JAIME II ('The Just')

Jaime II was brother of Alfonso III, born 1264. He relinquished Sicily to his brother Federico but gained Corsica and Sardinia.

Aragón

The region was conquered by the Visigoths (western Goths) in the late 5th century AD and by the Moors in the 8th century. Subsequently the region became part of the kingdom of Navarre. In 1035 Ramiro I, a son of the Navarrese king Sancho III (reigned 1000-1035), established Aragón as an independent kingdom. In 1076 Navarre was annexed to the kingdom of Aragón, and during the next 100 years additional territory was added by successful wars against the Moors. In 1137 Aragón was united with Catalonia and Barcelona, and subsequently grew into a leading Mediterranean naval power around the port of Barcelona. The kings of Aragón gained possession of the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Sardinia, and Naples in the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1238 the important city of Valencia was captured by Aragón from the Moors. The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragón (later Ferdinand V of Castile) to Isabella I of Castile in 1459 united the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. The two kingdoms were formally merged in 1516 on the accession of Charles I as king of Spain (later Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor). Aragón, however, retained its own administration and representative institutions until the end of the 17th century.