Centule II (also ''Centulle'') (died 1129) was the Count of Bigorre from 1114 to his death. He established feudal bonds across the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

with

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

. He was also a major participant in the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

, fighting in the army of Raymond of Saint-Gilles, and the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

. He was the second son of Centule V of Béarn by his second wife, Beatrice I of Bigorre. He succeeded his elder brother Bernard III's daughter Beatrice II. His elder half-brother Gaston IV was the viscount of Béarn and the two maintained excellent fraternal relations, undertaking almost every military expedition jointly. Between 1095 and 1101, the two half-brothers were absent from the south of France on the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

. While Gaston was one of the heroes of the Crusade and consequently finds mention in many chronicles, Centule had not yet succeeded his brother at that point and was a mere nobleman, without a fief. In 1113, Bernard died and his successor, the heiress Beatrice, followed him to the grave the next year. Centule, now armed with the forces of Bigorre behind him, joined Gaston in an alliance with

Alfonso the Battler Alfonso I (7 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior (), was King of Aragon and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Peter I of Arago ...

King of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

and

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, on the successful expedition against

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

in 1118. For his part in the victory, Centule received a section of the city in fief of the king and twenty four villages in the

Val d'Aran Aran (; ; ) (often known as the Aran Valley, or Val d'Aran in Aranese Occitan; in other forms of Occitan: ''Vath d'Aran'' or ''Vau d'Aran'', in Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', in Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an autonomous administrative entity (form ...

. He participated in the conquest of Tudela in 1119 and in the great attack on

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

in 1125–1126. In May 1122, he rendered homage to Alfonso for land he held across the Pyrenees. Centule married Estefania, daughter of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Dolça de Gévaudaun. They had one daughter: * Beatrice II (or III) de Bigorre (d. after 7 February 1148) Centule died in 1129 and was succeeded by his daughter who was married to Pierre de Marsan. With this marriage she united the county of Bigorre and the viscounty of Marsan.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Centule 02 Of Bigorre 1129 deaths Counts of Bigorre Christians of the First Crusade People of the Reconquista Year of birth unknown