1.
Poblet Monastery
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The Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the feet of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in Catalonia. It was founded by Cistercian monks from France on lands conquered from the Moors, the main architect was Arnau Bargués. This monastery was the first of three monasteries, known as the Cistercian triangle, that helped consolidate power in Catalonia in the 12th century. Poblet was the royal pantheon of the kings of the Crown of Aragon since James I of Aragon, some of the most important royal sepulchres have alabaster statues that lie over the tomb. The kings have lion sculptures at their feet, while the queens have dogs, peter IV of Aragon made it a condition, under solemn oath at the moment of crowning, that all the Aragonese kings be buried there. Only Ferdinand II of Aragon broke the oath, after his kingdom had been merged with the Kingdom of Castile, the tombs of the royals were restored by the Catalan sculptor Frederic Marés in 1948. The monastery, which had suffered damage during the First Carlist War, was closed down due to the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal in 1835 during Isabella II of Spains rule. The Desamortización or secularization of the place brought monastic life to an end, on 24 July of the same year the monastery was plundered by representatives of the Mendizábals government and unruly mobs. During the events all valuable paintings and furniture were removed and dispersed, also parts of the monastery were destroyed owing to fires. In the years followed the Poblet Monastery fell into disrepair and ruin. Finally the monastery was refounded in 1940 by Italian monks of the order and repair. Close to the entrance of the one building has been kept in a ruined state as a reminder. Remains of the deceased of the ancient Royal House of Aragon were put back in sepulchres, Poblet belongs to the Cistercian Congregation of the Crown of Aragon, along with Santa Maria de Solius and convents such as Santa Maria de Vallbona and Santa Maria de Valldonzella. The Abbot of Poblet is the ex officio chairman of the Congregation, today the monastic community of Poblet is composed of 29 professed monks,1 regular oblate,1 novice and 2 familiars. Poblet Monastery has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991, the altar was sculpted by Damián Forment. In 2010, Spanish architect Mariano Bayón designed the Poblet Monastery Guesthouse, the current abbot is the 105th abbot
2.
Crown of Aragon
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Put in contemporary terms, it has sometimes been considered that the different lands of the Crown of Aragon functioned more as a confederation than as a single kingdom. In this sense, the larger Crown of Aragon must not be confused with one of its constituent parts, formally, the political center of the Crown of Aragon was Zaragoza, where kings were crowned at La Seo Cathedral. The de facto capital and leading cultural, administrative and economic centre of the Crown of Aragon was Barcelona followed by Valencia, finally, Palma was an additional important city and seaport. For brief periods the Crown of Aragon also controlled Montpellier, Provence, Corsica, the countries that are today known as Spain and Portugal spent the Middle Ages after 722 in an intermittent struggle called the Reconquista. This struggle pitted the northern Christian kingdoms against the Islamic taifa petty kingdoms of the South, in the Late Middle Ages, the expansion of the Aragonese Crown southwards met with the Castilian advance eastward in the region of Murcia. Afterward, the Aragonese Crown focused on the Mediterranean, acting as far as Greece and Barbary, whereas Portugal, mercenaries from the territories in the Crown, known as almogàvers participated in the creation of this Mediterranean empire, and later found employment in countries all across southern Europe. The Crown of Aragon has been considered by some as an empire which ruled in the Mediterranean for hundreds of years and it was indeed, at its height, one of the major powers in Europe. However, its different territories were connected through the person of the monarch. A modern historian, Juan de Contreras y Lopez de Ayala, Marqués de Lozoya described the Crown of Aragon as being more like a confederacy than a centralised kingdom, let alone an empire. Nor did official documents refer to it as an empire, instead. This union respected the institutions and parliaments of both territories. This was due to the loss of Catalan influence, the renunciation of the family rights of the counts of Barcelona in Occitania. Petronillas father King Ramiro, The Monk who was raised in the Saint Pons de Thomières Monastery and his brothers Peter I and Alfonso I El Batallador had bravely fought against Castile for hegemony in the Iberian peninsula. After the death of Alfonso I, the Aragonese nobility that campaigned close him feared being overwhelmed by the influence of Castile, and so, Ramiro was forced to leave his monastic life and proclaim himself King of Aragon. He married Agnes, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine and betrothed his daughter to Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona. The wedding agreement provided Raymond Berengar IV the title of Princeps Aragonum and Dominator Aragonenesis and kept the title, Raymond Berengar IV, the first ruler of the united dynasty, called himself Count of Barcelona and Prince of Aragon. Alfonso II inherited two realms and with them, two different expansion processes, the House of Jiménez looked south in a battle against Castile for the control of the Mediterranean coast in the Iberian peninsula. The House of Barcelona looked north to its origins, Occitania, soon, Alfonso II of Aragon and Barcelona committed himself to conquer Valencia as the Aragonese nobility demanded
3.
Peter IV of Aragon
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Peter IV, called the Ceremonious, was from 1336 until his death the King of Aragon and also King of Sardinia and Corsica, King of Valencia, and Count of Barcelona. In 1344, he deposed James III of Majorca and made himself King of Majorca and his wars in Greece made him Duke of Athens and Neopatria in 1381. Peter was born at Balaguer, the eldest son and heir of Alfons IV, then Count of Urgell, Peter was designated to inherit all of his fathers title save that of Urgell, which went to his younger brother James. Upon succeeding his father he called a corts in Zaragoza for his coronation and he crowned himself, disappointing the Archbishop of Zaragoza and thus rejecting the surrender Peter II had made to the Papacy, in an otherwise traditional ceremony. According to his own reports, this act caused him some distress. He did, however, affirm the liberties and privileges of Aragon, after the festivities in Zaragoza, Peter began on his way to Valencia to receive coronation there. On route he stopped at Lleida to affirm the Usatges and Constitutions of Catalonia and this offended Barcelona, at which the ceremony had usually been performed, and the citizens of that city complained to the king, who claimed that Lleida was on his way to Valencia. While in Valencia he decided on the case of his stepmothers inheritance, depriving her of income and outlawing her Castilian protector, Peter Ponce of León, Peter was largely forced to capitulate by a new invasion from Morocco aimed at Castile and Valencia. In 1338 he married Maria, second daughter of Philip III, in May 1339 he allied with Alfonso XI of Castile against Morocco, but his contribution of a fleet had no effect at the pivotal Battle of the Saulty River. Early on in his reign, a thorn in Peters side had been James III of Majorca, his brother-in-law, James had twice postponed performing the ceremony of homage to Peter, his feudal overlord, and when he finally performed it in 1339 it was on his terms. The rising economic star of Majorca, whose merchants were establishing independent markets and gaining trading privileges in the western Mediterranean, threatened the supremacy of Barcelona. Peters outrage, however, was no outlet until 1341. Peter then opened a process against James, with the intent of dispossessing him of his kingdom. He alleged that the circulation of James coinage in the Counties of Roussillon and this was open to question, considering the ancient customs of Roussillon and Cerdagne, but Peter was prepared to move forward anyway. The interference of Pope Clement VI, however, granted James a hearing in Barcelona in front of papal delegates, Peter, for his part, spread rumours that James was seeking to capture him. James, fearing that Peter would stoop to invading Majorca and seizing it by force, in February 1343 Peter declared James a contumacious vassal and his kingdom and lands forfeit. The legal process being terminated, Peter went to war, on the advice that the islanders were burdened by taxes, in May a fleet which had been blockading Algeciras landed at Majorca and quickly defeated James army at the Battle of Santa Ponça. Peter received the submission of all the Balearics and confirmed the privileges of the islands as they had been under James I, though James sued for peace and Pope Clement attempted to mediate it, Peter returned to Barcelona prepared to invade Roussillon and Cerdagne
4.
Martin of Aragon
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Martin the Humane, also called the Elder and the Ecclesiastic, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409. He failed to secure the accession of his grandson, Frederic, Count of Luna. Martin was born in 1356, in either Girona or Perpignan and he was the second son of King Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily, princess of the Sicilian branch of the House of Aragon. As a cadet prince of the Aragonese royal family, Martin was given the Duchy of Montblanch. In 1380 his father appointed him lord and regent of the island of Sicily, then also as Trinacria, since its queen Maria of Sicily. As a son of Eleanor of Sicily, Martin was himself an heir to the island, in 1396, Martin succeeded his elder brother John I, who had died sonless, on the throne of Aragon. However, Sicilian nobles were causing unrest and so Martin was kept in Sicily, meanwhile, Martins wife, María López de Luna, claimed the throne on his behalf of and acted as his representative until he arrived in 1397. Still, the delay opened the way for more problems and quarrels to surface in Aragon and his right to the throne was contested, first by Count Matthew of Foix on behalf of his wife Joanna, elder daughter of John I. However, Martin succeeded in quashing an invasion by troops of the count, after the death of the childless Joanna, John Is younger daughter Yolande of Aragon, who had married the Angevin King Louis II of Naples, continued the claim, as did her sons. Martin launched crusades against the Moors in North Africa in 1398 and 1399, Aragon had been trying to subjugate Sardinia since the reign of James II, and gradually the Aragonese had conquered most of the island. King Martin sent his son Martin the Younger, by king of Sicily through his marriage to Queen Maria. The son won the Battle of Sanluri in 1409, drove away the Genoese allies of the Sardinians and this soon caused Arboreas total loss of independence. Soon after the battle, however, Martin the Younger died suddenly, Martin of Aragon then succeeded his son as King of Sicily, taking the title of Martin II. Overall, the Kingdom of Aragon enjoyed external peace during Martins reign and he worked to quell internal strife caused by nobles, factions and he supported the Avignon line of Popes and Pope Benedict XIII, who was Aragonese, held the seat throughout Martins reign. Martins military intervention rescued the imprisoned Benedict in 1403 from the clutches of his rivals, Martin had four legitimate children by Queen Maria, Martin the Younger, James, John, and Margaret. Martin still married secondly on 17 September 1409 to his cousin Margaret of Prades, daughter of Peter of Aragon, Baron of Entenza, Martin died, in the monastery of Valldonzella, extramuros of Barcelona the 31st May 1410. While the reason unclear, it is supposed that either plague, uremic coma or the possibility of having been poisoned. The story of the kings associated with laughter has no historical evidence in any form whatsoever
5.
