In the 13th century there were five major players in Iberia. Castile and Leon controlled the center part of the peninsula and were focussed on the reconquista - the long process of driving the Moors out of Iberia. Navarre was a small land locked kingdom hemmed in by stronger and covetous neighbors. Aragon had merged with Catalonia and faced France to the north and Castile to the south. It saw the Mediterranean as its best growth prospect. Portugal was establishing its borders with Castile and the Moors were being increasingly pressed in the extreme south. This map (O'Callaghan 355) lays out the territorial interests of each of these Iberian powers between 1212 - 1492. Natually, boundaries were fluid over this time. This page relies heavily on Joseph O'Callaghan's A History of Medieval Spain.

Aragon and Catalonia

Raymond Berenger III (1096 - 1131)

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Diner, 18mm, .62gr. Obv: . BARCINO, central design. Rev: cross with four globes. Mint is Barcelona. Cru (1992) 31, very similar to Raymond Ber. IV with retrograde legend. Cru (1982) 60.

Alphonse I, Aragon and comte de Provence (1177-85) and
Raymond de Belleme, archbishop of Arles (1166-1196)

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AR denier, 18mm, .93gr. Obv: REX ARAGONE, central miter. Rev: PRO-VI-NC-IA, long cross. R4559 (as Raymond Berenger IV 1172-81). He notes RB as comte of Provence was a vassal of Alphonse I); Boud 805 as AI (2 as rarity estimate); PdA 3393 (image LXXXVIII-1 as A II); Dup?

AR denier, 19mm, 1.01g. Obv: +_BARCINO, central cross with long leg bracketed by 'o.' Rev: CI - VI - RE - :X:, long cross. Mint is Barcelona. R4493; Boud 627. From CGB Monnaies VII #746 "Au XIXe siècle, cette monnaie était très rare. La légende qui commence au droit et se termine au revers peut se traduire par Barcelone ville du roi. Pour A. Heiss, la fabrication de ce type ne commençait pas avant 1180. En fait, le privilège monétaire fut accordé en 1173 et la fabrication débuta l'année suivante."

From CGB "Alphonse d'Aragon (1152-1196) est le fils de Raymond-Béranger, comte de Barcelone et de Pétronille, reine d'Aragon. Alphonse d'Aragon devint roi d'Aragon en 1162. En 1174, il épousa Sancie (1154-1208), la fille d'Alphonse VII de Castille. Après la mort de Raymond-Béranger, son frère, comte de Provence hérita de ses possessions. À sa mort en 1196, son fils Pierre II (1176-1213) hérita du trône d'Aragon tandis que son autre fils devenait comte de Provence sous le nom d'Alphonse II .

*This Alfonso was also the first count of Barceleona named Alfonso and is sometimes referred to as Alfonso I, count of Barcelona. 

As the son of Petronila, queen of Aragon and Raymond Berenger IV (1131-62), ruler of Catalonia, he brought these two houses and territories under a single rule. Alfonso had interests both to his north and south. In the south, he allied with Alfonso VIII of Castile against the Almohad threat. By the treaty of Cazola in 1179 he and Alfonso VIII essentially planned the division of Almohad Spain and concluded an alliance against Navarre.  Of course the division of Almohad Spain required that it be conquered, which it was not. Fighting continued in the south with success on occasion going to both sides. At his death progress was minimal.

Alfonso faced serious problems in the north. He was in conflict with Raymond V of Toulouse over control of Provence. While Raymond was responsible for the assassination of Alfonso's brother, who ruled for Alfonso in Provence, Alfonso was successful in building bridges with the counts of Foix and Bigorre. By treaty in 1185 he resolved his conflict with Raymond and established a strong hold in Provence.

As is often the case, the work of unifying territory under a single ruler, in this case Aragon and Provence, was undone by the division of the inheritance. When he died in 1196 he left Aragon to one son, Pedro II, and Provence to a second son, Alfons II. This had the subsequent effect of permanently separating Provence from Aragon, although it did leave Pedro II with continuing interests north of the Pyrenees.

AR denero, .95gr. 18mm. Obv: PE TR RE X, central cross with four besants. Rev: BARCIHONA, central cross. Crusafont (1992) 300, Crus (1982) 144. Seller ID adds Burgos 852, C&C (1992) 1731.

After of period of relative peace and military stability, Christians in Iberia initiated a crusade against the Almohads. An army composed of both Spanish and French troops met the Moors at Las Navas de Tolosa where the Moorish army was defeated. Pedro led one of the divisions in this great victory. This won him accolades from the Church. It also tipped the balance of power in Iberia and seriously weakened the Islamic hold in Spain.

However, this changed the following year. In 1213 he crossed the Pyrenees as an ally of Raymond VI because Simon de Montfort was attacking lands of the count of Foix and others who were Peter's vassals. Peter and Raymond of Toulouse planned to meet the crusader army south of Toulouse, at Muret.

