Ramiro I of Aragon

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The signum regis of Ramiro was based on the Cross of Íñigo Arista.

This genealogy of Aragonese kings from a sixteenth century Spanish manuscript gives Ramiro I a prominent place.

Aragonese and Navarrese Royalty
House of Aragon

Ramiro I Children include    Sancho Ramirez (future Sancho I of Aragon and V of Navarre) Sancho I (V of Navarre) Children include    Peter (future Peter I of Aragon and Navarre)    Alfonso (future Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre)    Ramiro (future Ramiro II of Aragon) Peter I (I of Navarre) Alfonso I (I of Navarre) Ramiro II Children include    Petronila (future Petronila I) Petronila Children include    Dulce Berenguer, Queen of Portugal    Alfonso (future Alfonso II of Aragon)    Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Provence    Sancho, Count of Provence

Ramiro I (died 8 May 1063) was the first King of Aragon. He was the natural son of Sancho III of Navarre by his mistress Sancha de Aybar. Ramiro was reputed to have been adopted by his father's wife Mayor after he was the only of his father's children to come to her aid when needed. By the division of Sancho's realm on his death in 1035, Ramiro received the county of Aragon with the title of baiulus. He was, on account of the small size of his Pyrenean kingdom, with its capital at Jaca, called a "petty king."

Ramiro sought to enlarge his kingdom at the expense of both Moor and brother. His reign was uneventful until 1043, when he invaded the Kingdom of Navarre of his eldest half-brother García V. He was defeated in the Battle of Tafalla. In 1045, he annexed Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, the kingdom of his youngest legitimate half-brother, Gonzalo. This annexation either followed Gonzalo's death or his abdication. Though he exercised the royal prerogative in Aragon, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza, he never employed the royal title in his official documents, always only calling himself "Ramiro, son of the King Sancho."

Before he was married, Ramiro had a mistress named Amuña with whom he had a natural son, Sancho Ramírez, in whom he confided the government of the county of Ribagorza.

Ramiro wed his first wife, Gisberga, daughter of Bernard Roger of Bigorre, on 22 August 1036. She changed her name to Ermesinda on marrying him. Together the couple had five children:

• Sancho Ramírez, his successor
• García, Bishop of Jaca
• Sancha, married Armengol III of Urgel
• Urraca, nun in Santa Cruz de la Serós
• Theresa

Ramiro's second wife was Agnes (Inés), a daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine.

Ramiro died at the Battle of Graus in 1063 while trying to take the city.

[edit] Sources

• Chaytor, H. J. A History of Aragon and Catalonia. London: Methuen, 1933.
• Lourie, Elena. "The Will of Alfonso I, 'El Batallador,' King of Aragon and Navarre: A Reassessment." Speculum, Vol. 50, No. 4. (Oct., 1975), pp 635–651.