Urgell County

The origin of the county of Urgel (in Catalan: Comtat d'Urgell) is located in a pagus of the Frankish crown in the 8th century. It is one of the independent historical medieval counties, located in the territory of present-day Catalonia (Spain), and bordering those of Pallars and Cerdanya. It maintained its own dynasty from the beginning of 815 to 1413, although from the beginning of the XIV century it was politically integrated into the domain of the Crown of Aragon. Its maximum extension covered the Pyrenees and the Taifa kingdom of Lérida, that is, the regions of Alto Urgel, Noguera, Solsonés, Plana de Urgel, Urgel and Andorra, the latter currently independent.

The historical capital was first Seo de Urgel (La Seu d'Urgell) and later Balaguer. Although the political capital, as the seat of its counts, was Agramunt, where its own currency, the so-called "agramuntesa", was minted. Some of its former counts were buried in a county pantheon of the Bellpuig de las Avellanas Monastery. Andorra was ceded to the bishop of La Seo de Urgel by Count Armengol IV of Urgel in the century XI. After many vicissitudes and three successive dynasties, the county became extinct and passed to the Crown of Aragon after the frustrated revolt of Count Jaime II of Urgel against King Ferdinand I of Aragon (Fernando de Antequera, the first king of the Trastámara dynasty) in 1413.

History

Origins

The origins of the county of Urgel are found in the conquest, by the Franks, of the territory that corresponds, approximately, to the current Alto Urgel. Its conquest occurred between the years 785 and 790. The county of Urgel was considered included within the March of Tolosa.

The Frankish Domain

The Franks named Borrell de Osona count of Urgel (798), who was also count of Cerdaña. After the death of Borrell, the county of Urgel passed in the year 820 to Aznar I Galíndez, who had been count of Aragon. When he died (832) the county was inherited by his son Galindo I Aznárez, who retained control of it until he was expelled from it in the year 838.

The county of Urgel then became governed by Sunifred of Urgel, who had already been named count in 834 by Luis the Pious at the request of Count Berenguer of Tolosa. Sunifred is attributed to being the son of Borrell of Osona. After the death of Sunifred I (848), probably caused by William, son of Bernard of Septimania, the county of Urgell was governed by Count Solomon (848-870), an unknown character since there is no documentation that provides data on his origin.

In the year 870, Charles the Bald granted the county of Urgell, along with the county of Cerdanya, to Wifred I (called the Hairy), son of Sunifred.

Independence

After the death of King Louis the Stuttering (879), the power of the Frankish kings weakened until it disappeared. Therefore, and during the last quarter of the IX century, throughout the Carolingian Empire the counts ceased to be appointed officials. by the king, and they managed to make their positions hereditary. In this situation of decomposition of royal power, upon the death of Wifredo el Velloso (897), his children shared the entire inheritance and began to govern their counties: Barcelona, Gerona, Osona, Besalú, Conflent, Urgel and Cerdaña. In this distribution, the county of Urgel corresponded to Sunifredo II of Urgel (897-948).

According to the historian Antonio Ubieto Arteta, the list of counts of Urgell who ruled independently in the county (in the same way that the counts of Barcelona did) is as follows:

• Fredol (c. 815)
• Aznar I Galíndez (c. 820-832), count of Aragon and Sardinian
• Galindo I Aznárez (832-838), count of Aragon and Sardinian
• Sunifredo I (c. 839-848), Count of Barcelona, Osona, Gerona, Sardinia, Besalú and Conflent
• Solomon (848-868), Count of Sardinia and Conflent
• Wifredo el Velloso (868-897), Count of Barcelona, Osona, Gerona, Besalú and Conflent
• Sunifredo II (897-940)
• Borrell II (940-992), Count of Barcelona and Osona, Gerona

The first dynasty of Urgell

The counts of the first independent dynasty of Urgel were:

• Armengol I of Cordoba (992-1010)
• Armengol II the Pilgrim (1010-1038)
• Armengol III of Barbastro (1038-1065)
• Armengol IV de Gerp (1065-1092)
• Armengol V de Mollerusa (1092-1102)
• Armengol VI of Castile (1102-1154)
• Armengol VII of Valencia (1154-1184)
• Armengol VIII (1184-1209)
• Aurembiaix (1209-1231)

Sunifredo II of Urgel died in 948 without issue. The county was inherited by his nephew Borrell II, who would later be Count of Barcelona, and was also Count of Gerona and Osona. Borrell II died in 992. In his will he divided the inheritance between his two sons: Barcelona, Gerona and Osona for Ramón Borrell (992-1017), and the county of Urgel for Armengol I (992-1010).. Count Armengol I is the first of a dynasty that ruled the county from the end of the X century to the beginning of the XIII.

