Raimund Berengar IV. (Barcelona)
Raimund Berengar IV., Count of Barcelona (* around 1113; † August 6, 1162 in Borgo San Dalmazzo ) was the eldest son of Raimund Berengar III. the great and his wife Dulcia von Gévaudan . In 1131 he followed his father in the five Catalan countries , including the county of Barcelona , while his younger brother Berengar Raimund I of Provence († 1144) was given control of Provence .
Through the marriage contract between Raimund Berengar IV. And the only one year old Petronella of Aragón (1136–1173), heiress of the Kingdom of Aragón , arose in 1137 from Aragón and the lands of the Counts of Barcelona, which were largely identical to Catalonia in the 12th century, an existing until 1516, community of states called Crown Aragón , which rose to become one of the most important great powers on the Mediterranean Sea and the Iberian Peninsula in the 12th century .
Life
There is no coherent account of a medieval chronicler about Raimund Berengar's life. Important events, however, were mentioned in the report by an anonymous author, called Chronicon Adefonsi Imoeratoris , on the life of King Alfonso VII of Castile and León , who was married to Berenguela of Barcelona , a sister of Raimund Berengar IV, in his first marriage since 1128 . In addition, the political decisions of the count can be proven on the basis of traditional documents.
In 1134, the Aragonese nobility opposed the will of their late King Alfonso I , as expressed in their will , who intended to bequeath his kingdom to the Holy Land . The nobility therefore crowned the last member of the dynasty, Ramiro II , Alfons' brother to the King of Aragón, who was specially fetched from the monastery, who was soon married to Agnes of Poitou (1103–1160) and fathered his only daughter Petronella. As early as 1137, the ex-monk, overwhelmed with his duties as king, crowned his daughter as queen, only to retire to the monastery a little later. Since the one-year-old Petronella could not exercise her rulership rights herself, Ramiro II arranged the marriage of his daughter to Raimund Berengar IV., The Count of Barcelona, who was to rule the Kingdom of Aragon while Petronella was a minor.
De facto, only the Count of Barcelona came into question as regent of the Kingdom of Aragón and husband for Petronella. A reign of Alfonso VII, the neighboring king of Castile and León and Aragon’s greatest adversary, was ruled out because it was rightly feared that Aragón would lose its independence in the Kingdom of Castile and León. Because Navarre only separated from Aragón in 1134 and operated its own expansion policy around 1137, the King of Navarre was also undesirable as a possible regent in Aragón.
The marriage between Petronella and Raimund Berengar led to the formation of an artificial state that existed until 1516 and was known as the Crown Aragón . Aragonians and Catalans lived under different legal systems, they pursued their own economic interests and did not speak a common language. Nevertheless, under Raimund Berengar's son Alfons II , the Aragon Crown rose to become a great power on the Mediterranean and on the Iberian Peninsula. This was mainly due to the fact that both parts of the state benefited from the Union. Aragonians and Catalans were able to maintain their cultural independence, the Kingdom of Aragón was given access to the Mediterranean Sea, and the county of Barcelona was protected from Castile's expansionist efforts.
The foundations for the stability of the new state were laid during the reign of Raimund Berengar IV. From 1145 onwards he occupied almost all the bishops' seats with his confidants and established the ecclesiastical province of Tarragona as a link between the Catalan and Aragonese regions. Furthermore, he promoted the newly created knightly orders, in particular the Templars , as well as the canons of St. Ruf (Avignon), whom he commissioned from 1148 to set up a diocese organization in the re-conquered Tortosa . In addition to the church political order, Raimund Berengar also created a newly organized state administration. He also had a new collection of laws, the Usatges of Barcelona , put together, which guaranteed the cohesion of the Aragonese crown in the long term.
Because the will of Alfonso I was deliberately ignored, Raimund Berengar had to seek a quick foreign policy reconciliation with the very angry papacy and the equally angry rulers in the Kingdom of Jerusalem . As early as 1140 he paid the Knights of Hospital , the later Knights of St. John, a settlement for their lost inheritance. This agreement was recognized by the Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1141 , generously allowing the Count of Barcelona to bear the title of King of Aragon . Raimund Berengar IV rejected this, however, he continued to call himself simply Count of Barcelona and Prince (Princeps) of Aragón , possibly only out of consideration for the popes, who still did not recognize his kingship. It was not until 1158 that Pope Hadrian IV allowed Raimund Berengar to hold the title of King of Aragon .
