Union of Aragon

Who is Union of Aragon?

The Union of Aragon was an anti-royalist movement among the nobility and the townsmen of the lands of the Crown of Aragon during the last quarter of the thirteenth century. Its efforts culminated in a series of articles confirming the privileges of the aristocracy and the cities and proscribing the power of the monarchy known as the Magna Carta of Aragon.

The Union had its origin in the nature of the Crown of Aragon, incorporating various kingdoms at various times, but always Aragon and Valencia, as well as most of the Catalan counties, primarily Barcelona. The various lands vied for the attention of the monarch and struggled to protect their privileges and their influence against the rise of any other. At the same time, King Peter III was conquering Sicily and his Spanish dominions were neglected.

Eventually, Pope Martin IV called a crusade, the Aragonese Crusade, against Peter and his kingdom, dissolving his subjects of their oaths of fealty. Peter had to exact heavy taxes in order to finance resistance to the "crusade" against him. The nobles of the kingdom, believing they should have been consulted before any campaign to Sicily, formed the Union.