Perpignan
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Perpignan is a city, a commune, and the capital of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Perpignan was the capital of the province and County of Roussillon. In 2013 Perpignan had 118,238 inhabitants in the city proper, the metropolitan area had a total population of 305,837 in 2010. Perpignan is located in the center of the Roussillon plain,13 km west of the Mediterranean coast and it is the southern most of the cities of metropolitan France. Perpignan is crossed by the largest river in Roussillon, the Têt, and by one of its tributaries, floods often occur, as in 1892 when the rising of the Têt in Perpignan destroyed 39 houses, leaving more than 60 families homeless. Perpignan experiences a Mediterranean climate similar to much of the Mediterranean coastline of France, roads The motorway A9 connects Perpignan with Barcelona and Montpellier. Trains Perpignan is served by the Gare de Perpignan railway station, which offers connections to Paris, Barcelona, Toulouse, salvador Dalí proclaimed it to be the Center of the Universe after experiencing a vision of cosmogonic ecstasy there in 1963. Airport The nearest airport is Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport, attested forms The name of Perpignan appears in 927 as Perpinianum, followed in 959 by Villa Perpiniano, Pirpinianum in the 11th century, Perpiniani in 1176. Perpenyà, which appears in the 13th century, is the most common form until the 15th century, though settlement in the area goes back to Roman times, the medieval town of Perpignan seems to have been founded around the beginning of the 10th century. Soon Perpignan became the capital of the counts of Roussillon, historically, it was part of the region known as Septimania. In 1172 Count Girard II bequeathed his lands to the Counts of Barcelona, Perpignan acquired the institutions of a partly self-governing commune in 1197. French feudal rights over Roussillon were given up by Louis IX in the Treaty of Corbeil, when James I the Conqueror, king of Aragon and count of Barcelona, founded the Kingdom of Majorca in 1276, Perpignan became the capital of the mainland territories of the new state. The succeeding decades are considered the age in the history of the city. It prospered as a centre of manufacture, leather work, goldsmiths work. King Philippe III of France died there in 1285, as he was returning from his crusade against the Aragonese Crown. In 1344 Peter IV of Aragon annexed the Kingdom of Majorca, a few years later it lost approximately half of its population to the Black Death. Perpignan is one of the houses of Lancaster Girls Grammar School, the festival has a broad mainstream focus with pop-related music as well as traditional acoustic guitar music and alternative music. The festival has attracted international guests like Caetano Veloso, Rumberos Catalans, Pedro Soler, Bernardo Sandoval, Peter Finger, in 2008, Perpignan became Capital of Catalan Culture
6.
Martha of Armagnac
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Martha of Armagnac was the youngest child of John I of Armagnac and his second wife Beatrice of Clermont. She was the first wife of John I of Aragon but never became Queen consort of Aragon because she was outlived by her father-in-law Peter IV of Aragon, Martha was the youngest of three children. Her elder brother was John II of Armagnac, who succeeded their father and her sister was Joanna of Armagnac who married John, Duke of Berry and was mother of Marie, Duchess of Auvergne, amongst others. Her maternal grandparents were Jean de Clermont and his wife Jeanne de Dargies, Jean was son of Robert, Count of Clermont and his wife Beatrice, Dame de Bourbon. Robert was son of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, Marthas paternal grandparents were Bernard VI of Armagnac and his wife Cecile de Rodez. Martha was not named in domini Johannis comitis Armaniaci which listed the names of her family, Martha was a proposed wife for Peter II of Alençon in 1370 but he instead married Marie, Viscountess of Beaumont-au-Maine. During these years, Peter IV of Aragon had sought an alliance with Philip VI of France to prevent a new war with Castile. In 1370 he negotiated a marriage for his heir, John, Duke of Girona with Jeanne of France, daughter of Philip VI but the project failed when the princess died on her journey to Barcelona in 1371. Moreover, Henry II of Castile became a necessary to Charles V of France. The count of Armagnac wished to strengthen its position in Occitan and in France and get a good ally against its rival, the Counts of Foix. Negotiations began in summer 1372 and of the contract was signed on March 27,1373 for the marriage of Martha to John. The dowry amounted to the figure of 150,000 pounds. Martha was received with great solemnity at the border according to sources of Martin, on 24 June 1373 in Barcelona, John and Martha married. Afterwards she became the first to be titled Duchess of Girona, Martha even got along well with her father-in-law who dealt with her with great affection, and in general all members of the royal family. Her mother-in-law Eleanor of Sicily treated Martha as her own daughter, on Eleanors death King Peter remarried to Sibila of Fortia, a marriage that caused great scandal. However, Martha and Sibila maintained a relationship, but John had a bad attitude to his stepmother. John and Martha had five children, Infante James of Aragon Infanta Joanna, together they claimed the throne of Aragon after her fathers death. Matthew of Foix invaded Aragonese territories, but was back by the new King Martin
7.
Violant of Bar
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Violant of Bar was queen consort of Aragon by marriage to John I of Aragon. She served as Regent or Queen-Lieutenant of Aragon during in the place of her spouse from 1388 until 1395 and she was the daughter of Robert I, Duke of Bar and Marie of Valois. Violante was the eighth of eleven children and she was married in 1380 at the age of 15 to John, Duke of Girona, the heir apparent to the throne of Aragon, thus becoming Duchess of Girona and Countess of Cervera. Her husband became King of Aragon in 1387 and he was often ill, and Violante wielded considerable administrative power on his behalf, she was appointed regent the following year, in 1388, and governed Aragon as such for seven years. She transformed the Aragonese court into a center of French culture and she especially cultivated the talents of Provençal troubadours. After Johns death in 1395, she dedicated herself to the education of her surviving child. Yolande and her sons claimed the Kingdom of Aragon after Johns death, violant died in Barcelona on 13 August 1431 at the age of sixty-six. James, Duke of Girona and Count of Cervera Yolande, married on 2 December 1400 at Louis II of Naples and she played a role in the history of France. Ferdinand, Duke of Girona and Count of Cervera Joanna Antonia Peter, Duke of Girona and Count of Cervera
8.
Yolande of Aragon
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She was a daughter of John I of Aragon and his wife Yolande of Bar. Yolande played a role in the struggles between France and England, influencing events such as the financing of Joan of Arcs army in 1429 that helped tip the balance in favour of the French. She was also known as Yolanda de Aragón and Violant dAragó, tradition holds that she commissioned the famous Rohan Hours. Yolande was born in Zaragoza, Aragon, on 11 August 1384, the eldest daughter of King John I of Aragon by his wife, Yolande of Bar. She had three brothers and two sisters, as well as five older half-siblings from her fathers first marriage to Martha of Armagnac, Yolande later played an important role in the politics of England, France, and Aragon during the first half of the 15th century. In 1389, Louis II was crowned King of Naples and his mother Marie of Blois opened negotiations for a marriage between her son and Yolande to prevent Aragon from obstructing his rule there. When Yolande was eleven, she signed a document to disavow any promises made by ambassadors about her marrying Louis II, in 1395, Richard II of England also opened negotiations for Yolandes hand. To prevent this marriage, Charles VI of France offered his own daughter Isabella to King Richard, after the death of Yolandes father, Marie of Blois convinced Yolandes uncle Martin I of Aragon to have Yolande wed Louis II. Yolande signed a protest, but was forced to retract it later, the couple married in Arles on December 2,1400. Despite Yolandes earlier objections and the illnesses of her husband. As the surviving daughter of King John I of Aragon, she claimed the throne of Aragon after the deaths of her elder sister Joanna, Countess of Foix, and her uncle, King Martin I. However, unclear though they were, the laws of succession for Aragon, the Anjou candidate for the throne of Aragon was Yolandes eldest son Louis III of Anjou, Duke of Calabria, whose claim was forfeited in the Pact of Caspe. Yolande and her sons regarded themselves as the heirs with the stronger claim, as a result of this additional inheritance, Yolande was called the Queen of Four Kingdoms - the four apparently Sicily, Jerusalem, Cyprus and Aragon. Another interpretation specifies Naples separate from Sicily, plus Jerusalem and Aragon, the number could be raised to seven if the two component kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon and Sardinia were included. However, the reality was that Yolande and her family controlled territories in the kingdoms only at short intervals. Their true realm was the Anjou fiefdoms across France, they held uncontestably the provinces of Provence and Anjou, Yolandes son René I of Anjou became ruler of Lorraine through his marriage to Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. In the emerging second phase of the Hundred Years War, Yolande chose to support the French against the English, in the same year, Yolande met with Queen Isabeau of France to finalize a marriage contract between her daughter Marie and Isabeaus third surviving son Charles. After his two brothers died, she supported the claim of the Dauphin Charles who, relying upon Yolandes resources and help
9.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
10.
