Ramon Berenguer IV (Catalan pronunciation: [rəˈmom bəɾəŋˈɡe]; c. 1113 – 6 August 1162, Anglicized Raymond Berengar IV), sometimes called the Holy, was the Count of Barcelona who brought about the union of his County of Barcelona with theKingdom of Aragon to form the Crown of Aragon.
Ramon Berenguer IV inherited the county of Barcelona from his father
Ramon Berenguer III on 19 August 1131. On 11 August 1137, at the age of about 24, he was betrothed to the infant
Petronilla of Aragon, aged one at the time. Petronilla's father,
Ramiro II of Aragon, who sought Barcelona's aid against
Alfonso VII of Castile, withdrew from public life on 13 November 1137, leaving his kingdom to Petronilla and Ramon Berenguer, the latter in effect becoming ruler of Aragon, although he was never king himself, instead commonly using the titles "Count of the Barcelonans and Prince of the Aragonians" (
Comes Barcinonensis et Princeps Aragonensis), and occasionally those of "Marquis of Lleida and Tortosa" (after conquering these cities). He was the last Catalan ruler to use "Count" as his primary title; starting with his son
Alfonso II of Aragon the counts of Barcelona styled themselves, in the first place, as kings of Aragon.
The treaty between Ramon Berenguer and his father-in-law, Ramiro II, stipulated that their descendants would rule jointly over both realms, and that even if Petronilla died before the marriage could be consummated, Berenguer's heirs would still inherit the Kingdom of Aragon.
[1] Both realms would preserve their laws, institutions and autonomy, remaining legally distinct but federated in a dynastic union under one ruling House. Historians consider this arrangement the political masterstroke of the Hispanic Middle Ages. Both realms gained greater strength and security and Aragon got its much needed outlet to the sea. On the other hand, formation of a new political entity in the north-east at the time when Portugal seceded from
León in the west gave more balance to the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula. Ramon Berenguer successfully pulled Aragon out of its pledged submission to Castile, aided no doubt by his sister
Berengaria, wife of
Alfonso the Emperor, who was well known in her time for her beauty and charm.
In the middle years of his rule, Ramon Berenguer turned his attention to campaigns against the
Moors. In October 1147, as part of the
Second Crusade, he helped Castile to conquer
Almería. He then invaded the lands of the
Almoravid taifa kingdoms of
Valencia and
Murcia. In December 1148, he captured
Tortosa after a five-month siege with the help of Southern French, Anglo-Norman and Genoese crusaders.
[2] The next year,
Fraga,
Lleida and
Mequinenza in the confluence of the
Segre and
Ebro rivers fell to his army. The
reconquista of modern Catalonia was completed.
Ramon Berenguer also campaigned in
Provence, helping his brother
Berenguer Ramon and his infant nephew
Ramon Berenguer II against the Counts of
Toulouse. During the minority of Ramon Berenguer II, the Count of Barcelona also acted as the
regent of Provence (between 1144 and 1157). In 1151, Ramon signed the
Treaty of Tudilén with
Alfonso VII of León and Castile. The treaty defined the zones of conquest in Andalusia as an attempt to prevent the two rulers from coming into conflict. Also in 1151, Ramon Berenguer founded and endowed the royal monastery of
Poblet. In 1154, he accepted the regency of
Gaston V of Béarn in return for the Bearnese nobles rendering him homage at
Canfranc, thus uniting that small principality with the growing Aragonese empire.
Ramon Berenguer IV died on 6 August 1162 in Borgo San Dalmazzo, Piedmont, Italy, leaving the title of Count of Barcelona to his eldest surviving son, Ramon Berenguer, who inherited the title of King of Aragon after the abdication of his mother Petronilla of Aragon two years later in 1164. He changed his name to Alfonso as a nod to his Aragonese lineage, and became Alfonso II of Aragon. Ramon Berenguer IV's younger son Pere (Peter) inherited the county of Cerdanya and lands north of the Pyrenees, and changed his name to Ramon Berenguer.
LINKS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Berenguer_IV,_Count_of_Barcelona
http://www.geni.com/people/Ramon-Berenguer-IV-el-Sant-comte-de-Barcelona/6000000010463529059
Ramon Berenguer IV el Sant, comte de Barcelona is your 24th great grandfather.
You
→ Pop
your father → Rufus S. Nichols
his father → Tressie (King) Nichols
his mother → Michael O. King
her father → Margaret (Wright) King
his mother → James G Wright
her father → Mary Whitledge Grant
his mother → William Grant, of Crichie
her father → Elizabeth Grant
his mother → Jean Erskine
her mother → Sir Alexander Erskine, Baron of Gogar
her father → Margaret Campbell
his mother → Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll
her father → Isabel Stewart of Lorn, Countess of Argyll
his mother → John Stewart, 2nd Lord Lorn
her father → Robert Stewart, 1st Lord of Lorn
his father → Sir John Stewart of Innermeath
his father → Isabella Margaret, Countess of Fife, and Angus, Heiress of Hokettle MacDuff
his mother → Mary de Monthermer, Countess of Fife
her mother → Joan of Acre, Countess of Gloucester & Hertford
her mother → Edward I "Longshanks", King of England
her father → Eleanor of Provence, Queen consort of England
his mother → Raymond Bérenger IV, comte de Provence
her father → Alphonse II Bérenger, comte de Provence
his father → Alfonso II el Casto, rey de Aragón
his father → Ramon Berenguer IV el Sant, comte de Barcelona
his father
