BARCELONA, Count Berenger Ramon I

1005 - 1035  (30 years)  Submit Photo / Document

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• Name	BARCELONA, Berenger Ramon
  Prefix	Count
  Suffix	I
  Nickname	Hunchback
  Birth	1005	Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
  Gender	Male
  Death	26 May 1035	Girona, Catalonia, Spain
  Burial	Aft 26 May 1035	Santa Maria de Ripoll, Ripoll, Catalonia, Spain
  WAC	8 May 2004	CRIVE
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I15747	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Family	BALSAREMY, Gisela ,   b. Abt 1007, Lluçà, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain Lluçà, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spaind. 2 May 1028, Spain (Age 21 years)
  Children	+ 1. BURGUNDY, Countess Sibyl ,   b. 1045, Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Franced. 6 Jul 1074, Besançon, Doubs, Franche-Comté, France (Age 29 years)
  Family ID	F6897	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

• Notes

  Berenguer Ramon I [Berengar Raymond I] (1005 – 26 May 1035), called the Crooked or the Hunchback (in Latin curvus; in Catalan el Corbat; in Spanish el Corvado or el Curvo), was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1018 to his death. He was the son of Ramon Borrell, Count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona and his wife Ermesinde of Carcassonne. He accepted the suzerainty of Sancho the Great of Navarre. Berenguer Ramon as a historical figure is enigmatic, shrouded in incomprehensible contradictions and ambiguities. First, he was a man of peace, and peace ruled throughout his reign. He pacified his neighbours as well, bringing to heel the Count of Urgell, Ermengol II. He reestablished amicable relations with Hugh I, Count of Empúries, and maintained them with William I of Besalú and Wilfred II of Cerdanya. He was a son of the church who maintained relations with the papacy and went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1032. On many occasions he travelled to Zaragoza and Navarre to discuss with Sancho III the Great, King of Navarre their mutual stance against the Counts of Toulouse. His confidantes and councillors were the Abbot Oliva, the judge Ponç Bofill, Gombau de Besora, and the Bishops Pedro of Girona and Deudado of Barcelona. In 1025, he decreed that the proprietors of entails (men holding land in fee tail) were free from taxation. On the other hand, the government of Berenguer Ramon I marks the beginning of the decline of the comital power in Catalonia. At the death of his father in 1018, Berenguer Ramon was a minor and his mother Ermesinde served as regent until 1023. But even when he attained his majority, his mother would not relinquish the powers of regency and reigned with him. According to some chroniclers, Berenguer's character left some things to be desired. He is described as weak and indecisive. Moreover, his policy of peace with the Moors was a bone of contention with the noblesse, who saw war with the Muslims as a way of obtaining glory, wealth, and possibly even salvation. This led some nobles to act independently of the count's wishes. Ermesinde, contra her son, was energetic and decisive, intent on imposing the authority of Barcelona on the baronage. But, as a woman, her capability to exercise control of the military was greatly impeded and organizing a raid or expedition to satisfy the wants of the aristocracy was virtually impossible. The weakening of comital authority became evident shortly before his death in 1035, when Ermisende successfully partitioned his patrimony among his sons. Berenguer Ramon died on 26 May 1035 and was buried in Santa Maria de Ripoll. Marriages and children[edit] In 1021, Berenguer married the king of Navarre's sister-in-law, Sancha Sánchez, daughter of Sancho Garcés, Count of Castile. By her he had two sons: Ramon Berenguer (born 1023), who received the county of Girona (with his mother) and the county of Barcelona as far as the river Llobregat. Sanç [Sancho] Berenguer (birth date unknown), who received the frontier march from the Llobregat to the al-Andalus, which constituted the new county of Penedès with its capital in Olèrdola. Sometime between 1041 and 