Ribagorza county
The county of Ribagorza (Spanish) or Ribagorça (Catalan) was one of the counties in the area that Carolingian chroniclers of the first half of the 9th century referred to as the Spanish mark of Charlemagne . The county included the valleys of the Ésera , Isábena rivers and much of the basin of the Noguera Ribagorzana River . During the main period of its existence, the county comprised the areas of today's comarcas Ribagorza in Aragon and Alta Ribagorça in Catalonia .
Origins of the county
As part of the conquest of the held by the Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula southern edge of the Pyrenees under Charlemagne, occupied William of Aquitaine the Pallars and the Ribagorza and incorporated it as a pagi its Toulouse county one. In 833 Aznar I. Galíndez , Count of Urgell and the Cerdanya seized these pagi , who were thus withdrawn from the toulous rule. Aznar Galíndez lost the counties Urgel and Cerdanya in 834, which Louis the Pious gave to Sunifred I of Barcelona . In the Pallars and in the Ribagorza he was able to stay until 844, when he was expelled from Toulouse by Fredelon .
In 872, after the assassination of Count Bernhard II by supporters of Bernard Plantevelue , the county of Toulouse fell into a crisis. Bernard Plantevelue was subsequently recognized as a count by Charles the Bald . A local gentleman, Raimund , used the crisis to resolve the areas south of the Pyrenees, Pallars and Ribagorza, from Toulouse and to found their own dynasty of counts. He ruled as Raimund I of Pallars and Ribagorza from 872 to 920. He was the son of Count Lope de Bigorre and great-grandson of Lope Centulo , who had been appointed Duke of the Basques in 818 , who lived mainly in the inner Pyrenees. To secure the independence of his rule, Raimund I tried to set up a diocese in Pallars, which he achieved through the intrigues of the clergyman Esclua . He also tried to find allies against the Counts of Toulouse who wanted to regain their former territory, and therefore approached the Kingdom of Navarre by supporting an overthrow of the throne there in 905, which led to the rule of his nephew Sancho I. Garcés . In Saragossa he strengthened relations with the ruling house of Banu Qasi . However, in 904 the Banu Qasi Lope ibn Muhamad changed his father's policy of understanding and launched an attack on Ribagorza and Pallers. In 907 the Banu Qasi conquered under the leadership of al-Tawil of Huesca Roda de Isábena and Montpedrós in the Ribagorza. Raimund therefore gave up the policy of understanding.
After his death in 920, his rule was divided among his sons. Miró and Bernard Unifred ruled the Ribagorza, while Isarn and Llop ruled the County of Pallars together .
The first dynasty of the Ribagorza
Bernhard Unifred , who was married to Tota, daughter of Galindo II Aznárez , was able to recapture the territories conquered by the Arabs in 907. Since Miró died without children, Raimund II , son of Bernard Unifred and Tota, became the county's sole heir. After the death of Raimund II (970) he was followed by his sons Unifred (970–979), Arnau (979–990) and Isarn (990–1003). After Isarn's death, his sister Tota, who was married to Suñer von Pallars , ruled the county. After she was widowed in 1011, she made her nephew Guillermo (Wilhelm), an illegitimate son of Isarn, co-regent. With the help of his cousin Sancho Garcés , Count of Castile , he was able to repel further attacks by the Muslim rulers. After Guillermo's death in 1017, the Ribagorza became part of the Kingdom of Navarre , which also included the former county of Aragón .
In the course of a dispute with the local ruling class in the Val d'Aran who were against his rule, Count Guillermo died in 1017, leaving no descendants or a designated successor. This created a crisis that the Muslim rulers of Zaragoza used to attack the south and the center of the county. They captured Roda and Santa Liestra .
1018 occupied the king Sancho III. of Navarre , who was married to Mayor, Countess of Castile , a great-granddaughter of Raymond II, called the center of Ribagorza on his own initiative or through local nobles. From this part, which included the area north of the castle of Llaguarres and the central basins of Ésera and Isábena, he waged war against the Muslim rulers. At the same time, Count Raimund III. from Pallars Jussà the northern part of the Ribagorza, i.e. the Vall de Sos and the upper reaches of Ésera and Isábena to the north of Ballabriga and Turbó and the entire basin of the Noguera Ribagorzana river . Raimund III. von Pallars Jussà was in turn married to Major, a granddaughter of Raimund II von Ribagorza. She was the actual ruler
In 1020 Raimund III rejected. from Pallars Jussà his wife, who fled to the north of the Ribagorza. Raimund tried to drive her from there to take her power. She was finally removed from the county after an uprising in 1025, which was given to Sancho III. fell from Navarre. Major retired to Castile, where she became abbess of the monastery of San Miguel de Pedroso . The Ribagorza was now up to the area of the river Noguera Ribagorzana, the Raimund III. held by Pallars Jussà, by Sancho III. controlled.
