Aurembiaix (or Aurembiax) (1196–1231) was the Countess of Urgell from 1208, the last of her dynasty. She was the only child of Ermengol VIII and

Elvira of Subirats Elvira de Subirats (died 1220), was an Andorran regent. She was the regent of the County of Urgell during the minority of her daughter Aurembiaix in 1209-1220. She married Arnaud I of Castelbon and became the mother of Aurembiaix. After Arnaud ...

. In 1206, Ermengol asked

Peter II of Aragon Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213. Background Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon, Sancha ...

to defend the right of his daughter to inherit and his widow to have the regency. This also happened in 1209, when Aurembiaix became countess under the regency of her mother. However, after Peter's death (1213), Guerau IV of Cabrera, a first cousin of Aurembiaix's who claimed the inheritance, invaded the county and took control. Aurembiaix married Álvaro Pérez de Castro in 1212, but in 1228 she had the marriage annulled and returned to Urgell to claim her right to succeed. She received the support of

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( Catalan/Valencian: ''Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor''; Aragonese: ''Chaime I'' ''o Conqueridor''; ; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1 ...

and signed an agreement with him (which some scholars say was to become his concubine) at

Agramunt Agramunt () is a municipality (''municipi'') in the ''comarca'' of the Urgell in Catalonia. It is situated in the north of the ''comarca'', near the border with the Noguera. It has a population of . The town centre is protected as a historic-art ...

. Threatened with invasion and a possible marital alliance with Aragon, the nobles of Urgell accepted Aurembiaix as their ruler. In 1229, Aurembiaix in turn married

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, exiled brother of

Afonso II of Portugal Afonso II (; 23 April 118525 March 1223), also called Afonso the Fat () and Afonso the Leper (), was List of Portuguese monarchs, King of Portugal from 1211 until 1223. Afonso was the third monarch of Portugal. Afonso was the second but eldest ...

, and rendered

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

to James and accepting Urgell back from him as a fief. Aurembiaix died without descendants at Balaguer only about a year later. Urgell went to Peter.

References

*Chaytor, H. J.
A History of Aragon and Catalonia
'. London: Methuen, 1933. 1196 births 1231 deaths Counts of Urgell 13th-century countesses regnant Portuguese infantas by marriage 13th-century Catalan people 13th-century Spanish nobility 13th-century Spanish women {{europe-noble-stub

See also

References