Pedro de Atarés ( in Borja – 21 February 1151) was a Spanish noble and member of the

House of Aragón 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 ...

. He founded the Veruela Abbey, 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 Sain ...

monastery in Aragon.

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, 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.

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, He was one of the claimants to the throne of

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sout ...

after the childless death of King

Alfonso I the Battler Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successo ...

. 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 Ramiro II may refer to: * Ramiro II of León (died 951) * Ramiro II of Aragon (died 1157) {{hndis ...

, until then a monk.

Founder of Veruela Abbey

In 1146, Pedro de Atarés founded Veruela Abbey (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 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 tow ...

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 Gover ...

to Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, 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 12th-century people from the Kingdom of Aragon