In time, the Christians took control of the region, thanks not just to the Franks and their Spanish March but also to the Kingdom of Aragon (administrated by the Count of Barcelona for the King of Aragon, the Crown of Aragon), which would govern those lands from that point onward. The County of Barcelona contributed to further develop the Aragonese military, most significantly their navy. As part of the Kingdom of Aragon, the Catalan language flourished and expanded southward as more territories were added to Aragon, including Valencia, the Balearic Islands, later Sardinia, Sicily, Naples and, briefly, Athens.