1049, Sanç swore fealty to his elder brother. Then, on 9 June 1050, he ceded his inheritance to Ramon, who in return granted him some lands and men as a fief. Sanç then entered the church, first as a monk at Saint-Pons-de-Thomières and then as the prior of Sant Benet de Bages, before it became an abbey. In 1027, Berenguer married as his second wife Guisla de Lluçà, with whom he had two more sons; Guillem [William] Berenguer (born 1028), who received the county of Osona (comitatum Ausonensem), with his mother, and the county of Manresa. He renounced his county on 4 December 1054, allowing his brother Ramon to restore their patrimony. Bernat [Bernard] Berenguer (born 1029) Two daughters have also been tentatively assigned to this couple: Clemencia, who married Ermengol III of Urgell, and the wife of Henry of Burgundy. BIO: from http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CATALAN%20NOBILITY.htm#BerenguerRamonIdied1035B, as of 11/5/2014 BERENGUER RAMON [I] "el Curvo" de Barcelona, son of RAMON BORRELL [I] Comte de Barcelona & his wife Ermesinde de Carcassonne ([1000/05]-26 May 1035, bur Santa Maria de Ripoll). The Crónica de San Juan de la Peña names "Berenguer" as the son of "Remon Burrel conte de Barchinona"[288]. His birth date is estimated from the Crónica de San Juan de la Peña which records that "Berenguer" died aged 40[289], but this may be exaggerated considering the date of his first betrothal and the fact that his mother continued to exercise her regency until the early 1020s. He succeeded his father in 1017 as Comte de Barcelona, Girona, i Osona. “Ermesendis...comitissa simulque Berengarius prolis mei...comes ac marchio” donated “collo...de...Presa” to Sant Daniel de Girona, in accordance with the wishes of “viro meo domno Raimundo comite bona memoria”, by charter dated 16 Mar 1018[290]. The growth in power of feudal lords, and the consequent breakdown in central authority, led to a reaction to restore public order centred around the Truce of God (1027, 1033) inaugurated by the bishops of Elne and Vic[291]. “Berengarius…Marchio Comes…cum uxore mea Guillia comitissa” donated property to Barcelona Santa Eulalia by charter dated to [1028][292]. The Annales Barcinonenses record the death in 1035 of "Berengarius comes Barchinonensis"[293]. The testament of "Berengarii comiti et marchionis" dated 9 Feb 1035 names his wife, his mother and three sons[294]. The Crónica de San Juan de la Peña records the death in 1034 of "Berenguer" aged 40[295]. m firstly (betrothed 1016, Zaragoza 1021[296]) SANCHA Sánchez de Castilla, daughter of SANCHO [I] García Conde de Castilla & his wife Urraca Salvadórez ([1006/07]-26 June 1026, bur Santa Maria de Ripoll). She is named "Sancha daughter of the deceased Conde Sancho", assumed to be Sancho García Conde de Castilla, in her husband's 1025 charter[297]. Bofarull suggests that Sancha was the daughter of Sancho Duke of Gascony[298]. However, if this is correct, it is unclear why her husband would not have claimed the disputed succession to the duchy of Gascony, in her name, after the death of Duke Sancho in 1032. m secondly ([1027]) as her first husband, GUISLA, daughter of --- (-after 1079). According to Europäische Stammtafeln[299], she was Guisla de Lluça, daughter of Sunifred [II] Señor de Lluça i Villanova & his wife Ermesenda de Balsareny. On the other hand Kerrebrouck states that the "third" wife of Berenguer Ramon [I] was "Guisle de Ampurias"[300]. The primary sources which corroborate these hypotheses have not yet been identified. “Berengarius…Marchio Comes…cum uxore mea Guillia comitissa” donated property to Barcelona Santa Eulalia by charter dated to [1028][301]. The primary source which confirms her parentage has not yet been identified. The testament of "Berengarii comiti et marchionis" dated 9 Feb 1035 names "uxorem meam Guiliam comitissam" and leaves the county of Osona to her, while she remains unmarried, and their son "Guilelmo"[302]. She married secondly Udalard [II] Vescomte de Barcelona. Her second marriage is confirmed by a charter of her son Guillem, dated 1054, in which he names himself "filius…Guislæ feminæ…comitissa…nunc est vice comitissa propter maritum quem habuit post patris mei"[303]. Berenguer Ramon [I] & his first wife had two children: 1. RAMON BERENGUER [I] "el Viejo" de Barcelona (1023-26 May 1076). He succeeded his father in 1035 as Comte de Barcelona, Girona, i Osona. 