Muret is on the Garonne, a two hour horse ride from Toulouse. The battle field was just west of Muret, between the Garonne and the small Saudrune river. The Toulouse militia had established a siege of Muret and were just outside the town. Peter had established his position NW of Muret, between the Saudrune and the Garonne. These two maps show the action. The first is from Sumption (168) and shows the disposition of the forces. The second from Roux-Perino (p181) shows the course of the action.

At Muret Raymond and Peter could not agree on a common strategy. Raymond wanted to take a defensive posture and Peter an aggressive one. Their camps were not together. While Raymond was acting defensively, Peter decided to attack and joined his calvary in the front line, a risky strategy since if he fell, his troops would collapse without leadership. Peter arranged his force in three groups, the first led by the count of Foix while he led the second himself. He was well protected between the Saudrune and a marsh.

At this point there is discrepancy in the accounts of the battle. Roux-Perino gives the first action to Peter's troops, who moved in a disorganized attack on the crusaders. The crusaders feigned a withdrawal and the count of Foix pressed the attack. The crusaders turned and were shocked by the impact of the Spanish charge. Montfort sent his second corps into battle and Peter also joined the fight. Peter, who was not wearing his own armor, was attacked and shouted he was the king - do not kill him, but it was too late. He fell to a lance and was killed. Sumption gives first action to the crusaders who charged the disorganized Aragonese line and pushed it back onto the second corps, at which point Peter became engaged, and killed. When word of his death spread, his army fled and it turned into a rout. This phase of the battle lasted about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Toulousain forces were besieging the town and weren't aware of the outcome of the battle. The crusaders turned on them and caught them in a pincer, between the mounted forces of Montfort and the defenders of the town. The crusaders routed them, forcing Raymond to flee to Toulouse.

Casualties ran to the thousands on the side of Toulouse and were minimal on the side of the crusaders. From Peter's perspective, his great fault was placing himself in a combat position and not in the reserve, where he could direct the battle. Wearing another's armor also would have made it difficult for his close guard to rally to and protect him, since he wasn't clearly identified. Likewise, in that armor he was not a ransom target but a knight to be killed. Montfort tended to place himself in reserve, where he could rally troops and direct the action when necessary.

Today the battlefield is an industrial area between an autoroute and commercial activity. There is no sense of what it was like in the 13th century. There is, however, a monument - actually two monuments, to the battle on a traffic circle just north of Muret. When I visited I had a coin of Peter II in my hand, making for a nice instance of physio-temporal asynchroneity.

**

The smaller monument reads in Occitan "(This monument) bed ni centenari dera batalho de Muret en Pedro Aralounes Catala le Gadouoas(?) cayown pera a defenso debas libertas ded... 1213," or, I think "(This monument) .. in commemoration of the battle of Muret and Pedro of Aragon and Castile ... died defending our liberty 1213."

At the end of his life, This is what Spain looked like. The map is from O'Callaghan (252) and is actually Spain in 1214. Aragon has joined with Catalonia and Castile extends south of Toledo. Navarre suffers by being landlocked with thwarted expansion opportunities, given the strength of both Castile and Aragon.

Dinero, .91gr., 18mm. Obv: IACOBVS REX, center bust left. Rev: ARAGON, center cross with double cross bars. Crus 318.

Son of Pedro II.  James inherited Aragon when he was only five years old. He was a virtual prisoner of his uncle until other nobles contested the regent's authority and James was essentially liberated. He took the reins of government at a very young age and had to spend his first years establishing his authority and control. James had territorial ambitions but was constrained by French power to the north and Castilian power to the south. He looked to the Mediterranean as a was of extending his grasp. In doing so he turned the attention of Spain to Mediterranean politics and broadened the horizons of later Spanish rulers. His first objective was the conquest of the Balearic Islands, which were held by the Muslims. Palma, the capital of the Balearic Islands, fell December 31, 1229 (O'Callaghan 342).

His father's death at Muret weakened Aragonese enthusiasm for involvement in Languedoc. After the collapse of the Carolingian empire, the counts of Barcelona held increasing sway in what is today the south of France, but by the middle of the 13th C, royal French attention was strongly focussed on the area. After the death of Raymond VII of Toulouse (1249), his heir was his daughter Jeanne and her husband Alphonse, brother of the king of France. James saw that asserting his territorial interests would bring him into conflict with France. He therefore was willing to relinquish his claims in Languedoc for several French concessions. He gave up his claims to Carcassone, Foix, Albi, Toulouse, Narbonne and other places in return for Louis IX renouncing his rights, based on a claimed descent from Charlemagne, to Roussillon and all points south of the Pyrenees. The Treaty of Corbeil in 1258 established the French-Spanish border until the 17th century. James also held Montpellier.