Under the rule of Aragon
Sancho III. of Navarre, who died in 1035, bequeathed his rule to his sons. Ferdinand received Castile, García Navarra, Gonzalo the Ribagorza and Ramiro I. Aragon. Each of them received the title of king and established an independent kingdom in their rulership.
Gonzalo I died in 1043. His dominions, the Sobrarbe and the Ribagorza, were then incorporated into the realm of Ramiros I, which until then had only included the old county of Aragón , ie the Jacetania .
After the annexation of Navarre by Aragon under Sancho I. Ramírez in 1076 and as a result of the crisis in the Taifa kingdom of Saragossa after the death of King Al-Muqtadir (1081), the Aragonese expansion began. Peter I , son of Sancho I Ramírez, conquered Estada (1087) and Monzón (1089) while his father was still alive , and after his death himself as king (1096–1104) Huesca (1096) and Barbastro (1100). Alfonso I (1104–1134), Peter's brother and successor, continued expansion with the conquest of Saragossa (1118), Tudela and Tarazona . He also tried to take Lleida and Tortosa , but failed because of the alliance of the Emir of Lleida with Raimund Berengar III. from Barcelona . Alfonso I died in 1134 during the siege of Fraga .
After Alfonso's death, his brother Ramiro II the monk (1134–1147) was his successor, as he himself had no descendants. In 1137 Ramiro II betrothed his daughter Petronella of Aragón to Count Raimund Berengar IV of Barcelona . The marriage formed the origin of the Aragon Crown .
The second dynasty of the Ribagorza
The union of Aragon with Catalonia brought with it the necessity of territorial delimitations, which Raimund Berengar IV did not fully deal with during his reign.
In January 1244, James I therefore established the Cinca River as the border between Aragon and Catalonia between the Bielsa Valley and the Ebro . In this way, part of the Ribagorza belonged to Catalonia from then on - despite protests from Aragon. In 1300, however, the Cortes de Aragón Assembly of Estates, convened by James II in Saragossa, decided a chapter, which the king ratified and in which it was established that the County of Ribagorza, Sobrarbe and the Comarca La Litera (including Almacelles ) belong to the Kingdom of Aragon should. As a protest against this chapter, the Cortes de Cataluña in Barcelona passed a resolution to the contrary in 1305 , which declared that the area from Salses to Cinca belonged to Catalonia. Since James II did not ratify this, the Ribagorza remained Aragonese.
Possibly to soften the decision of 1305, Jacob II granted the county of Ribagorza in 1322 with the exception of the baronates Castro and Monclús, the Fueva and the Gistaín and Bielsa valleys and the city of Monzón to his son, the Infante Peter. The new line of the Counts of Ribagorza were vassals of the king who had to participate in the Cortes de Aragón.
This second dynasty of the Counts of Ribagorza consisted of Peter IV (1322-1381), Alfonso IV (1381-1412) and Alfonso V (1412-1425). Alfonso IV and Alfonso V were also dukes of Gandia . Since Alfonso V died without an heir, the county returned to King Alfonso V of Aragon . He granted it to his brother Johann, who became king himself as Johann II in 1458 , to his son Ferdinand, who later became Ferdinand II, the Catholic . In 1469 the Ribagorza finally came to Alfonso de Aragón y Soto , a legitimate son of John II, who was also Duke of Villahermosa and from 1469–1485 as Alfonso VI. ruled by Ribagorza.
County government
The Ribagorzans were not vassals of the count, but feudal men (the difference is only significant in the Spanish context). In patrimonial matters they ruled according to local custom, which was very similar to that of the County of Pallars , or according to the Fueros de Aragón . As a rule, they used the colloquial language of Ribagorzan Aragonese , even in regions where Castilian Spanish is spoken today, and invoked Aragonese law again and again in public correspondence .
