later, adelantados, who functioned as provincial governors in
Castile, were also drawn from the nobility. The Catalan counties initially
were part of the Carolingian empire, but the various counts gradually
achieved independence. The counts of Barcelona had gained an effective sovereignty
over all of Catalonia by the 11th century. Under the count's direction,
vicars (vegueres) and bailiffs (batlles), responsible
respectively for justice and taxes, administered the Catalan territorial
subdivisions. The privilege of immunity granted to bishops, magnates,
monasteries, and military orders prohibited royal officials from dispensing
justice or levying taxes in immune lands, except in cases of negligence. The
immunities of the archbishop of Compostela in Galicia and those of the military
orders south of Toledo were among the most important. Feudal
ideas emphasizing private and personal relationships exerted great influence
on the governmental and military organization of the Christian kingdoms—most
fully in Catalonia, where French influence was strong. As vassals holding
fiefs of the count of Barcelona, the Catalan nobles owed him military and
court service, and they often had vassals of their own. In the western
states, royal vassals usually held land in full ownership rather than in fief.
As vassals of the king or count, the magnates, called ricos hombres
(i.e., rich or powerful men) in the west and barones in Catalonia,
functioned as his chief counselors and provided the bulk of the royal
military forces. Nobles of the second rank, known variously as infanzones,
caballeros, or cavallers, generally were vassals of the
magnates. In a very
early stage the kingdom of Pamplona and its successor kingdom of Aragon had
an achievement which usually was the emblem of the government consisting of the
officials of the royal household. In Pamplona the nucleus of such an
achievement was a combination of the square cross for the administration and
the christogram of the armed forces, supoorted by angles or lions. From
Aragon an achievement is known consisting of the christogram supported by
angels and consequently being the emblem of the (autonomous) army staff. |
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Achievement above the entrance of St. Nicolas Church
in El Frago (12th Century) |
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another achievement
dates from somewahat later and is above the entrance of St. Felix in
Uncastillo a quarter of Zaragoza. This was made about the turn of the 12t and
13t century
Christogram supperted by two angels San Felix de Uncastillo From 1162
until 1196, that is to say during the rreign of Alfonso the Cbaste the office
of alférez was held by Jimeno de
Artosilla, Gonzalvo Copelino, Sancho Ramirez and Artoldo de Alagón, Tarino
and Portolez (who was also Grand Senechal). Such an
achievement became obsolete after teh renewal of the infeudation of Aragon by
the Pope in 1204. For some
reason no emblems of the royal household are known from the next
hundred-and-fifty years, be it because they were not used and made, be it
that they were destroyed later. On the other hand the arms of the ecclesia,
being a red cross on a white field were introduced in Aragon after 1204.
Later these arms were “supported” by St. George which became the patron saint
of Aragon. Still
later St. George became the charge of the seal of the Cortés of Catalonia and
the arms of Aragon became the red cross between four moor’s heads, which,
maybe somewhat farfetched, may have been intended as a kind of “supporters”
of the arms of the ecclesia in Aragon. In any
case, the arms with the moor’s heads were used by the aragonese cortés and an
achievement symbolizing the royal aragonese household only ocurred in the
middle of the 14th century, in the time of Peter IV, the Ceremonious
(1336-’87). For sure,
this cries for research! |
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Achievement of Aragon in Poblet monastery, about
1350 Arms: Aragon/Barcelona Crown: A royal crown Supporters: An angel behind the shield and two lions. |
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In the
Royal Palace of Santa Creu, dating from the time of Martin the Humane (1395-1410)
the achievement is augmented with another angel:
Achievement of Aragon in the Monastery of Santa Creu Arms: Aragon/Barcelona Crest: A latin
cross Supporters: Two
lions and two angels |
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On the seal
of majesty of Martin the Humane the lions and the cross are omitted:
Seal of Martin the Humane, 1399 Seal: The king on his throne with sceptre and globe crested with a
patriarchal cross. L.: DILIGITE IUSTITIAM QUI
IUDICATIS TERRAM ET OCCULIVESTRI VIDEANT EQUITATEM. Date: 1399 |
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The arms,
crowned and supporterd by two angels are also in a manuscript from his reign
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By Alfonso
V however, the angels were replaced by griffins:
Smaller Seal of Alfonso V, with the achievement of
Aragon Arms Aragon/Barcelona Crown: A crown
of 5 large and 4 small leaves Supporters:
Griffins Legend: ALFONSUS DI GRA
REX ARAGO CICILIE VALNC MAIORIC SARD CORSIC COMIT BARCHIN DUCIS ATTEN NEOP AC
ET COMI ROSSIO ET CERITANIE |
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Achievement of Alfonso V, Porta Nueva, Naples |
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After
Ferdinand had succeeded in Aragon a new achievement was sculptured in the Aljaferia
in Zaragoza. This showed the arms of Ferdinand after 1475, crowned and supported by two lions.
Achievement of Ferdinand II over the entrance of the throne hall in the
Aljaferia in Zaragoza (1488-’95) |
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After the
conquest of Navarra in 1512 another
achievement was made in the Aljaferia, the shield augmented with the arms of
Navarra and the supporters replaced by griffins. As in
1485 the Aljaferia was made the seat of court of justice and the prison of
the Inquisition this may have been the achievement over the entrance of the
Court of Justice of the Aragonese Inquisition (1507-’17).
Achievement of Ferdinand II after 1512 In the Aljaferia in Zaragoza To be continued at Spain |
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© Hubert de Vries 2013-10-29
Heraldry of the World