THE CROWN OF ARAGON

The Crown of Aragon was a composite Monarchy, referred to as a confederation of individual polities or Kingdoms ruled by one King with a personal and Dynastic Union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, at the height of its power, the Crown of Aragon was a state with primarily Maritime Realms, controlling a large portion of present-day Eastern Spain, parts of what is now Southern France, and a Mediterranean Empire which included the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Southern Italy (from 1442) and parts of Greece (until 1338).
The component Realms of the Crown were not united politically except at the level of the King, who ruled over each autonomous polity according to "its own laws." The different lands of the Crown (Kingdom of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia, Kingdom of Valencia) functioned more as a confederation.
The political center of the Crown was Zaragoza, where the Kings were crowned. The city lies by the Ebro and its tributaries, the Huerva and Gallego, in the center of both Aragon and the Ebro Basin.
The city was called by the ancient Romans "Caesar-Augusta." Augustus founded the city (it is known between 25 to 12BC) and used the same location to settle army veterans from the Cantabrian Wars. The Wars were the final stage of the 200 years long Roman Conquest of Hispania, in what today are the provinces of Cantabria, Asturias, and Leon, in NorthWestern Spain. This Warlike Peoples presented fierce resistance to Roman domination. More than 50,000 soldiers were needed to subdue the Region. The Emperor himself moved to Segi-Sama (modern Sas-Amon, Burgos), to supervise the campaign personally. The major fighting was completed in 19BC, although there were minor rebellions until 16BC and the Romans had to station 2 Legions (X Gemina and IIII Macedonica) there for 70 more years.
Long before the First Punic War (264 to 241BC), one of three wars fought between Ancient Carth-Age and the Roman Republic for the supremacy, primarily on the Mediterranean Island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa, between the 8th and 7th centuries, the Phoenicians (and later the Carthagenians) had already appeared in the Southern part of the Iberian Peninsula as well as in the East, to the South of the Ebro, one of the most important Rivers of the Region and the 2nd longest after the Tagus and the 2nd biggest both by discharge volume and by drainage area after the Duero.
Their numerous commercial settlements based throughout these coastal strips provided an outlet into the  Mediterranean commerce for minerals and other resources. This had the indirect effect of the native peninsular cultures adopting Eastern characteristics. Phoenician trade in the Peninsula included articles both coming from and heading to Greece. As a commercial power of the Western Mediterranean, Carth-Age expanded its interests to the island of Sicily and the South of Italy. This growing influence over the Region proved to be an annoyance for Rome. This conflict of commercial interests led to the Punic Wars. A decisive defeat for Carth-Age at Zama wiped the city from the historical scene.
The battle was fought around October 19, 202 BC. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (Scipio), with crucial support from Numidian leader Masi-Nissa, defeated the Carthaginian Force led by the commander Hannibal, despite Hannibal possessing numerical superiority. This was because many in his army were recent conscripts, and the vaunted Numidian Cavalry (Mercenaries) which Hannibal had employed with great success in Italy had by then switched sides to the Romans.
Despite having vanquished their rival Mediterranean power, the Romans still took another 200 years to bring the entire Peninsula under their control through an expansionist policy that earned the enmity of practically all of the communities of the interior. The abuses to which these people were submitted was the cause for the strong anti-Roman sentiment throughout this nations. They kept their ancestral identification at the same time that they served the Romans.
Other leading cultural, administrative and economic centers of the Crown of Aragon, besides Zaragoza, were the cities of Barcelona and Valencia. Finally, Palma (Majorca) was an additional important city and seaport.
The Crown eventually included the Kingdom of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia (12th century County of Barcelona), the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, the Kingdom of Sicily, Malta, the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sardinia. For brief periods it also controlled Montpellier, Provence, Corsica, and the twin Duchy of Athens and Neopatras in Latin Greece.
The countries that are today known as Spain and Portugal spent the Middle Ages after 722  (initial stage of the Islamic Conquest in the 710s and the Fall of Granada) in an intermittent struggle to expanding "Christian Kingdoms" in 1492. It ended immediately before the European landing to the New World which ushered the Era of the Portuguese and Spanish Colonial Empires.

