The Spanish March or Hispanic March was a
march
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...
or military
buffer zone
A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them.
Common types o ...
established c. 795 by
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
in the eastern
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
and nearby areas, to protect the new territories of the Christian
Carolingian Empire
The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Franks, Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as List of Frankish kings, kings of the Franks since ...
—the
Duchy of Gascony, the
Duchy of Aquitaine
The Duchy of Aquitaine (, ; , ) was a historical fiefdom located in the western, central, and southern areas of present-day France, south of the river Loire. The full extent of the duchy, as well as its name, fluctuated greatly over the centuries ...
, and
Septimania
Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...
—from the Muslim
Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba in
al-Andalus
Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
.
In its broader meaning, the ''Spanish March'' sometimes refers to a group of early Iberian and trans-Pyrenean lordships or counts coming under Frankish rule. As time passed, these lordships merged or gained independence from Frankish imperial rule.
Geographical context
The area of the Spanish March broadly corresponds to the eastern regions between the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
and the
Ebro
The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...
. The local population of the
march
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...
was diverse. It included
Basques
The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...
in its northwestern valleys, the
Jews of Occitania, and a large
Occitano-Romance-speaking population governed by the
Visigothic Code, all of them under the influence of al-Andalus since their lords had vowed allegiance to the Umayyad
Córdoban rulers in 719, until King Pepin the Short of
Francia
The Kingdom of the Franks (), also known as the Frankish Kingdom, or just Francia, was the largest History of the Roman Empire, post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks, Frankish Merovingian dynasty, Merovingi ...
conquered Septimania in 759. The Pyrenean valleys started to switch loyalties after 785 (
Girona,
Ribagorza, etc.).
The territory of the Spanish March changed with the fortunes of the empires and the feudal ambitions of those, whether
counts
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
or
wali
The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...
s, who were appointed to administer the counties. Though owing loyalty to the Carolingian monarch, the counts became largely autonomous. Out of the welter of counties in the march, many would be absorbed by more powerful counties, leading to the predominance of the County of Barcelona, from which, along with its vassal counties, would emerge the
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...
centuries later. Other Spanish March counties would later be absorbed into the kingdoms of Aragon or France. Only
Andorra
Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...
, between modern France and Spain, retained its independence.
Counties that at various times formed part of the Spanish March included Ribagorza (initially including
Pallars),
Urgell,
Cerdanya,
Peralada,
Empúries,
Besalú,
Osona
Osona () is a comarques of Catalonia, comarca situated in the Central Catalonia, central region of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Vic, Spain, Vic. Its population in 2001 was 129,543. Osona covers roughly the same area as the historic Catalan co ...
,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...
, and Girona. The
Gothic March included
Conflent,
Roussillon
Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...
,
Vallespir and
Fenouillet.
The nominal boundaries attributed to the Spanish and Gothic marches vary in time and not without confusion. Also,
Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
and
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) 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 three provinces of Spain, ...
have sometimes been depicted as being within the Spanish March, but formally they were not. However, they came under Carolingian overlordship between 794 and 806 as part of the
Duchy of Vasconia (
Gascony
Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...
).
History

By 716, under the pressure of the
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...
from the south, the
Kingdom of the Visigoths had been rapidly reduced to the province of
Narbonensis (Septimania), a region which corresponds approximately to the modern
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon (; ; ) is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It comprised five departments o ...
. With the exception of the Visigothic province of Septimania and some territories in the mountains of northern
Hispania
Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...
, the
Umayyad conquest of the Visgothic Kingdom of Hispania was largely complete by 718. In 719, the Umayyad forces of
al-Samh ibn Malik bypassed the Pyrenees by marching along the Mediterranean coast to conquer Septimania and established a fortified base at the city of Narbonne. Umayyad control of this frontier province was secured by offering the local population generous terms,
intermarriage between ruling families, and treaties. Further Umayyad expansion northward was halted by
al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani
Al-Samh ibn Malik al- Khawlani () was the Arab governor general of Al-Andalus from between 719 and 721. In 720, under his governorate he minted the first purely Arab coins in Al-Andalus as part of his fiscal reforms.
Conquest of remaining Visig ...
s defeat at the
Battle of Toulouse in 721.
Wāli
''Wāli'', ''Wā'lī'' or ''vali'' (from ''Wālī'') is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim world (including the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and the Ottoman Empire) to designate governors of administrative divis ...
s were installed in
Girona and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...
.
