William II, Count of Besalú

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William II (

Deeds of the Counts of Barcelona, he was nicknamed Trunnus (Catalan el Tro) because he wore a false nose, having presumably lost his nose in battle.[3]

William was the eldest son and successor of William I "the Fat" and Adelaide. He married Stephanie, daughter of Count Geoffrey I of Provence. He had a son, Bernard III, and a daughter, Stephanie, who married Count Roger II of Foix.

William's reign was characterised by conflict with the church. He had to cede

Bernard II, later his successor, with him as co-count. He was assassinated sometime between 1066 and 1070, and suspicion fell on his brother, who nonetheless succeeded to the county unopposed.[3]

Relations with Barcelona

Between 1054 and 1057, William formed an important alliance with Count

Raymond Berengar I of Barcelona. This was probably initiated by Raymond, who was in a conflict with his influential grandmother, Ermessenda, and need allies.[4]

On 11 September 1054, William attended a

Girona or Osona, he would not take revenge, but would submit a complaint to Raymond and give him three months to obtain a judicial resolution. For this agreement to respect the peace of Raymond's counties, William pledged the castle of Finestres and La Guàrdia, with the castellans of the two castles standing as sureties to the agreement.[4]

To seal the new alliance between Besalú and Barcelona, William agreed to marry Raymond Berengar's sister-in-law, Llúcia, daughter of Count

Berga and Ripoll and all that pertained to them. This marriage never came to fruition.[4]

In 1057, William and Raymond came to another agreement. This time William placed the castle of Colltort in pledge.[5]


Preceded by
Count of Besalú

1052–1066/70 		Succeeded by
Bernard II

Notes

  1. ^ Valls i Taberner & Soldevila 2002, p. 99: "iracund i violent de caracter".
  2. ^ Kosto 2001, pp. 170–71.
  3. ^ a b Benito i Monclús, Taylor & Kosto 1996, pp. 62–68.
  4. ^ a b c Kosto 2001, pp. 170–72.
  5. ^ Kosto 2001, p. 126.

Sources

  • Benito i Monclús, Pere; Taylor, Nathaniel L.; Kosto, Adam J. (1996). "Three Typological Approaches to Catalonian Archival Evidence, 10–12th Centuries". Anuario de Estudios Medievales. 26 (1): 43–88.
    doi:10.3989/aem.1996.v26.i1.687
    .
  • Kosto, Adam J. (2001). Making Agreements in Medieval Catalonia: Power, Order, and the Written Word, 1000–1200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Valls i Taberner, Ferran; Soldevila, Ferran (2002). Història de Catalunya. L'Abadia de Montserrat.
    ISBN 978-84-8415-434-1
    .
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