The Meta-Encyclopedia

Aragon

2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Aragon. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

once a kingdom, now a captaincy-general of Spain, divided into the three provinces of Saragossa, Huesca, and Teruel; greatest length from N. to S., 190 miles; breadth, 130; area, 18,294 square miles; pop. about 1,000,000. It is bounded on the N. by the Pyrenees, and borders on Navarre, the Castiles, Valencia, and Catalonia. The Ebro flows Aragon in a S. E. direction, through through receiving numerous tributaries. Aragon is naturally divided into the level country along the Ebro, and the N. mountainous district of upper Aragon. The central plain is sterile, poorly supplied with water, and intersected by deep ravines. The valleys of upper Aragon are the most fertile of all the Pyrenean valleys. The slopes of the hills are clothed with forests of oak, beech, and pine. The minerals of the province are copper, lead, iron, salt, alum, saltpeter, coal, and amber. The silkworm industry has been introduced. Aragon early became a Roman province; and, on the fall of the empire, passed into the hands of the West Goths, but was conquered by the Moors in the beginning of the 8th century. The rulers of Aragon, after it had been recovered from the Moors and united with Catalonia (1137) obtained possession of the Balearic Isles in 1213, of Sicily in 1282, of Sardinia in 1326, and of Naples in 1440. By the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon with Isabella, heiress of Castile, in 1469, the two states of Aragon and Castile were united, and formed the foundation of the later Spanish monarchy. The chief towns are Saragossa, Calatayud, Huesca, and Teruel. Pop. of Saragossa about 120,000.

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

an ancient kingdom of Spain. It lay on the French border, midway from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean. Saragossa on the Ebro was the capital. Aragon grew from 1035 to 1497 to be one of the two important kingdoms of Spain. Castile was the other. In the last named year the two kingdoms were united by the marriage of their sovereigns, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. 2026 Editor's Note: The marriage this entry notes — Ferdinand of Aragon to Isabella of Castile — created Spain and bankrolled Columbus. Their daughter, Catherine of Aragon , became the first wife of England's Henry VIII, and his determination to divorce her set off the English Reformation and the break with Rome. (Ed: BR 2026-07-16)