Between 1144 and 1150, the Count of Barcelona took over for his nephew Raimund Berengar III. the guardianship government in the county of Provence. As a result of the call of Pope Eugene III. For the Second Crusade , Raimund Berengar IV initiated the conquest of the Muslim Taifa kingdoms in the south of the Iberian Peninsula in 1147 , some of which were subdued by 1149. Furthermore, he conquered the pirate nest Almería in 1147 - together with Alfonso VII of Castile and León and an allied Genoese - Pisan fleet - and in 1148 - again with the help of a Genoese fleet - Tortosa at the mouth of the Ebro and the Moorish enclave of Lérida . 1149/1150 Raimund to Barcelona the Spanish Order of Knights order of the hatchet , as the Ordre de la Hache , the ladies of the ax or Order of the ladies of the ax and the Order of the ax called, have donated the defenders of Tortosa, which only consisted of women.
After the death of his liege Alfonso VII († 1157), Raimund Berengar IV sought political support from the English King Henry II , whose French lands ended on the Pyrenees . Heinrich intended to enforce the claims of Aquitaine to the county of Toulouse on behalf of his wife Eleonore . For this reason, a political alliance was formed between the English king and the Count of Barcelona in Blaye in Gascony in 1159 , with a future marriage between Heinrich's son Richard and a daughter of Raimund Berengar, probably Dulce of Barcelona , decided.
The 1161 marriage of his nephew Raimund Berengar III. von Provence with the Piastin Richeza - widow of the Castilian king Alfons VII, cousin of Emperor Frederick I and (possibly also) relatives of the Staufer antipope Viktor IV - led to contacts with the Holy Roman Empire . Due to the ecclesiastical schism, Friedrich Barbarossa sought to raise his sovereignty over the southern Burgundian region on a new, solid basis. Since the Counts of Barcelona ruled in the county of Provence since 1113 and in the Kingdom of Aragón since 1137, they were considered to be the most important rulers in the southern French-eastern Spanish region. They also stood in political opposition to local rulers, especially the Counts of Toulouse . This led to the alliance between the emperor and Raimund Berengar IV, who was then awarded the county of Provence south of the Durance .
As a result of the alliance treaty concluded in 1161, Raimund Berengar IV moved to Italy to support Barbarossa in his fight against the rebellious Milan . However, the Count of Barcelona died a few days before the planned personal meeting with the Emperor on August 6, 1162 in Borgo San Dalmazzo. Friedrich Barbarossa went there a few days later to pay his last respects to his deceased ally, who was then buried in the count's tomb of Santa Maria in Ripoll . Raimund Berengar III. von Provence renewed the contract with the emperor on August 18, 1162. In contrast, Alfonso II of Aragón , son and successor of Raimund Berengars IV of Barcelona, did not feel bound by the treaty. He later moved to the camp of Barbarossa's opponents.
progeny
Children from the marriage of Raimund Berengar IV of Barcelona to Petronella of Aragón:
- Pedro, Count of Cerdanya, Carcassonne and Narbonne (born May 4, 1152 in Barcelona, † 1158 in Huesca)
- Alfonso II of Aragón (Alfonso I of Catalonia and Provence), called el Casto (the chaste) or the trobador , born and baptized as Ramon Berenguer; (* March 25, 1157 in Huesca, † April 26, 1196 in Perpignan)
- Raimund Berengar IV. , Count of Provence, born as Pedro (* around 1158; † April 5, 1181 in Montpellier)
- Dulce of Barcelona or Dolça Berenguer (* 1158/1159 - † September 1, 1198 in Coimbra), she later married King Sancho I of Portugal (the colonist)
- Sancho , Count of Roussillon , Regent of Aragón (* 1161; † 1223 or 1226)
illegitimate:
- Berengar (* before 1150; † August 11, 1213), Archbishop of Narbonne
literature
- David Fraesdorff; 50 classics - rulers of the Middle Ages - From Charlemagne to Isabella of Castile ; Gerstenberg Verlag, Hildesheim 2008; Pp. 102 to 105; ISBN 978-3-8369-2569-3
- Ferdinand Opll ; Friedrich Barbarossa ; Primus Verlag; 4th edition (special edition) 2009; Pp. 74 and 294; ISBN 978-3-89678-665-4
- John T. Appleby; Henry II, King of England - The time of Thomas Becket ; Dr. Riederer-Verlag Stuttgart; P. 67
- Franz Kurowski ; Spain - rise and fall of a world empire ; Volker Hennig publishing bookstore; Holzminden; 1st edition 1991; P. 79
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Raimund Berengar III. |
Count of Barcelona 1131–1162 |
Union with Aragón (King Alfonso II ) |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Raimund Berengar IV. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ramon Berenguer IV. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Count of Barcelona |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1113 |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 6, 1162 |
| Place of death | Borgo San Dalmazzo |