Originally the county of Urgel corresponded, approximately, to the current region of Alto Urgel. In the XI century, taking advantage of the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, which was divided into several taifa kingdoms, the county of Urgel was It spread through the lands previously occupied by the Muslims: in the year 1000 the region of Ponts was conquered; During the years 1024-1026 the entire Artesa de Segre valley was occupied; in 1018-1020, the Meiá valley is conquered; Between 1034 and 1048, with the help of Arnal Mir de Tost, to whom Artesa de Segre was sold in 1038, Armengol II expanded Urgell's dominion over Áger, which eventually became the capital of the Viscounty of Ager. To stop the push of Ramón Berenguer of Barcelona, Ramiro I of Aragon sealed an alliance with Armengol II agreeing to the double marriage of his daughter Sancha with Armengol III of Urgel, and of Isabel, daughter of the Urgelino count, with his own first-born son Sancho Ramírez, heir to the throne of Aragon. In this way, the County of Urgel and the Kingdom of Aragon establish a solid alliance, and the union of their forces allows Ramiro I to conquer the castles of Laguarres, Lascuarre, Capella, Caserras, Falces, Luzás, Viacamp and Benabarre. This is how they prevented Ramón Berenguer I from accessing the Cinca. Ramón Berenguer had bought castles in the area, on lands that the Catalan counts recognized as belonging to the county of Ribagorza, part of the kingdom of Aragon.

When Ramiro I dies, the successor Sancho Ramírez maintains his alliance with Armengol III of Urgel supported by the pope, to undertake the Barbastro crusade with the help of crusaders from France, which ended with the conquest of Barbastro in 1064. The important Muslim city became part of the Kingdom of Aragon and its government was entrusted as a possession to Armengol III of Urgel, for which reason it is known as "that of Barbastro." In 1065 the Count of Urgel died in the lands of al-Andalus, probably in Monzón, and Barbastro was lost, reconquered by the Muslims of the Zaragoza taifa, which would not be recovered by the Christians until the conquest of Peter I of Aragon, in the year 1101. Armengol III also allied himself with the count of Barcelona Ramón Berenguer I against the Muslims and against the county of Cerdanya, agreeing that Urgel would receive a third of all the conquests in exchange for the commitment that the count of Urgel would participate in all the conquests. expeditions of Ramón Berenguer. Other enclaves conquered by Urgel in this period are Guisona (1020-1024), Santa Liña (1036), Cubells and Camarasa (1050), and Agramunt (1070).

The conquest of the Almenara mountain range (1078) allowed the current Urgel Mediano and Bajo Urgel to be incorporated into the county, as far as Barbens and Liñola. Furthermore, in the year 1096 William, son of Armengol IV, inherited, from his mother Adelaide, the county of Forcalquier. In 1105, the Leonese count Pedro Ansurez, regent on behalf of his grandson Armengol VI, conquered Balaguer, which would end up becoming the capital of the county.

Count Armengol VI, called "of Castile" for having grown up in Valladolid, stood out for his participation in various campaigns against Muslims. He was one of the participants in the expedition led by Ramón Berenguer III against Mallorca in 1114, and in the service of King Alfonso I of Aragon he took part in the conquest of Zaragoza. The castles of Castellón de Farfaña and Algerri were conquered in 1130. In 1149 Armengol VI and Ramón Berenguer IV conquered Lérida. Count Armengol received a third of the territory of Lleida as lordship and his subjects constituted the main mass of repopulators.

The decline of the house of Urgel begins to manifest itself with Armengol VII, count who prefers to spend most of his time in the kingdom of León, and leaves the county in the hands of the ambitious Cabrera family, viscounts of Áger. To the point that Armengol VIII, son of the previous one, had to fight against his vassal and brother-in-law, Viscount Ponce III of Cabrera, whom he finally defeated in 1191 thanks to the support of King Alfonso II of Aragon.

