Urgell
Encyclopedia
Catalan counties
The Catalan counties were the administrative divisions of the eastern Carolingian Marca Hispanica created after its Frankish conquest. The various counties roughly defined what came to be known as the Principality of Catalonia....
, bordering on the counties of Pallars and Cerdanya
Cerdanya
Cerdanya is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it has been one of the counties of Catalonia....
.
The county was carved by the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
out of a former section of the Mark of Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
when the Alt Urgell
Alt Urgell
Alt Urgell is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain, a modern representation of part of the historic County of Urgell , seat of the Counts of Urgell and the historic region of Urgellet.- Municipalities :...
area became part of the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
between 785 and 790.
The original territory was made up of the Alt Urgell, also known as Urgellet
Urgellet
Urgellet is an historical territory and a natural comarca or region of Catalonia. It is located in the Pyrenees exactly in the actual administrative comarca of Alt Urgell, that last includes Baridà, Urgellet and the banks of Oliana, Peramola and Bassella....
from the end of the 12th century onwards, with the see at La Seu d'Urgell
La Seu d'Urgell
La Seu d'Urgell is a town located in the Catalan Pyrenees in Spain. La Seu d'Urgell is also the capital of the comarca Alt Urgell, head of the judicial district of la Seu d'Urgell and the seat of Bishop of Urgell, one of the Andorra co-princes...
. From 839 onwards it would include 129 villages, the valleys of the Valira
Valira
Valira may refer to:* Valira, Greece* Gran Valira, the largest river in Andorra...
river, namely Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
and Sant Joan Fumat, the Segre
Segre
Segre may be* Beniamino Segre , Italian geometer* Corrado Segre , Italian geometer distantly related to Beniamino* Emilio Segrè , Italian American physicist* Segre River, a river in Catalonia...
riverine area as well as the valleys located between El Pont de Bar
El Pont de Bar
El Pont de Bar is a municipality in the comarca of the Alt Urgell in Catalonia, Spain....
and Oliana
Oliana
Oliana is a municipality in the comarca of the Alt Urgell inCatalonia, Spain. It is situated in the Segre valley immediately below the Oliana reservoir....
.
Its maximal extension territory was between the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
and the taifa
Taifa
In the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
of Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
, that is, the current comarques
Comarques of Catalonia
This is a list of the comarques of Catalonia . A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or a UK "district". However, in the context of Catalonia, the term "county" can be a bit misleading, because in medieval Catalonia, the most important rulers were counts, notably the Counts of Barcelona...
of Alt Urgell or Urgellet, Noguera
Noguera (comarca)
Noguera is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. It is the largest comarca and its area represents some 5,56% of Catalonia. Noguera is part of the historical county of Urgell and currently belongs to the Lleida province. Its capital is Balaguer....
, Solsonès
Solsonès
Solsonès is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of historic county of Urgell. Over 60% of its people live in the capital, Solsona.- Municipalities :Populations are for 2001.* Castellar de la Ribera - pop. 153* Clariana de Cardener - pop. 151...
, Pla d'Urgell
Pla d'Urgell
Pla d'Urgell is a comarca in the interior of Catalonia, Spain.- Municipalities :* Barbens - pop. 795* Bell-lloc d'Urgell - pop. 2,068* Bellvís - pop. 2,137* Castellnou de Seana - pop. 697* Fondarella - pop. 721* Golmés - pop. 1,433...
, Baix Urgell
Urgell (comarca)
Modern-day Urgell is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain, forming only a portion of the region historically known as Urgell, one of the Catalan counties.-Municipalities:Populations are for 2001.*Agramunt - pop. 4,759*Anglesola - pop. 1,219...
and the still independent country of Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
. The historical capital was first la Seu d'Urgell
La Seu d'Urgell
La Seu d'Urgell is a town located in the Catalan Pyrenees in Spain. La Seu d'Urgell is also the capital of the comarca Alt Urgell, head of the judicial district of la Seu d'Urgell and the seat of Bishop of Urgell, one of the Andorra co-princes...
and later Balaguer
Balaguer
Balaguer is the capital of the comarca of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain.It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebre....
. The county of Urgell was extinguished and absorbed by the County of Barcelona in 1413, after the revolt of the last count, James II of Urgell
James II of Urgell
James II was the Count of Urgell , Viscount of Àger, and lord of Antillón, Alcolea de Cinca, and Fraga...
, against the king Ferdinand I of Aragon
Ferdinand I of Aragon
Ferdinand I called of Antequera and also the Just or the Honest) was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica and king of Sicily, duke of Athens and Neopatria, and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya...
.
There is also a diocese of Urgell. The diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
was an old one, and traditions of the early Christian church lingered; Felix of Urgel's
Felix, Bishop of Urgel
Felix, Bishop of Urgel was a Christian bishop and theologian in the eighth century.Felix became Bishop at an unknown date and lived at the monastery Sant Sadurní de Tabernoles in the foothills of the Pyrenees....
tendencies towards the heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
position of adoptionism
Adoptionism
Adoptionism, sometimes called dynamic monarchianism, is a minority Christian belief that Jesus was adopted as God's son at his baptism...
was attacked by Alcuin of York in Contra Felicem (Runciman, 1947). Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
was ceded to the bishop of Urgell by the count Ermengol IV of Urgell
Ermengol IV of Urgell
Ermengol IV , called el de Gerb or Gerp, was the Count of Urgell from 1066 to his death. He was the son of Ermengol III and Clemencia, daughter of Bernard II of Bigorre....
in the twelfth century. There is still a bishop of Urgell, who since 2003 has been Joan Enric Vives Sicília
Joan Enric Vives Sicília
Archbishop Joan Enric Vives i Sicília is the current Bishop of Urgell, a Roman Catholic diocese, and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra...
. This role carries with it the position of joint head of state of Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
.
See also
- Counts of UrgellCounts of UrgellThis is a list of the counts of Urgell.-ca. 798-870 Counts appointed by the Carolingians:*798-820 Borrell, count of Urgell and Cerdanya*820-824 Aznar I Galíndez, count of Aragon, was given Borrell's counties while he was exiled from Aragon...
- Urgell (comarca)Urgell (comarca)Modern-day Urgell is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain, forming only a portion of the region historically known as Urgell, one of the Catalan counties.-Municipalities:Populations are for 2001.*Agramunt - pop. 4,759*Anglesola - pop. 1,219...
, the present-day Catalan comarca (county)Comarques of CataloniaThis is a list of the comarques of Catalonia . A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or a UK "district". However, in the context of Catalonia, the term "county" can be a bit misleading, because in medieval Catalonia, the most important rulers were counts, notably the Counts of Barcelona...
of Urgell. - House of CabreraHouse of CabreraThe House of Cabrera was an important Catalan dynasty. It began to rule in the Viscounty of Girona, which would be called Viscounty of Cabrera, as well as the Viscounty of Àger, the Sicilian County of Modica and the County of Urgell.- Origin :...
- Viscounty of ÀgerViscounty of ÀgerThe Viscounty of Àger was a feudal jurisdiction that branched off the County of Urgell in 1094.-History:Towards 1030 Arnau Mir, Lord of Tost, conquered Àger from the saracens. The latter however, fought back and reconquered Àger shortly thereafter...