Eleanor of Sicily
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Eleanor of Sicily was Queen of Aragon from 1349 until 1375 as the third wife of King Peter IV. Eleanor was the daughter of Peter II of Sicily and Elisabeth of Carinthia. She was the second of eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood, Eleanor married in Valencia on 27 August 1349 to Peter IV of Aragon, on the condition that he renounce all rights to any Sicilian Crown. He was twice-widowed, had two surviving daughters, Constance and Joanna but no surviving sons, Eleanor became a powerful influence at the Aragonese court, replacing Bernardo de Cabrera as Peters chief adviser. Eleanors brother Frederick III the Simple, married Constance of Aragon, Frederick and Constance had a daughter, Maria, but no sons. Then in 1357 Frederick proposed to transfer the duchies of Athens and Neopatria to Eleanor in return for help from her husband in Sicily. Alfonso, died young In 1373 Eleanors eldest son John married Martha of Armagnac, Eleanor treated Martha as her own daughter. Upon a royal stay at her home in Empordà, Eleanor made Sibila of Fortia her lady-in-waiting and this led to an eventful future for the girl. In Lérida on 20 April 1375, Eleanor died leaving her husband a widower and her three surviving children and her husband remarried to Sibila, a girl that was over thirty years his junior. Most of the family, including Eleanors children, came into conflict with Sibila
11.
Roman Catholicism
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
12.
Peter II of Sicily
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Peter II was the King of Sicily from 1337 until his death, although he was associated with his father as co-ruler from 1321. Peters father Frederick III of Sicily and his mother was Eleanor and his reign was marked by strife between the throne and the nobility, especially the old families of Ventimiglia, Palizzi and Chiaramonte, and by war between Sicily and Naples. Giovanni Villani, in his Nuova Cronica, calls him almost an imbecile and Nicola Speciale, in his Historia Sicula, calls him pure, under Peter, the Neapolitans conquered the Lipari Islands and took the cities of Milazzo and Termini in Sicily itself. He died after an illness on 8 August 1342 in Calascibetta and was buried in the cathedral of Palermo. He was succeeded by Louis, his eldest son, who was five years old
13.
Roussillon
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Roussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales. It may also refer to Northern Catalonia or French Catalonia, the first used by Catalan-speakers, a 1998 survey found that 34% of respondents stated they speak Catalan, and a further 21% understand it. Roussillon was a French province before the Revolution and it derived its name from Ruscino, a small fortified place near modern-day Perpignan where Gaulish chieftains met to consider Hannibals request for a conference. The region formed part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis from 121 BC to AD462 and his successor, Amalaric, on his defeat by Clovis in 531, retired to Hispania, leaving a governor in Septimania. Roussillon was occupied by the Carolingians in 760, on the invasion of Hispania in 778, Charlemagne found the Marca Hispanica wasted by war and the inhabitants settled in the mountains. He granted some lands in the plains to Visigothic refugees from Moorish Hispania, in 792, the Saracens again invaded France, but they were repulsed by Count Guillaume of Toulouse - regent of the child Louis the Pious, King of Aquitaine - whose hegemony extended into Catalonia. The different portions of his kingdom in time grew into allodial fiefs and, in 893, but his rule only extended over the eastern part of what became the later province. The western part, the Cerdanya, was ruled in 900 by Miró as first count, the Counts of Roussillon were allied to their cousins the Counts of Empúries in a centuries-long conflict with the surrounding great nobles. Count Girard I participated in the First Crusade in the following of Raymond IV of Toulouse, and was one of the first to set foot in Jerusalem when it was stormed by the Crusaders in 1099. At the beginning of the 12th century, the prestige of the Counts of Barcelona began to rise to such a height that the Counts of Roussillon had no choice but to swear fealty to them. In 1111, Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, inherited the fief of Besalú, the possession of Roussillon by its last count, Girard II, was challenged by his illegitimate brothers. To ensure that his brothers would not inherit his territories, in his will Girard II left all his lands to Alfonso II of Aragon, who took possession in 1172. Under the Aragonese monarchs, economic and demographic growth of the continued, and Collioure. As the French and Spanish crowns grew in power, the region of Roussillon, James I of Aragon had wrested the Balearic Isles from the Moors and joined these islands with Roussillon to create the Kingdom of Majorca, with its capital at Perpignan. In 1276, James I granted this kingdom to his son, the subsequent disputes of this monarch with his brother Peter III were exploited by Philip III of France in his quarrel with Peter III for the crown of the Two Sicilies. Philip III espoused James IIs cause and led an army into Aragon but, retreating and his successor, James III of Majorca, refused to do homage to Philip VI of France for the seigneury of Montpellier, and applied to Peter IV of Aragon for aid. Peter not only refused, but declared war and seized Majorca, the province was now reunited to the Crown of Aragon, and it enjoyed peace until 1462. In that year, the disputes between John II of Aragon and his son over the Crown of Navarre spurred Louis XI of France to support John against his subjects, who had risen in revolt
14.
Principality of Catalonia
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At the time, Catalonia did not yet exist as a political entity, though the use of this term seems to acknowledge Catalonia as a cultural or geographical entity. The counties that would make up the Principality of Catalonia were gradually unified under the rule of the Count of Barcelona. Under Alfons the Troubador, Catalonia was regarded as an entity for the first time. Still, the term Principality of Catalonia was not used legally until the 14th century, the term Principality of Catalonia remained in use until the Second Spanish Republic, when its use declined because of its historical relation to the monarchy. Today, the term is used primarily by Catalan nationalists and independentists to refer collectively to the French, like much of the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, it was colonized by Ancient Greeks, which chose Roses to settle in. Both Greeks and Carthaginians interacted with the main Iberian population, after the Carthaginian defeat, it became, along with the rest of Hispania, a part of the Roman Empire, Tarraco being one of the main Roman posts in the Iberian Peninsula. The Visigoths ruled after the Western Roman Empires collapse near the end of the 5th century, moorish Al-Andalus gained control in the early 8th century, after conquering the Visigothic kingdom in 711-718. A distinctive Catalan culture started to develop in the Middle Ages stemming from a number of petty kingdoms organized as small counties throughout the northernmost part of Catalonia. The counts of Barcelona were Frankish vassals nominated by the Carolingian emperor then the king of the Franks, in 987 the count of Barcelona did not recognise Frankish king Hugh Capet and his new dynasty which put it effectively out of the Frankish rule. At the start of eleventh century the Catalan Counties suffer an important process of feudalisation, on the other side, the king of France, heir of the Carolingian Empire formally renounced his nominal feudal lordship over all the Catalan counties. This treaty turned the de facto independence of the Catalan counties into a de jure. At the same time, the Principality of Catalonia developed an institutional and political system based in the concept of pact between the estates of the realm and the king. The laws had to be approved in the General Court of Catalonia, the first Catalan constitutions are of the ones from the Catalan Courts of Barcelona from 1283. The last ones were promulgated by the Courts of 1705-1706, presided by the king Charles III, the compilations of the Constitutions and other rights of Catalonia followed the Roman tradition of the Codex. This constitutions developed a compilation of rights for the whole citizens of the Principality. The General Court of Catalonia, dating from the 11th century, is one of the first parliaments in continental Europe, the Courts were composed by the three estates of the realm and were presided by the king of Aragon. The current Parliament of Catalonia is considered the symbolic and historic successor of this institution, the domains of the Aragonese Crown were severely affected by the Black Death pandemic and by later outbreaks of the plague. Between 1347 and 1497 Catalonia lost 37 percent of its population, in 1410, King Martin I died without surviving descendants
15.
Kingdom of Sicily
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The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of the Apennine peninsula from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula. Until 1282 the Kingdom covered not only the island of Sicily, but also the whole Mezzogiorno region of the southern Apennines, the island was divided into three regions, Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto, val being the Arabic word meaning district. In 1282, a revolt against Angevin rule, known as the Sicilian Vespers, the island became a separate kingdom under the Crown of Aragon. After 1302 the island kingdom was called the Kingdom of Trinacria. Often the kingship was vested in another such as the King of Aragon. In 1816 the island Kingdom of Sicily merged with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1860 the Two Sicilies were amalgamated with Sardinia and several northern city-states and duchies to form the Kingdom of Sardinia which in 1861 renamed itself the Kingdom of Italy, after taking Apulia and Calabria, Roger occupied Messina with an army of 700 knights. In 1068, Roger I of Sicily and his men defeated the Muslims at Misilmeri but the most crucial battle was the siege of Palermo, which led to Sicily being completely under Norman control by 1091. The Norman Kingdom was created on Christmas Day,1130, by Roger II of Sicily, with the agreement of Pope Innocent II, Roger threw his support behind the Antipope Anacletus II, who enthroned him as King of Sicily on Christmas Day 1130. In 1136, the rival of Anacletus, Pope Innocent II, convinced Lothair III, Two main armies, one led by Lothair, the other by Duke of Bavaria Henry the Proud, invaded Sicily. On the river Tronto, William of Loritello surrendered to Lothair and this was followed by Count Hugh II of Molise. The two armies were united at Bari, from where in 1137 they continued their campaign, Roger offered to give Apulia as a fief to the Empire, which Lothair refused after being pressured by Innocent. At the same period the army of Lothair revolted, then Lothair, who had hoped for the complete conquest of Sicily, gave Capua and Apulia from the Kingdom of Sicily to Rogers enemies. Innocent protested, claiming that Apulia fell under papal claims, Lothair turned north, but died while crossing the Alps on December 4,1137. At the Second Council of the Lateran in April 1139, Innocent excommunicated Roger for maintaining a schismatic attitude, on March 22,1139, at Galluccio, Rogers son Roger III, Duke of Apulia ambushed the papal troops with a thousand knights and captured the pope. On March 25,1139, Innocent was forced to acknowledge the kingship and it was through his admiral George of Antioch that Roger then proceeded to conquer the Mahdia in Africa, taking the unofficial title King of Africa. At the same time Rogers fleet attacked the Byzantine Empire, making Sicily the leading power in the Mediterranean Sea for almost a century
16.
