Union of Aragon
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Union of Aragon, Aragonese Union (Castilian and Aragonese: Unión Aragonesa, Catalan: Unió Aragonesa), or "Union of the Nobles" was an anti-royalist movement among the nobility and the townsmen of the lands of the Crown of Aragon during the last quarter of the thirteenth century. Its efforts culminated in a series of articles confirming the privileges of the aristocracy and the cities and circumscribing the power of the monarchy known as the Magna Carta of Aragon.
The Union had its origin in the nature of the Crown of Aragon, incorporating various kingdoms at various times. The various lands vied for the attention of the monarch and struggled to protect their privileges and their influence against the rise of any other. At the same time, King Peter III was conquering Sicily and his Spanish dominions were neglected.
Eventually, Pope Martin IV called a crusade, the Aragonese Crusade, against Peter and his kingdom, dissolving his subjects of their oaths of fealty. Peter had to exact heavy taxes in order to finance resistance to the "crusade" against him. The nobles of the kingdom, believing they should have been consulted before any campaign to Sicily, formed the Union.
In 1283, the nobles and burghers of Aragon held a court (cortes) in Zaragoza at which they swore to uphold each other's rights. Within three months, the Courts of Catalonia swore a similar oath at Tarragona.
The public source identifies “Union of Aragon” as open-knowledge reference entry. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Union, Aragon and Open-knowledge.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Union of Aragon”, the useful work is to connect “open-knowledge reference entry” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2670905. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1283.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Union of Aragon”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Union of Aragon primary sources, Union of Aragon archive and Union research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Union of Aragon”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Union of Aragon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.