The Fifth Crusade: Aragon's War for Iberia

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The Fifth Crusade: Aragon's War for Iberia

The history of Aragon and warfare have long been intertwined. The founding fathers of Aragon had made it their life's goal to unite the Iberian Peninsula under the banner of Aragon. The Moors also wanted to unite the Iberian Peninsula, but they had different ideas about who was to lead the united Spain. And so, there was war.

But, it wasn't always this way. The Kingdom of Aragon was founded in 1035 in the mountainous Pyrenees on the border with France. King Ramiro was the first ruler, leading a mostly peaceful period.

King Sancho the Old

Sancho - who succeeded his father in 1063 - realized that running a kingdom is no easy thing. Besides keeping the kingdom fed, you have to make it safe. All the while, you have to keep the people happy. And, above all, there was the looming threat of the Moors. As he tried to manage his kingdom, he saw the Moors becoming increasingly bold, invading the kingdoms of Leon and Navarre almost at will. But, with a tiny kingdom, there wasn't much he could do.

Rather than attacking a small Moor kingdom and risk all the other Sunni joining in for a holy war, Sancho decided to press claims he had on the counties of Zaragoza and Albarracin, which were held by the Duke of Barcelona. Sancho bided his time, accumulating gold to finance a mercenary army: his own levies certainly wouldn't be large enough.

In 1072, he invaded Zargoza. He hadn't counted on how long siege warfare would take. As the weeks slipped by, his cash reserves started to dwindle. In late-1073, he was completely broke, and the mercenaries were debating whether to desert or attack their employers. Sancho took a bold move in sending his army - which still listened one last time - against the Duke's largest force. The soldiers forgot about their pay and they fought, defeating the Duke's army. In a stroke of fate, the Duke had also reached the breaking point, and agreed to terms of surrender.

Before embarking on his next adventure, Sancho decided to take more time building up his forces. Along the way, his first son - Alvar - was born. King Sancho adored Alvar. When Alvar turned 16, it was clear that he was staggeringly intelligent. Alvar boldly suggested that he could do a better job as Court Chaplin than the bishop who was doing the job. Sancho didn't want to appear to play favorites, so he declined at first. But, Alvar was insistent. Sancho decided to look objectively at the situation, concluding that his son was indeed far and away the best for the job in the entire kingdom.

As much as Sancho adored Alvar, his son worshipped him. He proudly rooted out heretics and did whatever he could for Aragon and his father. But, those feelings started to fade. Knowing he was the heir to the throne also made him understandably proud. His father lavished him with titles and gave him everything his heart could desire, save one thing: crowning him king.

Tragedy struck when Alvar's mother suddenly died. It annoyed Alvar that his father chose to remarry, choosing a German princess. And, he never felt close to the son that his father would have together with this woman, who he would never call "mother".

While Alvar still loved his father, his "new family" started to drive a wedge between them. He grew irritated that Sancho was living so long. He turned to alcohol to deaden the pain. One day, Alvar decided he had had enough: he wanted to depose his father, even enlisting his half-brother Karl in the plot.

Sancho got wind of the plot, and imprisoned Alvar before he had a chance to carry it out. In a fit of rage, Sancho granted the Duchy of Aragon to Karl. After keeping him for 6 months in the dungeon, Sancho visited his son. Many tears were exchanged before he finally decided to release him. Alvar emerged a changed man, completely devoted to doing anything his father wanted. But, Sancho had already been wounded. He never trusted his son again.

King Sancho died at the age of 72 after 34 years on the throne. He had been known as Sancho the Old since he turned 56.

 

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King Alvar the Drunkard

Alvar's father had started a war with the Moors over Castellon, enlisting the Knights Templar to support their holy cause. It was up to Alvar to finish the job. But, Prince Karl had other ideas. Almost immediately, he began loudly questioning Alvar's authority. Alvar spent more time and energy than he wanted keeping Karl at bay, giving him titles, naming him Marshal, and publically praising him while secretly wondering if there was any way to get rid of him.

Alvar and Karl couldn't have been more different. Alvar was scholarly, relying on advisors for military matters, and thoroughly Catalan in his tastes, particularly in wine. Karl was a soldier in every way, and he spoke with the same German accent his mother had. They would have an uneasy alliance that resulted in an expansion of the kingdom of Aragorn, but it wouldn't last.

In 1112, Karl led an army against his brother. Alvar had been anticipating a betrayal, so he kept the gold reserves full. When the time came, he hired Italian mercenaries to supplement his own army. By 1113, the rebellion had been crushed, and Karl was in prison. There would be no show of mercy the way that King Sancho had shown Alvar when he rebelled.