Antipope Clement VII
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Robert of Geneva was elected to the papacy as Clement VII by the French cardinals who opposed Urban VI, and was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France. He was the son of Amadeus III, Count of Geneva and he became Bishop of Thérouanne in 1361, Archbishop of Cambrai in 1368, and a cardinal on 30 May 1371. In 1392, he inherited the title of Count of Geneva, the title then passed from him through his eldest sister Mary to her son, Humbert de Thoire. Clement owed the support of Queen Joanna of Naples and of several of the Italian barons. Charles V of France, who seems to have been sounded beforehand on the choice of the Roman pontiff, Clement eventually succeeded in winning to his cause Scotland, Castile, Aragon, Navarre, a great part of the Latin East, and Flanders. He had adherents, besides, scattered through Germany, while Portugal on two occasions acknowledged him, but afterwards forsook him, burgundy and Savoy also acknowledged his authority. Unable to maintain himself in Italy, he took up his residence at Avignon in the southern French Comtat Venaissin, where he became dependent on the French court. These tempting offers gave rise to a series of expeditions into Italy carried out almost exclusively at Clement’s expense, the campaign was unsuccessful, Louis suddenly died at Bisceglie on 20 September 1384. After the death of Louis, Clement hoped to find equally brave and interested champions in Louis’ son and namesake Louis II of Anjou, to which he donated the larger part of the Pontifical States. Clement then tried to ally with Louis I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Charles VI, with Charles VI himself, and with John III, Count of Armagnac. The prospect of his brilliant progress to Rome was ever before Clements eyes, moreover, his ambitions and the financial needs of his court had resorted to simony, the loss of land and extortion which discerned among his adherents the germs of disaffection. He had created excellent cardinals, but he seems never to have desired the termination of the schism. He died at Avignon on 16 September 1394, eventually it was determined that he would be recorded as an antipope rather than as a pope. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Valois. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Weber
17.
Western Schism
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The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church which lasted from 1378 to 1417. Three men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope, driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance. For a time these claims to the papal throne damaged the reputation of the office. This reputation can be attributed to perceptions of predominant French influence and to the papal efforts to extend its powers of patronage. After Pope Gregory XI died in 1378, the Romans rioted to ensure the election of a Roman for pope, on April 8,1378 the cardinals elected a Neapolitan when no viable Roman candidates presented themselves. Urban VI, born Bartolomeo Prignano, the Archbishop of Bari, was elected, urban had been a respected administrator in the papal chancery at Avignon, but as pope he proved suspicious, reformist, and prone to violent outbursts of temper. Robert took the name Clement VII and reestablished a papal court in Avignon, the second election threw the Church into turmoil. The conflicts quickly escalated from a problem to a diplomatic crisis that divided Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula there were the Fernandine Wars and the 1383–1385 Crisis in Portugal, efforts were made to end the Schism through force or diplomacy. The French crown even tried to coerce antipope Benedict XIII, whom it nominally supported, the suggestion that a church council should resolve the Schism, first made in 1378, was not adopted at first because canon law required that a pope call a council. Eventually the cardinals of both factions secured an agreement that Benedict and Pope Gregory XII would meet at Savona and they balked at the last moment, and both groups of cardinals abandoned their preferred leaders. A church council was held at Pisa in 1409 under the auspices of the cardinals to try solving the dispute, at the fifteenth session,5 June 1409, the Council of Pisa attempted to depose both Pope and antipope as schismatical, heretical, perjured, and scandalous. But it then added to the problem by electing a second antipope and he reigned briefly from June 26,1409, to his death in 1410, when he was succeeded by antipope John XXIII, who won some but not universal support. Finally, a council was convened by Pisan antipope John XXIII in 1414 at Constance to resolve the issue and this was endorsed by Pope Gregory XII, Innocent VIIs successor in Rome, thus ensuring the legitimacy of any election. The Council elected Pope Martin V in 1417, essentially ending the schism, nonetheless, the Crown of Aragon did not recognize Pope Martin V and continued to recognize Benedict XIII. Archbishops loyal to Benedict XIII subsequently elected Antipope Benedict XIV and three followers simultaneously elected Antipope Clement VIII, but the Western Schism was by then practically over, Clement VIII resigned in 1429 and apparently recognized Martin V. The line of Roman popes is now recognized as the legitimate line, Pope Pius II decreed that no appeal could be made from pope to council, to avoid any future attempts to undo a papal election by anyone but the elected pope. No such crisis has arisen since the 15th century, and so there has no need to revisit this decision
18.
Navarre
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The first documented use of a name resembling Navarra, Nafarroa, or Naparroa is a reference to navarros, in Eginhards early 9th Century chronicle of the feats of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. Other Royal Frankish Annals feature nabarros, there are two proposed etymologies for the name. Basque nabar, brownish, multicolor (i. e. in contrast to the mountainous lands north of the original County of Navarre. Basque naba, valley, plain + Basque herri, the linguist Joan Coromines considers naba to be linguistically part of a wider Vasconic or Aquitanian language substrate, rather than Basque per se. During the Roman Empire, the Vascones, a tribe who populated the southern slopes of the Pyrenees. In the mountainous north, the Vascones escaped large-scale Roman settlement, not so the flatter areas to the south, which were amenable to large-scale Roman farming—vineyards, olives, and wheat crops. Neither the Visigoths nor the Franks ever completely subjugated the area, the Vascones included neighbouring tribes as of the 7th century. In AD778, the Basques defeated a Frankish army at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass and that kingdom reached its zenith during the reign of King Sancho III, comprising most of the Christian realms to the south of the Pyrenees, and even a short overlordship of Gascony. When Sancho III died in 1035, the Kingdom of Navarre was divided between his sons and it never fully recovered its political power, while its commercial importance increased as traders and pilgrims poured into the kingdom throughout the Way of Saint James. In 1200, Navarre lost the key western Basque districts to Alphonse VIII of Castile, Navarre then contributed with a small but symbolic force of 200 knights to the decisive Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 against the Almohads. The native line of kings came to an end in 1234, however, the Navarrese kept most of their strong laws and institutions. To the south of the Pyrenees, Navarre was annexed to the Crown of Castile, but keeping a separate status. A Chartered Government was established, and the managed to keep home rule. After the 1839 Convention of Bergara, a version of home rule was passed in 1839. The relocation of customs from the Ebro river to the Pyrenees in 1841 prompted the collapse of Navarre’s customary cross-Pyrenean trade, amid instability in Spain, Carlists took over in Navarre and the rest of the Basque provinces. The end of the Third Carlist War saw a wave of Spanish centralization directly affecting Navarre. In 1893-1894 the Gamazada popular uprising took place centred in Pamplona against Madrids governmental decisions breaching the 1841 chartered provisions. Except for a faction, all parties in Navarre agreed on the need for a new political framework based on home rule within the Laurak Bat
19.
Girona
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It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès. It is located 99 km northeast of Barcelona, Girona is one of the major Catalan cities. The first historical inhabitants in the region were Iberians, Girona is the ancient Gerunda, later, the Romans built a citadel there, which was given the name of Gerunda. The Visigoths ruled in Girona until it was conquered by the Moors in 715, finally, Charlemagne reconquered it in 785 and made it one of the fourteen original counties of Catalonia. It was wrested temporarily from the Moors, who recaptured it in 793, from this time until the moors were finally driven out,1015, the city repeatedly changed hands and was sacked several times by the moors. Wilfred the Hairy incorporated Girona into the County of Barcelona in 878, Alfonso I of Aragón declared Girona a city in the 11th century. The ancient county later became a duchy when King Pero III of Aragon gave the title of Duke to his first-born son, in 1414, King Ferrando I in turn gave the title of prince of Girona to his first-born son, Alfonso. The title is currently carried by Princess Leonor of Asturias, the second since the 16th century to do so, the 12th century saw the Jewish community of Girona flourish, having one of the most important Kabbalistic schools in Europe. The Rabbi of Girona, Moshe ben Nahman Gerondi was appointed Great Rabbi of Catalonia, the presence of the Jewish community of Girona came to an end in 1492, when the Catholic Monarchs expelled all the Jews from Catalonia. Today, the Jewish ghetto or Call is one of the best preserved in Europe and is a major tourist attraction, on the north side of the old city is the Montjuic, where an important religious cemetery was located. Girona has undergone twenty-five sieges and been captured seven times and it was besieged by the French royal armies under Charles de Monchy dHocquincourt in 1653, under Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds in 1684, and twice in 1694 under Anne Jules de Noailles. Finally, the French conquered the city in 1809, after 7 months of siege, Girona was center of the Ter department during the French rule, which lasted from 1809 to 1813. The defensive city walls were demolished at the end of the 19th century to allow for the expansion of the city, in recent years, the missing parts of the city walls on the eastern side of the city have been reconstructed. Called the Passeig de la Muralla it now forms a tourist route around the old city, in the Köppen climate classification, Girona has a humid subtropical climate, with cool winters and hot summers. In winter, temperatures can drop to below −3 °C, in summer, temperatures often soar to 30–35 °C. Although rainfall is spread throughout the year, it is more common in spring. Girona is a destination for tourists and Barcelona day-trippers - the train journey from Barcelona Sants to Girona takes approximately forty minutes on express trains. The old town stands on the hill of the Capuchins to the east of the river Onyar
20.
