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European Kingdoms

Iberia

 

County of Barcelona
AD 717 - 1162

Barcelona began life as a Frankish march county from territory conquered from Islam. One of the most important of the early Christian states that was opposed to the Umayyads in Iberia, it was only a little younger than the other powerful Catalan county, that of Urgel which also controlled the early Andorran territories. It was nominally under the domination of the Franks, but in fact remained more or less independent, especially after the end of the Carolingians.

(Additional information from Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, 1985 Edition (Revised 1993), from La Ciudadela de Barcelona: Cataluña vindicada, Lluís Cutchet, from Los Condes de Barcelona Vindicados, y Cronología y Genealogía de los Reyes de España considerados como Soberianos Independientes de su Marca. Tomo I: abraza los siete primeros, desde el año 874 al 1035, Prosper de Bofarull, 1836 (reprinted 1990), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia.com, and Lleida Tourism, and Enciclopèdia Catalana, SAU, and Representació de SE Copríncep Francès (in French and Catalan).)

717 - 801

Region under the authority of the Caliphate.

799 - 801

Having been appointed count of the newly captured territories of Urgel (which includes the Andorrans) and Cerdanya, Borrell is an important part of the conquest of Osona in 799 and Barcelona in 801. The latter victory follows a siege of the city. He is awarded the county of Osona, possibly in thanks for his contribution towards the reconquest of occupied Iberia and the extension of Aquitaine's Marca Hispania or Spanish March (a march being a Germanic word for borderlands).

Barcino - Roman Barcelona
Founded as the Roman colony of Barcino, between 15-10 BC by Emperor Augustus, the city of Barcelona became central to the medieval county of Barcelona and resistance against the Islamic invasion of Iberia

801 - 820

Bera

820 - ?

Rampon

Gained Osona (820).

820

Following the death of Count Borrell of Osona, overlord of Andorra, Osona is granted to Rampon, count of Barcelona, while Urgel (with Andorra) and Cerdanya pass to the Basque noble, Aznar I Galíndez of Aragon, following his overthrow and exile from that county.

827 - 829

Bernard of Septimania

c.830 - 835

Berenguer

835 - 844

Bernard of Septimania

Executed by Charles 'the Bald'.

840 - 843

Before his death, Louis of the Franks proclaims that his eldest son, Lothar, will be sole beneficiary of the imperial dignity and sole inheritor of the empire. The new idea provokes rebellions and rivalries between all four of Louis' sons which last until after the king's death. (One of the sons, Pepin I of Aquitaine, has already predeceased his father.)

Lothar initially claims overlordship over all three regions and Louis and Charles have to go to war to convince him to relent. The counties of the Spanish March all take sides during this period, with the powerful Bernard of Septimania, count of Barcelona (along with a large number of other marches and counties, including Agde, Béziers, Girona, Melgueil, Narbonne, Nîmes, Septimania, and Toulouse, capital of Aquitaine) siding with Pepin II of Aquitaine.

Opposing them in favour of Charles are Sunifred, count of Urgel (and Andorra) and Cerdanya, his brother Sunyer I, count of Empúries, their sons (who collectively are sometimes referred to as the Bellonid dynasty or the Bellonids), Ricwin, count of Nantes (killed in battle in 841), and Lambert II, also later count of Nantes.

Lothar does relent in 843, and the Treaty of Verdun confirms the official division of the empire between Charlemagne's surviving three grandsons, with rule over the empire as a whole being nominal.

841 - 844

Taking advantage of the chaos in the Frankish empire, the Umayyads invade Barcelona and penetrate Cerdanya as they attack Narbonne. Sunifred, count of Urgel and Cerdanya (and master of the Andorrans), stops the invasion dead in its tracks. When, in 844, Charles 'the Bald' captures Toulouse and Aquitaine from Pepin II, he has Bernard of Septimania executed and grants Barcelona and Girona - and also the march territory of Gothia - to Sunifred.

844 - 848

Sunifred I

Count of Urgel (and Andorra) & Cerdanya. Died.

848

William of Septimania, son of the executed Bernard, had risen against Charles 'the Bald' in 844, but has largely been unable to reclaim his father's lands until now. William is granted Toulouse and Empúries by Pepin II, the rival king of Aquitaine, and he quickly removes both brothers, Sunifred in Barcelona and Sunyer in Empúries, although the former is known to die of natural causes.

848 - 852

Aleran

849 - 849/50

William

852 - c.858

Odalric

c.858 - 864

Humfrid

865 - 873

Bernard of Gothia (or Toulouse)

d.884?

873 - 898

Wilfred the Hairy

Son of Sunifred. Held Urgel-Cerdanya (Andorra) and more.

898 - 914

Wilfred Borel I / Borrell I

Son.

914 - 940

Sunyer

940 - 992

Borel II / Borrell II

Son. Later count of Girona & Osona (with Andorra).

940 - 966

Miró de Barcelona

Ruled from Urgel, seat of bishopric which would hold Andorra.

988

Borell II, count of Barcelona, Girona, Ausona (from 940), and Urgel (from 948), grants the Andorran valleys to the diocese of Urgel in exchange for land in Cerdanya.

992 - 1018

Raymond Borel

1018 - 1035

Berengar Raymond I the Hunchback

1035 - 1076

Raymond Berengar I the Old

1076 - 1082

Raymond Berengar II Burlap-head

1076 - 1097

Berengar Raymond II the Fratricide

1086 - 1131

Raymond Berengar III the Great

1095

The bishop of Urgel is aware that the current count of Urgel desires the return of Andorra to his control, so support and protection are requested of the local lord of Caboet. The bishop and the lord sign and seal a declaration of their co-sovereignty over Andorra (it is unclear whether this lord is Guitard or his successor, Guillem Guitard).

1131 - 1162

Raymond Berengar IV the Holy

1157

Casting aside Pellegrina de Lacon, Barisone of Arborea marries Agalbursa de Cervera, Count Raymond's niece. The marriage is the seal on an alliance with Barcelona, which also represents the first Iberian influence on the island of Sardinia. Barisone fights the Balearic Almoravids on behalf of Barcelona and Raymond Berengar supports his attempts to unite Sardinia under his rule.

1162

The county of Barcelona becomes part of Aragon.

 
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