Berà

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The domain of Berá and Gauzhelm (Gaucelm).

Berà (* 770 ?; † 844 in Rouen ) was a Visigoth nobleman in today's Catalonia and from 801 to 820 first Count of Barcelona and Margrave of Gothien .

Origin and descendants

His father was Count Wilhelm of Aquitaine , his mother Kunigunde († before 795), Wilhelm's first wife

His siblings were

  • Gerberga (Gerbich) († 834)

From his father's second marriage to Witberga (also Witburgis or Guitburga) († before 795) he had half-siblings

Berà married a Gothic noblewoman named Romilla.

Progeny:

title

Life

From 790, William of Aquitaine entrusted Berà with the administration of the Counties of Rasès and Conflent . Wilhelm transferred the administration of the county of Roussillon and Ampurias to his other son Gauzhelm.

The conquest of Barcelona

Since 796 ruled Moorish Wali Sadun al-Ruayni in Barcelona . From the beginning he was an opponent of the Emir of Cordoba . In April 797 he called in Aachen and offered Charlemagne to hand over his city. The prerequisite is that the latter leave him in power and support him in the fight against Córdoba. A meeting in Toulouse in the spring of 800 then decided on a campaign to Barcelona, ​​which Charles' son Louis the Pious (then Viceroy of Aquitaine ) was to lead together with other nobles. Among them were Count Rostany of Girona , Count Ademar of Narbonne and Duke William of Aquitaine from the County of Toulouse . They moved out and awaited the handover of the city and rule over the entire region.

Arc de Berà on Via Augusta
(on today's national road N340)

Sadun refused to hand over the city and it was besieged by the Franks. While attempting to escape to Cordoba, Sadun was captured. Harun took his place in Barcelona. The city's population went hungry and eventually the Gothic Christians surrendered Harun in April 801. The following day, Louis the Pious marched into Barcelona. Shortly afterwards, Berà, who had taken part in the campaign with his father, was appointed Count of Barcelona (and margrave , since he ruled over a border region).

The county of Barcelona initially extended to the so-called Arc de Berà , a Roman triumphal arch on today's national road N340, between the places Roda de Berà and Creixell . This arch from 13 BC Chr. Received its common name today after Berà. But soon the Franks had to withdraw the boundaries of the county to the Llobregat on the southern outskirts of today's Barcelona. These did not change during the entire 9th and 10th centuries.

The campaigns to Tortosa

Berà was heavily influenced by his Gothic mother. Therefore, it is believed that he stood for peace with the Moors and thus had the majority of the Gothic mighty in Barcelona behind him. Nevertheless, he had to take part in campaigns by the Franks in the direction of the Ebro , which would have formed a natural line of defense.

Ludwig the Pious led the first campaign in 804. After reaching Tarragona , they split into two trains. Ludwig moved on towards Tortosa . The second platoon, led by Berà, Ademar of Narbonne and Borrell , Count of Osona, was supposed to protect the western flank and attack Tortosa from the south. Berà crossed the Ebro near the confluence of the Cinca , but the attacks of the Moors forced him to retreat. He succeeded in joining Ludwig, who had been besieging Tortosa for eight days without success. Together they retreated north.

In 808 Berà took part in another campaign. This was led by Ingobert , a general of Charlemagne, whom Ludwig sent to conquer south of Barcelona. Ludwig himself stayed in Aquitaine. Ingobert followed the same tactics as 804 and divided his troops. He led his troops in the direction of Tortosa, the other part, led by Berà and Ademar, had to bypass Tortosa to the west and attack the city from the south. Berà's troops secretly crossed the Ebro in boats and the horses swam across the river. Their excrement, however, was driven by the current to Tortosa and discovered there. The town's Wali then attacked Berà and Ademar, who managed to join Ingobert's troops with few losses. They retreated together.

The third campaign took place in the following year (809) and was again led by Ludwig the Pious. He was accompanied by Frankish nobles such as Isembard, Heribert, Liutard and others, as well as by local troops under Margrave Berà. They took siege equipment to Tortosa and besieged the city for 40 days. However, the siege had to be lifted when Moorish troops intervened under the Emir of Cordoba , Abd ar-Rahman II . The Franks were crushed.

armistice

After this renewed defeat, Berà's proposals were heard at court and Charlemagne in 812 accepted an armistice for a period of three years.

William of Aquitaine died on May 18, 812 and Berà inherited the counties of Rasès and Conflent, whose governor his father had appointed him in 790. Shortly afterwards, Berà entrusted the administration of these counties to his eldest son Guillemó.

When the ceasefire expired in 815, the fighting began again against the Moors who attacked Barcelona under Ubayd Allah , the uncle of the Emir Al-Hakam I. But when an army, possibly composed of Goths from the area, appeared in front of the town, they had to break off the attack and retreat. This victory increased the reputation of Berà, whose relations with the Gothic nobility must have been excellent. When Count Odilo of Girona and Besalú died in 817 (or already 812?) , These counties went to Berà.

In November 816, the Wali traveled from Saragossa to Aachen to negotiate a new armistice with the Frankish Empire. This was agreed in 817, again for a period of three years. During these three years, the policy of the Franks suffered serious defeats. In Pamplona in 817 the Basques allied themselves with the Moors under Banu Qasi from the Ebro Valley and took power. And in Aragon, Galindo Garcés (called "the bad one") forced the Frankish vassal Count Aznar I. Galíndez to flee around 820 . He then allied himself with Pamplona.

These defeats took advantage of political and personal enemies and blamed Berà, who was a supporter of the armistice, responsible. They viewed the ceasefire as detrimental to the country's interests. The war advocates were led by his stepbrothers Gauzhelm and Bernhard , the later Duke of Septimania.

Deposition and death of Berà

In 820 Berá was summoned to the Imperial Assembly in Aachen . Gauzhelm had sent his governor, the Goth Sanila, to bring a formal charge against the Count of Barcelona. He accused him of infidelity and treason. The question of guilt was - as was common at the time - cleared up immediately by a duel on horseback ( court battle ), the origin of the later tournaments . Bera, no longer the youngest, was beaten by Sanila. This defeat confirmed the allegations. But although this amounted to a death sentence, Emperor Louis the Pious, who did not consider Berà a traitor , overturned the sentence and banished him to Rouen , where he died in 844.

Its possessions were divided. The counties of Barcelona, ​​Girona and Besalú were transferred to the Franks Rampó , who did not belong to any of the contending parties in Gothien. The counties of Rasès and Conflent received Berà's son Guillemó, who had administered these areas since 812 or 813.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
--- Count of Barcelona
801-820 		Rampó
Odilo Count of Girona
812 or 817–820 		Rampó
personal data
SURNAME Berà
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catalan nobleman, first Count of Barcelona
DATE OF BIRTH around 770
DATE OF DEATH 844
Place of death Rouen