Graus ( Spanish: [ˈɡɾaws] ) is a village in the Spanish province of Huesca , located in the Pyrenees at the confluence of rivers Esera and Isabena. It is the administrative capital of the region. It is one of the areas of Aragon in which is still preserved the Aragonese language .
23-971: The Battle of Graus took place here, and Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracián y Morales was exiled here. During the Spanish Civil War , the village of Graus served as a fairly important local commercial center with 2,600 inhabitants around 1936. It was a libertarian stronghold and a centre of collectivization at that time. The municipality of Graus today includes the towns of: Abenozas , Aguilar , Aguinalíu , Bellestar , Benavente de Aragón , Castarlenas, Centenera , Eixep , Güel , Chuseu , Panillo , La Puebla de Fantova , La Puebla del Mon , Pueyo de Marguillén , El Soler , Torre de Ésera , Torre de Obato , Torrelabad , Torres del Obispo and Las Ventas de Santa Lucía . There are also uninhabited villages: Bafaluy, Cancer, Erdao, Fantova, Grustán, Pano and Torruella de Aragón. The first population in Graus
46-801: Is dated from the Paleolithic as is evidenced by the remains found at the site of "Las Forcas" close to the Morral Rock. Being one of the northernmost points of the Islam in Spain, Graus was reconquered by the Christians in 1083 by Sancho Ramirez in the Battle of Graus , after the death of Ramiro I in 1064 in the siege of Graus. After this battle, Graus was ceded to the monastery of St. Victorian of Asan , being responsible for rebuilding and repopulating
69-407: Is emphasized each year with the celebration of the "Longaniza Day", the last weekend of July. The " chireta " is a typical dish of this region of Aragon, which is made up of lamb guts stuffed with rice and meat. Finally the guts are sewn and then boiled. Graus is also known for be one of the largest black truffle markets nationwide. Battle of Graus The Battle of Graus was a battle of
92-498: Is vague. He was called king by his vassals, neighbors, the church and even his sons, yet he always referred to himself simply as Ranimiro Sancioni regis filio (Ramiro, son of King Sancho). Likewise, in his two wills, he refers to his lands as having been given him in stewardship: in the first by García, and in the second by God. He is called regulus (rather than rex used for García) and quasi pro rege (acting as if king) in charters from Navarre . Due to his growing independence and
115-462: The Reconquista , traditionally said to have taken place on 8 May 1063. Either in or as a result of the battle, King Ramiro I of Aragon died. Antonio Ubieto Arteta , in his Historia de Aragón , re-dated the battle to 1069. The late twelfth-century Chronica naierensis dates the encounter to 1070. Ramiro's first attempt to take Graus , the northernmost Muslim outpost in the valley of
138-523: The Battle of Tafalla , he still was able to gain territory, including Sanguesa , and established a state of semi-autonomy. In 1043, apparently with the approval of García, he annexed Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, previously held by his youngest legitimate half-brother, Gonzalo. This union created a pseudo-independent Aragonese state, with its capital at Jaca , that would give rise to the Kingdom of Aragon . After annexation of Ribagorza and Sobrarbe, Ramiro began
161-563: The Cinca , took place in 1055, probably in response to the defeat of García Sánchez III of Navarre at Atapuerca the year before (1054), which placed Ferdinand I of León and Castile in a commanding position against Ramiro's western border and the Muslim Taifa of Zaragoza to his south. His first expedition against Graus failed, and in 1059 Ferdinand succeeded in extorting parias (tribute) from Zaragoza. Ramiro marched on Graus again in
184-598: The Crown of Aragon . The Valencian saint was preaching here with great success, giving in appreciation of all done by the town a crucifix which is preserved and venerated in the local church. The main festivities of the town are dedicated to Vincent Ferrer and the Holy Christ, celebrating that visit and his appreciated donation. Centuries later, in 1588, Philip II of Spain set a weekly market every Monday that has lasted until now. Lately, in 1681 Charles II of Spain added
207-569: The Castilians. The aforementioned Chronica naierensis contains an account generally, though not universally, regarded as a legend : that Sancho Garcés, an illegitimate son of García Sánchez III of Navarre, eloped with the daughter of García's wife, Stephanie (probably by an earlier marriage), who was the fiancée of the Castilian infante Sancho, and that he sought refuge at the court first of Zaragoza, then later of Aragon. Sancho, to avenge
230-545: The Cid's name in the documents of the early 1060s, this is unlikely. The circumstances of the actual battle are obscure. Reinhart Dozy argued that Ramiro survived four months after the battle and that neither the Cid nor Sancho took any part in it. The Fragmentum historicum ex cartulario Alaonis records only that occisus est a mauris in bello apud Gradus (he [Ramiro] was killed by the Moors in war near Graus), with no mention of
253-626: The Santa Lucia fair every May. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the town enjoyed an economic splendor, that helps the village the construction of great mansions, most of them still compose the awesome Main Square of the town and other places of the village. In these centuries is also built the most important monument of the town, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rock. In the 1920s, Graus incorporates