Duchy of Athens
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The first duke of Athens was Otto de la Roche, a minor Burgundian knight of the Fourth Crusade. Although he was known as the Duke of Athens from the foundation of the duchy in 1205, instead, Otto proclaimed himself Lord of Athens. The local Greeks called the dukes Megas Kyris, from which the shortened form Megaskyr, like the rest of Latin Greece, however, the Duchy recognized the suzerainty of Charles I of Sicily after the Treaties of Viterbo in 1267. The Duchy occupied the Attic peninsula as well as Boeotia and extended partially into Thessaly, sharing a border with Thessalonica. It did not hold the islands of the Aegean Sea, which were Venetian territories, the buildings of the Acropolis in Athens served as the palace for the dukes. The Duchy was held by the family of la Roche until 1308, walters son Walter VI of Brienne retained only the lordship of Argos and Nauplia, where his claims to the Duchy were still recognized. In 1312, the Catalans recognized the suzerainty of King Frederick III of Sicily, the ducal title remained in the hands of the Crown of Aragon until 1388, but actual authority was exercised by a series of vicars-general. In 1318/19 the Catalans conquered Siderokastron and the south of Thessaly as well, part of Thessaly was conquered from the Catalans by the Serbs in the 1340s. The principal towns and villages were represented by the síndic, which had their own councils, judges and notaries were elected for life or even as inherited offices. In 1379 the Navarrese Company, in the service of the Latin emperor James of Baux, conquered Thebes, meanwhile, the Aragonese kept another part of Neopatras and Attica. After 1381 the Duchy was ruled by the Kings of Sicily until 1388 when the Acciaioli family of Florence captured Athens, from 1395 to 1402 the Venetians briefly controlled the Duchy. In 1444 Athens became a tributary of Constantine Palaeologus, the despot of Morea, in 1456, after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey conquered the remnants of the Duchy. Despite the Ottoman conquest, the title of Duke of Athens and Neopatras continued in use by the kings of Aragon, Athens was the seat of a metropolitan archdiocese within the Patriarchate of Constantinople when it was conquered by the Franks. The see, however, was not of importance, being the twenty-eighth in precedence in the Byzantine Empire, nonetheless, it had produced the prominent clergyman Michael Choniates. It was a metropolitan see with eleven suffragans at the time of conquest, Euripus, Daulia, Coronea, Andros, Oreos, Scyrus, Karystos, Porthmus, Aulon, Syra and Seriphus, and Ceos and Thermiae. The customs of the church of Paris were imported to Athens, antonio Ballester, however, an educated Catalan, had a successful career in Greece as archbishop. The Parthenon, which had been the Orthodox church of the Theotokos Atheniotissa, the Greek Orthodox church survived as an underground institution without official sanction by the governing Latin authorities. The Greek clergy had not typically been literate in the century and their education certainly worsened under Latin domination
21.
Duchy of Neopatras
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The Duchy of Neopatras was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the sacking and conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade. It was situated in Central Greece, centered on the city of Neopatras, modern Ypati) in the Spercheios valley, when the Greek ruler of Thessaly, John II Doukas, died in 1318 without heir, his domains fell into anarchy. The Almogavars of the Catalan Company, who had conquered most of the Duchy of Athens to the south of Thessaly. The Catalans took Neopatras in 1319, and by 1325 had also conquered Zetounion, Loidoriki, Siderokastron and Vitrinitsa, as well as—apparently briefly—Domokos, Gardiki, the territory conquered by the Catalans was divided into five captaincies. Most of the Duchys possessions in Thessaly were lost when the region was conquered by the Serbs of Stefan Dushan in 1348, but Neopatras, in 1377, the title of Duke of Athens and Neopatras was assumed by Peter IV of Aragon. By 1380, the Catalans were left only with the two capitals of Athens and Neopatras, as well as the County of Salona, Athens fell to Acciaioli in 1388, and in 1390 he captured Neopatras as well. Ecclesiastically, Neopatras largely corresponded to the Latin Archdiocese of Neopatras, among the Catalan archbishops was Ferrer dAbella, who tried to have himself transferred to a west European see. The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 1, Hellas und Thessalia. Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, the Latins in the Levant, a History of Frankish Greece. The Despotate of Epiros 1267–1479, A Contribution to the History of Greece in the Middle Ages, setton, Kenneth M. Catalan Domination of Athens 1311–1388, Revised Edition. A History of the Crusades, Volume III, The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, madison, Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin Press
22.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
23.
Louis II of Naples
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Louis II was King of Naples from 1389 until 1399 and Duke of Anjou from 1384 until 1417. He was a member of the House of Valois-Anjou, born in Toulouse, Louis II was the son of Louis I of Anjou, King of Naples, and Marie of Blois. He came into his Angevin inheritance, which included Provence, in 1384, with his rival Charles of Durazzo, of the senior Angevin line, most towns in Provence revolted after the death of his father. His mother then raised an army and they traveled from town to town, Louis was recognized as Count of Provence in 1387. He founded a university in Aix-en-Provence in 1409, in 1386, Charles of Durazzos son, the underage Ladislaus, was expelled from Naples soon after his father died. Louis II was crowned King of Naples by the Avignonese antipope Clement VII on 1 November 1389 and he was ousted in turn by his rival in 1399. In 1409, Louis liberated Rome from Ladislaus occupation, in 1410, as an ally of the antipope John XXIII he attacked Ladislaus, eventually Louis lost his Neapolitan support and had to retire. His claim to Naples passed to his son, Louis III and he married his first cousin once removed Yolande of Aragon in Arles in 1400, giving him a possibility of inheriting the throne of Aragon through her right. Her father, King John I of Aragon had died in 1396 and his son Louis was bethrothed to Catherine of Burgundy, a daughter of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. However, after John instigated a mob attack on the Dauphin of France, he, the betrothal to Catherine was repudiated, which caused the enmity of the Duke of Burgundy. He was not present at the Battle of Agincourt, because he had a bladder infection, after the battle, he fled from Paris to join his wife and children at Angers. Louis II died at his chateau of Angers, the county town of Anjou, Louis and Yolande had five surviving children, Louis III of Anjou, titular King of Naples, Duke of Anjou. René of Anjou, King of Naples, Duke of Anjou, Charles of Le Maine, Count of Maine. Marie of Anjou, married 1422 at Bourges Charles VII of France, Yolande, married firstly Philip I, Duke of Brabant and secondly in 1431, Francis I, Duke of Brittany. The Good King, René of Anjou and Fifteenth Century Europe
24.
Consistori de Barcelona
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The poetry produced by and for the Consistori was heavily influenced by the troubadours. The Consistoris chief purpose was to promote correct styles and themes, the names of few poets laureate have come down to us and despite some excellent descriptions of the Consistoris activities, associated persons and poems are obscure. At Pentecost,31 May 1338, a contest was held at Lleida before Peter the Ceremonious, Johns predecessor, a panel of judges was designated in advance by the king. It was to pass judgement super arte dictandi et faciendi pulcra carmina sive cantars, on the art of speaking and composing beautiful songs, the winning poets received a rosa dor and piece of expensive golden satin called diasprell. With its floral prize, the 1338 contest emulated the jocs florals already being held in Toulouse, nonetheless, Martí de Riquer presumes that similar festivals occurred in years prior and recurred in subsequent years, though there are no records. It need not be assumed that such contests took place in the royal presence, at Valencia on 20 February 1393, John the Hunter founded an annual festival to be celebrated in honour of the Virgin Mary on the day of Annunciation or the following Sunday at Barcelona. The expertise of judges for the festival was set out by the king, in Latin, gaya vel gaudiosa, et alio nomine inveniendi sciencie, that is, gay and joyful. The Latin terms gaya. sciencie and inveniendi sciencie were direct translations of the terms gay sauber. The first recorded contest held by the Consistori de Barcelona was held probably on 28 March 1395 with the king in attendance and he had only been in Barcelona since 25 March. This festival is known from a letter the king wrote, which he sent on 19 February 1396 recording the bella festa, a honor de la dita gaya ciència, the prizes for which were provided by the municipal government. There is no record of the names of the winners, the prizes, Jaume March brought the letter before the Consell dels Cents Jurats sometime in the middle of march, but the timing was horrible. The Consell was intriguing against the king and the city had largely rejected his control, John died a two months later, having only held two of his planned annual festivals. On 12 August 1399 at Zaragoza, Martin renominated Jaume March and Luys dAverçó as rectors, maintainers, and defenders of the Gaya Sciència de Barcelona. Martins two acts do not refer to the efforts of King John and rather seem to treat the Consistori as a new royal foundation distinct from the municipally-run foundation of his predecessor. Under Martin a great festa was held in 1408 beneath the walls where the Mirador del rei Martí—a recent addition the royal palace complex—and the Palau del Lloctinent meet in Barcelona, the annual contest was confirmed to occur on 1 May, and Ferdinand became its greatest patron. His ties to Castile helped increase the accessibility of Catalan culture and was a catalyst for the first Castilian poetic treatise, in February 1413, one month before Ferdinands privilege, the Consistori held one of its best-recorded competitions at the Palau Reial Major. The opening speech of one of the maintainers and the declaration of the winner have both been preserved, both of these speeches were transcribed in a Catalan liberally seasoned with classical and ecclesiastical Latin. Felip displays knowledge of classics, of Pindar, Alcaeus, Horace, Catullus, Felip praises Ferdinand, who was apparently present, for lending prestige to the Consistori
25.