XANADU THE CAPITAL OF KUBKAI-KHAN Part Two

The lament of Toghon-Temur-Khan (Sage-Khan), concerning the loss of Xana-Du in 1368, is recorded in many Mongolian historical Chronicles. The Golden Summary, a 17th century Mongolian Chronicle is translated as follows:
My Xana-Du, straight and wonderfully made of various jewels of different kinds. My 8th-sided white stupa made of various precious objects. My City made of 9 jewels, where I sat holding the reputation of the Great Nation. Jewel Xana-Du was built with many an adornment.
My yellow steppe of Xana-Du, the Summer residence of ancient Khans. My city with no Winter residence to spend the Winter. My Summer residence of Kai-Ping Xana-Du. My pleasant Yellow Steppe. In Kai-Ping Xana-Du, I spent the Summer in peaceful relaxation.
My great square City of Xana-du with 4 Gates, where I sat holding the reputation of the 40 Tumen Mongols. My reputation! My precious Xana-Du, from where I surveyed and observed the Mongols of every place.
An impure bad name has come upon the Sage Khan. A conflicting bad name has come upon the Sage Khan. A circling bad name has come upon the Sage Khan. The awe-inspiring reputation carried by the Lord Khan. The Sage Khan, the reincarnation of all Bodhi-Sattvas.
My cool and pleasant Kai-Ping Xana-du. My dear Xana-Du that I have lost on the Year of the bald Red Rabbit. My dear City of Xana-Du, the Iron Stair has been broken. They besieged and took precious Xana-Du. The dear Xana-Du built  by the extraordinary Wise Khan (Kublai). The bejeweled Hearth City, the revered sanctuary of the entire nation.
Your pleasant mist when on early mornings I ascended to the heights! The Cane Palace had been established in sanctity. Kublai the Wise Khan spent his summers there!
Lagan and Ibagu made it known to me, the Sage Khan.  My deadly mistake of not heeding the words of Lagan and Ibagu! In full knowledge I let go of dear Xana-Du. I have lost the whole of it - to China. I have lost Kai-Ping Xana-Du entirely - to China. Caught unaware I have lost dear Xana-Du.
Nobles born foolish cared not for their estate. By a hapless error they have been lost - to China.
 I was left alone weeping. I became like a calf left behind on its native pastures.
By the destiny willed by Khan-Tengri (King Heaven) has lost dear Xana-Du. Lost the Golden Palace of the Wise Khan (Kublai), who is the reincarnation of all the gods.
Who is the golden seed of Genghis Khan the son of Khan-Tengri (King Heaven). I hid the Jade Seal of the Lord Khan in my sleeve and left (the city). Fighting through a multitude of enemies, I broke through  and left. From the fighters may Buqa-Temur Chinsan for ten thousand generations become a Khan in the golden line of the Lord Khan.
When I left home, it was then that the jewel of religion and doctrine was left behind. In the future may wise and enlightened Bodhi-Sattvas take heed and understand. May it go around and establish itself  on the Golden Lineage of Genghis Khan.

XANADU THE CAPITAL OF KUBLAI KHAN. Part one

Xana-Du, also known as Shang-Du, was the capital of Kublai-Khan's Yuan Dynasty in China, before he decided to move his throne to the Jin Dynasty capital of Zhong-Du ("Middle Capital"), which he renamed Khan-Baliq, present-day Bei-Jing. Xana-Du then became his Summer capital.

The Yuan Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borj-Igin clan. Borj-Igin is the last name of the imperial clan of Gengis-Khan and his successors. He placed his father Genghis-Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the Dynasty. The senior Borj-Igids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Ineer Mongolia until the 20th century. The clan formed the ruling class among the Mongols and some other peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Although the Mongols had ruled territories including today's North China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kubkai-Khan officially proclaimed the Yuan Dynasty in the traditional Chinese style, imposing the name Great Yuan. 

