Ermengol or Armengol II (died 1038), called the Pilgrim, was the

count of Urgell This is a list of the counts of Urgell, a county of the Principality of Catalonia in the 10th through 13th centuries. {{circa, 798–870 Counts appointed by the Carolingians *798–820 Borrell, count of Urgell and Cerdanya *820–824 Aznar ...

from 1011 to his death. He was the son of Ermengol I and his second wife, Guisla. Still a child when he succeeded his father, who was killed in battle against the Moors, he was put under the

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of his uncle Count Ramon Borrell of Barcelona until 1018. With his uncle's help, Ermengol began a successful war of reconquest to the south, taking Montmagastre, Alòs, Malagastre, Rubió and Artesa. Around 1024 the

bishop of Urgell The Diocese of Urgell (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Catalonia (Spain) and the Principality of Andorra in the historical County of Urgell,Ermengol, led the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

knights and armed retinues in the besieging and conquest of the

Guissona Guissona () is a town and municipality located in the north of the ''comarca'' (county) of Segarra, in the Province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. With a population of and a rapid demographic growth (5,170 inhabitants in 2010) Guissona is the prin ...

plain from the

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

of the

Taifa of Zaragoza The taifa of Zaragoza () was an independent Arab Muslim state in the east of Al-Andalus (present-day Spain) with its capital in Saraqusta (Zaragoza) city. It was established in the early 11th century as one of the many Taifa kingdoms that foll ...

. Finally, Arnau Mir de Tost occupied the castle of

Àger Àger (; ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Noguera in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the north-west of the ''comarca'', and the territory of the municipality stretches between the Noguera Ribagorçana and Noguera Pallaresa rive ...

in 1034. The

taifa The taifas (from ''ṭā'ifa'', plural ''ṭawā'if'', meaning "party, band, faction") were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), referred to by Muslims as al-Andalus, that em ...

kings of

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

and

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 ...

also granted lands to him and to the church of Urgell. Ermengol II married Constança of Besalú, also called Velasquita, before 24 November 1031.Fernández-Xesta, Ernesto. ''Relaciones familiares entre el condado de Urgel y Castilla y León''. ''Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía'', 2001. She survived until at least 1059 and acted as regent for her son Ermengol III. She may have been the homonymous daughter of

Bernard I, Count of Besalú Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

and Countess Tota-Adelaide, named in her father’s will in October 1021. Ermengol later went on a pilgrimage to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

and died in 1038 at

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ermengol 02, Count of Urgell Counts of Urgell 11th-century Catalan people 1038 deaths Year of birth unknown