Ayxun or Aissó was a nobleman who led a revolt in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Ausona The County of Osona, also Ausona ( ca, Comtat d'Osona, ; la, Comitatus Ausonae), was one of the Catalan counties of the ''Marca Hispanica'' in the Early and High Middle Ages. It was based around the capital city of Vic (''Vicus'') and the correspo ...

, and

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

in 826 to 827. His identity is uncertain. Aissó is thought to have been either a Goth and former lieutenant of the disposed Count

Berà Bera () (died 844) was the first count of Barcelona from 801 until his deposition in 820. He was also the count of Razès and Conflent from 790, and the count of Girona and Besalú from 812 (or 813 or 817) until his deposition. In 811, he was wi ...

, or an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

(

Ayxun ibn Sulayman ibn Yaqdhan al-Arabí Ayxun ibn Sulayman ibn Yaqdhan al-Kalbi al-A'rabí ( ar, عيشون بن سليمان بن يقظان الكلبي الأعرابي‎, Aysun ben Sulayman ben Yaqdhan al-Arabí), often known as Ayxun, Aysun or Aisso, was the son of Sulayman al-A ...

), the son of Sulayman al-Arabi who had been imprisoned in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th ...

after being captured by Frankish forces at Girona. After

Bernat of Septimania Bernard (or Bernat) of Septimania (795–844), son of William of Gellone, was the Frankish Duke of Septimania and Count of Barcelona from 826 to 832 and again from 835 to his execution. He was also count of Carcassonne from 837. He was appointed ...

was anointed Count of Barcelona, Aisso joined the revolt against the new count. Only the castle of

Roda de Ter Roda de Ter () is a municipality in the comarca of Osona, province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, near Vic, on the Ter River above the Sau Reservoir. Population: 5,435 (2004), area: 2.18 km². Its church is dedicated to St. Peter. Main monu ...

, in the county of Ausona, resisted and was destroyed by revolters. Many Goth nobles joined Aissó and

Guillemó Guillemundus (also ''Guillemó'') (died 827) was count of Razès and Conflent, in what is now southern France. He was son of Bera of Barcelona. He received these counties from delegation of his father (before 820) and retained them when Bera wa ...

(or Guillemundus) son of Berà and Count of Rasez and

Conflent Conflent () is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent. The capital of this ''pays'' is Prades ( ca, Prada de ...

. Aissó raided the County of Cerdanya and the region of Vallés from his base in the centre of Catalonia. The young Count Bernat requested and received some help from the Emperor, as well as from some local Goth noblemen or "Hispani" (826). Faced with this opposition, Aissó appealed to the sole power that could be compared to the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

, the

Emir of Córdoba Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

. He sent a deputation, led by his brother, to request help from Abd ar-Rahman II. He sent his General, Ubayd Allah (also known as Abu Marwan), who arrived in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

in May 827. From there, his forces entered the territory of the County of Barcelona, reaching the City of Barcelona later that summer. The City was besieged without success; however, the surroundings were ransacked. The army then moved to Girona, which was attacked on October 10, 827. When Louis I the Pious heard of the Muslim raid, he ordered to his son

Pepin I of Aquitaine Pepin I or Pepin I of Aquitaine (French: ''Pépin''; 797 – 13 December 838) was King of Aquitaine and Duke of Maine. Pepin was the second son of Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye. When his father assigne ...

, and Counts

Hugo of Tours Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

and

Matfred of Orleans Matfrid (died 836) was the Frankish count of Orléans in the reign of Emperor Louis the Pious. He is usually thought to have been the first of the lineage known to historians as the Matfridings (German ''Matfridinger'' or ''Matfriede''). Matfrid w ...

to recruit an army. However, recruitment was slow and, by the time it was formed, Abu Merwan was already returning south. The rebels fled with them in 826. Aissó probably sought refuge in Córdoba, where he was later murdered on the orders of the

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

, who was suspicious of a conspiracy. Guillemó also lived the rest of his life in exile in Córdoba.

References

{{reflist 9th-century Arabs 9th-century Visigothic people 9th-century people from the County of Barcelona Gothic warriors Spanish rebels