Pedro de Atarés ( in Borja – 21 February 1151) was a Spanish noble and member of the House of Aragón. He founded the

Veruela Abbey Veruela Abbey ( es, Real Monasterio de Santa María de Veruela, or "The Royal Monastery of Santa María de Veruela") is a Cistercian abbey dating from the 12th century. It is situated near Vera de Moncayo, in Zaragoza province, Spain. It was f ...

, the oldest

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery in Aragon.

Biography

Family

Pedro de Atarés was the son of García Sánchez, Lord of

Aibar Aibar (or Aybar, eu, Oibar) is a town located in the province of Navarre, in the autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. History García Jiménez of Pamplona was killed at Aybar in 882 in a battle against the Emir of Córdoba (Muhamm ...

, Atarés, and Javierrelatre, and grandson of

Sancho Ramírez, Count of Ribagorza Sancho Ramírez (before 10431105/November 1110) was an illegitimate son of King Ramiro I of Aragon and Amuña, the firstborn and brother of his namesake who would inherit the throne and reign as Sancho Ramírez. Biographical sketch Even though ...

, an illegitimate child of King Ramiro I. His mother was Teresa Cajal, a sister of

Fortún Garcés Cajal Fortún Garcés Cajal (died 1146) was a Navarro- Aragonese nobleman and statesman, perhaps "the greatest noble of Alfonso the Battler's reign". He was very wealthy in both land and money, and could raise two to three hundred knights for his retin ...

, one of the most powerful magnates in the

Kingdom of Aragón The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, ...

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 Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

, He was one of the claimants to the throne of

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises th ...

after the childless death of King Alfonso I the Battler. According to the

Crónica de San Juan de la Peña Crónica may refer to: * ''Crónica'' (newspaper), a Buenos Aires newspaper * Crónica Electrónica or Crónica, an independent media label based in Porto, Portugal * Crónica TV, an Argentine news cable channel *Crônica, a Portuguese-language for ...

, 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.

Founder of Veruela Abbey

In 1146, Pedro de Atarés founded

(Real Monasterio de Santa María de Veruela), the most ancient

monastery in Aragon, with a donation, also confirmed by his mother, to the abbot of the

Escaladieu Abbey Escaladieu Abbey ( French: ''l'Abbaye de l'Escaladieu'') was a Cistercian abbey located in the French ''commune'' of Bonnemazon in the Hautes-Pyrénées. Its name derives from the Latin ''Scala Dei'' ("ladder of God"). The abbey was founded ...

in France. This donation was later confirmed in 1155 by Count Raymond Berenguer IV.

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, members of the

House of Borgia The House of Borgia ( , ; Spanish and an, Borja ; ca-valencia, Borja ) was an Italian-Aragonese Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town ...

invented a genealogy tracing their origins back to this member of the royal house coinciding with the third wedding of

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...

Alfonso I d'Este Alfonso d'Este (21 July 1476 – 31 October 1534) was Duke of Ferrara during the time of the War of the League of Cambrai. Biography He was the son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Eleanor of Naples and became duke on Ercole's death i ...

Duke of Ferrara Emperor Frederick III conferred Borso d'Este, Lord of Ferrara, with the Duchy of Modena and Reggio in 1452, while Pope Paul II formally elevated him in 1471 as Duke of Ferrara, over which the family had in fact long presided. This latter territ ...

, which was arranged by her father

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

. Nevertheless:

Family tree

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

Real Monasterio de Santa María de Veruela in Vera de Moncayo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atares, Pedro de 1080s births 1151 deaths

Pedro Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, mean ...

12th-century people from the Kingdom of Aragon