Medieval Catalonia: Expansion, Institutions and the Crown of Aragon

1. The Hegemony of the Counts of Barcelona

The County of Barcelona, under Ramon Borrell and Ramon Berenguer I, won the supreme authority over the Catalan counties and subjected the feudal nobility to the comital authority.

1.1. The Subjection of the Feudal Nobility

Between 1041 and 1059, Ramon Berenguer I and the nobility fought over the counties. Afterwards, he imposed the Pau i Treva (Peace and Truce) and forced the nobles to become his vassals, accepting the feudal authority of the count. In this way, the Catalan counties were gradually converted into a single feudal territory, with the Count of Barcelona at the top.

1.2. Relations with Al-Andalus

After the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba in 1031, the territory split into small Taifa kingdoms. The counts of Barcelona demanded from these kingdoms an annual tribute in gold, known as parias, in exchange for not attacking them. The gold obtained strengthened the authority of the counts, who could hire soldiers and control the feudal nobility.

1.3. The Peace and Truce of God

Violence was limited through the Peace and Truce of God (Pau i Treva), which prohibited any violence in places near churches and sanctuaries that became refuges for the peasants.

• Assemblies of peace and truce were held in the monasteries, such as Santa Maria d'Olivía Abbey.
• These assemblies agreed to prohibit violent acts on certain days of the week.

2. The Conquest and Repopulation of the New Catalonia

2.1. The Conquest of the New Catalonia

The conquest of New Catalonia was a process that marked the advance of the frontier to the south. Tarragona was occupied in 1118, and Lleida was conquered in 1149 and definitively in 1153. Tortosa and Ulldecona were also taken, and the new frontier was fixed along the Ebro River and the Senia. The expansion of the County of Barcelona increased considerably its territory.

2.2. The Repopulation of the New Catalonia

Many social groups benefited from the expansion. The nobles were rewarded with large extensions of land, new monasteries were founded, and the Church also received many lands. To repopulate the conquered territory, the counts granted cartes de poblament (charters of settlement) to many villages and cities. Settlers came from the old Catalan lands and from France, and those who were repopulating were freed from the feudal lords they had fled.

The presence of the Muslim population remained important in the New Catalonia, particularly intense in the Mudejar communities of the lower Ebro area, in places such as Tortosa, Alcanar, Flix, and others.

3. The Expansion into Southern France and the Union with Aragon

The Catalonia of 1137 was united with the Kingdom of Aragon. From then on, the process of territorial expansion into Occitania began.

3.1. The Union with Aragon

In 1134, King Alfonso I of Aragon died without direct descendants and was succeeded by his brother Ramiro II, who abandoned the priesthood, married and had one daughter: Petronilla. In 1137, the marriage of Petronilla and Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, was arranged.

This marriage gave birth to the Crown of Aragon, a catalano-aragonese union. The Aragonese kingdom and the County of Barcelona maintained their own institutions and, although they shared the same monarch, they remained distinct states. The Count of Barcelona was the first among the Aragonese monarchs and was known as Alfons I of Catalonia and II of Aragon, known as el Cast.

3.2. The Dream of Occitania

During the reign of Alfons I, the counts of Barcelona extended their domains to southern France and into Provence. By the year 1200, much of southern France was integrated into the Crown of Aragon, which became a great power.

However, the Crown provoked the French, who exploited the propagation of the Cathar heresy in Occitania to invade its territories, with the approval of Pope Innocent III, an ally of France. Against the aggression to its vassals, Pere I of the Crown of Aragon went to defend them and died in the Battle of Muret in 1213. The Catalan defeat meant the loss of southern France, and the Catalans were only able to maintain their domains over the territories of Roussillon and Cerdanya on the northern side of the Pyrenees.

4. The Expansion of the Crown of Aragon

The son of Pere I, Jaume I, began the expansion of the Crown of Aragon towards the Muslim territories south of Catalonia and Aragon, and into the territories of the Mediterranean.

