Peter II of Aragon

Peter II the Catholic (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.

He was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile. In 1205 he acknowledged the feudal supremacy of the papacy and was crowned in Rome by Pope Innocent III, swearing to defend the Catholic faith (hence his surname, "the Catholic"). He was the first king of Aragon to be crowned by the pope.

In the first decade of the thirteenth century he commissioned the Liber feudorum Ceritaniae, an illustrated codex cartulary for the counties of Cerdagne, Conflent, and Roussillon.

On June 15, 1204 he married (as her third husband) Marie of Montpellier, daughter and heiress of William VIII of Montpellier by Eudocia Comnena. She gave him a son, James, but Peter soon repudiated her. Marie was popularly venerated as a saint for her piety and marital suffering, but was never canonized; she died in Rome in 1213.

He participated in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 that marked the turning point of Arab domination on the Iberian peninsula.

Aragon

Aragon (/ˈærəɡɒn/ or /ˈærəɡən/, Spanish and Aragonese: Aragón [aɾaˈɣon], Catalan: Aragó [əɾəˈɣo] or [aɾaˈɣo]) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza (also called Saragossa in English). The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a nationality of Spain.

Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees. Within Spain, the community is flanked by Catalonia to the east, Valencia and Castile–La Mancha to the south, and Castile and León, La Rioja, and Navarre to the west.

Covering an area of 47,719 km² (18,424 sq mi), the region's terrain ranges diversely from permanent glaciers to verdant valleys, rich pasture lands and orchards, through to the arid steppe plains of the central lowlands. Aragon is home to many rivers—most notably, the river Ebro, Spain's largest river in volume, which runs west-east across the entire region through the province of Zaragoza. It is also home to the Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees.

Aragon (disambiguation)

Aragon, or Aragón in Spanish, can refer to:

Places

Cuba

Europe

France

Spain

United States

Ships

People

Other

Aragón (river)

The Aragón (Spanish: Río Aragón; Basque: Aragon Ibaia) is a river in northern Spain, one of the left-hand tributaries of the river Ebro. It rises at Astún (province of Huesca) in the central Pyrenees Mountains, passes southwest through Jaca and Sangüesa (Navarre), and joins the Ebro at Milagro (Navarre), near Tudela. The name Aragón is related to the birth area of the former kingdom, which corresponds to the modern autonomous community of Aragón in Spain.

Watershed

The river, used for irrigation and hydroelectric power, is about 129 kilometres (80 mi) long; its chief tributary is the Arga River.

Ecology

Non-government sanctioned re-introduction of Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) in Spain around 2003 has resulted in tell-tale beaver signs documented on a 60-kilometre (37 mi) stretch on the lower course of the Aragon River and the area adjoining the Ebro River in Aragon, Spain.

References

See also

Coordinates: 42°36′23″N 1°03′29″W / 42.60648°N 1.05812°W / 42.60648; -1.05812