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#1732781018703276-553: The advance from Aragon toward Huesca and Zaragoza. The first charter for the royal town of Jaca is attributed to him. It included well defined laws of protection even to non-residents, and would set an example for urban rights until late in the Middle Ages. Ramiro died at the Battle of Graus in 1063 while trying to take the city. He was buried at the monastery of San Juan de la Peña , in Santa Cruz de la Serós . Before he
299-538: The disruption of his marriage plans, marched against Ramiro and Zaragoza, and Ramiro died in the encounter near "the place called Graus" ( loco qui Gradus dicitur ) in 1064 or 1070. According to the Arabic historian al-Turtūshī , Ramiro (misidentified as "Ibn Rudmīr", the son of Ramiro) was assassinated by a Muslim soldier who spoke the Christians' language and infiltrated the Aragonese camp. Charles Bishko, summarising
322-811: The hands of the Muslims, following Ramiro I's shattering defeat and death at Graus on 8 May 1063. Graus, in this Hispanic prelude to the Palestinian gesta Dei per Francos , serves as an Iberian Manzikert , with King Sancho Ramírez—like the legates of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus at Piacenza —appealing in desperation for papal and Frankish succor. . . Graus was finally taken by Sancho Ramírez , Ramiro's successor, in 1083. 42°11′N 0°20′E / 42.183°N 0.333°E / 42.183; 0.333 Ramiro I of Aragon Ramiro I (bef. 1007 – 8 May 1063)
345-540: The latter's death in 1035, the county of Aragon fell to Ramiro with the title of baiulus or steward. This was part of what would prove to be a larger division: Navarre and the Basque country went to eldest half-brother García , the county of Castile was held by Ferdinand , while the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza fell to Gonzalo and Ramiro received lands in Aragon to hold under García. Ramiro's exact status
368-458: The position of Pierre Boissonnade, explains how the battle of Graus gave impetus to the War of Barbastro of the next year: . . . the expedition against Barbastro is above all a French crusade, inspired by Cluny and launched through Cluny's persuasion by the papacy of Alexander II , the purpose of which is to preserve a hard-pressed Aragonese kingdom from imminent invasion and possible destruction at
391-560: The small size of his Pyrenean holdings, he is sometimes called a "petty king", Aragon a "pocket kingdom". Ramiro sought to enlarge his lands at the expense of both the Moors and his brother, García, the King of Navarre . Shortly after the death of his father (the date variously placed from 1036 to 1043), he supported the emir of Tudela in an invasion of the Navarre. While he was defeated in
414-519: The spring of 1063, but this time the Zaragozans had with them 300 Castilian knights under the infante Sancho the Strong and (possibly) his general Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , better known as El Cid. The presence of the Cid at the battle is based on a single source, the generally reliable Historia Roderici , which alleges that he was the alférez of Sancho at the time. Considering the rarity of
437-532: The town, giving important privileges to those who populate Graus. In 1223, Peter II of Aragon granted the town with the title of " Very Noble and Very Old Village of Graus ", which retains today. In 1415 the Dominican friar (lately canonized) St. Vincent Ferrer visited the village being invited by Berenguer de Bardaxi. Both were commissioners three years earlier in Caspe, resolving the problem of succession of
460-408: The towns of Barasona and Benavente de Aragón. In the 1960s, Graus incorporates the towns of Aguinalíu, Panillo, Puebla de Fantova and Torruella de Aragon. And finally, in the 1970s, the village absorbs the towns of Chuseu, Güell and Torres de Chuseu. The most known dish in Graus is the longaniza , one of the delicacies of this region and awarded with the brand "Q for Quality" in Aragon. Its importance
483-515: Was married, Ramiro had a mistress named Amuña (Amunna) with whom he had an illegitimate son, Sancho , in whom he confided the government of the county of Ribagorza. Via a son García of Aybar and Atarés, Count Sancho was grandfather of Pedro de Atarés , a candidate to succeed Alfonso the Battler . Ramiro's first wife was Gisberga , daughter of Bernard Roger of Bigorre , on 22 August 1036. She changed her name to Ermesinda on marrying him. Together
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#1732781018703506-432: Was reputed to have been adopted by his father's wife Muniadona after he was the only one of his father's children to come to her aid when needed, although there is no surviving record of these events and the story is probably apocryphal . During his father's reign, he appeared as witness of royal charters starting in 1011, and was given numerous properties in the county of Aragon , and by the division of Sancho's realm on
529-488: Was the first King of Aragon from 1035 until his death, although he is sometimes described as a petty king . He would expand the nascent Kingdom of Aragon through his acquisition of territories, such as Sobrarbe and Ribagorza , and the city of Sangüesa . Sancho Ramírez , his son and successor, was King of Aragon, but also became King of Pamplona . Apparently born before 1007, he was the illegitimate son of Sancho III of Pamplona by his mistress Sancha of Aybar. Ramiro
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