Sunyer, Count of Barcelona
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Sunyer (c. 870 – 950) 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 911 to 947.


Origins

He was the son of
Wilfred the Hairy {{Infobox noble, type , name = Wilfred , title = Count of Barcelona , image = Wilfredo el Velloso 01.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = Statue in Madrid, L. S. Carmona, 1750–53 , al ...
and younger brother of the previous count of Barcelona,
Wilfred II Borrel Wilfred II (or Borrell I) (''Wifredo II Borrell I'' in Spanish) (''Guifré II Borrell I'' in Catalan), also known as "Wifred" and/or "Borrel", was count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 897 to 911, after his father, Wilfred I the Hairy. His ...
. He worked jointly with his brother in the government of the counties held by their father after his death in 897. He did not reign independently until his brother's death in 911.


Family conflict

However, on the death of his uncle, Count Radulf I of Besalú, in 913 or 920, a conflict emerged between Sunyer and his brother Count Miró II of Cerdanya over the succession of the
County of Besalú The County of Besalú ( ca, Comtat de Besalú, ; la, Comitatus Bisuldunensis) was one of the landlocked medieval Catalan counties near the Mediterranean coastline. It was roughly coterminous with the modern ''comarca'' of Garrotxa and at various t ...
. In exchange for the total renunciation of all claims on 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 ...
, Sunyer gave up his claim on Besalú. Sunyer was apparently married by 917, and later appears with wife
Richilda of Toulouse Richilda (born c. 895) was Countess of Barcelona, Girona and Ausona from at least 917 to her husband's retirement in 947. She appears in record as married to Sunyer, Count of Barcelona for the first time in 917 but may have been sooner. She is ...
, speculated to have been a daughter of the
Count of Rouergue This is a list of the counts of Rouergue. * Sigisbert c. 790 – c. 810 or 820 * Fulcoald c. 810 or 820 – c. 836 or 849 * Raymond I c. 836 or 849 – 864 * Fredelo c. 836 or 849 – 852 (associated with Raymond) * Bernard the ...
based on the introduction of novel names into the family. They had four sons and a daughter: Ermengol, Miró,
Borrell Borrell () is a common surname in modern Catalan language, and was also a given name in the past. It can refer to: * Alfons Borrell i Palazón (born 1931), Catalan painter * Andrea Borrell (born 1963), Cuban basketball player * Borrell of Ausona ( ...
, Adelaide (also called Bonafilla), and Wifred. Ermengol, the eldest, governed the
county of Osona 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 corre ...
during his father's lifetime. He died on 21 August between 939 and 943 in a battle near Baltarga, possibly against the
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and  ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
.David González Ruiz, ''Breve historia de la Corona de Aragón'' (Nowtilus, 2012), p. 38.


Politics

Sunyer made important efforts with domestic politics, protected the church and strengthened its institutions by giving it more land and income. He also continued to encourage the repopulation of the county of Ausona. He abandoned the defensive stance adopted by his predecessors and took up the fight actively against the
Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...
states to the south. Battles were fought at
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 ...
and
Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
. At the same time he managed to retain diplomatic relations with Córdoba, which had increasingly lost control of its northern provinces. In 912,
Muhammad al-Tawil Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tawil ( ar, محمد بن عبد الملك الطويل, died 913 or 914) was a Muwallad Wāli of Huesca and a prominent Muslim lord in the Upper March ( ar, الثغر الأعلى , ''Aṯ-Ṯaḡr al-Aʿlà'') o ...
, the
Wāli ''Wāli'', ''Wā'lī'' or ''vali'' (from ar, والي ''Wālī'') is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim World (including the Caliphate and Ottoman Empire) to designate governors of administrative divisions. It is still in us ...
of
Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...
and
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 ...
, attacked and destroyed the Barcelonian army under Sunyer in the
Tàrrega Tàrrega is a town and municipality located in the Urgell comarca, Province of Lleida, Catalonia. According to the 2020 census ( Statistical Institute of Catalonia), the town has a population of 17,445. The village has a Mediterranean climate wi ...
valley. However Sunyer's counterattack in 914 successfully pushed them back and resulted in the death of al-Tawil. He subsequently repopulated the county of
Penedès Penedès () is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the south of the Principality of Catalonia between the pre-coastal mountain range (''Serralada Pre-litoral'') and the Mediterranean Sea. The comarcal division of ...
, which had been the scene of many conflicts between the Frankish and Muslim empires, as far as
Olèrdola Olèrdola is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the northern side of the Garraf massif, and the highest point of the municipality is the '' Puig de l'Àliga'' at 468 m. Olèrdola cas ...
(929). From 936 to 937 he led an expedition against the
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
. As a result of this successful campaign many of the enemy forces were killed, including the
Qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
of
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
. The Moors temporarily abandoned
Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
(which became a
no-man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
), while
Tortosa Tortosa (; ) is the capital of the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buin ...
was forced to pay a tribute to the count. This gain was short-lived however, as
Abd ar-Rahman III ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Rabdī ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil () or ʿAbd al-Rahmān III (890 - 961), was the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 92 ...
sent envoys and a fleet to Barcelona in 940, forcing Sunyer into a subservient alliance and to abandon a marriage pact he had reached with king
García Sánchez I of Pamplona García Sánchez I (Basque: ''Gartzea I.a Santxez''; c. 919 – 22 February 970), was the king of Pamplona from 925 until his death in 970. He was the second king of the Jiménez dynasty, succeeding his father when he was merely six years old. ...
, who was to marry (or had already married) Sunyer's daughter. In 947 Sunyer retired to monastic life and ceded the government of his realms to his sons: Borrell II and Miró I. He died in the Monastery of La Grassa (in
Conflent Conflent () is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent. The capital of this ''pays'' is Prades ( ca, Prada de Conf ...
) in 950.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunyer, Count of Barcelona 870s births 950 deaths Year of birth uncertain Burials at Santa Maria de Ripoll 10th-century people from the County of Barcelona 10th-century Visigothic people