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Catalan counties

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Not to be confused with Catalan Countries.

The Catalan counties (Template:Lang-ca, IPA: [kumˈtats kətəˈɫans]) were the administrative divisions of the eastern Carolingian Marca Hispanica and southernmost part of the March of Gothia created after its Frankish conquest. The various counties roughly defined what came to be known as the Principality of Catalonia.

In 778, Charlemagne led the first Franks expedition into Hispania to create the Marca Hispanica, a buffer zone between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Kingdom of Aquitaine. The territory that he subdued was the kernel of Catalonia. In 781, he made his 3-year-old son Louis the Pious (778 – 840) king of Aquitaine, who was sent there with regents and a court in order to secure the southern border of his kingdom against the Moors and to expand southwards into Moorish territory.

These counties were originally feudal entities ruled by a small military elite. Originally, counts were appointed directly by and owed allegiance to the Carolingian (Frankish) emperor. The appointment to heirs could not be taken for granted. However, with the rise of the importance of the Bellonids and strong figures among them such as, Sunifred (fl. 844–848) and Wilfred the Hairy (c.870-897), and the weakening of Carolingian royal power, the appointment of heirs eventually become a formality. This trend resulted in the counts becoming de facto independent of the Carolingian crown under Borrell II in 987.

Creation

In the second half of the 9th century, three political subdivisions (marches) existed in the eastern Pyrenees: Toulouse (green), Gothia (blue), and Hispania (pink). At times they were placed under one authority and at other times not.

The reconquista from the Moors by the Franks began in 785.[1] In 785, Rostany (or Rostaing) was made Count of Girona, the first of the Catalan counties to be established. Besalú and Empúries were originally part of Girona. In 797, in the greatest military triumph of his long career, the young Louis took Barcelona, the greatest city of the Catalan littoral. When Urgell and Cerdanya were subdued around 798, they were also made counties and Borrell was made count. He took a very active part in the subsequent conquest of Osona in 799 and the successful siege of Barcelona in 801. He was made count of Osona in 799, perhaps as a reward for his services. In 801, the greatest of the counties, Barcelona, was established under Bera. In 812, Count Odilo of Girona (which included Besalú and Empúries) died and the county also passed to Bera.

In 804 and 805, Borrell participated in the expeditions to Tortosa, but not in the subsequent campaigns of 807, 808, and 809. On Borrell's death in 820, Osona was given to Rampon and Urgell and Cerdanya went to Aznar Galíndez. Also in 820, Bera went into political disfavour and lost the countships of Barcelona and Girona, which also went to Rampon.

Around 813, Empúries became a separate county under Ermenguer, and in 817, it was united to the County of Roussillon. From 835 to 844, Sunyer I was count of Empúries and Peralada while Alaric I was count of Roussillon and Vallespir.

Besalú was made a separate county in 878 for Radulf on the condition that it pass to the heirs of Wilfred the Hairy on his death. It went to Miro I the Younger in 912.

Barcelona soon overshadowed the other counties in importance, especially during the reign of Wilfred the Hairy in the late 9th century. At that time, the power of the Carolingians was waning and the neglected Hispanic march was practically independent of royal authority. In the early 11th century, Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona, was able to submit to Sancho III of Navarre as his suzerain, even though he was still legally a vassal of Robert II of France. With the accession of Robert's father, Hugh Capet, the first non-Carolingian king, in 987, most of the Catalan counts refused to pay homage to the new dynasty. Over the next century, most of the Catalan counties would come into the hands of the counts of Barcelona. In time, one of the Counts of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer IV, would marry the heiress of Aragon, Petronella, uniting the counties under the count's power to that kingdom, creating the Crown of Aragon. Several of the later kings re-created some Catalan counties as appanages for younger sons.