In 1208 Armengol VIII made a will in favor of his daughter Aurembiaix and the possible first-born male, and failing that, of his sisters Marquesa (married to Ponce III de Cabrera, viscount of Cabrera y Áger) and Miracle (married to Gómez González of Traba, count and lord of Trastámara). If all of them died, the county would pass to a relative, Guillermo de Cardona (son of Ramón Folch III of Cardona, Viscount of Cardona, and Isabel Sibila de Urgel, in turn daughter of Armengol VI). But when Armengol VIII died in 1209, and in accordance with Catalan customs - which, contrary to Aragonese law, did not allow a woman to inherit - Giraldo IV de Cabrera (son of Ponce III and the Marchioness of Urgel) showed his claim to the county dignity. Faced with this situation, the wife of Armengol VIII, Elvira de Subirats, resorted to the protection of King Pedro II of Aragon, in exchange for the transfer of her belongings and rights to the county, which became effective in a pact agreed in Lérida on October 31, 1209, by which Elvira de Subirats received five thousand Morabetines from the king of Aragon as compensation for her renunciation of the right over Urgel. In the preserved document (ACA, Parchments of Pedro II , no. 344) Pedro II specifies that the transfer of the widowed countess Elvira de Subirats was not to the detriment of her daughter, Aurembiaix. In 1210, King Pedro II and Countess Elvira agreed to a future betrothal of the then two-year-old boy Jaime I of Aragon with Aurembiaix, where she provided as a dowry precisely the county of Urgell, and the first-born of the king of Aragon, the county of Pallars, with other villas. But all plans were truncated when Geraldo de Cabrera appropriated the county, which provoked the immediate attack of Pedro II of Aragon, who besieged him in Balaguer and took him prisoner. In this way the king of Aragon subjected the county of Urgel to his dominion. Upon the death of the Aragonese king in the battle of Muret in 1213, the nobility obtained the freedom of Geraldo de Cabrera, who again acceded to the government of Urgel. Aurembiaix, who was betrothed to James I, did not consummate this wedding, since she was betrothed and married to the Castilian nobleman Álvaro Pérez.

In the Cortes of Monzón in 1217, Jaime I of Aragón and Geraldo de Cabrera met to finish their disputes over control of the county of Urgel. Geraldo, Viscount of Cabrera, undertook to Jaime I the Conqueror to return Agramunt, Balaguer and other towns in Urgel in exchange for a significant amount of money as a pledge. If Aurembiaix returned said amount to the king, the county would be given to him and if not, Viscount Geraldo would return the money obtained in exchange for Urgel. In 1218, by virtue of this agreement, Geraldo de Cabrera did not yet use the title of Count of Urgel. From then until 1222 the county finally ended up in the hands of Gerald, perhaps following the death of the Countess Elvira de Subirats, who in her will bequeathed the county to her daughter Aurembiaix. At the end of 1222, in Terrer (Zaragoza) the already Count of Urgel and James I of Aragon signed peace, with the King of Aragon recognizing Geraldo as Count of Urgel. In 1227 a new count of Urgel appeared, Ponce de Cabrera, son of Geraldo.

Finally, Aurembiaix, now an adult, sought the support of James I to claim the rights of the county of Urgel, now in the hands of Geraldo's descendant. The king of Aragon, Jaime I, decided to resort to arms to invade Urgel. He occupied Tamarite, Albesa, Agramunt and Pons, and laid siege to Balaguer. After several vicissitudes, in 1231 Jaime I managed to place the county of Urgel definitively in the orbit of the Crown of Aragon, although it maintained Urgel until the beginning of the century XIV its nominal independence and its own dynasty.

The second dynasty of Urgell

The counts of the second dynasty of Urgel were:

• Ponce I de Urgel (1236-1243)
• Armengol IX of Urgel (1243)
• Alvaro I de Urgel (1243-1267)
• Armengol X of Urgel (1267-1314)

The death, without issue, of the Countess Aurembiaix (1231), meant the extinction of the first dynasty of Urgell. Then began a period of disputes and wars between the different kings who wanted to incorporate the county into their crown, as well as the house of Cabrera, heir to the county due to its relationship with the first dynasty of Urgel. Jaime I, in 1236, and through the agreement of Tárrega, granted possession of the county of Urgel to Ponce de Urgel de Cabrera; Subsequently, the question of the dominion of Urgell caused two noble revolts during the reign of Peter the Great (1285-1291), revolts that the king managed to dominate.

