Bera (d.844) was the first count of Barcelona from 801 until his deposition in 820.
He was also the Count of
GironaGirona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell with an estimated population of 95,000...
and
BesalúBesalú is a town in the comarca of Garrotxa, in 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 comarca of Garrotxa but sometime extended as far as Corbières, Aude, in France....
from 812 or 817 and Count of
RazèsRazès is a historical area in southwestern France, in today's Aude département.Several communes of the département include Razès in their name:* Bellegarde-du-Razès* Belvèze-du-Razès* Fenouillet-du-Razès* Fonters-du-Razès...
and
ConflentConflent is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French Département of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent....
from 790 until his deposition.
Bera was the son of
William ISaint William of Gellone was the second Count of Toulouse from 790 until his replacement in 811. His Occitan name is Guilhem, and he is known in French as Guillaume d'Orange, Guillaume Fierabrace, and the Marquis au court nez.He is the hero of the Chanson de Guillaume, an early chanson de geste,...
, count of Toulouse, cousin of
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
, and his first wife the
VisigothThe Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe; the Ostrogoths being the other. Together these tribes were among the barbarians who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period. The Visigoths first emerged as a distinct people during the fourth...
princess Cunegunda. In 790 William passed the governship of the counties of Razès and Conflent to Bera.
Bera (d.844) was the first count of Barcelona from 801 until his deposition in 820.
He was also the Count of
GironaGirona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell with an estimated population of 95,000...
and
BesalúBesalú is a town in the comarca of Garrotxa, in 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 comarca of Garrotxa but sometime extended as far as Corbières, Aude, in France....
from 812 or 817 and Count of
RazèsRazès is a historical area in southwestern France, in today's Aude département.Several communes of the département include Razès in their name:* Bellegarde-du-Razès* Belvèze-du-Razès* Fenouillet-du-Razès* Fonters-du-Razès...
and
ConflentConflent is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French Département of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent....
from 790 until his deposition.
Origins
Bera was the son of
William ISaint William of Gellone was the second Count of Toulouse from 790 until his replacement in 811. His Occitan name is Guilhem, and he is known in French as Guillaume d'Orange, Guillaume Fierabrace, and the Marquis au court nez.He is the hero of the Chanson de Guillaume, an early chanson de geste,...
, count of Toulouse, cousin of
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
, and his first wife the
VisigothThe Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe; the Ostrogoths being the other. Together these tribes were among the barbarians who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period. The Visigoths first emerged as a distinct people during the fourth...
princess Cunegunda. In 790 William passed the governship of the counties of Razès and Conflent to Bera. The Counties of Rosselló (with the
pagus of
VallespirVallespir is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, part of the French Département of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà, Garrotxa and Ripollès...
) and
AmpuriasAmpurias may refer to:* Empúries in Catalonia, Spain* Castelsardo on Sardinia, Italy...
were given to his other son
GaucelmGaucelm was a Frankish count and leading magnate in Gothia during the reign of Louis the Pious. He was initially the Count of Roussillon from about 800, but he received Empúries in 817 and was thenceforward the chief representative of imperial authority in that region.He was the son of William of...
whose mother was Romilla, William’s second wife.
Background and installation
In 796 the
WaliWalī , is an Arabic word meaning "trusted one or patron"; it generally denotes "friend of God" in the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh It should not be confused with the word Wāli which is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim Caliphate, and still today in some Muslim countries.-Sunni...
of
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
Sa'dun al RuayniSa'dun al Ruayni was Governor or Wali of Barcelona from 792 to 801 and effectively the last Muslim ruler of the city.He was appointed successor to Matruh ben Sulayman al-Arabi c.792 by the Emir of Córdoba...
attempted to break his allegance to
Al-Hakam IAl-Hakam Ibn Hisham Ibn Abd-ar-Rahman I was Umayyad Emir of Cordoba from 796 until 822 in the Al-Andalus .During his reign he crushed a rebellion led by clerics in a suburb called al-Ribad on the south bank of the Guadalquivir river. He punished the inhabitants by exiling them by ship...