Catalan Counties

Catalan Viscounties

Timeline

Monarchs of the
Iberian Peninsula
Corona d'AragóJaume II d'UrgellPere II d'UrgellCecília IJaume I d'UrgellTeresa d'EntençaErmengol XÀlvar IErmengol IXPonç IPere I»1231AurembiaixErmengol VIIIErmengol VIIErmengol VIErmengol VErmengol IVErmengol IIIErmengol IIErmengol IBorrell IISunifred II d'UrgellGuifré I el PelósLlista de comtes de BarcelonaNunó ISanç IPere I de CerdanyaRamon Berenguer IV el SantRamon Berenguer IIIBernat I de CerdanyaGuillem II de CerdanyaGuillem I de CerdanyaRamon I de CerdanyaGuifré II de CerdanyaOliba CabretaMiró III de CerdanyaMiró III de CerdanyaSunifred II de CerdanyaMiró II de CerdanyaGuifré I el PelósLlista de comtes de BarcelonaBernat III de BesalúBernat II de BesalúGuillem II de BesalúGuillem I de BesalúBernat I de Besalú (Tallaferro)Oliba CabretaMiró II de BesalúSunifred II de CerdanyaGuifré II de BesalúMiró I de BesalúRadulf I de BesalúGuifré I el PelósLlista de comtes de BarcelonaGuifré I el PelósCorona d'AragóJoan II el GranAlfons IV el MagnànimFerran d'AntequeraMartí I l'HumàJoan el CaçadorPere III el CerimoniósAlfons III el BenigneJaume II el JustAlfons II el FrancPere II el GranJaume I el ConqueridorPere I el CatòlicAlfons I el CastRamon Berenguer IV el SantRamon Berenguer IIIBerenguer Ramon IIRamon Berenguer II el Cap d'EstopesRamon Berenguer I el VellBerenguer Ramon I el CorbatRamon BorrellBorrell IISunyer IGuifré IIGuifré I el PelósCorona d'AragóJaume IV de MallorcaJaume III de MallorcaSanç I de MallorcaJaume II de MallorcaAlfons el FrancJaume II de MallorcaJaume I el ConqueridorNunó ISanç de Barcelona i d'AragóAlfons I el CastGirard II de RossellóGausfred III de RossellóGirard I de RossellóGuislabert II de RossellóGausfred II de RossellóGuislabert I de RossellóGausfred I de RossellóGausbert I de RossellóBencióSunyer IIMiró I de RossellóCorona d'AragóMartí I l'HumàJoana de RocabertíPere III d'EmpúriesJoan II d'EmpúriesJoan I d'EmpúriesPere II d'EmpúriesJoan I d'EmpúriesRamon Berenguer I d'EmpúriesPere I d'EmpúriesHug VI d'EmpúriesMarquesa d'EmpúriesPonç VI d'EmpúriesPonç V d'EmpúriesHug V d'EmpúriesPonç IV d'EmpúriesHug IV d'EmpúriesPonç III d'EmpúriesHug III d'EmpúriesPonç II d'EmpúriesHug II d'EmpúriesPonç I d'EmpúriesHug I d'EmpúriesGausfred I d'EmpúriesGausbert I d'EmpúriesBencióSunyer IICounty of UrgellCounty of CerdagneCounty of BesalúCounty of GironaCounty of BarcelonaCounty of RoussillonCounty of EmpúriesCatalan counties
Guifré I el PelósSalomó I d'UrgellSunifred IGalí I AsnarAsnar I GalíBorrell I d'UrgellGuifré I el PelósSalomó I d'UrgellSunifred IGalí I AsnarAsnar I GalíBorrell I d'UrgellGuifré I el PelósGuifré I el PelósBernat de GòtiaOtgerHumfridOdalricGuifré I de GironaSunifred IBernat de SeptimàniaBerenguer de TolosaBernat de SeptimàniaRampóBeràOdilóRostanyGuifré I el PelósBernat de GòtiaHumfridOdalricAleranGuillem de SeptimàniaSunifred IBernat de SeptimàniaBerenguer de TolosaBernat de SeptimàniaRampóBeràMiró I de RossellóBernat de GòtiaHumfridOdalricAleranGuillem de SeptimàniaSunyer IBernat de SeptimàniaBerenguer de TolosaGaucelmSunyer IIHumfridOdalricAleranGuillem de SeptimàniaSunyer IAlaric ISunyer IBerenguer de TolosaGaucelmErmenguerCategoria:Comtats catalans

References

  1. ^ Lewis, Archibald Ross. The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965.
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