The County of Pallars Sobirà or (Pallás) Sobirá, meaning Upper Pallars, was a county in the Hispanic Marches during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, long after the march had ceased to be effectively administered by the

Kings of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the fir ...

. It was a division of the

County of Pallars The County of Pallars or Pallás ( ca, Comtat de Pallars, ; la, Comitatus Pallariensis) was a ''de facto'' independent petty state, nominally within the Carolingian Empire and then West Francia during the ninth and tenth centuries, perhaps one of t ...

, which had been ''de facto'', and possible ''de jure'', independent since the late ninth century. It roughly corresponded with the modern Catalan comarca of

Pallars Sobirà Pallars Sobirà () is a comarca (comparable to a county or shire in much of the English-speaking world) in the mountainous northwest of Catalonia, Spain. The name means "Upper Pallars", distinguishing it from the more populous (and less mountain ...

Division and war in Pallars

In 1011, Sunyer of Pallars died and by his testament his county was divided between his sons, the eldest, Raymond III, receiving Pallars Jussà and the younger, William II, receiving Pallars Sobirà. Pallars Sobirà comprised the original heartland of the county of Pallars: the upper valley of the

Noguera Pallaresa The Noguera Pallaresa (; oc, Noguèra Palharesa, ) is a river in Catalonia, Spain. It is named after the Pallars region. Course Its source is at ''Era Font d'era Noguereta'' in the municipality of Naut Aran (Aran Valley) at an elevation of a ...

. By the year 1000, the economic and social centre of Pallars was located in Pallars Jussà. It was wealthier than Pallars Sobirà and capable of expansion in the

Reconquista The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the N ...

against the Muslim territory to its south. During the eleventh century, the comital power in Pallars Jussà was violently reduced by the incessant attacks of Artau I of Pallars Sobirà in alliance with Ermengol III of Urgell. Because Pallars Jussà was so much richer and populous than the poor and mountainous Pallars Sobirà, the nobles of the latter country designed to eliminate the authority of Raymond IV in the former country. Artau himself was barely a count, rather more like the war leader of a band of powerful feudatories whose objective was the pillage of the wealthier rural communities of the lower territories of Pallars Jussà and the repeal of their rights of tax exemption and other immunities. The peasants of Pallars Sobirà were heavily burdened by arbitrary exactions, forced labour, and military service. The barons had the right to exact ''toltae'', ''forciae'', and ''usatici'', that is, "customary levies."Freedman, 109. In the ensuing war, Raymond IV lost most of his fortresses, including his capital, Segur, to Sobirà. However peace was established between the two countries and Raymond regained his position after Artau's death. Artau's son, Artau II (1081–1124), is recorded as never having fought with his relatives of Pallars Jussà.

High Middle Ages

Pallars Sobirà was isolated high in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

and of no importance to affairs in Catalonia on a larger scale. Artau III and Artau IV are barely more than names and neither they nor their successors took part in the succession to the county of Pallars Jussà before it passed to 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, heredi ...

in 1192. By 1199, Pallars Sobirà was inherited by a woman, Guillelma, who sold her county to her husband, Roger of Comminges, and retired to a convent.

List of counts

House of Pallars

* William II (1011–1035) * Bernard II (1035–1049) * Artau I (1049–1081) * Artau II (1081–1124) * Artau III (1124–1167) * Artau IV (1167–1180/1182) * Bernard III (1180/1182–1199) * Guillemina (1199–1229)

House of Comminges (or Couserans)

Roger I Roger I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Roger I of Carcassonne (died 1012), Count of Carcassonne * Roger I of Tosny (), Norman noble * Roger I "de Berkeley" (died 1093), Norman noble, possibly the son of Roger I of Tosny - see Baron ...

(1229–1240) *

Roger II Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in ...

(1240–1256) * Arnau Roger I (1256–1288) * Raymond Roger I (1288–1295) * Sibil·la (1295–1330)

House of Mataplana

* Arnau Roger II (1330–1343) * Raymond Roger II (1343–1350) * Hugh Roger I (1350–1366) * Arnau Roger III (1366–1369) * Hugh Roger II (1369–1416) * Roger Bernard I (1416–1424) * Bernard Roger I (1424–1442) * Arnau Roger IV (1442–1451) * Hugh Roger III (1451–1487)

Sources

*Freedman, Paul
"Military Orders and Peasant Servitude in Catalonia: Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries."
''The Hispanic American Historical Review'', Vol. 65, No. 1. (Feb., 1985), pp 91–110.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:County Of Pallars Sobira Medieval Catalonia

Pallars