His realm was isolated from other Khan-Ates and controlled most off the present-day China and its surrounding areas, including modern Mongolia and Korea. It was the 1st foreign dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368. The Yuan Dynasty is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and as Imperial Chinese Dynasty. In addition to Emperor of China, Kublai-Khan claimed the title of Great-Khan, supreme over the other successors Khan-Ates.

In official Chinese histories, the Yuang Dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song Dynasty and preceding the Ming Dynasty. The Mandate of Heaven is an ancient belief that Heaven (Tian) granted emperors the Right to Rule based on their ability to govern well and fairly. Heaven bestowed its mandate to a Just Ruler, the Son of Heaven. It depended on whether an Emperor was sufficiently virtuous to rule. It then would be transferred to those who would rule best. The fact that the ruler was overthrown was taken by itself as an indicator that the ruler had lost the Mandate of Heaven. It was also a common belief that natural disasters such as famine and flood were other signs of Heaven's displeasure with the current ruler, so there would often be revolts following major environmental events. The Mandate of Heaven did not required that a legitimate ruler had to be of noble birth, and Dynasties were often founded by people of common birth (Hang and Ming Dynasties). The Mandate had no time limitations, depending instead on the Just and Able Performance of the Ruler and his heirs.

Genghis-Khan united the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the steppes and became Great-Khan in 1206. Under the reign of Genghis' 3rd son, Ogedei-Khan, Kublai, his nephew was offered a position in Xing-Zhou, Hebei. Kubkai was unable to read Chinese but had several Han Chinese teachers attached to him  since his early years by his mother Sor-Ghagh-Tani, a Keraite (one of the 5 dominant Turco-Mongol tribal confederations [Khan-Ates]) princess, married to Tolui, Genghis'  youngest son. She became one of the most powerful and competent women in the Mongol Empire. She raised her sons to be leaders, and maneuvered the family politics so that all 4 sons, Mong-Ke-Khan, Hulagu-Khan, Ariq-Boke, and Kublai-Khan, went to inherit the legacy of their grandfathers Genghis-Khan. She was a Christian, spacifically a member of the Church of the East (Nestorian Christianity). As a moving spirit behind the Mongol Empire, Sor-Ghagh- Tani was responsible  for much of the trade openings and intellectual exchange made possible by this position, the largest contiguous empire in World History.

Xanadu was located in what is now called Inner Mongolia, 350km/220mi North of Beij-Ing. The layout is roughly square shaped with sides of about 2200m. It consisted of an "outer city" and an "inner city" in the SouthEast of the capital which also had a square layout with sides about 1400m. The palace where Kublai-Khan stayed in Summer, had sides of 550m. At its zenith, over 100,000 people lived within its walls. 

The city was designed by Chinese architect Liu Bing-Zhong from 1252 to 1256, implementing a profoundly Chinese scheme for the city's architecture.  The city was named Kai-Ping in the beginning and in 1264 was renamed Xana-Du (Shang-Du). In 1369 Xana-Du was occupied by the Ming army and put to the torch and was abandoned for several hundred years. Today, only ruins remain, surrounded by a grassy mound that was once the City Walls.

The Venetian explorer Marco Polo visited Xana-Du in 1275 and dictated the following account: "... There is a very fine marble palace, the rooms are all gilt and painted with figures of men, beasts, and birds, and with a variety of trees and flowers, all executed with such exquisite art that you regard them with delight and astonishment. ... Inside the Park there are fountains and rivers and brooks, and beautiful meadows, with all kinds of wild animals (excluding such the ones of ferocious nature), which the Emperor has procured and placed there to supply food for his ger-falcons (200 in number) and hawks (in great numbers also), which he keeps there in mew. He rides through the Park  with a leopard behind him on his horse's croup; and then he sees any animal that takes his fancy, he slips his leopard at it, and the game when taken is made over to feed the haws in mew. This he does for diversion.