Sardinia
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Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and an autonomous region of Italy. It is located in the Western Mediterranean, just south of the French island of Corsica, the regions official name is Regione Autonoma della Sardegna / Regione Autònoma de Sardigna, and its capital and largest city is Cagliari. It is divided into four provinces and a metropolitan city and its indigenous language and the other minority languages spoken by the Sardinians enjoy equal dignity with Italian under regional law. The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *srd-, later romanised as sardus and it makes its first appearance on the Nora Stone, where the word Šrdn testifies to the names existence when the Phoenician merchants first arrived. According to Timaeus, one of Platos dialogues, Sardinia and its people as well might have named after Sardò. There has also been speculation that identifies the ancient Nuragic Sards with the Sherden, in Classical antiquity, Sardinia was called Ichnusa, Σανδάλιον Sandal, Sardinia and Sardó. Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 24,100 square kilometres and it is situated between 38°51 and 41°18 latitude north and 8°8 and 9°50 east longitude. To the west of Sardinia is the Sea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea, to Sardinias east is the Tyrrhenian Sea, the nearest land masses are the island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia, the Balearic Islands, and Provence. The Tyrrhenian Sea portion of the Mediterranean Sea is directly to the east of Sardinia between the Sardinian east coast and the west coast of the Italian mainland peninsula, the Strait of Bonifacio is directly north of Sardinia and separates Sardinia from the French island of Corsica. The island has an ancient geoformation and, unlike Sicily and mainland Italy, is not earthquake-prone and its rocks date in fact from the Palaeozoic Era. Due to long erosion processes, the highlands, formed of granite, schist, trachyte, basalt, sandstone and dolomite limestone. The highest peak is Punta La Marmora, part of the Gennargentu Ranges in the centre of the island. The islands ranges and plateaux are separated by wide valleys and flatlands. Sardinia has few rivers, the largest being the Tirso,151 km long, which flows into the Sea of Sardinia, the Coghinas. There are 54 artificial lakes and dams that supply water and electricity, the main ones are Lake Omodeo and Lake Coghinas. The only natural lake is Lago di Baratz. A number of large, shallow, salt-water lagoons and pools are located along the 1,850 km of the coastline, the climate of the island is variable from area to area, due to several factors including the extension in latitude and the elevation. During the year there is a concentration of rainfall in the winter and autumn, some heavy showers in the spring
26.
James II of Aragon
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James II, called the Just, was the King of Sicily from 1285 to 1296 and King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. In 1297 he was granted the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica and he used the Latin title Iacobus Dei gracia rex Aragonum, Valencie, Sardinie, et Corsice ac comes Barchinone. He was the son of Peter III of Aragon and Constance of Sicily. James was born at Valencia as the son of King Peter I and he succeeded his father as King of Sicily in 1285. Upon the death of his brother Alfonso III in 1291, he succeeded also to the throne of the Crown of Aragon and he spent May of that year in Catania, inspiring the local monk Atanasiu di Iaci to write the Vinuta di re Iapicu about his time there. By a peace treaty with Charles II of Anjou in 1296, he agreed to give up Sicily, due to the fact that Frederick would not withdraw from the island, Pope Boniface VIII asked James II, along with Charles II of Naples, to remove him. As an enticement to do this the Pope invested James II with the title to Sardinia and Corsica, because of his inability to disguise his apathy on the matter, he returned to Aragon. Frederick reigned there until his death in 1337, by the Treaty of Anagni in 1295, he returned the Balearic Islands to his uncle James II of Majorca. Aragon retained control over the territories of the Majorca kingdom — Montpellier. In 1298, by the Treaty of Argilers, James of Majorca recognised the suzerainty of James of Aragon, during the period that followed his return to Aragon, James II wanted to gain access to the Muslim world in the south, from which Castile restricted Aragon. In order to achieve this goal, and assisted by his Admiral Don Bernat de Sarrià, Baron of Polop, he formed an alliance with the enemies of the adolescent king of Castile, James II wanted Murcia in order to give his kingdom access to Granada. The allied forces entered from all directions in 1296, where James II was victorious in capturing Murcia, in 1313, James II granted administrative and political autonomy to the Aran Valley, the legal details of which are described in a Latin manuscript called the Querimonia. The devolution of power was a reward for the Aranese pledging allegiance to James II in a dispute with the kingdoms of France, James was involved in the 1321 leper scare. He ordered the arrest and torture of French lepers seeking shelter in his realm and it was probably during his reign at Sicily that James composed his only surviving piece of Occitan poetry, a religious dansa dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mayre de Deu. A contemporary, Arnau de Vilanova, wrote a verse-by-verse Latin commentary of the dansa in 1305, the metaphor James uses has been analysed by Alfred Jeanroy, who sees similarities in the Roman de Fauvel. The final verses ask Mary to protect him, the king, from sin, He married four times, — Isabella of Castile, Viscountess of Limoges, daughter of Sancho IV of Castile and his wife María de Molina. The wedding took place in the city of Soria, on 1 December 1291 when the bride was only 8 years old. The marriage, which was never consummated, was dissolved and annulled after Sanchos death in 1295, — Blanche of Anjou, daughter of his familys rival Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary
27.
Arborea
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Arborea is a town and comune in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy, whose economy is largely based on agriculture, with production of vegetables, rice and fruit. Arborea was built by the fascist government of Italy in the 1920s, the village was populated by families, mostly composed of peasants, who came from the regions of Veneto and Friuli in north-eastern Italy. Arborea is named for and lies within the medieval Giudicato of Arborea, the town was originally named Villaggio Mussolini, by the fascist government. Less than two years later, the name was revised to Mussolinia di Sardegna, the current name was adopted after World War II. Mortegliano, Italy Sermoneta, Italy Zevio, Italy Villorba, Italy Media related to Arborea at Wikimedia Commons History of Arborea and Mussolinia
28.
Eleanor of Arborea
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Eleanor of Arborea, Molins de Rei,1347 – Giudicato of Arborea,1404, was the juyghissa or judikessa of Arborea from 1383 to her death. She was one of the last, most powerful and significant Sardinian judges and it has been said that their family, the Bas, belonged to the House of Visconti. The house of Arborea, whose power extended over about one third of Sardinia, was the only independent part of the island at that point in history, during her childhood, she was raised with a natural tendency towards war and weapons. Her father married Eleanor to Brancaleone Doria, a Genoese nobleman who held the fief of Castelgenovese, Marianus died in 1376 and was succeeded by his son Hugh III. In March 1383, there was an uprising in Arborea. Eleanor defeated the rebels and became regent to her infant son Frederick, for the next four years Arborea was at war with the Crown of Aragon, which claimed the island. It lost much of its Sardinian possessions to Eleanor, Arborea obtained almost all of the island during this war. After rallying Sardinian forces, Eleanor was able to negotiate a favourable treaty and her eldest son Frederick died during this war and was succeeded by her younger son, Marianus V. An alliance was formed with Genoa which sustained Arboreas independence for another generation and she died in Oristano, Sardinia, in 1404. Eleanor composed the Carta de Logu, a body of laws which came into force in April 1395 and they were considered to be far in advance of the laws of other countries, the penalty for most crimes being a fine, and the property rights of women being preserved. These laws remained in force in Sardinia until the code issued by king Charles Felix in 1827, Eleanor was particularly interested in ornithology. As a friend of birds, she was the first to legislate protection to a species of bird. Based on this, the Eleonoras falcon was named after her, Brancaleone Doria Giudicato of Arborea Marianus IV of Arborea Caravale, Mario. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani LXII Dugoni – Enza, pitzorno, Bianca, Vita di Eleonora dArborea, Mondadori, Milan 2010. Carta de Logu dellArborea, Nuova edizione critica secondo il manoscritto di Cagliari, ISBN9788895701219 Carta de Logu 15th century Incunable. Http, //www. sardegnacultura. it/documenti/7_88_20070215114729. pdf Queens of Italy-Women in Power in Medieval Italy, ELEANOR of ARBOREA
29.
Province of Girona
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Girona is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the north by France,756,810 people live in the province. Its capital and largest city is Girona, with an area representing, with a total population of 144,709. The Girona area acts as an industrial, commercial and service hub for a significant part of the province, the municipality of Llívia, which is an exclave separated from the rest of Spain and surrounded by France, is also officially part of this province. Since the division by provinces in Spain and the division by comarques in Catalonia do not completely match, the term comarques of the province of Girona is not accurate
30.
John I of Castile
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John I was King of the Crown of Castile from 1379 until 1390. He was the son of Henry II and of his wife Juana Manuel of Castile and he was the last monarch of Castile to receive a formal coronation. His first marriage, to Eleanor of Aragon on 18 June 1375, produced his only issue, Henry. Ferdinand, became King of Aragon in 1412, in 1379, John I formed the short lived military order of the Order of the Pigeon, known for its large feasts which included eating the organizations namesake, the pigeon. On the death of his father-in-law, John endeavoured to enforce the claims of his wife, Ferdinands only child, the 1383-1385 Crisis, a period of civil unrest and anarchy in Portugal, followed. He was resisted by supporters of his rival for the throne, John I of Portugal, and was utterly defeated at the battle of Aljubarrota, on 14 August 1385. He also had to contend with the hostility of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, who claimed the crown of Castile by right of his wife Constance, at the beginning of 1383, the political situation in Portugal was volatile. Beatrice was the child of King Ferdinand I of Portugal. Her marriage was the issue of the day, and inside the palace. Ferdinand arranged and canceled his daughters wedding several times before settling for his wifes first choice, John had lost his wife, Infanta Eleanor of Aragon the year before, and was happy to wed the Portuguese heiress. The wedding took place on 17 May at the Cathedral of Badajoz, Beatrice was only ten years old. King Ferdinand died soon thereafter, on 22 October 1383, according to the treaty between Castile and Portugal, the Queen Mother, Leonor Telles de Menezes, declared herself Regent in the name of her daughter and son-in-law. This was ordered first in Lisbon, Santarém and other important places, the national rebellion led by the Master of the Order of Aviz, the future John I, began immediately, leading to the 1383-1385 Crisis. King John of Castile invaded Portugal in the end of December 1383, the consequent war was effectively ended in 1385, with the defeat of Castile in the Battle of Aljubarrota on 14 August. In the aftermath of battle, John of Aviz became the uncontested King of Portugal. John of Castile and Beatrice no longer had a claim to the throne of Portugal. King Ferdinand I of Portugal had died on 22 October 1383 and his widow, Leonor Telles de Menezes, under the Treaty of Salvaterra de Magos and by the previous testament of the deceased king, declared herself Regent in the name of her daughter and son-in-law. The news of the death of Ferdinand came to John I and Beatrice in Torrijos, the Master of Aviz wrote John, urging him to seize the Portuguese crown by right of his wife, and the Master himself would assume the regency
31.
