Reverter I de La Guardia (died 1142 or 1144), viscount of Barcelona, was a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

adventurer and military leader who defended the

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

caliphate in North Africa against the

Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fou ...

onslaught. He was the son of Guislabert II, viscount of

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 ...

, a title, which at that time, had lost much of its prestige. He married a woman known as Ermesindis and had several sons with her. During his long absence from the county, his nephew, Guillem, appears to have ruled in his name over his estates. As a

feudatory A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

of the count of Barcelona, he is believed to have been captured by the Almoravids during a battle along the

Ebro river , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

in the 1120s, probably 1126. He remained a prisoner of war in North Africa for about a decade until the emergence of the Almohad threat in the Maghrib al-Aqsa induced the emir,

Ali ibn Yusuf Ali ibn Yusuf (also known as "Ali Ben Youssef") () (born 1084 died 26 January 1143) was the 5th Almoravid emir. He reigned from 1106–1143. Biography Ali ibn Yusuf was born in 1084 in Ceuta. He was the son of Yusuf ibn T ...

, to levy a troop of mercenaries among the captive Spanish soldiers (c.1132). Reverter agreed to lead this force, with the express permission of the count of Barcelona. Reverter and his Christian mercenaries appear to have been very successful at stemming the advance of the Almohads for several years. The Catalan knight may even have been entrusted with the command of the entire Almoravid army but he was killed in battle in 1142 or 1144, possibly near

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the p ...

, and his corpse was crucified by the

Zenata The Zenata ( Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Etymology ''Iznaten ( ...

s. After his death, the Almoravid emirate crumbled rapidly. Two of his sons seem to have fought alongside Reverter in the armies of the caliph. Berenguer became the new viscount at the death of his father and returned in Spain and Abu-l-Hasan who took the command of the Christian contingent before converting to Islam. The life of Reverter illustrates two important trends of the period: the expansionist policies of the counts of Barcelona over the Western Mediterranean and the tendency of medieval warriors to easily cross religious lines to find employment.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guardia, Reverter de La 1140s deaths 12th-century Roman Catholics 12th-century people from the County of Barcelona Military history of Spain People of the Reconquista Catalan nobility Spanish knights Spanish Roman Catholics Medieval Barcelona Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain

See also

Notes