Alvar emerged the undisputed ruler of Aragon, and no one inside his court dared challenge his power again. But, the fight with his flesh and blood - and frequent battles with the Moors - had taken a lot out of him. He grew increasingly depressed. His overindulgence of wine became more prevalent, with embarrassing incidents in front of family and foreign dignitaries happening with increasing regularity. Despite his many accomplishments in making Aragon a great kingdom, he became known as Alvar the Drunkard, the sort of name you'd give to a wastrel found passed out in the middle of the street (which did happen to Alvar).

Between the drink and conflict, King Alvar barely had any time for his heir, Fernando. Fernando didn't mind. He understood that the pressures of the position drove his father to drink. Fernando would get furious if anyone called his father by his nickname. When he was 12, he beat a servant to death with a weighted candle holder for using the moniker. As he grew, he became increasingly cynical. Even though he was skilled in the art of diplomacy, he preferred a more direct approach to things.

One day, King Alvar passed out in a drunken stupor and never woke up. In 21 years as monarch, he had brought Aragon to new heights. But, there were even greater heights to be reached.

 

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King Fernando the Cruel

Fernando was 23 when he was crowned king of Aragon. He really wished he'd had a few more years to become established in the court. His father had begun his rule when he was 35, and his grandfather was 38. The extra years could have made him more respected by his subjects. As it was, he was confronted immediately by people on all sides who wanted - even demanded - something from him. Is this any way to treat your king?

King Fernando quickly took an inventory of who he thought were his friends and who seemed to be his enemies. The enemies weren't a surprise: most had been loyal to Prince Karl, and would never give him the respect he deserved. Since he knew he couldn't convert them, he didn't bother trying.

But, he took an approach that none of the kings of Aragon took before him: assassinations and executions became a tool to keep his subjects in line. When the people rose up, he'd crush them, not allowing surrender until everyone was dead or in prison. He even goaded some vassals into rebelling just so he'd have an excuse to exterminate them.

His cruelty became legendary, and rumor has it that he's the one who coined the name Fernando the Cruel. Ironically, his cruelty was reserved mostly for countrymen who dared to betray him. When he captured Sunni leaders, he almost always ransomed them off. Then, he'd use the ransom money to keep the war going against them. He didn't have a burning religious hatred of the Moors: they were simply people who held something he wanted. But a supposed friend who would take up arms against him? He had no mercy.

But, as wicked as his reputation was, he also curried favor with the Pope by diverting substantial donations to the Vatican. This gave him leverage to raise Holy Orders to conduct numerous campaigns against the Moors. He had so much pull with the Vatican that he sometimes didn't need to raise levies to support the wars. That endeared him with the population - and his vassals - despite his monstrous reputation. Eventually, people supported his style of rule, even though they were terrified of him: if you don't want to be beheaded, then don't be a traitor!

After decades of being land-locked, Fernando conquered the regions of Castellon and Tarragona on the Gulf of of Valencia. This finally gave Aragon access to the Mediterranean, with the prospects of expanding their empire overseas.

While Fernando was a hard-hearted monster to almost everyone, he had a soft spot for his son, Cristiano. He saw the difficulties he had in trying to rule at the age of 23, and he swore his son would never have to go through that sort of difficulty. Fernando contracted Typhoid and died at the age of 52, leaving the kingdom to his 21-year-old son.

 

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King Cristiano the Chaste

Rumor had it that Christiano was a virgin when he took power. All indications are that this was probably true, since Christiano was extremely religious. Shortly after becoming king, he wed the sister of the King of England. By the time he was 25, he had fathered 3 children, including one boy, Felipe. Despite this, tales of his chastity - extremely unusual in the court of Aragon - led to him being dubbed Christiano the Chaste. Stories even circulated that he wasn't really the father of his children, which was certainly untrue.

Christiano carried on the family tradition of warfare, declaring war on the Sheikh of Valencia within days of gaining power. Christiano was a talented general, and still young, so led his armies into battle. His wife urged caution, recalling the tales that his own father had told him about taking power too young. But, as men tend to do when they're that age, Christiano felt invincible so he wouldn't hear any talk of danger.

Christiano might have thought ruling a kingdom was difficult if he had stopped being a general long enough to do it. There was almost continuous warfare during Cristiano's reign, which was exactly to Christiano's liking. Aragorn added two of the richest regions in Europe, Valencia and Denia, and began a campaign for Molina when the inevitable happened: Christiano was killed in battle at the age of 28 after 7 years of rule.

His son, Felipe, became king at the age of 9.