In 725, his successor,
Anbasa ibn Suhaym al-Kalbi, besieged the city of Carcassonne, which had to agree to cede half of its territory, pay tribute, and make an offensive and defensive alliance with Muslim forces. Nîmes and all the other main Septimanian cities fell too under the sway of the Umayyads. In the 720s the savage fighting, the massacres and destruction particularly affecting the
Ebro valley and Septimania unleashed a flow of refugees who mainly found shelter in southern Aquitaine across the Pyrenees, and
Provence
Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...
. Peace was signed in 730 between the victor at Toulouse, the
Duke of Aquitaine
The duke of Aquitaine (, , ) was the ruler of the medieval region of Aquitaine (not to be confused with modern-day Aquitaine) under the supremacy of Frankish, English, and later French kings.
As successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom ( ...
, and
Munuza, a
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
rebel Muslim lord based in
Cerdanya (in current-day Catalonia), a region that could act as a buffer zone against Umayyad expansionism. The peace treaty was sealed with the marriage of the Duke’s daughter to Munuza. However, Munuza was defeated by an Umayyad military expedition in 731 during another Umayyad expansion.
The Spanish March was to be the result of the southward expansion of the Frankish realm from its heartland in
Neustria
Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages, in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, Austrasia. It initially included land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, in the north of present-day ...
and
Austrasia
Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...
starting with
Charles Martel
Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...
in 732 after various decades of fighting between the Franks and Umayyads or "Saracens".
The Dukes of
Aquitaine
Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...
(including Vasconia) pledged formal allegiance to the kings of the Franks several times,
Odo the Great
Odo the Great (also called ''Eudes'' or ''Eudo'') (died 735–740), was the Duke of Aquitaine by 700. His territory included Vasconia in the south-west of Gaul and the Duchy of Aquitaine (at that point located north-east of the river Garonne), ...
in 732 and
Hunald I
Hunald I, also spelled Hunold, Hunoald, Hunuald or Chunoald (died 756), was the Duke of Aquitaine from 735 until 745. Although nominally he was an officer of the Merovingian kings of Francia, in practice Aquitaine was completely autonomous when he ...
in 736 after being defeated, but remained independent. In 737,
Charles Martel
Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...
led an expedition to the lower
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...
and Septimania, possibly seeing that the Umayyad thrust was threatening his grip on
Burgundy
Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
, which had just been subdued in 736, but he failed to keep the region.
Both Aquitaine and Septimania were still out of Frankish control after Charles's death, but Pepin the Short was determined to subdue
southern Gaul. In 759, after conquering Septimania from the Umayyads, the Carolingian king focused all his might in
crushing Aquitanian resistance to central Frankish power. After a ruthless war of eight years, Aquitainian independence came to an end.
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
was now under the grip of the new Carolingian king, Charlemagne, and access to al-Andalus was open to him despite sporadic rebellions in Vasconia over the next two decades (Basques subdued in 790 by Charlemagne's new loyal strongman in Toulouse,
William of Gellone
William of Gellone ( 755 – 28 May 812 or 814), the medieval William of Orange, was the second Duke of Toulouse from 790 until 811. In 804, he founded the abbey of Gellone. He was canonized a saint in 1066 by Pope Alexander II. ).
The first county to be established by the Franks from the territory taken from the Muslims was
Roussillon
Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...
(with
Vallespir) circa 760. In 785 the county of
Girona (with
Besalú) to the south of the Pyrenees was taken.
Ribagorza and
Pallars were linked to
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
and were added to this county circa 790.
Urgell and
Cerdanya were added in 798. The first records of the county of
Empúries (with
Perelada) are from 812 but the county was probably under Frankish control before 800.
Pepin's son, Charlemagne, fulfilled the Carolingian goal of extending the defensive boundaries of the empire beyond Septimania, creating a strong barrier between the Umayyad Caliphate and Francia, besides tightening control over the Duchy of Vasconia by establishing the
Kingdom of Aquitaine, ruled by his son
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...
in 781.
After a series of struggles the
County of Barcelona
The County of Barcelona (, ) was a polity in northeastern Iberian Peninsula, originally located in the southern frontier region of the Carolingian Empire. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona progressively achieved independence from F ...
(with
Ausona) was
taken by Frankish forces in 801. A number of castles were established in
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) 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 three provinces of Spain, ...
between 798 and 802 (appointment by
Count Aureolus). After subduing the Basques to the north of the Pyrenees (790), Frankish overlordship expanded to the upper Ebro (794) and Pamplona (798), when
Alfonso II of Asturias
Alfonso II of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias (842), nicknamed the Chaste (), was the king of Asturias during two different periods: first in the year 783 and later from 791 until his death in 842. Upon his death, Nepotian of Asturias, Nepotian ...
also came under Charlemagne's influence.