In the Park there is another spot where there is a charming wood and he has another Palace built on cane ... It is gilt all over, and most elaborated finished inside. It is stayed on gilt and lacquered columns, on each of which is a dragon all gilt, the tail of which is attached to the column while the head supports the architrave, and the claws likewise are stretched out right and left to support the architrave. 

The roof, like the rest, is formed of canes, covered with a varnish so strong and excellent that no amount of rain will rot them. These canes are a good 3 palms in girth, and 10 to 15 paces in length. They are cut across at each knot, and then the pieces are split so as to form from each 2 hollow tiles, and with these the house is roofed; only every such tile of cane has to be nailed down to prevent the wind from lifting it. In short, the whole Palace is built of these canes, which serve also for a great variety of other useful purposes. The construction of the Palace is so devised that it can be taken down and put up again with great celerity; and it can all be taken to pieces and removed whithersoever the Emperor may command. When erected, it is braced against mishaps from the wind by more than 200 cords of silk. The Khan abides at this Park that belongs to him, dwelling sometimes in the Marble Palace and sometimes in the Cane Palace for 3 months of the year, to wit, June, July and August; preferring this residence because it is by no means hot; in fact it is a very cool place. When the 28th day of [the Moon of] August arrives he takes his departure, and the Cane Palace is taken to pieces. But I must tell you what happens when he goes away from this Palace every year on the 28th of the August [Moon] ..."

In 1614, the English clergyman Samuel Purchas published: "In Xan-Du did Kublai-Khan  build a stately Palace, encompassing 16 miles of plain ground with a wall, wherein are fertile Meadows, pleasant Springs, delightful streams, and all sort of beasts of chase and game, and in the middle thereof a sumptuous House of Pleasure, which may be moved from place to place."

In 1625 Purch published an expanded edition of his book, recounting the Voyages of Famous Travellers, called "Purchas his Pilgrimes." The 11th volume of this book included a more detailed description of Xana-Du.

