Malta and the Aragonese crown : 1282-1530

Abstract

Later medieval Aragon was a mountainous and completely inland region of the Iberian peninsula, which itself was partly cut off from Europe and all but joined to Africa. Its barren rocky highlands were broken by more fertile river valleys; it was hot in summer and extremely cold in winter. The economy was predominantly agrarian, and much of the population lived in a state of isolation which produced its own peculiar brand of insularity and stubborness. The ruling elements were Christian, many of them conquerors and settlers, whose Aragonese tongue was similar to old Castilian and who lived side by side with large communities of Muslims and Jews.