Ramon Borrell (, ; 972–1017) was

count of Barcelona The count of Barcelona (, , , ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, Usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality of Catalonia as Prince#Prince as generic for ruler, p ...

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

and

Ausona The County of Osona, also Ausona (, ; ), 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 corresponding diocese, whose territory was ro ...

from 992. He was the son of

Borrell II of Barcelona Borrell II (died 993) was the count of Barcelona, Girona and Ausona from 945 and count of Urgell from 948. Borrell was first seen acting as count during the reign of his father Sunyer II in 945 at the consecration of the nunnery church of Sa ...

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 (), nicknamed al-Manṣūr (, "the Victorious"), which is often Latinized as Almanzor in Spanish, Almansor in Catalan language, Catalan and Almançor in Portuguese ( 938 – 8 A ...

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

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

. 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 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 and Bernard I of Besalú, 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 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 The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

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 Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in Ponent, Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Catalonia (Spain), situated on a high plain. Historically, the name referred to a larger area than the current comarca. It has a continental cl ...

Conca de Barberà Conca de Barberà () is a comarca (county) in the region of Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. Its total area is , and its capital is Montblanc. At its creation in 1936, it contained 23 municipalities, but in 1990, several of these were amal ...

and

Camp de Tarragona Camp de Tarragona () is a Natural region, natural and historical region, as well as one of the nine Vegueries of Catalonia, regions (''vegueries'') of Catalonia. It is the third most populated region, with 536,453 inhabitants as of 2022. The re ...

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

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, 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 to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

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

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of his mother. He was reportedly buried in the

Barcelona Cathedral The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia (), also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. The cathedral was constructed from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, with the principa ...

, but his grave was lost.

Marriage and children

In 991, Ramon married Ermesinde of Carcassonne, 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 guarde ...

, and, secondly,

García Sánchez III of Pamplona García Sánchez III (; 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 Nájera (, ) was King of ...

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramon Borrell, 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