THE NABATAEAN KINGDOM

The Nabataean Kingdom was an Arabic political state of the Nabataeans which existed during classical antiquity and was annexed by the Roman Empire in 106 CE.
Located between the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula, its Northern neighbor was the Kingdom of Judea, and its South Western neighbor was Ptolemaic Egypt. Its capital was the City of Petra in Jordan, and it included the Towns of Bostra, Mada'in Saleh, and Nitzana.
Petra, in Jordan, was a wealthy Trading Town, located at a convergence of several important Trade Routes. One of them was the Incense Route which was based around the production of both Myrrh and Frankincense in Southern Arabia, and ran through Mada'in Saleh to Petra. From here the aromatics were distributed throughout the Mediterranean Region.
Nabataeans origin date from a time when they were nomadic pastoralists in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula during Achaemenid Persian Rule, around the 4th century BC.
The Nabataeans were allied of the 1st Hasmoneans in their struggles against the Seleucid monarchs. The Hasmonean Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions. Between 140 and 116 BC, the Dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea. From 110 BC, with the Seleucid Empire disintegrating, the Judean Dynasty became fully independent.
The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state ruled by the Seleucid Dynasty, which existed from 312 BC to 63 BC. It was founded by Seleu-Cus I Nicator following the division of the Macedonian Empire created by Alexander the Great. Seleucus received Babylonia and, from there, expanded his dominions to include much of Alexander's Near Eastern territories. At the height of its power, it included Central Ana-Tolia, Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and what is now Kuwait, Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan, and Turkmenistan. The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic Culture that maintained the preeminence of Greek customs where a Greek political elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas. The Greek population of the cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced by immigration from Greece.
The Nabataeans then became rivals of the Judaean Dynasty, inviting  Pompey's intervention in Judea. He was a military leader of the Roman Republic. He came form a wealthy family, and his father had been the 1st to establish the family among the Roman nobility.
Many Nabataeans were forcefully converted to Judaism by the Hasmonean  king Alexander Jan-Naeus. It was this King who, after putting down a local rebellion, invaded a occupied the Nabataeans Towns of Moab and Gilead and imposed a tribute of an unspecified amount.
Obodas I, the successor of Ar-Etas II, from whom he inherited the War with the Judeans of the Hasmonean Kingdom, defeated the Judeans around 93 BC on the Golan Height (a region of the Levant). He ambushed the Judean king Alexander Jan-Naeus near Gadara, just East of the Sea of Galilee. Using camel cavalry, he forced Jan-Naeus into a Valley where he completed the ambush thereby getting revenge for the Nabataeans' loss of Gaza. Moab and Gilead, two mountains East of the Dead Sea and the Jordan were returned. 
Around 86 BC the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus XII Dionysus invaded Nabatea. Both Antiochus and Obodas were killed but the invaders were defeated. He was succeded by his brother Ar-Etas III.
Under the reign of Ar-Etas III (87-62 BC) the Kingdom of the Nabataeans reached its territorial zenith, but was defeated by a Roman army under the command of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. The Roman army besieged Petra, but eventually a compromise was negotiated. Paying a tribute, Ar-Etas III received the formal recognition by the Roman Republic.
The Nabataeans then saw their territory itself slowly being surrounded by the expanding Roman Empire, which conquered Egypt and annexed Hasmonean Judea. While the Nabataeans managed to preserve its formal independence, it became a client kingdom under the influence of Rome.
In 106 CE, during the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan, the last king of the Nabataean Kingdom Rabbel II Soter died. After the dead of his father, Malichus II, Ar-Rab-Bel still a child, ascended to the throne. His mother, Shaqilath, assumed control of the government in the early years. Shaqilath was the daughter of Ar-Etas IV. She ruled jointly with her husband-brother Malichus II (40-70 CE). Copper and silver coins where she is depicted with her husband and coins of her with her son have been found dated with the reigning years to the left of the queen. Ar-Rab-Bel gave himself the title "Soter" meaning the "Savior of the People."
Trajan (27 January, 98 - 8 August, 117) is best known for his extensive public building program, which reshaped the city of Rome. He faced no resistance and conquered the Nabataean Kingdom on 22 March 106 CE. It became the Roman Province of Ar-Abia Petraea, with Bosra becoming its provincial capital. By 107 CE Roman legions were stationed in the area around Petra and Bosra.  His conquest of Dacia (Regions of modern Romania) enriched the empire greatly, as the new province possessed many valuable gold mines. However, its exposed position North of the Danube made it susceptible to attack on 3 sides, and was later abandoned by Emperor Aurelian. His campaigns expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extend. In late 117, while sailing back to Rome, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus. He was succeded by his adopted son Hadrian.
Trade seems to have largely continued thanks to the Nabataeans' undiminished talent for trading.
Under Hadrian (24 January,76 - 10 July,138 CE) a Roman Emperor from 117 to 138 CE, known for building Hadrian's Wall, marked the Northern limit of Britannia. He ignored most of the Nabatean terrotory. Hadrian came from a family with centuries-old roots in Hispania. His predecessor, Trajan, was a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father. Trajan did not officially designate an heir, but according to his wife Pompeia Plotina, Trajan named Hadrian emperor immediately before his death.
A century later, during the reign of Alexander Severus, the local issue of coinage came to an end. There is no more building of sumptuous tombs, owing to a sudden change in political ways, such as an invasion by the Neo-Persian Power under the Sassanid Empire.
The city of Palmyra, for a time the capital of the breakaway Palmyrene Empire (130-270 CE), grew in importance and attracted the Arabian Trade away from Petra. Palmyra is an ancient city in the present day Syria. The city was first documented in the early 2nd millennium BC. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires. The city grew wealthy from Trade Caravans. They were, like the Nabataeans, recognized merchants. They established colonies along the Silk Road and operated throughout the Roman Empire. Palmyra's wealth enabled the construction of monumental projects, such as the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel and the distinctive Tower Tombs. The Palmyrenes were a mix of Amorites, Arameans, and Arabs. They spoke Palmyrene, a dialect of Aramaic; Greek was used for commercial and diplomatic purposes. The city's inhabitants worshiped local deities and Mesopotamian and Arab gods.