The construction of the Kingdom of Aragon

WHome
9Construction of the Kingdom

Caballeros en la construcción del reino de Aragón

Construction of the castle

THE BIRTH OF THE FORTRESS

The construction of the original Castle of Montearagón between 1085 and 1089 is closely tied to the military construction of the growing Kingdom of Aragon. This fortress is key to understanding the conquest and articulation of the Upper Aragon territory at the end of the 11th century, during the early stages of the Aragonese Reconquista of the Ebro Valley.

The first issue is to elucidate the birth of the fortress and the monastic habitat. In the absence of archaeological support to confirm certain hypotheses about the first settlements on the hill where Montearagón sits and its different stages of occupation, the first reference to Montearagón appears in three parchments dated in Peña in May 1086. At the beginning of this year, there was a first castrum or walled enclosure with some dependencies on the hill where the castle stands.

The construction of the church would be subsequent to May of that year, as it mentions the “church that we have newly built in honor and in the name of Jesus Nazarene in the castrum that we call Montearagón.” Therefore, this first fortress would have begun in 1085 and been completed in the spring of the following year, housing the best lords of the king.

Creation of the church

BUILDING AND CONSECRATION

Later, in May 1086, Sancho Ramírez decided to create a new church to complete the castrum. It was not a restoration but a new creation.

Thus, the church of Jesus Nazarene was born without any dependence on the future bishopric of Huesca and under royal patronage. This characteristic would be of vital importance in later dates and is the basis of the confrontations between Montearagón and the bishopric of Huesca.

The building dates back to a period between May 1086 and July 1, 1089, when Pope Urban II took it under his protection.

The consecration would be months later, as recorded in a document from Sancho Ramírez for San Juan de la Peña, dated May 15, 1090. The canonical would be installed later, as well as the tithe of the town, first mentioned in 1098.

Caballero defendiendo la iglesia del castillo

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Donations

THE SURROUNDINGS OF THE CASTLE AND THE VILLAGE

From 1089 onwards, donations occurred in the surroundings of the castle and village of Montearagón. Thus, on February 19, 1089, San Juan de la Peña received “a palace with its tower and a mill with its lands in the castrum called Monte Aragón.” In August 1089, Sancho Ramírez donated to Galindo Dat “in Monte Aragón some houses in the castle and others in the village with their allodial land.” In March 1090, the monarch donated to Don Sancio “some houses in Montearagón.”

From all the above, it is clear there was great interest in populating both the castrum and the village of Montearagón from 1089 onwards. Both spaces are different: on the one hand, there is the castrum with its palaces and rooms, and on the other, the village. Similarly, the church of Jesus Nazarene is different from the canonical of Montearagón. The creation of the village did not result from a search for new spaces due to the saturation of the castrum but was a simultaneous action, as there are internal donations subsequent to the grants in the village. This policy corresponds to a clear model of successful military exploitation and pressure, as reflected in the conquest of Huesca, where Montearagón played a fundamental role, just as the construction of El Pueyo would be for the conquest of Barbastro or that of El Castellar and Juslibol for Zaragoza.

The kingdom

KINGS AND CANONS

After the royal donations that began in 1089 around Montearagón, the first major endowment to the abbey of Montearagón occurred in 1093, perhaps because it was at that time that it was populated by canons.

From then on, and especially in the coming years, the kings always acted generously towards the monastery, allowing it to have large revenues but also laying the foundation for its disputes with the bishopric of Huesca.

Text: Lorenzo Mur Sangrá