County of Besalú

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The County of Besalú (

Mediterranean coastline. It was roughly coterminous with the modern comarca of Garrotxa and at various times extended as far north as Corbières, Aude, now in France. Its capital was the village of Besalú. Throughout most of its history it was attached to one of the other more powerful counties, but it experienced a century of independence before it was finally and irrevocably annexed to the County of Barcelona
.

County of Besalú
878–1111
Capital
Feudal County
Count of Besalú 
• 878-912
Radulf (first)
• 1100-1111
Bernard III (last)
Historical eraEarly Middle Ages
• Established
878
• Disestablished
1111
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
County of Girona
County of Barcelona
Today part of
The medieval remains of Besalú. The bridge dates to the twelfth century.

9th century: origins and development

Besalú was

Marca Hispanica. The original pagus comprised the territories of Garrotxa and those neighbouring Montgrony and Setcases in the comarca of Ripollès as far as Agullana and Figueres (in Alt Empordà) and Banyoles in Pla de l'Estany
.

In the Ordinatio Imperii of 817,

Gascons.[4]

During the reign of

Radulf its count and it became one of the last de facto independent Catalan counties
.

10th century: attached to Cerdanya

Sometime between 913 and 920, Radulf died and

Sunyer II, Count of Barcelona and Girona. When Miro died in 927, his counties were ruled indivisibly by his widow Ava as regent for his two sons, Sunifred II and Wilfred II
. When the two reached their majority, Sunifred governed Cerdanya and the younger Wilfred Besalú under the suzerainty of his older brother.

The brothers, and their younger brothers

Sant Pere de Camprodon which he and his brother had jointly founded as their legacy. Wilfred also received a portion of the property which the viscount Unifred had treacherously taken from Ermengol of Osona
by a precept of Louis's.

In the latter half of the tenth century, the power and authority of the counts of Besalú and Cerdanya increased. In 957, Besalú was rocked by the rebellion of a faction of the noblesse backing the sons of the deceased count Radulf. Wilfred was assassinated and Sunifred annexed the property of the rebels and took over the county. In 965, Sunifred passed all his counties on to Oliba, who gave Besalú as a subordinate countship to Miro, but when Miro became

Bishop of Girona
in 971, Besalú was reattached to Cerdanya.

11th century: independent county

The aft exterior of the nave of the church of San Pere, dedicated in 1003. It was the cathedral of the short-lived diocese of Besalú.

In 988, Oliba entered

Bernard Tallaferro. He annexed Ripoll in 1002. He inaugurated an independent line of rulers in Besalú and thus diminished the power of his dynasty. Pope Benedict VIII established diocese in Besalú for Bernard's benefit, but it was short-lived.[9]

The last quarter of the 10th century and first quarter of the 11th witnessed very little war in southern France and Catalonia, some of the only instances occurring between Oliba Cabreta and the

Counts of Carcassonne.[10] In this period as well, Carolingian courts and Gothic law were still in effect in Besalú, as late as 1031.[11] Between 969 and 1020, the county of Besalú minted its own money, though this currency has not been preserved in the form of coins, its only evidence being documentary. Between 1020 and 1111, three different kinds of silver coin were minted in Besalú. The engravings of Besalú in the eleventh century have been considered some of the best exemplars of the Romanesque style
.

In 1066,

Raymond Berengar III of Barcelona
took the opportunity to augment his influence in the region.

At the turn of the 12th century, Besalú extended as across the

Aguilar, and Peyrepertuse, which were refortified in the thirteenth century by Louis IX of France as forming his southern border with the Crown of Aragon by the Treaty of Corbeil (1259).[12] The rest of Besalú was a part of the Principality of Catalonia
within the Crown.

In 1107, Bernard III married Jimena, Raymond Berengar's daughter. In the marriage pact, Raymond Berengar ceded

Diocese of Vic with all their castles. In return, Barcelona became the heir of Bernard if he died without children. At the time Bernard was fifty years of age (older than his father-in-law) and Jimena a mere child of seven or eight.[citation needed
] It was not unlikely that Bernard would die before the marriage could legally be consummated. The aging and ineffectual Count of Besalú showed no desire to govern and readily allowed his new father-in-law to fill the vacuum left by the death of Bernard II.

In 1111, Bernard died and Barcelona inherited Besalú. This led to conflict with Bernard William of Cerdanya, who was the feudal suzerain of Besalú. The problem was solved by the cession of Vallespir, Fenolledès, Peyrepertuse, and Castellnou to Cerdanya for compensation.

Bishopric of Besalú

Some of the most important monasteries in Catalonia were located in Besalú:

Elne
. In 1017, Pope Benedict conceded to Bernard Tallaferro the right to establish a diocese of his own. Ignoring the proposals of Joan de les Abadesses and Sant Pau de Fenollet, Bernard founded it in Besalú itself. The first bishop was his own son Wilfred, abbot of Sant Joan de les Abadesses.

On Bernard's death in 1020, the bishops of Girona and Vic reclaimed their ancient rights over the parishes of Besalú. Wilfred, lacking a political protector, retired to his monastery and the diocese of Besalú was abolished.

List of counts

  • Radulf
    , 878–912
  • Miro I the Younger
    , 912–927
  • Ava
    , 927–941, as regent for...
  • Wilfred (II), 927–957
  • Sunifred, 957–965
  • Miro II Bonfill
    , 965–984
  • Oliba Cabreta, 984–988
  • Bernard I
    , 988–1020
  • William I, 1020–1052
  • William II
    , 1052–1066
  • Bernard II
    , 1066–1100
  • Bernard III, 1100–1111

See also

  • Viscounty of Besalú

Sources

Notes

  1. ^ Lewis, 40.
  2. ^ Lewis, 44.
  3. ^ Lewis, 48.
  4. ^ Lewis, 73.
  5. ^ Lewis, 112.
  6. ^ Lewis, 131.
  7. ^ Lewis, 198–199.
  8. ^ Lewis, 186.
  9. ^ Lewis, 349.
  10. ^ Lewis, 292.
  11. ^ Lewis, 373.
  12. ^ a b c Cheyette, 77.
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