The Bellonids ( ca, Bel·lònides, es, Bellónidas, links=no, french: Bellonides), sometimes called the Bellonid Dynasty, were the counts descended from the

Goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

Belló who ruled in

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

Urgell Modern-day Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Higher Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Catalonia, Spain, forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Ur ...

Cerdanya Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counties ...

, County of Conflent,

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 ci ...

, and numerous other Catalan and Septimanian counties and marches in the 9th and 10th centuries. His most famous grandson was

Wilfred the Hairy {{Infobox noble, type , name = Wilfred , title = Count of Barcelona , image = Wilfredo el Velloso 01.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = Statue in Madrid, L. S. Carmona, 1750–53 , al ...

, who founded the

House of Barcelona The House of Barcelona was a medieval dynasty that ruled the County of Barcelona continuously from 878 and the Crown of Aragon from 1137 (as kings from 1162) until 1410. They descend from the Bellonids, the descendants of Wifred the Hairy. The ...

, rulers of the

County of Barcelona The County of Barcelona ( la, Comitatus Barcinonensis, ca, Comtat de Barcelona) was originally a frontier region under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona became progressively independent, here ...

from 878,Martin Aurell,
"Les noces du comte: Mariage et pouvoir en Catalogne (785-1213)"
' Vol. 73, No. 4 (Oct., 1998), pp. 1102–1104 Published by: Medieval Academy of America. and since 1164 the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

, until the end of the reign of

Martin the Humane Martin the Humane (29 July 1356 – 31 May 1410), also called the Elder and the Ecclesiastic, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409 (as Martin II). He failed to secure ...

in 1410. Since the early years of the 10th century all of the eastern counties of the

March of Barcelona The Hispanic March or Spanish March ( es, Marca Hispánica, ca, Marca Hispànica, Aragonese and oc, Marca Hispanica, eu, Hispaniako Marka, french: Marche d'Espagne), was a military buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania, est ...

, and the counties of

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 ...

Foix Foix (; oc, Fois ; ca, Foix ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the Préfecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of south ...

and

Razès Razès (; oc, Rasés; ca, Rasès) is a historical area in southwestern France, in today's Aude ''département''. Several communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of ...

of the

March of Gothia The Hispanic March or Spanish March ( es, Marca Hispánica, ca, Marca Hispànica, Aragonese and oc, Marca Hispanica, eu, Hispaniako Marka, french: Marche d'Espagne), was a military buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania, est ...

, were ruled by Belló's descendants. This would have favored the co-ruling of some territories, and a

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

-like network of mutual support, although they would have also been exposed to the risk of

endogamy Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...

.Regarding the problem of consanguineous marriage among the Bellonids, see M. Aurell, ''Les noces del comte: matrimoni i poder a Catalunya (785-1213)'', Ediciones Omega, Barcelona, 1998, pp. 28–41.

Notes

{{reflist Gothic families Spanish royal families Medieval Catalonia 9th century in Spain 10th century in Spain