86:, the chief city of the region, the Christians decided to attack AĂnsa. After a prolonged siege they took the city and re-fortified it effectively. When the Muslims counter-besieged it with four times the troops the fall of the city appeared imminent. Then out of the sky appeared a vermillion cross atop an oak tree on a gold field. Interpreted as a sign from God, the cross encouraged the Christians and the Muslims were put to flight. In accordance with vows taken at Espelunga, GarcĂa XimĂ©niz, in response to the victory, founded a hermitage dedicated to
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Certain peoples conquered from the Moors a certain part of the kingdom in the mountains of
Sobrarbe, and since these were communities with neither governor nor alderman, and given that there were many disputes and debates among them, it was determined that, to avoid such problems and so that they
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The image of the red cross on a tree against field of gold was incorporated into the
Aragonese coat-of-arms in the top left quarter. By the fifteenth century the legend had been incorporated into the Aragonese national consciousness. It was given a full, historicising treatment in the five-volume
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were the most influential component of the legend and a school of legal thought, the "foralists", arose in defence of Aragon's supposedly ancient customs. Mostly fabricated, the laws have been studied in depth in
English by Ralph E. Giesey. The Aragonese jurist
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at the site. This evolved into the monastery of San Juan de la Peña under GarcĂa's successors. The kingdom that was baptised at AĂnsa they named
Sobrarbe, because it was founded "on a tree" (
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the laws of
Sobrarbe were cited against royal authority, as in the "dispute of the foreign viceroy", when Philip II's appointment of a non-Aragonese viceroy was rejected. In 1625
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148:, who describes the reigns of its kings in turn. By the late sixteenth century its historicity was widely accepted and it appears in the fourth volume of the
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might live in peace, they should elect a king to reign over them ... but that there should be a Judge between them and the king, who would hold the title of
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82:. There they created an army to fight the invaders and elected as their leader a certain GarcĂa (GarzĂa) XimĂ©niz. Since the Muslims had already taken
78:, the local Christians of what was to become Sobrarbe met at "Espelunga de GaliĂłn" in the year 724, in the place where today stands the monastery of
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Quoted and translated in Xavier Gil (2003), "Aragonese
Constitutionalism and Habsburg Rule: The Varying Meanings of Liberty", in
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was elected before the king, and that the king was elected under such conditions. Since then there has always been a
247:) which the king must accept in order to govern. In the 1580s in a number of cases argued before the tribunals in
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of Aragon in the kingdom, cognisant of all procedures regarding the king, as much in petitioning as in defence.
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24:, showing the first two kings and the cross in the tree which became Sobrarbe's heraldic emblem.
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107:(1499), the second king of Sobrarbe, GarcĂa EnnĂ©guiz (Garci Íñigo), conquered
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115:. He gives all the kings of Aragon a number as king of Sobrarbe, thus making
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If Not, Not: The Oath of the
Aragonese and the Legendary Laws of Sobrarbe
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Spain, Europe and the
Atlantic: Essays in Honour of John H. Elliott
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List of legendary kings (and their historical counterparts)
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344:(Zaragoza: 1624), fos. 44–50. The excerpt is from fo. 44v.
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Blancas' treatise has been translated into
Spanish as
323:(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1968).
227:and the precedence of the law to the king. In 1588
141:De Aragoniae Regibus et eorum rebus gestis libri V
20:From the first page of the history of Sobrarbe in
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263:of vassalage in Aragon are called liberties."
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211:Over a century after Cerdán, in 1552, the
52:legend, the kingdom, with its capital at
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199:of Aragon. It is held by some that the
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111:from the Muslims in the time of
342:Fueros y observancias de AragĂłn
290:GarcĂa EnnĂ©guiz II (870–885) →
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217:of Aragon, commissioned by the
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183:describes how the office of
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99:Gualberto Fabricio de Vagad
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150:Corónica general de España
278:Fortún Garcés I (802–815)
190:was said to have arisen:
129:coat-of-arms of Sobrarbe.
70:Legend and historiography
40:and the modern region of
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272:GarcĂa XimĂ©niz (724–758)
76:Muslim invasion of Spain
281:Sancho Garcés (815–832)
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117:Alfonso III of Aragon
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146:Lucio Marineo SĂculo
22:De Aragoniae Regibus
229:JerĂłnimo de Blancas
177:Juan Ximénez Cerdán
154:Ambrosio de Morales
152:(CĂłrdoba: 1584) by
138:history of Aragon,
80:San Juan de la Peña
64:Kingdom of Pamplona
36:predecessor to the
30:Kingdom of Sobrarbe
385:2016-03-04 at the
241:fueros de Sobrarbe
171:Fueros de Sobrarbe
158:Philip II of Spain
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144:(1509), by
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113:Charlemagne
92:sobre arbre
59:Reconquista
46:super Arbem
397:Categories
127:Attributed
74:After the
366:Gil, 166.
243:(Catalan
188:of Aragon
34:legendary
383:Archived
380:Sobrarbe
249:Zaragoza
237:Justicia
205:Justicia
201:Justicia
197:Justicia
186:Justicia
109:Pamplona
42:Sobrarbe
32:was the
179:in his
101:in his
261:fueros
257:fueros
220:Cortes
214:fueros
304:Notes
54:AĂnsa
319:See
168:The
164:Laws
84:Jaca
28:The
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