, emir of Córdoba. In April 797, he travelled to
AachenAachen is a historic spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the medieval Kings of Germany...
and offered to switch the city’s alligence to
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
in exchange for help against Córdoba. Charlemagne summoned an assembly in
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
in the spring of 800 which agreed to send his son
Louis the PiousLouis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
to Barcelona.
The army included a number of noble men, among them Rostany of Girona, Adhemar of Narbonne, and Bera’s father William of Toulouse. Sa’dun however had changed his mind and the Frankish forces laid siege of Barcelona. Eventually starving and with Sa’dun having been captured by the Franks trying to reach Caliphate of Cordoba in a plea for help, the City’s Visigoth population handed the new Wali
HarunHarun of Barcelona was the last Wali of Barcelona, ruling from 800 to 801.Harun succeeded as Wali when his predecessor, Sa'dun al Ruayni was captured by besieging Frank Forces while trying reach Córdoba to raise help...
over to the Franks with their surrender on Saturday, April 3,
801-Births:* September 8 or 9—Ansgar, German monk and archbishop * June 17—Drogo of Metz...
. Louis entered the city on the following day.
Soon after, Bera, who was part of the besieging army, was invested as the first Count of Barcelona. Bera, advised by his mother, and supported by the City’s residents keen for continued peaceful relations with the nearby Muslim states, sought to institute a truce. Charlemagne finally accepted the three year truce in 812.
Expeditions across the Ebro
Bera took part in the Frankish campaigns in 804, 808, and 809 to extend the southern border of the
Marca HispanicaThe Marca Hispanica was a buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, created by Charlemagne in 795 as a defensive barrier between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Kingdom....
to the River Ebro which was felt to be a natural defendable barrier between the two empires. This was despite his Visigoth mother who urged him to keep peace with the Muslims States to the south and west.
First expedition
In 804, Louis the Pious led an army to
TarragonaTarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia and east of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès...
. At Santa Coloma, the army divided into two. Louis marched his division straight for
TortosaTortosa is the capital of the comarca of Baix Ebre, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain, located at 12 metres above the sea, by the Ebre river...
while the other commanded by Bera, Adhemar, and Borrell of Ausona covered Louis' western flank and attacked Tortosa from the south. Bera turned his army around after they had crossed the River Ebro where it meets the Cinca. The army went as far as Vila Rubea before being forced to turn back to Vallis Ibana (this is possibly modern Vallibona), near Morella. They then rejoined the troops commanded by Louis's which has unsuccessfully undertaken a siege of Tortosa. The army then turned north and returned to
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
.
Second expedition
In 808, Charlemagne sent his legate Ingobert to Toulouse to meet Louis and prepare for another expedition south. The plan was to follow the same tactics as in 804. The "Astronomer", author of the
Vita HludoviciVita Hludovici or Vita Hludovici Imperatoris is an anonymous biography of Louis the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Franks from AD 814 to 840.-Author:...
, writes that the forces of Bera and Adhemar crossed the Ebro in boats while their horses swam across. However the horse dung was swept by the current past Tortosa which alerted the town’s garrison. The
waliWalī , is an Arabic word meaning "trusted one or patron"; it generally denotes "friend of God" in the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh It should not be confused with the word Wāli which is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim Caliphate, and still today in some Muslim countries.-Sunni...
of the city attacked Bera who was forced to retreat north again.
Third expedition
In 809, Louis led his last expedition as King of Aquitaine into the
Marca. This time equipped with
siege engineA siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...
s, Tortosa was besieged for forty days by Frankish and troops from the Marca (under Bera). The new Emir of Cordoba,
Abd ar-Rahman IIAbd ar-Rahman II was Umayyad Emir of Cordoba in the Al-Andalus from 822 until his death.He was born in Toledo, the son of Emir Al-Hakam I...
, however met the besiegers with an army. The Moorish chronicler Al Maqqari records a Muslim victory, while Astronomus simply states that the besieged offered Louis's the keys to the city and, satisfied, the King of Aquitaine lifted his siege and left.
First truce
It is probable that Bera was the strongest promoter of peace with Córdoba. This would allow him to consolidate his power in his new possessions. The Frankish court eventually signed a three year peace treaty with the Caliphate of Córdoba in 812.