AR Pierreale, 3.15gr., 25mm. Obv: +:P:DEI:GRA:ARAGON:3:SICIL:REX:, center shield with the arms of Aragon. Rev: +:COSTA:DEI:GRA:ARAGON:3:SICIL:REGIA, center eagle. Mint is Messina. Crus 326; Lhotka 223; Sp 11; Biaggi 1303-4.

Son of James I. James split his kingdom between his sons, with Pedro getting  Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia while his brother Jaume got the Balearic Islands, Roussillon, Cerdagne and Montpellier. There was no love lost between the brothers. Pedro's major accomplishment was the conquest of Sicily. This took his house into the center of Mediterranean politics and placed him in important and often troubling relationships with France, the papacy and Byzantium. He came to this position via his 1262 marriage with Constanza, daughter of Manfred of Sicily.

After Manfred's death, and those of his heirs, Sicily became a possession of Charles of Anjou. The Sicilian uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers in March 1282 ended French rule in Sicily. In its aftermath, Pedro was invited to become king of Sicily, which he accepted. In August he invaded Sicily and was welcomed in Palermo. Pope Martin IV refused to recognize him as the legitimate ruler and excommunicated him. Martin rallied a crusade against Aragon and enlisted Philip III of France to invade.

Pedro was successful in thwarting a French reinvasion of Sicily and captured Charles of Salerno, Charles of Anjous' heir, in a sea battle fought in the Bay of Naples. The heir remained a captive of Aragon until 1288. In 1285 Charles of Anjou and Martin both died, although Philip III remained interested in the crusade, which he saw as an opportunity to extend the French grasp into Catalonia. The French invading force succumbed to illness and withdrew. Philip III died in Perpignan in October 1285.

Pedro died a month later, on November 11. In addition to his international successes and problems, he spent his reign dealing with troublesome vassals. Given the threat of a French invasion, in order to make peace with his nobles he was forced to make a number of concessions, recognizing their traditional rights. This was a time when European rulers were generally extending their authority, a move resisted by the nobility.  Pedro's recognition of the rights of his vassals in Catalonia has been referred to as the Spanish Magna Carta, and set up the foundation for successive Catalan constitutional development.

Diner, .92gr., 16mm. Obv: +IACOBVS REX, center bust left. Rev: BA/QI/NO/NA, center cross, one besant in quadrants 1 and 4, three besants in quadrants 2 and 3. Mint is Barcelona. Crus 348; Lhotka 134.

Brothers, and sons of Pedro III.

Dinero, .74gr., 17mm. Obv: SHNCIVS REX, bust left. Rev: NAVARRA, center long cross, stars and fleur design. B554; Dup1343; PdA3328; Crus222.

His sister Blanca married the count of Champagne. He had coinage.

His mother was Blanca, daughter of Sancho VI and brother of Sancho VII. He had coinage from Navarre.

Denier, 20mm, 1.0gr. Obv: :TIOBALD'REX, central cross. Rev: :-DE NAVARIE, central chatel with three towers (legend starts at 3 o'clock). R4697; Boud 558 (as AR, rarity = 15); PdA 3331 (as Billon); Dup 1351.

Son of Thibaut I.

Brother of Thibaut II, son of Thibaut I. His coinage was in the name of Thibaut and not distinct.

Daughter of Henri I. Jean married Philip IV of France who also became king of Navarre (1285-1314). She had coinage.

Three sons of Philip IV. No Navarrese coinage.

Jeanne II was the daughter of Louis X and married Philip of Evreux, a cousin. No Navarrese coinage.

Billon denier tournois, 17mm, 1.31gr. Obv: +KAROLVS REX, central cross. Rev: +DE NAVARRE, central chatel. Mint is Evreux. R5237; Boud 566 (rarity = 10); Dup 48 who places the minting at the end of 1348 (ordance of 31 Octobre 1348); PdA 191.

It is interesting that a coin from Evreux, near Maine, had the legend DE NAVARRE. Charles had a heritage that linked to the royal houses of both France and Spain. On his father's side, he traces his ancestry back to Philip III. One of Philip's sons was Louis of Evreux, and Louis' son was Philip of Evreux, Charles' father. The other son of Philip III was Philip IV, who married Jeanne I (descended from Sancho VI of Navarre). Philip IV and Jeanne I were parents of Louis X, who in turn was the father of Charles' mother also named Jeanne (II). Therefore, Louis X's daughter married Louis X's cousin. That union, Jeanne II and Philip of Evreux, gave birth to Charles. In Spanish genealogies he is Carlos II of Navarre.

Through descent on both sides, he made a claim to the crown of France was became a thorn in the side of Charles V of France during the Hundred Year's War.