The county was ruled by the General Council of Ribagorza, which was composed of representatives from all towns and cities and met in Benabarre on the feast day of St. Vincent of Saragossa (January 22) . In a copper engraving from the 16th century, Bishop Medardus appears as the patron saint of the County of Ribagorza , who was considered to be the rainbringer. Medardus is still the patron saint of Benabarre.
According to an inventory of the villages printed in Saragosse at the end of the 16th century, the county comprised the area from Benasque to Monzón am Cinca and the uninhabited areas of Ráfales in the south of Altorricón and Binéfar . The document also shows that the Count of Ribagorza had his own jurisdiction and kept it in litigation with the Justicia de Aragón .
Likewise, the secular jurisdiction sometimes came into conflict with the Bishop of Lleida , whose territory included more than 100 parishes on Aragonese territory, especially on the county border formed by the right bank of the Noguera Ribagorzana and the villages of Albelda , Altorricón, etc. Until 1571, the entire Ribagorza belonged to the diocese of Lleida and the free jurisdictions of San Beturián and Alaón , before the valley of the Ésera, a large part of the valley basin of the Isábena y and the areas of the basin of the Cinca north of Monzón came to the diocese of Barbastro .
The intervention of Philip II.
During the reign of Count Martin I (1550–1578), there were repeated uprisings in the county because many Ribagorzans preferred to be under direct royal rule. In 1554 the lawyers of the court of Philip II declared the fief to be extinct, but the Supreme Court of Aragon defended the count's rights. In the course of the uprising of Benabarre in 1578, Martin I resigned in favor of his son Ferdinand II, who put down another uprising in Benabarre in 1587. The Ribagorzans, however, continued the uprising with the support of Catalan bandits and the Count of Chinchón . The latter was treasurer of the Consejo de Aragón and enemies with the Counts of Villahermosa.
These uprisings eventually led to open armed conflicts between supporters of the count and supporters of the king. They took place at the same time as the Alteraciones de Aragón . Finally, in 1591, Philip II forced Ferdinand II to resign against a compensation payment, whereupon the county fell back to the crown.
The end of the county
In 1633 Philip IV granted the city of Graus a second Justicia for the Ribagorza and separated its jurisdiction from that of Benabarres.
The Ribagorza took part in the Aragonese uprisings against Philip IV until the Aragonese army was finally defeated in Fraga, which occupied the Ribagorza, La Litera and Lleida.
In the Spanish War of Succession of 1705, the Ribagorza sided with Archduke Charles and against the later King Philip V. After his victory, Philip V not only abolished important Aragonese special rights with the Decretos de Nueva Planta , but also made the Ribagorza a corregiment (Bailiwick) of Aragon. This became the judicial district of Benabarre when the new province of Huesca was established in 1834 .
List of the Counts of Ribagorza
First dynasty of the Ribagorza
- Raimund I. (872-920)
- Bernhard Unifred (920–950 / 955)
- Raimund II. (950 / 955-970)
- Unifred (970-979)
- Arnau (979-990)
- Isarn (990-1003)
- Tota (1003-1011)
- Guillermo (Wilhelm) (1011-1017)
Division of the county
Rest county
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Basin of the Noguera RibagorçanaThis part was under the rule of the Counts of Pallars Jussà
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Kings of Aragon
The county is reunited in the person of Alfonso II
- Alfonso II (1192–1196), King of Aragon
- Peter II (1196–1213), King of Aragon
- James I (1213–1276), King of Aragon
- Peter III (1276–1285), king of Aragon
- Alfons III (1285–1291), King of Aragon
- James II (1291–1322), King of Aragon
Second dynasty of the Ribagorza
- Peter IV. (1322–1381), son of Jacob II.
- Alfonso IV (1381-1412)
- Alfonso V , (1412-1425)
Kings of Aragon
- John I (1425–1458), as John II, King of Aragon
- Ferdinand II (1458–1516), King of Aragon
Aragonese dynasty of the Dukes of Villahermosa
- Alfonso VI (1469–1485)
- John II (1485-1512)
- Alfonso VII (1512-1533)
- Martin I. (1533–1565 and 1573–1581)
- Johann Alfons I (1565–1573)
- Ferdinand II (1581–1592)
- Francis I (1592–1598)
The county falls to Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Aragon).