Sobrarbe was not incorporated into the march, as it appears later in history and was probably within the area of influence of the
County of Aragon
The County of Aragon () or County of Jaca () was a small Franks, Frankish Marches, marcher county in the central Pyrenees, Pyrenean valley of the Aragon river, comprising Ansó, Echo, Aragón, Spain, Echo, and Canfranc and centered on the small to ...
.
The death of Charlemagne (814) was followed by a scene of open revolt and Carolingian setbacks around the Pyrenees. After being defeated by the Moors in the 816
Battle of Pancorbo, Pamplona, now led by the Basque lord
Iñigo Arista broke away from the Spanish March, with the County of Aragon following suit shortly thereafter in 820. The counties to the south, which were used by the Moors to enter and overrun Visigothic Septimania in 719, became, at this point, a natural extension of the
March of Gothia ruled by local counts under the Carolingian Empire.
Structure
The local population of the Spanish March was diverse. The majority were Hispano-Romans (Goths) and Basques but there were also Muslims, and Jews from Septimania who repopulated the Frankish conquered easternmost territories of present-day northern Spain and a small portion of southern France. The area changed with the fortunes of the empires and the feudal ambitions of the counts appointed to administer the counties. As Frankish imperial power waned, the rulers of the March of Hispania became independent fiefs. Most of the region would later become part of Catalonia.
Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious took Barcelona from its Moorish ruler in 801, thus securing
Frankish power in the borderland between the Franks and the Moors. The
Counts of Barcelona
The count of Barcelona (, , , ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, Usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality of Catalonia as Prince#Prince as generic for ruler, p ...
then became the principal representatives of Frankish authority in the Spanish March. The march included various outlying smaller territories, each ruled by a lesser ''
miles'' with his armed retainers and who theoretically owed allegiance through the count to the emperor.
The rulers of the counties were called ''counts'' and when they governed several counties they often took the title of ''duke'' (Dux Gothiae). When the county formed the border with the Muslim Kingdom, the Frankish title ''marquis'' (Marquis de Gothie) was chosen. Besides, certain counts aspired to the Frankish title "
Prince of Gothia". A margrave or ''Marcgravi'' is a ''Graf'' ("duke") of the March. The later ''Toulousain'' and ''Catalan'' lords, such as
Bernard of Septimania,
Humfrid,
Bernard of Gothia,
Borrell II, and
Ramon Borrell, inherited these titles.
In the early 9th century, Charlemagne began issuing a new kind of land grant, the ''
aprisio
Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, ...
'', which reallocated land previously held by the imperial crown
fisc
Under the Merovingians and Carolingians, the fisc (from Latin '' fiscus,'' whence we derive "fiscal") applied to the royal demesne which paid taxes, entirely in kind, from which the royal household was meant to be supported, though it rarely was. ...
in deserted or abandoned areas. This included special rights and immunities that allowed considerable independence from the imperial control. Historians have interpreted the ''aprisio'' both as an early form of
feudalism
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
and in economic and military terms as a mechanism to entice settlers to a depopulated border region. Such self-sufficient landholders would aid the counts in providing armed men to defend the Frankish
frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary.
Australia
The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...
. ''Aprisio'' grants (the first ones were in Septimania) were given personally by the Carolingian king, so that they reinforced loyalty to central power, to counterbalance the local power exercised by the march's counts.
However poor communications and a distant central power allowed these basic
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
, heavily agrarian entities to be self-sufficient. Each was ruled by a small hereditary military elite. For example, the first Count of Barcelona
Bera was appointed by the King in 801, however subsequently strong heirs were able to inherit the title such as
Sunifred, fl. 844–848. This gradually became custom until countship became hereditary (for
Wifred the Hairy in 897). The County of Barcelona became ''
de facto'' independent under count
Borrell II, when he ceased to request royal charters after the kings
Lothair and
Hugh Capet
Hugh Capet (; ; 941 – 24 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder of and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, he was elected as t ...
failed to assist him in the defense of the county against Muslim leader
al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ; 714 – 6 October 775) usually known simply as by his laqab al-Manṣūr () was the second Abbasid caliph, reigning from 754 to 775 succeeding his brother al-Saffah (). He is known ...
, although the change of dynasty may have played a part in that decision; meanwhile other counties maintained links with the Frankish crown for a longer time.
The early
history of Andorra in the Pyrenees provides a fairly typical example of a lordship of the region, as Andorra is the only part of the Spanish March that was never incorporated into either France or Spain, a feat mentioned in its national anthem, ''
El Gran Carlemany''.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Ian Meadows, "The Arabs in Occitania"
{{Spanish Kingdoms , state=expanded
Carolingian marches
Medieval Catalonia
States and territories established in the 790s
795 establishments