Llegenda de Guifré el Pilós - Gesta Comitum Barchinonensium

The ''Gesta comitum Barcinonensium et regum Aragoniae'' ("Deeds of the counts of Barcelona and kings of Aragon") is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

chronicle composed in three stages by some monks of

Santa Maria de Ripoll The Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll is a Benedictine monastery, built in the Romanesque style, located in the town of Ripoll in Catalonia, Spain. Although much of the present church is 19th century rebuilding, the sculptured portico is a renown ...

and recounting the reigns of the

Counts of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality ...

from Wifred I (878–97) to James II (1291–1327), as late as 1299. It is the fawning history of the

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

known as 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 ...

. In presenting 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 ...

as the descendants of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

, the monks sought to justify their independent policy with respect to the King of France, their nominal sovereign. The ''Gesta'' is the chronological backbone. The first composition was made between 1162 and 1184 and ended with the reign of Raymond Berengar IV (1131–62). In the late thirteenth century it was continued through the reign of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

(1213–76). An abridged version in the

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern ...

was produced sometime between 1268 and 1283. The final Latin version was edited in 1303–14 and included the reigns of Peter the Great (1276–87), Alfonso the Generous (1287–91), and James II. Except for the first composition, all surviving versions are later copies, today preserved in the

Archive of the Crown of Aragon The General Archive of the Crown of Aragon (Catalan: ''Arxiu General de la Corona d'Aragó''), originally Royal Archives of Barcelona (Catalan: ''Arxiu Reial de Barcelona''), is an archive containing the background documents of the institutions ...

, in the

National Library of Catalonia The Library of Catalonia ( ca, Biblioteca de Catalunya, ) is the Catalan national library, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The primary mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalan bibliographic producti ...

and in the

National Library of France National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. A copy of one of the latter was taken to France by

Pierre de Marca Pierre de Marca (24 January 1594 – 29 June 1662) was a French bishop and historian, born at Gan in Béarn of a family distinguished in the magistracy. His family was known among judicial circles in the 16th century, and maintained the ...

and published in 1688 by

Étienne Baluze Étienne Baluze (24 November 1630 – 28 July 1718) was a French scholar and historiographer, also known as Stephanus Baluzius. Biography Born in Tulle, he was educated at his native town, at the Jesuit college, where he studied the Arts. H ...

Editions

*Lluís Barrau-Dihigo and Jaume Massó Torrents, edd. ''Gesta Comitum Barcinonensium''. ''Cróniques Catalanes'', II. Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 1925. Included are the first composition known as ‘redacció primitiva’ (BnF), a ‘redacció definitiva’ of a century later (BnF), and a Catalan edition. *Stefano M. Cingolani (ed.), Robert Álvarez Masalias (trad.), ''Gestes dels comtes de Barcelona i reis d'Arago'' - ''Gesta comitum Barchinone et regum Aragonie'', Santa Coloma de Queralt, Obrador Edèndum - Publicacions URV, 2012.

References

*Nathaniel L. Taylor
"Inheritance of Power in the House of Guifred the Hairy: Contemporary Perspectives on the Formation of a Dynasty."
''The Experience of Power in Medieval Europe, 950–1350: Essays in Honor of Thomas N. Bisson''. Robert F. Berkhofer III, Alan Cooper, and Adam J. Kosto, edd. Ashgate, 2005, pp. 129–51.

External links

''Gesta comitum Barcinonensium et regnum Aragonum'' at Històries de Catalunya
(with facsimiles of parchments

''Gesta comitum Barcinonensium'' at Literatura catalana medieval
{{Authority control 12th-century Latin books 13th-century Latin books 14th-century Latin books