2. SANCHO BERENGUER (-after 6 Mar 1058). Berenguer Ramon [I] & his second wife had [three] children: 3. GUILLEM RAMON ([1029/31]-after 6 Mar 1058). 4. [BERNAT BERENGUER ([1035]-after 6 Mar 1058). 5. [--- de Barcelona (-6 Jul 1074 or after, bur Besançon, Saint-Etienne). m ([1056]) HENRI de Bourgogne, son of ROBERT I "le Vieux" Duke of Burgundy [Capet] & his first wife Hélie de Semur ([1035]-27 Jan [1070/74]).] **from Wikipedia listing for Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona, as of 11/5/2014 Berenguer Ramon I the Crooked, also called the Hunchback (in Catalan, Berenguer Ramon I el Corbat; and in Spanish, Berenguer Ramón I el Corvado or el Curvo) (1005 – 26 May 1035) was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1018 to his death. He was the son of Ramon Borrell, Count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona and his wife Ermesinde of Carcassonne. He accepted the suzerainty of Sancho the Great of Navarre, and in 1021, he married the king's sister-in-law, Sancha Sánchez, daughter of Sancho I Garcés, Count of Castile. By her he had two sons: his successor, Ramon Berenguer (b. 1023), and Sancho (birth year unknown). In 1027, he married secondly Guisla of Lluca, with whom he had two more sons, William (b. 1028) and Bernard (b. 1029). Two daughters have also been tentatively assigned to this couple: Clemencia, who married Ermengol III of Urgell and another, incorrectly referred to as Sibylla, who was the mother of Hugh I and Eudes I, Dukes of Burgundy, and of Henry, Count of Portugal. Berenguer Ramon as a historical figure is enigmatic, shrouded in incomprehensible contradictions and ambiguities. First, he was a man of peace, and peace ruled throughout his reign. He pacified his neighbours as well, bringing to heel the Count of Urgell, Ermengol II. He reestablished amicable relations with Hugh I, Count of Empúries, and maintained them with William I of Besalú and Wilfred II of Cerdanya. He was a son of the church who maintained relations with the papacy and went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1032. On many occasions he travelled to Zaragoza and Navarre to discuss with Sancho III the Great, King of Navarre their mutual stance against the Counts of Toulouse. His confidantes and councillors were the Abbot Oliva, the judge Ponç Bofill, Gombau de Besora, and the Bishops Pedro of Girona and Deudado of Barcelona. In 1025, he decreed that the proprietors of entails (men holding land in fee tail) were free from taxation. On the other hand, the government of Berenguer Ramon I marks the beginning of the decline of the comital power in Catalonia. At the death of his father in 1018, Berenguer Ramon was a minor and his mother Ermesinde served as regent until 1023. But even when he attained his majority, his mother would not relinquish the powers of regency and reigned with him. According to some chroniclers, Berenguer's character left some things to be desired. He is described as weak and indecisive. Moreover, his policy of peace with the Moors was a bone of contention with the noblesse, who saw war with the Muslims as a way of obtaining glory, wealth, and possibly even salvation. This led some nobles to act independently of the count's wishes. Ermesinde, contra her son, was energetic and decisive, intent on imposing the authority of Barcelona on the baronage. But, as a woman, her capability to exercise control of the military was greatly impeded and organizing a raid or expedition to satisfy the wants of the aristocracy was virtually impossible. The obliteration of comital authority became evident shortly before his death in 1035, as Ermisende partitioned his patrimony amongst his sons. Ramon Berenguer received Girona and Barcelona as far as the river Llobregat; Sancho received the frontierland from the Llobregat to the Moorish lands, which constituted the new county of Penedès with its capital in Olèrdola; and William was given the County of Ausona. Berenguer Ramon died on 26 May 1035 and was buried in Santa Maria de Ripoll.