The Cortes of Aragon ( es, Cortes de Aragón, an, Cortz d'Aragón, ca, Corts d'Aragó) is the regional parliament for the Spanish
autonomous community
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, comunidá autónoma
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of
Aragon. The Cortes traces its history back to meetings summoned by the
Kings of Aragon
This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...
which began in 1162. Abolished in 1707, the Cortes was revived in 1983 following the passing of a
Statute of Autonomy.
Early Cortes
The King of Aragon was bound to summon the Cortes at least once every five years, and, following the union with
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
, annually.
The main business of the Cortes was judicial: solving disputes between individuals or towns or dealing with complaints or grievances concerning the King's officers or Estates.
The Cortes also approved legislation and voted on tax issues.
The Cortes was organised into four Estates or branches: the clergy, the great nobles ( es, Ricos hombres), the Knights and the towns.
For the more important laws, unanimity was required between each of the Cortes' four Estates (''nemine descriptante'').
Each member could veto any law, in which case the decision would be recorded as ''unamiter excepto N.N.'' which allowed for further debates and discussions, although these often ended in stalemates with no agreement being reached.
In such cases, the decision was referred to a permanent committee which consisted of two representatives of each Estate who would judge whether the existing majority will was sound or not.
These Cortes were the model for the parliaments of
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
and
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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.
The Cortes survived until 1707 when
Philip V Philip V may refer to:
* Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC)
* Philip V of France (1293–1322)
* Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598)
* Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
issued the
Nueva Planta decrees, centralising political power and abolishing the former regional assemblies of the
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...
.
Current Cortes
The modern Cortes were established in 1983 under Article 12 of the Statute of Autonomy for Aragon.
This statute also sets out the functions of the Aragonese assembly in Article 16 and these include the election of the President of Aragon, approving the actions and legislation of the President, creating legislation, amending the Constitution of Aragon and supervising any relevant planning or economic projects. It must monitor borrowing and spending and appoint an Auditor General for Aragon. Additionally the legislature must elect the appropriate number of Senators to serve in the
Spanish Senate.
Speakers of the Cortes
Party strength (1983-present)
Below is a summary of election results from the
first Cortes election to the present. The largest party after each election is denoted in bold.
Presidents and Governments of Aragon
References
External links
Aragonese Cortes Homepage
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1983 establishments in Aragon
Legislatures of the Spanish Autonomous Communities