Pedro de Atarés

Pedro de Atarés (c. 1083 in Borja – 21 February 1151[1]) was a Spanish noble and member of the House of Aragón. He founded the Veruela Abbey, the oldest Cistercian monastery in Aragon.

Pedro de Atarés
Lord of Atarés, Aibar, Javierrelatre and Borja
Bornc. 1083
Died21 February 1151
Borja
BuriedVeruela Abbey
Noble familyJiménez dynasty
FatherGarcía Sánchez
MotherTeresa Cajal

Biography

Family

Pedro de Atarés was the son of García Sánchez, Lord of Aibar, Atarés, and Javierrelatre, and grandson of Sancho Ramírez, Count of Ribagorza,[2][lower-alpha 1] an illegitimate child of King Ramiro I.[4][5] His mother was Teresa Cajal, a sister of Fortún Garcés Cajal, one of the most powerful magnates in the Kingdom of Aragón.[1]

Pretender to the throne

Pedro inherited the lordships of Atarés and Javierrelatre from his father, and received Borja by gift of King Alfonso VII of Castile,[6] He was one of the claimants to the throne of Aragón after the childless death of King Alfonso I the Battler.[6] According to the Crónica de San Juan de la Peña, written in the 14th century, he had been the preferred candidate of the Aranonese barons but he then alienated them with his haughty behavior at the assembly, and they instead chose the deceased king's brother Ramiro II, until then a monk.[7][8]

Founder of Veruela Abbey
Veruela Abbey

In 1146,[lower-alpha 2] Pedro de Atarés founded Veruela Abbey (Real Monasterio de Santa María de Veruela),[2] the most ancient Cistercian monastery in Aragon,[9][11][12] with a donation, also confirmed by his mother, to the abbot of the Escaladieu Abbey in France.[lower-alpha 3] This donation was later confirmed in 1155 by Count Raymond Berenguer IV.[6][9]

Death without issue

Pedro de Atarés died on 21 February 1151 and was buried at the abbey which he had founded. Although he died without leaving any children,[2] members of the House of Borgia invented a genealogy tracing their origins back to this member of the royal house coinciding with the third wedding of Lucrezia Borgia to Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, which was arranged by her father Pope Alexander VI.[13] Nevertheless:

The legend spread by the family that the Borgia were descendants of this gentleman of royal blood, Don Pedro de Atarés (...), lord of Borja which entitled them to use the double crown of Aragón in their coat of arms, is false. The truth is quite different. Don Pedro de Atarés died in 1151 and there is no doubt that he left no descendants.[14]

Family tree
Family tree showing claimants in 1134
Muniadona of
Castile		Sancho III
of Pamplona		Sancha
of Aybar
Stephanie
of
Barcelona		García
Sánchez III
of Pamplona
(mistress)
 		Ferdinand I
of León
Garsendis
of Foix		Ramiro I
of
Aragon
Amuña
 
Sancho IV
of
Navarre		Sancho
Garcés of
Uncastillo		Alfonso VI
of León
and Castile
Felicia
of
Roucy		Sancho
Ramírez
of Navarre
and Aragon
Isabella
of
Urgell		Sancho
Ramírez
Count of
Ribagorza
Ramiro
Sánchez
of Monzón		Urraca
of León
and Castile		Alfonso
the
Battler
died 1134		Ramiro II
of
Aragon		Peter I
of Navarre
and Aragon		García
Sánchez
of Atarés
García
Ramírez
of Navarre		Alfonso VII
of León
and Castile		Petronilla
of
Aragon
 		Ramon
Berenguer IV
Count of
Barcelona		Peter
of
Atarés
  
 Candidates for the crowns of Navarre and Aragon in 1134
 Marriage and legitimate descent
 Liaison and illegitimate descent

Notes
  1. In a donation made by Garcia to Galindo Garcés de Artosella consisting of some houses in Huesca and other properties, he states at the beginning: Ego Garcia infans, filius Sancii Ranimiri comitis (I Garcia, infante, son of count Sancho Ramírez), and in the last part of the document, he confirms as, ego Garcia infans in Atares et in Exabierre.[3]
  2. Laurent Dailliez affirms that the date is incorrect and that the monastery was founded in 1145.[9][5][10]
  3. Ego Petrus Taresa cum matre mea facio hanc cartam donationis et confirmationis vobis, abbati Scalae Dei (I, Pedro Teresa with my mother make this donation and confirmation letter to you, abbot of Scala Dei). He appears with this name in other documents.[6]

References
  1. Cabanes Pecourt 1995, p. 17.
  2. Mathew 1912, p. 22.
  3. Lacarra 1982, p. 58, doc. 44.
  4. Lapeña Paul 2004, pp. 46, 48.
  5. Alonso Álvarez 2007, p. 662.
  6. Alonso Álvarez 2007, p. 691.
  7. Orcástegui Gros 1985, pp. 465–466.
  8. Nelson 1991, p. 31.
  9. Díaz Barón 1992, p. 168.
  10. Melero Moneo 2004, p. 10, n. 10.
  11. Cabanes Pecourt 1995, p. 22.
  12. Alonso Álvarez 2007, pp. 662, 691.
  13. Batllori 1999, p. 14.
  14. Nadal Cañellas 2006, p. 175.

Bibliography
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