Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/100

goa, SECTION 11. REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ARAGON, TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. Rise of Aragon. — Ricos Hombres. — Their Immunities. — Their Tur- bulence. — Privileges of Union. — The Legislature. — Its Forms. — Its Powers. — General Privilege. — Judicial Functions of Cortes. — The Justice. — His great Authority. — Rise and Opulence of Barce- lona. — Her free Institutions. — Intellectual Culture. iNTROD. The political institutions of Aragon, although RiseofAra- bearing a general resemblance to those of Castile, were sufficiently dissimilar to stamp a peculiar physiognomy on the character of the nation, which still continued after it had been incorporated with the great mass of the Spanish monarchy. — It was not until the expiration of nearly five centuries after the Saracen invasion, that the little district of Aragon, growing up under the shelter of the Pyre- nees, was expanded into the dimensions of the • province which now bears that name. During this period, it was painfully struggling into being, like the other states of the Peninsula, by dint of fierce, unintermitted warfare with the infidel. Even after this period, it would probably have filled but an insignificant space in the map of history, and, instead of assuming an independent station, have been compelled, like Navarre, to accommodate itself to the politics of the potent