Aurembiaix (or Aurembiax) (1196–1231) was the
Countess of Urgell from 1208, the last of her dynasty.
She was the only child of
Ermengol VIII and Elvira of Subirats. In 1206, Ermengol asked
Peter II of Aragon to defend the right of his daughter to inherit and his widow to have the regency, but after Peter's death (1213),
Guerau IV of Cabrera, a first cousin of Aurembiaix's who claimed the inheritance, invaded the county and took control.
Aurembiaix married
Álvaro Pérez de Castro
Álvaro Pérez de Castro "the Castilian" (died at Orgaz in 1240) was a Castilian nobleman.
Biography
He was the son of Pedro Fernández de Castro and Jimena Gomez, daughter of Gómez González de Manzanedo.
He served as Mayordomo mayor and li ...
in 1212, but in 1228 she had the marriage annulled and returned to Urgell to claim her right to succeed. She received the support of
James I of Aragon
James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 12 ...
and became his concubine at
Agramunt
Agramunt is a municipality (''municipi'') in the ''comarca'' of the Urgell in Catalonia. It is situated in the north of the ''comarca'', near the border with the Noguera. The town centre is protected as a historic-artistic monument, especially t ...
. Threatened with invasion and a possible marital alliance with Aragon, the nobles of Urgell accepted Aurembiaix as their ruler. In 1229, Aurembiaix in turn married
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
, exiled brother of
Afonso II of Portugal, and rendered
Lleida to James and accepting Urgell back from him as a fief.
Aurembiaix died without descendants at
Balaguer
Balaguer () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebre. The municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city i ...
only about a year later. Urgell went to Peter.
See also
*
James I of Aragon#Acquisition of Urgell
*
List of female rulers and title holders
References
*Chaytor, H. J.
A History of Aragon and Catalonia'. London: Methuen, 1933.
1196 births
1231 deaths
Countesses of Urgell
13th-century women rulers
12th-century Catalan people
13th-century Catalan people
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