Ramon Borrell ( ca, Ramon Borrell, es, Ramón Borrell; 972–1017) was

count 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 of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

and

Ausona The County of Osona, also Ausona ( ca, Comtat d'Osona, ; la, Comitatus Ausonae), was one of the Catalan counties of the ''Marca Hispanica'' in the Early and High Middle Ages. It was based around the capital city of Vic (''Vicus'') and the corresp ...

from 992. He was the son of Borrell II of Barcelona and Letgarda of Rouergue, and was associated with his father in ruling the counties from 988.

Biography

Between 1000 and 1002 Ramon had to deal with a number of incursions by

Almanzor Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri ( ar, أبو عامر محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي عامر المعافري), nicknamed al-Manṣūr ( ar, المنصور, "the Victorious"), which is often Latiniz ...

. However, Almanzor died in 1002, and seeing an opportunity Ramon counter-attacked in 1003 leading an expedition to

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

. This prompted a new raid on the county of Barcelona by Almanzor's son, Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar. This was defeated by an alliance of Christian forces at the Battle of Torà. Ramon was also present at the

Battle of Albesa According to Catalan historian Ramon d'Abadal i de Vinyals, the battle was the:. . . product of a Catalan offensive in which the bishop Berengar of Elna met his death. . . in the middle of a preventative war targetting the latent threat of ‘Abd al ...

shortly thereafter. In 1010, with the Cordoban Caliphate crumbling into civil war, Ramon saw another opportunity. He organised a campaign, assisted by the bishop of Vic and Sal·la, bishop of Urgell, against the Caliphate with

Ermengol I of Urgell Ermengol (or Armengol) I (974–1010), called ''el de Córdoba'', was the Count of Urgell from 992 to his death. He was the second son of Borrell II of Barcelona and his first wife, Letgarda. He was the second of the counts of Urgell and famous ma ...

and

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

, and joined forces with Muhammad II of Córdoba. Their army destroyed the forces of Caliph Sulayman II and sacked Córdoba in May 1010, although Ermengol died as a result of the battle. Both Arnulf, of bishop of Vic and Sal·la, bishop of Urgell died on this campaign. On 2 June 1010, Ramon participated in the

Battle of Aqbat al-Bakr The Battle of Aqbat al-Bakr (2 June 1010) was a battle of the Fitna of al-Andalus that took place in the area in and around Espiel, Spain. The battle took place between the forces of the Caliphate of Cordoba, whose forces were commanded by Su ...

on the side of the Muslim rebels as part of the Andalusian civil wars. In 1015 and 1016 Ramon made further expeditions to the rivers

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

and Segre. The treasure obtained from these campaigns maintained the loyalty of his barons. Within the County of Barcelona he ensured the repopulation of the

Segarra Segarra () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain, situated on a high plain. Historically, the name referred to a larger area than the current comarca. It has a continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers, and between 350 and 450&n ...

Conca de Barberà Conca de Barberà () is a comarca (county) in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. Its total area is . At its creation in 1936, it contained 23 municipalities, but in 1990, several of these were amalgamated; Rojals was combined with Mon ...

and

Camp de Tarragona Camp de Tarragona () is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain. It includes a central plain, surrounded by the Serralada Prelitoral mountain chain on the west and in the north, with the Mediterranean sand beaches of the Costa Daur ...

. He was also the first Catalan ruler to mint his own

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

age. At his death in 1017, he was succeeded by his son Berenguer Ramon under the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of his mother. He was reportedly buried in the

Barcelona Cathedral The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia ( ca, Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia), also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The cathedral was constru ...

, but his grave was lost.

Marriage and children

In 991, Ramon married

Ermesinde of Carcassonne Ermesinde of Carcassonne (ca. 975/8 – 1 March 1058) was Countess consort of Barcelona, Girona and Osona by marriage to Ramon Borrell, Count of Barcelona. She served as regent in these counties during the minority of her son Berenguer Ram ...

, with whom he had: *Borrell Ramon * Berenguer Ramon ( 1006) * Etienette (Stephanie), who married, firstly,

Roger I of Tosny Roger I of Tosny or Roger of Hispania (died c. 1040) was a Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny who took part in the Reconquista of Iberia. Career Roger was the son of Raoul I of Tosny, seigneur de Conches. In 1013, Roger and his father Raoul ...

, and, secondly,

García Sánchez III of Pamplona García Sánchez III ( eu, Gartzea III.a Sanoitz; 1012 – 1 September 1054),''Europäische Stammtafeln'': II #56, III.1 #145; Moriarty, ''Plantagenet Ancestry of King Edward III and Queen Philippa of Hainault'', p80, 109 nicknamed García from ...

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borrell, Ramon, Count of Barcelona Counts of Barcelona Burials at Barcelona Cathedral 1017 deaths 972 births 10th-century people from the County of Barcelona 11th-century people from the County of Barcelona