Aleran (Barcelona)

Aleran (* around 800 ; † 852 ) was a Frankish nobleman and from 844 to 852 together with Isembart Count of Barcelona . Other sources do not name 844, but 848 or 850 as the year of his inauguration.

origin

Little is known about its origin. It is believed that he was the son of Count Wilhelm von Blois and nephew of Count Odo von Orléans ( Charles the Bald's father-in-law ).

He harbored a deep family enmity with the noble family Wilhelm of Septimania , the son of Bernhard , the causes of which are not known.

title

820 to 852 Count of Troyes (?)
848 to 852 Count of Barcelona , Empúries and County of Roussillon and Margrave of Septimania

Life

Aleran was sent by Emperor Ludwig the Pious in 820 as Missus dominicus ("King's Messenger") to the county of Troyes and possibly also appointed count. Under Charles the Bald, Aleran, loyal to the emperor, took part in the siege and conquest of Toulouse in 849 .

Thereupon, in the Imperial Assembly of Narbonne, Charlemagne commissioned Aleran to pacify the Spanish Mark . There William of Septimania joined the rebellious Pepin II of Aquitaine and seized the counties of Barcelona and Empúries.

Contrary to the previous idea of choosing a nobleman of Gothic origin, he appointed Aleran Count of Barcelona and of Empúries- Rosselló , and Margrave of Septimania . Since this should also keep Wilhelm in check, he placed a co-count with Isembart , a son of Wilhelm's adversary Warin von Burgund, at his side . At the same time, the later Wilfried I of Girona received the counties of Girona and Besalú , and Salomon the counties of Cerdanya , Urgell and Conflent.

Except in Barcelona, Aleran had no major difficulties in asserting his position in the counties. There Wilhelm of Septimania called the Emir of Cordoba , Abd ar-Rahman II. To help. When, in February 850, Charles the Bald was bound by an uprising under the Basque Count Sancho in the western Pyrenees, Wilhelm took the opportunity and conquered Barcelona and Empúries with the help of Moorish troops, took Aleran and Isembart temporarily prisoner and besieged Girona - albeit unsuccessfully. Large stretches of land were devastated. Karl then sent reinforcements and Wilhelm had to retreat to Barcelona, where he was captured and executed by nobles loyal to the emperor.

In order to avenge the death of their ally , the Arabs attacked Barcelona in 851–852 and conquered the city. They plundered the city several times and partly expelled the population before they withdrew again. Aleran may have died in the course of these fighting. Isembart then ruled alone until the emperor named Odalric as his successor in 852 .

In the summer of 852, a treaty restored peace.

Individual evidence

↑ Nelson, Lynn (trans): The chronicle of San Juan de la Pena; A Fourteenth-Century Official History of the Crown of Aragon, p. 106; available on google books .
^ Kienast, Walter: The Franconian vassal; from the house fights to Ludwig the Child and Charles the Simple; Frankfurt aM: Klostermann; 1990, footnote 1097 (p. 323); available on google books .

predecessor	Office	successor
William of Septimania	Count of Barcelona 850–852	Odalric

personal data
SURNAME	Aleran
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Frankish nobleman, together with Isembart Count of Barcelona (849–852)
DATE OF BIRTH	around 800
DATE OF DEATH	852

[1] Nelson, Lynn (trans): The chronicle of San Juan de la Pena; A Fourteenth-Century Official History of the Crown of Aragon, p. 106; available on google books .

[2] Kienast, Walter: The Franconian vassal; from the house fights to Ludwig the Child and Charles the Simple; Frankfurt aM: Klostermann; 1990, footnote 1097 (p. 323); available on google books .