Arragon
Aragon, or Aragón in Spanish, is a region in the northeastern part of Spain, sharing an international border with France.
Aragon was ruled in Uther’s time, according to Wolfram, by King Schaffilor. Chrétien names the son of the king of Aragon among the participants at the Noauz tournament. It is presented in the Pleier’s Tandareis und Flordibel as a land allied with Arthur, and shows up in Claris et Laris as the kingdom ruled by Lempres (Lampres), an enemy of Arthur.
Aragon | 1st century BC – 9th century AD
Roman Period | 1st century BC – 5th century AD
The region that would later become Aragon was part of the Roman province of Hispania. During the Roman rule, the area saw the construction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. The decline of the Roman Empire in the fifth century contributed to a power vacuum and increased vulnerability to external pressures.
Visigothic Rule | 5th – 8th centuries
Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Visigoths, a Germanic tribe, established control over the Iberian Peninsula. The Visigothic Kingdom included the territory that would later become Aragon. The region experienced political and religious changes under Visigothic rule.
Muslim Conquest | 8th century
In 711, Muslim forces, led by Tariq ibn Ziyad, defeated the Visigothic army at the Battle of Guadalete and rapidly expanded across the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslim conquest reached the region that is now Aragon, bringing it under Islamic rule. During this time, the area became part of the Umayyad Caliphate and later the Caliphate of Córdoba.
Reconquista | 8th – 9th centuries
The Christian Reconquista, a centuries-long campaign to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule, began in the north. By the late ninth century, Christian forces, including those from the Kingdom of Asturias, started to advance southward. The Reconquiesta gradually reached the area that would become Aragon.
Emergence of Aragon | 9th century
The origins of the Kingdom of Aragon are associated with the Christian reconquest. Wilfred the Hairy, a noble, played a key role in the region’s Christianization and consolidation. The establishment of the County of Aragon in the late ninth century laid the foundation for the later Kingdom of Aragon.
Sources
Lancelot, or Le Chevalier de la Charrete | Chrétien de Troyes, late 12th century
Parzival | Wolfram von Eschenbach, 1200–1210
Tandareis and Flordibel | Der Pleier, 1240-1270
Claris et Laris | 1268