All Hail King Ramir

In the dark XII Century, the long Iberian war of reconquest rages on between fragmented Christian kingdoms in the nord and Muslims in the south. Ramir was the third son of the late king of Aragon and Navarre and his father had chosen for him an ecclesiastic career. In a monastery he had become a scholar and a man of peace and generosity. His older brothers had perished in the war against the Muslims without children and Ramir, who had become a Bishop, is unexpectedly elected as the new king. He opposes all forms of war and violence but as the sovereign he must witness the progressive desintegration of his realm in civil wars and conflicts. The hostilities from the Moors loom threatingly. In want of a heir, Ramir marries Princess Agnes of Aquitaine, a 30-year old widow with a proven record of fertility. The union results in the birth of a girl, Princess Peronella. After less than four years on the throne, King Ramir identifies a way out: he betrothes his 2 year-old daughter to Ramon Berenguer, the young, strong and dashing Count of Barcelona and Prince of Catalonia who refuses the title of King, but accepts the hand of the little girl, who now wears the royal crown. Ramon Berenguer will immediately assume the effective rule of the kingdom with the title of Prince of Aragon. Pleased with the arrangement, Ramir happily returns to his former life as a monk while Agnes returns to Aquitaine.