Ramon Berenguer III ''the Great'' was the count of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capital ...

, and

Ausona The County of Osona, also Ausona ( ca, Comtat d'Osona, ; la, Comitatus Ausonae), was one of the Catalan counties of the ''Marca Hispanica'' in the Early and High Middle Ages. It was based around the capital city of Vic (''Vicus'') and the correspo ...

from 1086 (jointly with Berenguer Ramon II and solely from 1097),

Besalú Besalú () is a town in the '' comarca'' of Garrotxa, in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The town's importance was greater in the early Middle Ages, as capital of the county of Besalú, whose territory was roughly the same size as the current ''coma ...

from 1111, Cerdanya from 1117, and count of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, from 1112, all until his death in Barcelona in 1131. As Ramon Berenguer I, he was Count of Provence in right of his wife.

Biography

Born on 11 November 1082 in Rodez, Viscounty of Rodez, County of Toulouse,

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

, he was the son of Ramon Berenguer II. He succeeded his father to co-rule with his uncle Berenguer Ramon II. He became the sole ruler in 1097, when Berenguer Ramon II was forced into exile. Responding to increased raids into his lands by the Almoravids in 1102, Ramon counter-attacked, assisted by

Ermengol V, Count of Urgell Ermengol (or Armengol) V (1078 — 1102), called ''El de Mollerussa'' ("He of Mollerussa"), was the Count of Urgell from 1092 to his death. He was the son of Ermengol IV and his first wife, Lucy (''Lucía'') of Pallars. He spent most of his life in ...

, but was defeated and Ermengol killed at the

battle of Mollerussa The Battle of Mollerussa (or Mollerusa) took place in the south of the county of Urgell on 11 or 14 September 1102. In the battle, Count Ermengol V was defeated and killed by an Almoravid army. Mollerussa lies halfway between Bellpuig and Lleida a ...

. During his rule Catalan interests were extended on both sides of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

. By marriage or

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

age he incorporated into his realm almost all of the Catalan counties (except

Urgell Modern-day Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Higher Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Catalonia, Spain, forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Ur ...

and

Peralada Peralada () is a village in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the home of the Frankish Counts of Peralada who controlled this portion of the Marca Hispanica before becoming part of the lands held by the Count of Barcelona. Figuere ...

). He inherited the counties of

(1111) and Cerdanya (1117) and in between married Douce, heiress of Provence (1112). His dominions then stretched as far east as

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

. In alliance with the Count of

, Ramon Berenguer conquered

Barbastro Barbastro (Latin: ''Barbastrum'' or ''Civitas Barbastrensis'', Aragonese: ''Balbastro'') is a city in the Somontano county, province of Huesca, Spain. The city (also known originally as Barbastra or Bergiduna) is at the junction of the rivers Cin ...

and

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 municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city i ...

. He also established relations with the Italian maritime republics of Pisa and

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, and in 1114 and 1115 attacked with Pisa the then-Muslim islands of Majorca and Ibiza. They became his tributaries and many Christian slaves there were recovered and set free. Ramon Berenguer also raided mainland Muslim dependencies with Pisa's help, such as

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, Lleida and

Tortosa Tortosa (; ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hig ...

. In 1116, Ramon traveled to Rome to petition

Pope Paschal II Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...

for a crusade to liberate Tarragona. By 1118 he had captured and rebuilt

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

, which became the metropolitan seat of the church in Catalonia (before that, Catalans had depended ecclesiastically on the

archbishopric of Narbonne The former Catholic diocese of Narbonne existed from early Christian times until the French Revolution. It was an archdiocese, with its see at Narbonne, from the year 445, and its influence ran over much of south-western France and into Cataloni ...

). In 1127, Ramon Berenguer signed a

commercial treaty A commercial treaty is a formal agreement between Sovereign state, states for the purpose of establishing mutual rights and regulating conditions of trade. It is a bilateral act whereby definite arrangements are entered into by each contracting par ...

with the Genoese. On July 14, 1130, toward the end of his life, he became an associate member of the

Templars , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

. He gave his five Catalan counties to his eldest son Ramon Berenguer IV and Provence to the younger son Berenguer Ramon. He died on 23 January/19 July 1131 and was buried in the

Santa Maria de Ripoll The Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll is a Benedictine monastery, built in the Romanesque style, located in the town of Ripoll in Catalonia, Spain. Although much of the present church is 19th century rebuilding, the sculptured portico is a renown ...

monastery.

Marriages and descendants

* Ramon's first wife was María Rodríguez de Vivar, second daughter of El Cid (died ca. 1105). They had one child. ** María, married Bernat III, Count of

(died 1111) * His second wife Almodis produced no children. * His third wife was Douce (Dolça de Gévaudaun), heiress of

(died ca. 1127). Their union produced at least seven children: ** Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (1113/1114–1162) married

Petronilla of Aragon Petronilla (29 June/11 August 1136 – 15 October 1173), whose name is also spelled Petronila or Petronella ( Aragonese: ''Peyronela'' or ''Payronella'', and ca, Peronella), was Queen of Aragon from the abdication of her father, Ramiro II, ...

, daughter of Ramiro II, King of

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises th ...

** Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Provence (ca. 1115–1144) ** Bernat, died young ** Berenguela or Berengaria (1116–1149), married

Alfonso VII of Castile Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

** Jimena (1117–1136), also known as Eixemena, married Roger III, Count of

Foix Foix (; oc, Fois ; ca, Foix ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the Préfecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of south ...

** Estefania (b. 1118), married Centule II, Count of Bigorre ** Almodis, married

Ponce de Cervera Ponce may refer to: *Ponce (surname) * *Ponce, Puerto Rico, a city in Puerto Rico ** Ponce High School ** Ponce massacre, 1937 * USS ''Ponce'', several ships of the US Navy *Manuel Ponce, a Mexican composer active in the 20th century * British sl ...

, mother of

Agalbursa Agalbursa (or Agalburga, Galbors), born 1148/55, died after 1186; was the daughter of Ponce de Cervera, viscount of Bas (a Catalan magnate), and Almodis, daughter of Raymond Berengar III of Barcelona. She married Barisone II of Arborea as his sec ...

, who married Barisone II of Arborea.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramon Berenguer 03, Count of Barcelona Counts of Barcelona Counts of Provence People from Rodez 1082 births 1131 deaths Burials at Santa Maria de Ripoll Christians of the 1113–1115 Balearic Islands expedition House of Barcelona 11th-century French people 12th-century French people 11th-century people from the County of Barcelona 12th-century people from the County of Barcelona