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Ermengol (or Armengol) VI (10961154), called ''el de Castilla'' ("the one from Castile"), 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. c. 798–870 Counts appointed by the Carolingians *798–820 Borrell, count of Urgell and Cerdanya *820–824 Aznar Galínde ...
from 1102 to his death. He was the son and successor of Ermengol V and María Pérez, daughter of Count
Pedro Ansúrez Pedro Ansúrez (''floruit'' 1065–1117; died probably 9 September 1118) was a Kingdom of Castile, Castilian nobleman, count of Liébana, Saldaña, Palencia, Saldaña and Carrión de los Condes, Carrión in the closing decades of the eleventh cent ...
, Lord of Valladolid, who became his tutor when he was orphaned in 1102.


Life

He was born in
Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...
, whence his nickname comes. During his minority, he was under the regency of his grandfather, Pedro Ansúrez, but the real power lay in the hands of Guerau II of Cabrera and Raymond Berenguer III of Barcelona. With their help, the young count conquered
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 ...
in 1105 and made it his capital. Armengol collaborated with Alfonso the Battler in the 1118 capture of
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 ...
and in the expedition of Alfonso VII the Emperor, of whom he was his ''
mayordomo mayor {{short description, High Steward of Spain The Mayordomo mayor (High Steward) was the Officer of the Royal Household and Heritage of the Crown of Spain in charge of the person and rooms of the King of Spain. The Office of “Mayordomo mayor” w ...
'', against
Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...
in 1147. In 1133, Ermengol ceded
Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
to the
Bishop of Urgell The Diocese of Urgell is a diocese in Catalonia (Spain) and Andorra in the historical County of Urgell,
. He had good relations with 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. Th ...
and he accompanied Raymond Berenguer IV to
Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
in 1144. In 1149, he assisted Raymond Berenguer in the conquest and repopulation of Lleida, receiving one-third of the city which was thenceforward of his dominion. He was a patron of several religious establishments, including Solsona Cathedral as well as the Monastery of Santa María de Retuerta in Valladolid which had been founded by his father-in-law, Pedro Ansurez. On 24 March 1144, Count Ermengol drafted his will and named several executors, including his wife Elvira and his father-in-law, Count Rodrigo González de Lara. Even though he asked to be buried at Solsona Cathedral, when he died in the Kingdom of Castile on 20 June 1154, he was buried at the Monastery of Santa María de Valbuena, founded by his sister Stephanie, the widow of Fernando García de Hita and Rodrigo González de Lara.


Marriages and issue

Before August 1126, he married Arsenda de Cabrera, daughter of Guerau II de Cabrera, first viscount of Ager, and sister of
Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera (''floruit'' 1105–1162), called Ponç Guerau (or Grau) in Catalan or Pons in Occitan, was a Catalan nobleman, courtier and military leader in the kingdoms of León and Castile. Ponce came to León in the entourage o ...
. They divorced and she married as her second husband Galcerán de Sales, son of Arnaldo Iohannis, with whom she had a son, also named Galcerán de Sales, who died with his half-brother, Ermengol VII. Ermengol and Arsenda were the parents of: * Ermengol VII, who succeeded his father as count of Urgell. He married a second time, before September 1135, to Elvira Rodríguez, daughter of Count Rodrigo González de Lara and Sancha of Castile, an illegitimate daughter of King
Alfonso VI of León Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
. To this union were born: * María, better known as Maria de Almenara, lady of
Miranda de Ebro Miranda de Ebro (Spanish: iˈɾan̪da ðe ˈeβɾo is a city on the Ebro river in the province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is located in the north-eastern part of the province, on the border with the prov ...
, Almenara and Palazuelos de la Sierra, the wife of Lope López de Vizcaya, a natural son of Count Lope Díaz I de Haro. Maria was buried at the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas. * Isabel de Urgel. In 1152, Ermengol and his wife Elvira negotiated the marriage of this daughter with Ramon Folc III of Cardona.


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Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Urgell, Ermengol Vi Of 1096 births 1154 deaths Counts of Urgell People from Valladolid 12th-century Catalan people