John I, Count of Armagnac
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John I of Armagnac, son of Bernard VI and Cecilia Rodez, was Count of Armagnac from 1319 to 1373. In addition to Armagnac he controlled territory in Quercy, Rouergue and he was the count who initiated the 14th century expansion of the county. In summer 1337, with the outbreak of the Hundred Years War, he provided a contingent of 6,000 men for the campaign of Raoul I of Eu, Constable of France, in Gascony. As this threat grew weaker the French offensive in the south was resumed with the siege of Penne-dAgenais in November by John of Bohemia, John provided 1,200 men for this siege, which ended with the surrender of the town, though not the castle. Through these early years of the war the Count of Foix had conducted a series of independent campaigns which allowed him to expand his territory into the Adour valley. This expansion brought him conflict with Armagnac. Just after his return from the north at the end of 1339 John attacked Miramont-Sensacq, a town he laid claim to. This started a short but violent private war, ended by the town taken into royal custody and this quarrel caused John to reconsider his allegiance to the French Crown. As compensation for the territory he expected to once he switched allegiance Armagnac demanded several towns held by the King of France, chief among them Montréal, Mézin. Of these the English only succeeded in taking and holding Mézin, the negotiations therefore came to an end and John remained a vassal of Philip VI. In the north the situation had improved for the English with their victory in the Battle of Sluys. Edward III’s next step was an attack on Saint-Omer by his Flemish allies led by Robert III of Artois, however Robert III failed completely in masking his intentions. This allowed Philip VI to dispatch John of Armagnac to reinforce the already present there under Eudes IV. On 26 July what begun as an attack on the enemy lines by some French knights developed into a major battle as the Duke of Burgundy decided to sally forth in strength. Faced with the loss of the bulk of his army Robert of Artois was forced to retreat from the city in disorder, meanwhile Edward III had with his own army laid siege to the city of Tournai. The siege dragged out and in September Philip VI marched to confront him, the result was not battle, but negotiations in which John of Armagnac took part as one of five French plenipotentiaries. The negotiations resulted in a truce concluded on 24 September, derby’s opened his campaign with the capture of the garrison town of Bergerac by storm. This caused major shock to at the French court as no significant English army was expected in the south, Armagnac helped shore up the French position by gathering some of the survivors and retreating to Périgueux
32.
Valencia
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Its urban area extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of around 1. 5–1.6 million people. Valencia is Spains third largest metropolitan area, with a population ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 million, the Port of Valencia is the 5th busiest container port in Europe and the busiest container port on the Mediterranean Sea. The city is ranked at Gamma in the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, Valencia was founded as a Roman colony by the consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 BC, and called Valentia Edetanorum. In 1238 the Christian king James I of Aragon reconquered the city and divided the land among the nobles who helped him conquer it and he also created a new law for the city, the Furs of Valencia, which were extended to the rest of the Kingdom of Valencia. In the 18th century Philip V of Spain abolished the privileges as punishment to the kingdom of Valencia for aligning with the Habsburg side in the War of the Spanish Succession, Valencia was the capital of Spain when Joseph Bonaparte moved the Court there in the summer of 1812. It also served as capital between 1936 and 1937, during the Second Spanish Republic, the city is situated on the banks of the Turia, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, fronting the Gulf of Valencia on the Mediterranean Sea. Valencia is integrated into an area on the Costa del Azahar. Valencias main festival is the Falles, the traditional Spanish dish, paella, originated in Valencia. The original Latin name of the city was Valentia, meaning strength, or valour, the Roman historian Livy explains that the founding of Valentia in the 2nd century BC was due to the settling of the Roman soldiers who fought against an Iberian rebel, Viriatus. It is not clear if the term Balansiyya was reserved for the entire Taifa of Valencia or also designated the city, by gradual sound changes, Valentia /waˈlentia/ has become Valencia or in Castilian and València in Valencian. In Valencian, the grave accent <è> /ɛ/ contrasts with the acute accent <é> /e/—but the word València is an exception to this rule and it is spelled according to Catalan etymology, though its pronunciation is closer to Vulgar Latin. Valencia stands on the banks of the Turia River, located on the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, at its founding by the Romans, it stood on a river island in the Turia,6.4 km from the sea. The Albufera, a lagoon and estuary about 11 km south of the city, is one of the largest lakes in Spain. The City Council bought the lake from the Crown of Spain for 1,072,980 pesetas in 1911, in 1986, because of its cultural, historical, and ecological value, the Generalitat Valenciana declared it a natural park. Valencia has a Mediterranean climate with short, very mild winters and long, hot and its average annual temperature is 18.4 °C.23.0 °C during the day and 13.8 °C at night. In the coldest month – January, the temperature typically during the day ranges from 14 to 21 °C. In the warmest month – August, the temperature during the day typically ranges from 28–34 °C. Generally, similar temperatures to those experienced in the part of Europe in summer last about 8 months
33.
Daroca
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Daroca is a city and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, situated to the south of the city of Zaragoza. It is the center of a judicial district and it is located in the basin of Calatayud, in the valley of the rio Jiloca. According to certain writers, the primitive Celtiberian village in this location was named Darek, the Romans named it Agiria, building a strong castle to defend the Laminium road, which passed through the village and connected Zaragoza with Valencia. The Arabs gave it the name Calat-Darawca, and possessed it for 400 years, until Alfonso the Battler conquered it in 1120, and in 1141 issued a legal code. In the 12th century, Ramon Berenguer IV gave it the laws and privileges made it the capital of the Community of Daroca. It had a vote in courts and was the site of several assemblies,1196, 1222-1243,1311. In a war against Peter of Castile, Daroca resisted a siege, city life was ruled by the council, whose principal members were the justice, judge, jurors, almutazaf, scribes, major-domos, and other minor officials. The terms for municipal offices lasted one year, and they were elected by the council, the justice was appointed by the king from a set of three candidates chosen by the council, and the judge and jurors were chosen by the king directly. All of this occurred on January 1, economically, agriculture and livestock were the principal occupations of the inhabitants. There were three groups, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, which enjoyed the same laws and privileges. Philip V also was in Daroca and so was his rival to the throne, Daroca was liberated in August 1813. France had taken Ferdinand VII of Spain prisoner, and when he returned in 1814, he stayed in Daroca, and communicated a new constitution. During the Carlist Wars of the 19th century, it was occupied by the Carlist forces in 1834,1837, and 1872, the occupations were due to the geographical proximity of the Carlist redoubt of Maestrazgo. From the middle of the century, the economic situation improved due to successful agriculture. At the beginning of the century, the Teruel-Calatayud railway was built. In these years, embankments were built in the Jiloca gorge, afterwards the city began to decline, although it kept its position thanks to the industrialization and the mechanization of the field. However, it was not able to adapt to the new times, more than 4 km of medieval walls Gates, Puerta Baja, Puerta Alta, Portal de Valencia and Arrabal Church of San Miguel. Basilica of Santa María de los Sagrados Corporales, associated with a Eucharistic miracle dated to 1340 Fountain of the twenty pipes Festival of Antique Music, pouillon, France Daroca datos básicos Comarcas de Daroca y Calamocha Daroca Daroca Ficha de la población Página semioficial
34.
Barcelona
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Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. Barcelona has a cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre. Particularly renowned are the works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona, the city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments. It is a cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union, in 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion, it is leading Spain in both employment rate and GDP per capita change. In 2009 the city was ranked Europes third and one of the worlds most successful as a city brand, since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. During the Middle Ages, the city was known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa. Internationally, Barcelonas name is abbreviated to Barça. However, this refers only to FC Barcelona, the football club. The common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna, another common abbreviation is BCN, which is also the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. The city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan. The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear, the ruins of an early settlement have been excavated in the El Raval neighbourhood, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends, the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the Mons Taber, under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens, the city minted its own coins, some from the era of Galba survive. Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have founded in 343
35.
