Ubayd Allah (), known as Abu Marwan (), was a general in the service of

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

Abd ar-Rahman II Abd ar-Rahman II (; 792–852) was the fourth ''Umayyad'' Emir of Córdoba in al-Andalus from 822 until his death in 852. A vigorous and effective frontier warrior, he was also well known as a patron of the arts. Abd ar-Rahman was born in Toled ...

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. He was an uncle of the Emir

Al-Hakam I Abu al-As al-Hakam ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Rahman () was Umayyad Emir of Cordoba from 796 until 822 in Al-Andalus ( Moorish Iberia). Biography Al-Hakam was the second son of his father, his older brother having died at an early age. When he came ...

. In 826,

Aissó Ayxun or Aissó was a nobleman who led a revolt in Barcelona, Ausona, and Girona in 826 to 827. His identity is uncertain. Aissó is thought to have been either a Goth and former lieutenant of the deposed Count Berà, or an Arab ( Ayxun ibn Sula ...

revolted and requested help from Abd ar-Rahman, who sent the general Abu Marwan. The army arrived in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

in May 827. From there Aby Marwan's forces passed into territory of 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 ...

, reaching Barcelona in the summer. It besieged Barcelona without success, ransacking the city's environs. Abu Marwan then moved on to

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, which he attempted to occupy on October 10, 827. The

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

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 ...

, knowing of the Muslim raid, ordered his son

Pepin I of Aquitaine Pepin I or Pepin I of Aquitaine (French: ''Pépin''; 797 – 13 December 838) was King of Aquitaine and Duke of Maine. Pepin was the second son of Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye. When his father assigned t ...

and the counts

Hugh of Tours Hugh (or Hugo) ( – 837) was the count of Tours and Sens during the reigns of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious, until his disgrace in February 828. Hugh had many possessions in Alsace, as well as the County of Sens. He also held the convent of ...

and Matfrid of Orléans to recruit an army, but the recruitment was slow and by the time it was formed, Abu Marwan and his army had returned to Muslim territory. The rebels abandoned the country with them (827).

References

People of the Reconquista 9th-century people from al-Andalus County of Barcelona 9th-century Arab people {{Al-Andalus-bio-stub