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| Ramon Berenguer II, Cap d'Estopes |
Today, The Grandma has visited Hostalric, a village in the province of Girona, Catalonia. In Hostalric, there is a monument dedicated to Ramon Berenguer II The Towhead or Cap d'Estopes, son of Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona and Almodis de La Marche.
After visiting Hostalric, The Grandma has gone to Girona to visit the tomb of Ramon Berenguer II sited in its cathedral.
Ramon Berenguer II was assassinated on a day like today in 1082. The Grandma wants to talk about this interesting historic figure and about The County of Barcelona, created by Charlemagne.
During the travel from Barcelona to Hostalric, The Grandma has read a new chapter of Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic.
Ramon Berenguer II the Towhead or Cap de Estopes (1053 or 1054-December 5, 1082) was Count of Barcelona from 1076 until his death. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona and Almodis de La Marche.
The Chronicle of San Juan de la Pena called him exceeding brave and bold, kind, pleasant, pious, joyful, generous, and of an attractive appearance. Because of the extremely thick hair he had on top of his head, he was known as Cap d'Estopes.
He succeeded his father, Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, as co-ruler with his twin brother, Berenguer Ramon, in 1075. The twins failed to agree and divided their possessions between them, against the will of their late father.
More information: Barcelonas
Ramon Berenguer The Towhead, so called because of the thickness and colour of his hair, was killed while hunting in the woods in 1082. His brother, who went on to become the sole ruler of Catalonia, was credited by popular opinion of having orchestrated this murder. Berenguer Ramon II the Fratricide was later succeeded by Ramon Berenguer's son, Ramon Berenguer III.
Ramon Berenguer married
Mahalta or Maud of Apulia, born 1059, died 1111/1112, daughter of
Duke Robert Guiscard and of Sikelgaita de Salerno. Following his murder,
she remarried to Aimery I of Narbonne, and was the mother of his son
Aimery II.
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| The Grandma visits Hostalric & Girona |
Ramon Berenguer and Mahalta's son, Ramon Berenguer III (before 1082–1131), was count of Barcelona and Provence.
The Count of Barcelona, in Catalan Comte de Barcelona; in Latin Comites Barcinonenses, was the ruler of Barcelona for much of Catalan history, from the 9th century until the 15th century.
The County of Barcelona was created by Charlemagne after he had conquered lands north of the river Ebro. These lands, called the Marca Hispanica, were partitioned into various counties, of which the Count of Barcelona, usually holding other counties simultaneously, eventually obtained the primacy over the region. As the county became hereditary in one family, the bond of the counts to their Frankish overlords loosened, especially after the Capetian dynasty supplanted the Carolingians.
In
the 12th century, the counts formed a dynastic union with the Kingdom
of Aragon, merging the two realms under a single ruler. In 1258, the
King of France relinquished his feudal authority over the county in the
Treaty of Corbeil.
Barcelona remained, as a part of the Principality
of Catalonia, part of the Crown of Aragon when the latter around 1500
entered into a union with the Crown of Castile, thereby forming the
Spanish Monarchy.
Catalonia maintained its own laws, institutions, taxes and privileges until they were removed after the War of the Spanish Succession in the 18th century.
More information: Wikiwand
Count of Barcelona remained one of the many hereditary titles of the Spanish monarchy.
In the 20th century, the title regained some prominence when Juan de Borbón, the exiled heir to the Spanish throne, adopted the title of Count of Barcelona. In doing so, he claimed a historical royal title without claiming to be the current king of Spain, especially after his son Juan Carlos became the prospective successor of the then-ruler of Spain, Francisco Franco.
In 1977, after Juan Carlos had become King upon Franco's death in 1975, he officially awarded the title of Count of Barcelona to his father, who had renounced his rights to the throne. Juan held that title until his death in 1993, when it reverted to the King who has held it ever since. Juan de Borbón's widow used the title Countess of Barcelona until her death in 2000.
More information: GeneAll
We crossed spacious streets, with building resembling palaces,
in La Rambla promenade; the shops were well illuminated and there was movement and life… I did not decide to go to sleep,
even though I wished to, so I could rise early and contemplate,
in daylight, this city, unknown to me: Barcelona, capital of Catalonia.
Hans Christian Andersen
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