Islands and the Control of the Mediterranean Space

The territorial and economic expansion of the Crown of Aragon on the Mediterraean islands, as crucial platforms for acquiring and controlling maritime space, is still today open to many interpretations. However, beyond any possible resolution, the supremacy on the islands and the progressive control over the routes for its achievements were for the Crown of Aragon the most defined and significant way for spreading its political, military and economic hegemony. Medieval nautical maps and portolan charts attest even today the routes that from the Iberian Peninsula called at the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Sicily stretching as far as the East. These emphasise the strategic role played by Mediterranean islands as essential stop along this long journey.