In 1242, Ponce I managed to get Jaime I to return the city of Balaguer to him, which regained its status as county capital. After the almost simultaneous death of Ponce and his heir Armengol IX, the county passed to Ponce's second son, Rodrigo, who changed his name to be known as Álvaro I de Urgel, who arrived in Urgel from Castile when he was barely fourteen. years. Meanwhile, the nobles of the county had already agreed to the wedding of the young count with Constanza de Moncada, niece of King Jaime I. However, Álvaro repudiated his wife to marry Cecilia de Foix, which triggered a period of civil war. After the invasion of the county by troops from the Moncada and Cardona families, among others, and the entry of Jaime I into the castles of Agramunt, Oliana and Liñola, a large coalition of nobles decided to give their support to the counts Álvaro and Cecilia. In 1260 a truce was reached, but the count's hesitations caused the negotiations between both sides to fail and Álvaro finally had to take refuge in Foix, where he died shortly after, in 1267. After the arrival to power of the young Armengol of Álvaro and Cecilia, the civil war resumed. With the help of the counts of Foix and Pallars, Armengol Taken to Lérida, they remained in captivity for at least a year until they obtained royal forgiveness. From then on, Armengol, and with the condition that the Infante of Aragón Alfonso married his great-niece Teresa de Entenza; This union was celebrated in Lleida in November 1314.

The third dynasty of Urgell

The counts of the third dynasty of Urgel were:

• Teresa de Entenza (1314-1327) together with her husband Alfonso IV of Aragon (1314-1336), who survived him.
• Jaime I de Urgel (1336-1347)
• Peter II of Urgel (1347-1408)
• Jaime II the unfortunate (1408-1413)

Armengol Subsequently, James II's first-born son renounced the crown and the rights to it passed to his brother Alfonso the Benign, who inherited the crown upon the death of his father James II in 1327. King Alfonso the Benigno (1327-1336), separated the county of Urgel from the inheritance of his first-born son, the infant Pedro the Ceremonious, granting it to his second son, Jaime I of Urgel, who was only eight years old, so the king continued to govern the county until he came of age..

Jaime I of Urgel maintained a complex relationship with his brother, King Pedro IV, with periods of rapprochement alternating with others of confrontation. Jaime was often present in the royal council, and even acted as procurator of the kingdoms, although he later broke off his relations with the king when he proclaimed his daughter Constanza heir, marching to Zaragoza to take charge of the Aragonese Union, therefore that in 1347 the king accused him of being a traitor and challenged him to single combat. However, he attended the king's second betrothal in Barcelona that same year and both brothers were seen riding together through the streets of the city. James I died a few days later due to fever, when he was just 27 years old, so word spread that his own brother had poisoned him.

His son, Pedro II, was also an infant when he succeeded his father, so his mother, Cecilia de Cominges, held the county regency. After reaching the age of majority, Pedro I had the trust of his uncle the king, who in 1363 gave him command of the forces that defended Teruel, Monreal and Daroca and, later, the barony of Fraga. He carried out important constructions in his county, such as the castle of Agramunt, the church of Castellón de Farfaña and the cloisters of Áger. He married twice, and from his second marriage was born who would be his successor and last count of Urgel, James II, called the Unfortunate .

When King Martin the Human died without issue (1410), Count Jaime de Urgel, great-grandson of Alfonso the Benigno, was one of the candidates for the crown. However, in 1412, and in the Compromise of Caspe, the Castilian prince Fernando de Antequera was proclaimed king of the Crown of Aragon, who, on his maternal line, was the grandson of Pedro the Ceremonious and nephew of Martín the Humane. In 1413, Jaime de Urgel rebels against Fernando de Antequera (Fernando I, 1412-1416); Once the revolt was dominated, the king dispossessed Jaime of all his domains, condemning him to life imprisonment in the castle of Xativa. It was then that the county of Urgel was incorporated into the domains of the Crown of Aragon.