TheCounty of Cerdanya (Catalan:Comtat de Cerdanya,IPA:[kumˈtaddəsəɾˈðaɲə];Latin:Comitatus Ceritaniae;Spanish:Condado de Cerdaña,French:Comté de Cerdagne) was one of theCatalan counties formed in the last decades of the 8th century by theFranks in theMarca Hispanica. The original Cerdanya consisted of the valley of the upperSegre. TodayCerdanya is a Catalancomarca.
County of Cerdanya | |||||||||
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| 798–1403 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
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 The counties of the eastern Pyrenees in the 11th and 12th centuries | |||||||||
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| Ethnic groups | |||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Government | Feudal County | ||||||||
| Count of Cerdanya | |||||||||
• 798–820 | Borrell I (first) | ||||||||
• 1375–1403 | Isabella (last) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Established | 798 | ||||||||
• Merged with the Crown of Aragon | 1403 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Catalonia | ||||||||
The region had been conquered by theMoors in the early 8th century. In 731, the Moorish governor of Cerdanya allied himself withOdo the Great by marrying his daughter, at Odo's insistence, in order to secure his southern frontier from further Muslim expansion.[1] Cerdanya was at this time predominantlyBasque, and Odo had a pro-Basque policy in the face ofCharles Martel and theFranks.[1]
Moorish rule was soon purely nominal; the Cerdanya was conquered byCharlemagne shortly after the surrender ofGirona in 785.[2] The first Count of Cerdanya that we know of by name wasBorrell I (798), who was subject to theCount of Toulouse. At this date, Cerdanya was united in government under one count withCounty of Besalú andUrgell; it was part of theKingdom of Aquitaine after 817.[3] Cerdanya and Urgell remained united until 897 and both were under the influence and often control of theCount of Aragon. In 842, theEmirate of Córdoba invaded Cerdanya in an attempt to regain thePyrenees, but they were repulsed byCount Sunifred.[4]
In the 9th century, Cerdanya was the centre of a region wherein theaprisio form of landholding was common.[5] In 835, a charter ofLouis the Pious even forbid the church of the region to grant landsin beneficium, that is, asbenefices orin feudal tenure.[6]
After the death ofLouis the Stammerer (879), Aquitaine and West Francia in general experienced a period of instability during which the outlying regions, such as Catalonia, becamede facto independent of central royal authority. During this period as well, the office of count becamede facto hereditary.
The 10th century saw repeated divisions and reunions of the familial lands of theBellonids and Cerdanya was repeatedly attached to and detached from its neighbouring regions and counties. The counts of Cerdanya frequently used the titlemarchio, meaningmargrave, during this period.[7] This was an indication of their status as frontier lords and of the breakdown in royal authority, which permitted regional magnates to assume whatever titles they wished without incurring royal disfavour. As another result of its frontier location and the lack of royal control exercised over it, Cerdanya wasdotted with numerous castles during this period, when the Muslim threat was still strong.[8]
In 897,Wilfred the Hairy died having divided his vast Catalan patrimony (technically just a plurality of public offices) between his four sons. Cerdanya,Conflent, andBerga went toMiro. TheFenouillèdes andCapcir were also annexed to Cerdanya at this time. From 913 to 920, Miro also held Besalú, but on his death in 927, his territories were divided between his four sons. The eldest,Sunifred, received Cerdanya and a certain primacy over his brothers. In the last half of the 10th century, the counties of Miro were reunited (984) under one ruler:Oliba Cabreta.
His county comprised Besalú, the Fenouillèdes, Capcir, theBaridà, theValley of Ribes, that ofLillet, theBerguedà, theRipollés, theVallespir, the upper plain ofRoussillon fromIlla de Tet toSant Esteve del Monasterio,Conflent, theDonasà, andPeyrepertuse. Oliba's counties and the counties ofBorrell II, Count of Barcelona, formed the two main divisions of Catalonia during the latter half of the 10th century.[9] Oliba brought Cerdanya to its zenith. He expanded his lordship to the north into theCounty of Carcassonne and to the west into theCounties of Roussillon andEmpúries.[10] He extended his authority over the churches ofSant Joan de les Abadesses andLagrasse and usurped thede facto supremacy in Catalonia from Borrell II of Barcelona.[11] In 988, Oliba Cabreta retired to the monastery ofMontecassino and divided his lands between his three sons, the second-born,Wilfred, receiving Cerdanya and Conflent. In 1002, Berga was annexed to Cerdanya.
It is clear, however, from evidence dating from between 987 and 1031, that theCarolingian court system andVisigothic law were still in effect in Cerdanya.[12] The count presided over judicial tribunals with the assistance of thejudices (judges) andboni homines (good men) of the county.[13]
During the 11th century, Cerdanya became increasingly feudalised and drawn into the orb of Toulouse andFoix. The counts of Toulouse desired to control the pass ofPimorent (French:Puymorens) in Cerdanya, and those of Foix desired some control of the frontier with MoorishLérida. The counts of Cerdanya, for their part, were interested in furthering their control of the church in the Midi and Catalonia; they had already controlled the important monasteries ofSant Miquel de Cuixà andRipoll since the early 10th century. In 1016, they purchased the right to thearchbishopric of Narbonne for 100,000solidi for their relativeGuifred and, not long after, that to thebishopric of Urgell as well.[14] The famousAbbot Oliva was a member of the ruling dynasty of Cerdanya. WhenCount Raymond Wilfred plundered the Sant Miquel de Cuixà and entered into a feud with theBishop of Elne, it gave the nobles opportunity to grant their services to whoever offered them the most advantage at the moment.
In this period of political confusion, the viscount Bernard Sunifred rebelled. His lands were clustered in the north of Cerdanya, in the Segre valley and Conflent with their centre atMerencs. He put his lands under the nominal suzerainty of the count of Toulouse and tried to draw them away from Cerdanya. Bernard was forced to make peace with Raymond in 1047 and his allodial lands were handed over, though he was compensated with more fiefdoms from the count. Bernard rebelled a second time and was forced to make peace again in 1061. The important pass of Pimorent, which, now that Cerdanya was no longer a marcher territory, lay at the centre of its existence, remained in the hands of the Count Raymond and neither of Bernard's allies of Toulouse or Foix.
The viscounts of Cerdanya and the others regions, like Conflent and Fenouillèdes, were the main antagonists of the comital power in Cerdanya throughout the 11th century. Briefly,William Raymond had to fight a war (successfully) withGiselbert II of Roussillon over the possession of the monastery of Cuixà, which Cerdanya had controlled throughout the 10th century, but in the main, the viscounts were the greatest military detriment to the counts of Cerdanya. Between 1088 and 1092, William foundedVilafranca de Conflent. William's successor,William Jordan, joined theFirst Crusade, and in his absence, the counts' authority was weakened still further. In 1118, Cerdanya was sold to Barcelona and only occasionally bestowed thereafter asappanage for younger sons.
The failure of the county of Cerdanya to establish lasting supremacy over Catalonia lies in the penchant of its counts to divide their patrimony between all of their sons — and the rights of inheritance of brothers — and the gathering strength of the nobility following the decline of Cerdanya's military importance. In 1058, when Count Raymond accepted the pay ofRaymond Berengar I of Barcelona to be his ally in the fight against the Moors, the fate of Cerdanya to be in the control of Barcelona was sealed.[15] In the next centuries, Cerdanya was part of thePrincipality of Catalonia.
The title then passed finally and permanently to theCrown of Aragon.
In theTreaty of the Pyrenees (1659), the northern half of the County was definitively ceded to the Kingdom of France.
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