Ermengol or Armengol VIII (1158–1208), known as el de Sant Hilari ("the one from Sant Hilari") was the

count of Urgell This is a list of the counts of Urgell, a county of the Principality of Catalonia in the 10th through 13th centuries. {{circa, 798–870 Counts appointed by the Carolingians *798–820 Borrell, count of Urgell and Cerdanya *820–824 Aznar ...

from 1184 until his death. He was a son of Ermengol VII and Dulce, daughter of Roger III of Foix. In 1178, he married

Elvira of Subirats Elvira de Subirats (died 1220), was an Andorran regent. She was the regent of the County of Urgell during the minority of her daughter Aurembiaix in 1209-1220. She married Arnaud I of Castelbon and became the mother of Aurembiaix. After Arnaud ...

, with whom he had an only daughter,

Aurembiaix Aurembiaix (or Aurembiax) (1196–1231) was the Countess of Urgell from 1208, the last of her dynasty. She was the only child of Ermengol VIII and Elvira of Subirats. In 1206, Ermengol asked Peter II of Aragon to defend the right of his daughter ...

.The origins of Elvira have been subject to recent scholarly re-evaluation. She was once identified as the daughter of

Manrique Pérez de Lara Manrique Pérez de Lara (died 1164) was a magnate of the Kingdom of Castile and its regent from 1158 until his death. He was a leading figure of the House of Lara and one of the most important counsellors and generals of three successive Castilian ...

, but Canal Sánchez-Pagín showed that Ermengol's wife was Elvira Pérez, daughter of

Pedro Alfonso ''Pulcher ut Absalon, virtute potens quasi Sanson, instructisque bonis, documenta tenet Salomonis''. " edrois handsome as Absalom, as strong as Samson, and he possesses the wisdom of Solomon." —''Poema de Almería' ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

. However, Sánchez de Mora has presented evidence that Aurembiaix was close kin to the Lara family and suggests that a documented countess Elvira Nuñez de Lara, daughter of

Nuño Pérez de Lara Nuño Pérez de Lara (died 3 August 1177) was a Castilian nobleman, politician and military leader. He began his career at the court of the Emperor Alfonso VII, during whose reign he took part in the ''repoblación'' of the Extremadura and the d ...

, was in fact a second wife of Ermengol whom he married after the death of Elvira Pérez, and that Aurembiaix was her daughter. Sánchez de Mora, pp. 300–305. During his reign, the decline of his house was initiated at the hands of the viscounts of

Àger Àger (; ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Noguera in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the north-west of the ''comarca'', and the territory of the municipality stretches between the Noguera Ribagorçana and Noguera Pallaresa rive ...

. In 1206, a period of disorder commenced owing to the ambitions of Guerau IV of Cabrera, who disputed the right of Aurembiaix to succeed. Ermengol extracted a promise from

Peter II of Aragon Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213. Background Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon, Sancha ...

to defend the rights of his widow and daughter.

Notes

Sources

*Chaytor, H. J.
A History of Aragon and Catalonia
'. London: Methuen, 1933. *Sánchez de Mora, Antonio. ''La Nobleza Castella en la Plena Edad Media: El Linaje de Lara (ss. XI-XIII)'' Doctoral Thesis, Universidad de Sevilla, 2003. 1158 births 1208 deaths Counts of Urgell {{Europe-noble-stub