Ramiro II of Aragon Ramiro II ( " c " . 1075 – 16 August 1157 , in Huesca ) , called the Monk , was King of Aragon from 1134 until withdrawing from public life in 1137 ( although he used the royal title until his death ) . He was the youngest son of Sancho Ramírez , King of Aragon and Navarre and Felicia of Roucy . Life before the throne . His father had placed him as a child into the Benedictine monastery of Saint Pons de Thomières in the Viscounty of Béziers . As a respected monk there he was elected abbot of the Castillian royal monastery of Santos Fecundo y Primitivo in Sahagún and later was abbot of the monastery of San Pedro el Viejo at Huesca . Wanting to limit Ramiro ' s power within the Kingdom of Navarre - Aragon , his brother Alfonso the Battler had blocked his elections as bishop of Burgos and as bishop of Pamplona . In 1134 he had been elected bishop of Barbastro - Roda when the childless death of his brother made him one of the candidates for succession to the crown . Others put forward included Alfonso VII , king of Castile , who as a foreign king found little support , and the choice of the Navarrese nobility , Pedro of Atarés , grandson of Sancho Ramírez , Count of Ribagorza , the illegitimate son of Ramiro I of Aragon . At an assembly at Borja intended to resolve the succession , a misunderstanding alienated Pedro from his supporters , yet they were unwilling to accept the Aragonese - favored Ramiro , and in the end the kingdoms were divided . In Navarre , García Ramírez , a scion of the pre - union royal family of Navarre and protégé of Alfonso VII was chosen king , while in Aragon the choice fell on Ramiro , who suspended his monastic vows to take the crown . King of Aragon . The reign of Ramiro the Monk , as he is known , was tumultuous . At the beginning of his reign he had problems with his nobles , who thought he would be docile and easily steered to their wishes , but discovered him to be inflexible . In order to produce an heir , he married Agnes , daughter of Duke William IX , Duke of Aquitaine . Once wed , his wife bore a daughter , Petronilla , who was betrothed to Ramon Berenguer IV , Count of Barcelona at the age of one . The marriage contract , signed at Barbastro on 11 August 1137 , made Petronilla the heiress to the crown of Aragon , which in event of her childless death would pass to Ramon Berenguer and any children he might have by other wives . Ramon accepted Ramiro as " King , Lord and Father " , ' renounced his family name ' in favor of the House of Aragon and united the County of Barcelona with the Kingdom . This union created the Crown of Aragon , returning the previously - landlocked kingdom of Aragon to the position of peninsular power it had held prior to the loss of Navarre , as well as giving it a window to the Western Mediterranean it would come to dominate . In the time between his accession and the betrothal of his daughter , Ramiro II had already had to put down a rebellion of the nobles , and knowing himself not to be a war king , he passed royal authority to his son - in - law Ramon Berenguer on 13 November 1137 . Ramon became the " Prince of the Aragonese people " ( " Princeps Aragonensis " ) and effective chief of the kingdom ' s armies . Ramiro never formally resigned his royal rights , continuing to use the royal title , and keeping aware of the business of the kingdom , he withdrew from public life , returning to the Abbey of San Pedro in Huesca . He later became known for the famous and passionate legend of the Bell of Huesca . He died there on 16 August 1157 , the crown then formally passing to his daughter Petronilla . < br >