Zaragoza
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Zaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the Huerva, on 1 September 2010 the population of the city of Zaragoza was 701,090, within its administrative limits on a land area of 1,062.64 square kilometres, ranking fifth in Spain. It is the 32nd most populous municipality in the European Union, the population of the metropolitan area was estimated in 2006 at 783,763 inhabitants. The municipality is home to more than 50 percent of the Aragonese population, the city lies at an elevation of 199 metres above sea level. Zaragoza hosted Expo 2008 in the summer of 2008, a fair on water. It was also a candidate for the European Capital of Culture in 2012, the city is famous for its folklore, local gastronomy, and landmarks such as the Basílica del Pilar, La Seo Cathedral and the Aljafería Palace. Together with La Seo and the Aljafería, several other buildings part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Fiestas del Pilar are among the most celebrated festivals in Spain, the city was called by the ancient Romans Caesaraugusta, from which the present name derives. The Iberian town that predated the Roman city was called Salduie, see also, Caesar Augusta The Sedetani, a tribe of ancient Iberians, populated a village called Salduie. Later on, Augustus founded a city called Caesaraugusta at the location to settle army veterans from the Cantabrian wars. The foundation date of Caesaraugusta has not been set with exact precision, the city did not suffer any decline during the last centuries of the Roman empire and was captured peacefully by the Goths in the fifth century AD. From 1018 to 1118, Zaragoza was one of the taifa kingdoms, during the first three decades of this period, 1018–1038, the city was ruled by the Banu Tujibi. After the death of El Cid his kingdom was overrun by the Almoravids, who, by 1100, had managed to cross the Ebro into Barbastro, the Banu Hud stubbornly resisted the Almoravids and ruled until they were eventually defeated by them in May 1110. On 18 December 1118, the Aragonese led by Alfonso I conquered the city from the Almoravids, after Alfonsos death without heirs in 1134, Zaragoza was swiftly occupied by Alfonso VII of León and Castile. The wedding never happened, as Petronila ended up marrying Ramon Berenguer IV, the marriage union was the origin of the Crown of Aragón. While the reality of the existence of Saint Dominguito del Val is questioned, despite a decline in the outlying rural economy, Zaragoza has continued to grow. The General Military Academy, a training center of the Spanish Army, was re-established on September 27,1940 by Minister of the Army José Enrique Varela Iglesias. During the second half of the 20th century, Zaragozas population boomed as a number of factories opened in the region, in 1979, the Hotel Corona de Aragón fire killed at least 80
36.
Robert, Duke of Bar
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Robert I of Bar was Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson and Count and then Duke of Bar. He succeeded his elder brother Edward II of Bar as count in 1352 and his parents were Henry IV of Bar and Yolande, granddaughter of Robert III, Count of Flanders. When Robert was less than an old, his father died and his elder brother, Edward II of Bar. As neither Robert nor Edward had a constitution, Yolande obtained a papal dispensation from Clement VI to allow them to eat meat during periods of abstinence. When his brother Edward died, Robert was still seven years old. Yolande was on the point of remarrying to Philip of Navarre, count of Longueville, Jeanne of Bar, countess of Warren and daughter of Henry III of Bar, made known to the king that she was ready to replace Yolande and assume the regency. The Parliament of Paris, by decree of 5 June 1352, John the Good then entrusted the regency to Jeanne on 27 July of that year. Yolande initially renounced the regency, but then went back on her decision, John the Good intervened to force Yolande to renounce the regency again on 2 July 1353. In 1354 the County of Bar was raised to the status of duchy, by John II and that same year another possession, Pont-à-Mousson, was raised to a marquisate by Emperor Charles IV. Subsequent emperors recognised Roberts ducal title and his states right to a vote in the Imperial Diet and it is unclear if Robert was regarded as a Peer of France after becoming duke. The defeat of Poitiers and the capture of John the Good in 1356 deprived Jeanne of Johns support, Robert was knighted in December 1356 and declared of age on 8 November 1359. He assisted at the coronation of Charles V of France at Reims on 9 May 1364, during Charles Vs reign he fought in several engagements in 1374 during the campaign to eject the English from Normandy. In 1401, Robert ceded his duchy to his son Edward, the younger Robert unsuccessfully opposed this in the parliament of Paris that ran from 1406 to 1409. Charles VIs madness put him under the control of the Duke of Orleans, the elder Robert supported the duke of Orleans, and after that dukes assassination was more and more inclined to remain within his duchy. In his later years he suffered attacks of gout that prevented him from walking. In 1364 he married Marie of Valois, the daughter of king John II of France and their children were, Yolande of Bar, in 1380 married John I of Aragon. Henry of Bar, Marquis de Pont-à-Mousson, seigneur de Marle, taken prisoner at the Battle of Nicopolis and died of the plague. Philippe, also killed at the Battle of Nicopolis, Marie, in 1384 married William II, Marquis of Namur, Margrave of Namur Edward III of Bar, Duke of Bar, killed at the Battle of Agincourt
37.
Saumur
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Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. Its skyline has often compared with that of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Early settlement of the region goes back thousands of years. The Dolmen de Bagneux on the south of the town, is 23 meters long and is built from 15 large slabs of the local stone and it is the largest in France. The Château de Saumur was constructed in the 10th century to protect the Loire river crossing from Norman attacks after the settlement of Saumur was sacked in 845. The castle, destroyed in 1067 and inherited by the House of Plantagenet, was rebuilt by Henry II of England in the later 12th century and it changed hands several times between Anjou and France until 1589. Houses in Saumur are constructed almost exclusively of the beautiful, but fragile, the caves dug to excavate the stone have become tunnels and have been used by the local vineyards as locations to store their wines. Amyraldism, or the School of Saumur, is the used to denote a distinctive form of Reformed theology taught by Moses Amyraut at the University of Saumur in the 17th century. Saumur is also the scene for Balzacs novel Eugénie Grandet, written by the French author in 1833, prior to the French Revolution Saumur was the capital of the Sénéchaussée de Saumur, a bailiwick, which existed until 1793. Saumur was then the location of the Battle of Saumur during the Revolt in the Vendée, becoming a state prison under Napoleon Bonaparte. The town was a centre with both the military cavalry school from 1783 and later the Cadre Noir based there. In 1944 it was the target of Tallboy and Azon bombing raids by Allied planes, the first raid, on 8/9 June 1944, was against a railway tunnel near Saumur, seeing the first use of the 12,000 lb Tallboy earthquake bombs. The hastily organized night raid was to stop a planned German Panzer Division, the panzers were expected to use the railway to cross the Loire. No.83 Squadron RAF illuminated the area with flares by four Avro Lancasters,25 Lancasters of No.617 Squadron RAF, the Dambusters then dropped their Tallboys from 18,000 ft with great accuracy. The damaged tunnel was dug out to make a deeper cutting, resulting in the need for a second attack. On 22 June, nine Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the United States Army Air Forces used the new Azon 1,000 lb glide bombs against the Saumur rail bridge and they failed to destroy the bridge. During the morning of 24 June,38 American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses with conventional bombs attacked the bridge, the town of Saumur was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm for its resistance and display of French patriotism during the war. Saumur is home to the Cadre Noir, the École Nationale dÉquitation, known for its horse shows, as well as the Armoured Branch and Cavalry Training School
38.
Peter III of Aragon
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Peter the Great was the King of Aragon of Valencia, and Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282, pressing the claim of his wife, Constance of Hohenstaufen and he was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs. Peter was the eldest son of James I of Aragon and his second wife Violant of Hungary, among betrothals of his youth, he was betrothed to Eudoxia Laskarina, the youngest daughter of Emperor Theodoros II of Nicaea, in or before 1260. This contract was dissolved, however, after Eudoxias brother lost the throne in 1261. On 13 June 1262, Peter married Constance, daughter and heiress of Manfred of Sicily, during his youth and early adulthood, Peter gained a great deal of military experience in his fathers wars of the Reconquista against the Moors. On James Is death in 1276, the lands of the Crown of Aragon were divided amongst his two sons, Peter the Great and Constance of Sicily were crowned in Zaragoza in November 1276 by the archbishop of Tarragona. Peters first act as king was to complete the pacification of his Valencian territory, however, a revolt soon broke out in Catalonia, led by the viscount of Cardona and abetted by Roger-Bernard III of Foix, Arnold Roger I of Pallars Sobirà, and Ermengol X of Urgell. The rebels had developed a hatred for Peter as a result of the severity of his dealings with them during the reign of his father, now they opposed him for not summoning the Catalan corts, and confirming its privileges after his ascension to the throne. At the same time, a succession crisis continued in the County of Urgell, meanwhile, a good portion of the county had been repossessed by Peters father, James I, and was thus inherited by Peter in 1276. In 1278, Ermengol X, Álvaros eldest son, succeeded in recovering most of his lost patrimony, in 1280, Peter defeated the stewing rebellion led by Roger-Bernard III after besieging the rebels in Balaguer for a month. Most of the leaders were imprisoned in Lleida until 1281. When Muhammad I al-Mustansir, the Hafsid Emir of Tunisia who had put himself under James the Conqueror, died in 1277, Peter first sent an expedition to Tunis in 1280 under Conrad de Llansa designed to re-establish his suzerainty. In 1281, he prepared to lead a fleet of 140 ships with 15,000 men to invade Tunisia on behalf of the governor of Constantine. The fleet landed at Alcoyll in 1282 and it was these Aragonese troops that received a Sicilian embassy after the Vespers of 30 March asking Peter to take their throne from Charles of Anjou. This made Peter III the heir of Manfred of Sicily in right of his wife, the Italian physician John of Procida acted on behalf of Peter in Sicily. John had fled to Aragon after Charles success at Tagliacozzo, John travelled to Sicily to stir up the discontents in favour of Peter and thence to Constantinople to procure the support of Michael VIII Palaeologus. Michael refused to aid the Aragonese king without papal approval, and so John voyaged to Rome and there gained the consent of Pope Nicholas III, who feared the ascent of Charles in the Mezzogiorno. John then returned to Barcelona but the pope died, to be replaced by Simon de Brion, a Frenchman and an ally of Charles
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John I of Aragon". Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 440.
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