 Castile and Leon

Alfonso VI (1073-1109)

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Dinero, 1.05 gr, 18mm. Obv: ANFVS, central cross. Rev: TOLETVO, vertical through X topped by P, bottom leg horizontal S. Mint is Toledo. Burgos 5

Alfonso was one of three sons of Fernando, who was successful in uniting several of the northern Spanish territories under his rule. This map, from O'Callaghan (199) shows what Iberia looked like at his death. Most notable is the relatively small size of the Spanish controlled territories and the extensiveness of Islamic Iberia.

His oldest son Sancho II received Castile, Alfonso VI received Leon and the youngest received Galicia. In splitting his inheritance, Fernando's heirs experienced the same internecine conflicts as did Louis the Pious' sons. Sancho was initially successful in that he seized Galicia and defeated Alfonso in battle and also took control of Leon. However, shortly thereafter Sancho was poisoned and died without an heir. This allowed Alfonso to return and be recognized as the king of Castile and Leon. He soon incorporated Galicia into his realm, at the expense of his exiled (now imprisoned) younger brother.

Alfonso faced several problems during his reign, from both the papacy and from his Moorish neighbors. The papacy had claimed suzerainty over Iberia and organized what was effectively a crusade to conquer Spain from the Moors. He also sought to substitute the Roman liturgy for the much older and local Mozarabic liturgy. Alfonso did not recognize the papal territorial claims although he was sympathetic to liturgical change.

Being the dominant power in the north, Castile was able to demand tribute from the weaker local Islamic kingdoms. These taifas were disorganized and unable to resist Castilian pressures. Alfonso took the next step and captured Toledo, significantly extending  Castilian influence and control.  This elicited a strong reaction from among the taifas  and they sought help from the Almoravids, who were rulers in Morocco. These people represented a more fundamentalist strain of Islam, and were more militant that the Iberian Moors. The result of the arrival of the Almoravids was a unified Islamic presence in Iberia, accompanied by military success which temporarily halted Alfonso's advance in the south.

In his fight in the south, he was aided by Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known to us as El Cid. El Cid defended Valencia during his life but after his death, Alfonso decided Valencia was not defensible and the result was that it was added to Almoravid domains. Alfonso did not have an heir, and succession was challenged by his daughters and their husbands. At the end of his life the Almoravids controlled most of Islamic Iberia and significantly slowed the reconquest of the south.

 Alfonso VIII of Castile (1158-1214)

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Dinero, 1.15gr., 17mm. Obv: ANFVS REX, center crowned bust left. Rev: battlement with spikes, lower 'T.' Mint is Toledo. Lhotka 45

Son of Alphonse IX and Berenguela of Castile. He inherited Castile on the death of his uncle, Berenguela's brother, and united the two houses.

Noven, .66gr., 18mm. Obv: MONETA CASTELLE, central three tower castle. Rev: +ET LEGIONIS, central lion. Mint is Leon. Burgos 267; Lhotka 51v.

Son of Fernando III.

Sancho IV (1284-95)

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Cornado, .74gr.,  18mm. Obv: SANCH.REX, center bust left. Rev: CASTELLE LEGIONIS, central three towers. Mint is Burgos. Lhotka 55

Fernando IV (1295-1312

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Pepion, 1.08gr., 17mm. Obv: +F REX CASTELLE, central three tower castle. Rev: +ET LEGIONIS, central lion. Mint is Burgos. Burgos 319; Lhotka 58.

Billon Cornado, .89gr., 20mm. Obv: ALFONS:REX, center crowned bust left. Rev: CASTELLE LEGIONIS, three tower castle. Mint is Burgos. Lhotka 61.

Son, grandson and great grandson of Alphonse X.

AR Real, 3.39gr., 26mm. Obv: DOMINVS:MICHI:ADIVTOR:ET EGO DI; innder legend: SPICIAM:INIMICOS:MEOS, central crown over 'P.' Rev: +PETRVS:REX:CASTELLE:E LEGIONIS, arms of Castile and Leon on quartered shield. Mint is Burgos. Lhotka 68.

Son of Alphonso XI.

Noven, .79gr., 19mm. Obv: ENRICVS REX CA, central castle. Rev: ENRICVS REX LEG, central lion. Mint is Zamora. Burgos 501, Lhotka 75.

Brother of Pedro the Cruel.

Juan I (1379-90)

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Billon Blanca de Agnus Dei, 1.39gr., 21mm. Obv: +ANGVS:DEI:QVI:TOLIS, central pascal lamb. Rev: +ECATA:MVNDI:MISERE, central crowned 'Y.' Mint is Toledo. Lhotka 76.

Enrique III (1390-1406)

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Billon blanca. Obv: IOHANES:DEI:GRACIA:REX, central castle in six foil. Rev: IOHANES:DEI:GRACIA:REX, lion in six foil. Mint: Sevilla. Seller id C&C 511.

Sources:

O'Callaghan, J., A Medieval History of Spain, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1975