4.1. The Conquest of Mallorca

The merchants of Barcelona, the Catalan nobility and the Church supported the conquest of Mallorca, which was achieved in 1229. Ibiza was occupied in 1235 and Menorca in 1287. The Muslims of the islands were expelled and their properties were distributed among the nobility, the Church and the Catalans. The island was repopulated with Catalans from the coastal areas of the Catalan lands. With the conquest of the Balearic Islands, the Crown of Aragon was ready to launch its expansion into the Mediterranean.

4.2. The Conquest of Valencia

The conquest of Valencia was an initiative of the Aragonese nobility and the feudal lords, who wanted to expand their domains, but also involved Catalans. The conquest, led by Jaume I, began in 1232 and did not end until 1245.

The Kingdom of Valencia was incorporated into the Crown of Aragon as a new kingdom and kept its own institutions. Through covenants or surrender, many Muslims were allowed to remain on their lands, under the Christian conquest. However, the Muslim majority continued to live in the kingdom of Valencia. Thus, in 1272 there were around 200,000 Muslims living there and only 30,000 Christians. The Christian repopulation of the territory was slow and did not become important until the late 13th century. The region was repopulated with Catalans on the coast and with Aragonese in the interior.

5. The Path of the Mediterranean: Sicily, Sardinia and the Catalan Company of the East

To ensure control of the Mediterranean, the successors of Jaume I conquered the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.

5.1. The Conquest of Sicily

The Crown of Aragon was interested in Sicily for two main reasons:

• The island was a major center of wheat production.
• It allowed control of the trade routes of the western and eastern Mediterranean.

Control of the island led to a war between the Crown of Aragon and France, with the help of the Pope, who invaded Catalan territory. The war ended with a Catalan-Aragonese victory in 1285, and with papal approval the Crown of Aragon kept Sicily.

5.2. The Occupation of Sardinia

The island of Sardinia was attractive for the trade of the Catalan merchants. The conquest was undertaken in 1323, during the reign of Jaume II. The Catalan-Aragonese invasion met strong resistance from the Sardinians, especially the inhabitants of the city of Alghero, who were expelled and replaced by Catalan settlers. Alghero still speaks a dialect of Catalan today.

5.3. The Almogàvers and the Company of the East

At the beginning of the 14th century, Catalans settled in the current territories of Greece: the Duchy of Athens (1311) and Neopatria (1319). The conquest was carried out by the first private company of the almogàvers, warriors who participated in military campaigns paid by different rulers. Some captains of the almogàvers, such as Roger de Flor, were organizers of the Catalan Company of the East, an expedition that conquered the two duchies. The conquest of territories in the Mediterranean made Barcelona a center of great commercial importance.

6. The Institutions of Government in the Middle Ages

During the 13th century, two institutions of government were formed: the Courts (predecessor of the parliament) and the Council or Generalitat.

6.1. The Courts

The Courts originated from the small assemblies formed by nobles, bishops, abbots and judges that the Catalan counts gathered in the 10th century. These assemblies were called Consell Reial or Curia, and the Court was based on advising the monarch. During the 13th century, these assemblies met under the general name of Court or simply, Courts. The assemblies of the Courts had a legislative character. They were composed of three estates, three arms, representing the clergy, the nobility and the cities, and the legislation was made with the participation of all of them. This balance between the representatives of the estates and the monarch was known as the pactism.

The Aragonese kingdom and the Kingdom of Valencia each had their own Courts. Only exceptionally were the Courts of all the Aragonese territories convened together.

6.2. The Provincial Generalitat

The Courts were delegated in 1289 to a committee of six persons who were in charge of collecting the taxes agreed by the Courts. This council was called the General. Later it was named the Generalitat. In 1362, the Generalitat became a permanent institution and even came to have its own palace in Barcelona. The Generalitat represented the three estates and was presided over by a member of the ecclesiastical estate. Over time, the Generalitat extended its functions. In practice, it became a true counterweight to the monarch and the first seat of the institution where pactism was permanently defended.