Ramiro II (24 April 1086 – 16 August 1157), called the Monk, was

King of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre ...

from 1134 until withdrawing from public life in 1137. Although a monk, he was elected king by the Aragonese nobility upon the death of his childless brother,

Alfonso the Battler Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother P ...

. He then had a daughter, Petronilla, whom he had marry Count

Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer IV (; c. 1114 – 6 August 1162, Anglicized Raymond Berengar IV), sometimes called ''the Saint'', was the count of Barcelona who brought about the union of the County of Barcelona with the Kingdom of Aragon to form the Crown of Ar ...

, unifying Aragon and Barcelona into the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...

Early life

Ramiro was the youngest son of Sancho Ramírez,

king of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre ...

and

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, and

Felicia of Roucy Felicia of Roucy ( – 3 May 1123) was a queen consort of Aragon and Navarre. She was a daughter of Hilduin IV of Montdidier, and his wife Alice of Roucy. They were Picards. Felicia was married in 1076 to Sancho Ramírez, then king of Aragon afte ...

. Sancho placed Ramiro as a child into the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery of Saint Pons de Thomières in the

Viscounty of Béziers A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

. As a respected monk, Ramiro was elected abbot of the Castillian royal monastery of Santos Fecundo y Primitivo in

Sahagún Sahagún () is a town and municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León and the province of León. It is the main populated place in the Leonese part of the Tierra de Campos natural region. Sahagún contains some o ...

and later was abbot of the monastery of San Pedro el Viejo at

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

. Wanting to limit Ramiro's power within the Kingdom of Navarre-Aragon, his brother

had blocked his elections as

bishop of Burgos The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Burgos is one of Spain's Latin Metropolitan sees.
''

bishop of Pamplona The Archdiocese of Pamplona y Tudela ( la, Pampilonen(sis) et Tudelen(sis)) is an archdiocese located in the cities of Pamplona and Tudela in Spain.

. In 1134 Ramiro had been elected

bishop of Barbastro-Roda A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

when the death of his childless brother made him one of the candidates for succession to the crown. Others put forward included

Alfonso VII of Castile Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

, who as a foreign king found little support, and the choice of the Navarrese nobility,

Pedro de Atarés Pedro de Atarés ( in Borja – 21 February 1151) was a Spanish noble and member of the House of Aragón. He founded the Veruela Abbey, the oldest Cistercian monastery in Aragon. Biography Family Pedro de Atarés was the son of García Sán ...

, grandson of Sancho Ramírez, Count of Ribagorza, the illegitimate son of

Ramiro I of Aragon Ramiro I (bef. 10078 May 1063) was the first King of Aragon from 1035 until his death, although he is sometimes described as a petty king. He would expand the nascent Kingdom of Aragon through his acquisition of territories, such as Sobrarbe and ...

. At an assembly at Borja intended to resolve the succession, a misunderstanding alienated Pedro from his supporters, yet they were unwilling to accept the Aragonese-favored Ramiro, and in the end the kingdoms were divided. In

, García Ramírez, a scion of the pre-union royal family of Navarre and protégé of Alfonso VII was chosen king, while in Aragon the choice fell on Ramiro, who suspended his monastic vows to take the crown.

King of Aragon

Donació d'Aragó i Peronella als Capítols matrimonials de Barbastre (1137)

The reign of Ramiro the Monk, as he is known, was tumultuous. At the beginning of his reign he had problems with his nobles, who thought he would be docile and easily steered to their wishes, but discovered him to be inflexible. In order to produce an heir, Ramiro married Agnes, daughter of Duke

William IX of Aquitaine William IX ( oc, Guilhèm de Peitieus; ''Guilhem de Poitou'' french: Guillaume de Poitiers) (22 October 1071 – 10 February 1126), called the Troubadour, was the Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony and Count of Poitou (as William VII) between 1086 an ...

. He and Agnes had a daughter, Petronilla, who was betrothed to Count

at the age of one. The marriage contract, signed at Barbastro on 11 August 1137, made Petronilla the heir to the crown of Aragon, which in event of her childless death would pass to Ramon Berenguer and any children he might have by other wives. Ramon accepted Ramiro as "King, Lord and Father", and the County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were united into the

. The previously-landlocked Aragonese state thus returned to the position of peninsular power it had held prior to the loss of Navarre, and received a window to the

Western Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the eas ...

it would come to dominate. In the time between his accession and the betrothal of his daughter, Ramiro II had already had to put down a rebellion of the nobles, and knowing himself not to be a war king, he passed royal authority to his son-in-law Ramon Berenguer on 13 November 1137. Ramon became the "Prince of the Aragonese people" (''Princeps Aragonensis'') and effective chief of the kingdom's armies. Ramiro never formally resigned his royal rights, continuing to use the royal title, and keeping aware of the business of the kingdom, he withdrew from public life, returning to the Abbey of San Pedro in Huesca. He later became known for the famous and passionate legend of the

Bell of Huesca The Bell of Huesca is a legend describing how Ramiro II of Aragon, the Monk, cut off the heads of twelve nobles who did not obey him. The legend is told in the 13th-century anonymous Aragonese work the ''Cantar de la campana de Huesca''. After A ...

. He died there on 16 August 1157, the crown then formally passing to his daughter Petronilla."''ego Petronilla, Dei gratia aragonensis regina et barchinonensis comitissa''". 1164, June 18. Barcelona, i
Arxiu Virtual Universitat Jaume I
Documents d'època medieval relatius a la Corona d'Aragó. Cancelleria reial. ''

Liber Feudorum Maior The ''Liber feudorum maior'' (or ''LFM'', medieval Latin for "great book of fiefs"), originally called the ''Liber domini regis'' ("book of the lord king"), is a late twelfth-century illuminated cartulary of the Crown of Aragon. It was compiled ...

'', ff. 10c-11a iguel Rosell, 1945, nº 17 Transcripció efectuada en agost de 2006 a partir d'aquesta edició.

References and notes

Sources

*Belenguer, Ernest (2006)
«Aproximación a la historia de la Corona de Aragón»
''La Corona de Aragón. El poder y la imagen de la Edad Media a la Edad Moderna (siglos XII – XVIII)''. Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior (SEACEX), Generalitat Valenciana y Ministerio de Cultura de España: Lunwerg, pp. 25–53. *Bisson, Thomas N. (2000). ''The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. *Chaytor, Henry John. (1933)

London: Methuan Publishing. * *Lapeña Paúl, Ana Isabel. (2008). ''Ramiro II de Aragón: el rey monje (1134–1137)''. Gijón: Trea.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramiro 02 Of Aragon 1086 births 1157 deaths 12th-century Aragonese monarchs 12th-century Christian monks