(Redirected from Petronilla of Aragon)
'Petronila of Aragon' (
Spanish: ''Patronilla Ramírez'';
French: ''Pétronille''; also sometimes ''Petronella'') (
1135 –
October 17 1174,
Barcelona) was Queen of
Aragon from
1137 until
1162. She was the daughter of
Ramiro II, King of Aragon, and
Agnes of Aquitaine.
Petronila came to the throne through special circumstances. Her father, Ramiro, was bishop of Barbastro-Roda when his brother,
Alfonso I, died heirless in
1134. As king, Ramiro received a papal dispensation to abdicate from his monastic vows in order to secure the succession to the throne. King Ramiro the Monk, as he is known, married Agnes, daughter of Duke
Wiliam IX of
Aquitaine and
Gascony, and through her produced an heiress, Petronila. At two years old, Petronila was bethrothed to
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona and, immediately thereafter, Ramiro abdicated in favour of the count and returned to monastic life.
Petronila married Ramon Berenguer in
1150. Upon his death, Petronila renounced the crown of Aragon in favour of her eldest son,
Ramon, who, in compliment to the Aragonese, changed his name to Alfonso. Her son was the first ruler of both Aragon and Catalonia (where he is known as Alfonso
I) thereby establishing the dynastic union between the two countries that lasted until the
Crown of Aragon was dissolved in
1707.