County of Aragon

Origins

The county arose in the early 9th century in the upper valley of the river Aragón, around Jaca, as a Frankish-backed frontier lordship. Its first known count, Aznar Galíndez I, ruled in the 800s under Carolingian protection before being expelled by rivals allied with Pamplona.

Rule and society

Aragon was a mountain county of herders and small farmers, protected by castles and monasteries such as San Juan de la Peña and San Pedro de Siresa. Its native counts of the Galindo family kept close ties with Pamplona, and in the early 10th century the heiress Andregoto Galíndez married García Sánchez I of Pamplona, bringing the county under the Navarrese crown.

Decline and legacy

Aragon was ruled from Pamplona until Sancho III died in 1035 and left it to his son Ramiro I, who governed it as a separate realm, the beginning of the Kingdom of Aragon, which later grew into the Crown of Aragon.