Bera's father died on 18 May 812 and the Counties of Razès and Conflent passed to him. Following his father's example, Bera gave governship of the Counties to his son
GuillemóGuillemó , also known as Guillemundus, was Count of Rasez and Conflent, son of Berà. He received these counties from delegation of his father and retained them when Berà died in 820...
.
In 812 Bera also travelled to the Imperial Court in
AachenAachen is a historic spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the medieval Kings of Germany...
with several other of the regions Counts: Adhemar of Narbonne,
GaucelmGaucelm was a Frankish count and leading magnate in Gothia during the reign of Louis the Pious. He was initially the Count of Roussillon from about 800, but he received Empúries in 817 and was thenceforward the chief representative of imperial authority in that region.He was the son of William of...
of
RoussillonRoussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
, Odilo of Girona, Guiscafred of
CarcassonneCarcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude département, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is separated into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse...
, Ermengar of
EmpúriesEmpúries is a town on the Mediterranean coast of the Catalan comarca of Alt Empordà . It was founded in 575 BC by Greek colonists from Phocaea with the name of Εμπόριον...
, Laibulf of
ProvenceProvence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, and Erlin of
BéziersBéziers is a town in Languedoc in the southwest of France. It is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August...
. Several Visigoth (
hispani) nobles had accused the Counts of Frankish Paternity and of imposing unjust tributes and excises on their lands. The Magnates defence was unsuccessful and Charlemagne decided in favour of the claimants
Second truce and downfall
Around 813, Count Odilo of Girona and Besalú died and these Counties passed to Bera.
In 815, the truce with the Caliphate was broken and the war with the Muslims resumed. The Muslim army under the command of
Ubayd Allah Abu MarwanUbayd Allah, known as Abu Marwan, was a general in the service of Emir Abd ar-Rahman II of Córdoba. He was an uncle of the Emir Al-Hakam I....
, uncle of the Emir
Al-Hakam IAl-Hakam Ibn Hisham Ibn Abd-ar-Rahman I was Umayyad Emir of Cordoba from 796 until 822 in the Al-Andalus .During his reign he crushed a rebellion led by clerics in a suburb called al-Ribad on the south bank of the Guadalquivir river. He punished the inhabitants by exiling them by ship...
, attacked Barcelona. However the attack was beaten off by a mercenary Visigothic army. This victory increased the prestige of Bera, whose relationships with the local Visigoth nobility improved. In November 816, the
Wali of
ZaragozaZaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community and former Kingdom of Aragon, Spain...
travelled to Aachen and negotiated a new three year truce, which was finally concluded in February 817.
However despite attempts to secure alliances in
PamplonaPamplona is the capital city of Navarre, Spain and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 7 to 14, in which the running of the bulls or encierro is one of the main attractions...
, the Basques remained allied to the
Banu QasiThe Banu Qasi, Banu Kasi, Beni Casi or Banu Musa were a Basque Muladi dynasty that ruled the upper Ebro valley in the 9th, before being displaced in the first quarter of the 10th century....
family based in the River Ebro valley. They continued to defy Frankish authority, as did
AragónAragon is an autonomous community of Spain. Located in northeastern Spain, the region comprises three provinces from north to south: Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza .Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees...
, where the Count was allied with the Basques. Bera's half-brother, Gaucelm, and by Gaucelm's brother
BernardBernard or Bernat of Septimania , son of William of Gellone, was the Frankish Duke of Septimania and Count of Barcelona from 826 to 832 and again from 835 to his execution. He was appointed to succeed his fellow Frank Rampon...
both claimed the truce promoted by Bera. Was against the Empire’s best interests and inhibited attempts to force the Basques and Aragón to recognise themselves as Vassels of the empire.
In February 820, a general assembly was held in Aachen at which Bera was in attendance. Gaucelm sent his Visigoth lieutenant Sanila in his place, who accused Bera of infidelity and perfidy. The litigation, as was customary in that era, was settled by a duel in the palace. Bera was defeated by Sanila. However Emperor Louis I, who did believe the Count was a traitor, commuted the death penalty carried by the defeat, into an exile in
RouenRouen is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie region. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
. He remained here until his death in the year 844.
He was succeeded as Count of Barcelona by Rampon.