Ermengol III
Ermengol (or Armengol) III (1032–1065), called el de Barbastro, was the Count of Urgell from 1038 to his death. He was the son of Ermengol II, Count of Urgell and his wife Velasquita "Constance" of Besalú, probably the daughter of Bernard I, Count of Besalú.[1]
Allied with his contemporary and second cousin Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, together they shared in the process of erosion of the comital authority to the noblesse. They also cooperated in the Reconquista and he received a third part of the conquests, occupying, in 1050, Camarasa and Cubells after taking them from Yusuf of Lleida. In 1039–1040, Ermengol and Raymond Berengar signed a pact against Raymond of Cerdanya. Later in that decade, Raymond Berenger paid 20,000 solidi for Ermengol's support and military aid.[2]
He took part in the Barbastro War of 1064 under the banner of Sancho Ramírez of Aragon. When Barbastro was captured, he was given the lordship of the city. On 17 April 1066, he died defending the city from Moorish reprisals.
Ermengol married before 1048, Adelaide, who died before 1055 and whose family is not known, even if some scholars made her daughter of Guillem I, Count of Besalu.[1] They were the parents of:
- Ermengol IV, his heir;[a]
- Isabella (died circa 1071), married King Sancho Ramírez in 1065 and, after her divorce, became the third wife of William I, Count of Cerdanya.
Before May 7, 1055, Ermengol took as his second wife Clemencia, hypothesized to have been daughter of Berengar Raymond I and his second wife Guisla (based on the names of their younger sons), by whom he had:
- Berenguer
- Guillem
- Ramon
Clemencia died after 17 October 1059, when she confirms a charter with her husband,[5] and before 6 November 1062. Ermengol was remarried to a lady named Elvira, who died about 1064.
In 1063, Ermengol married as his fourth wife Sancha, daughter of Ramiro I of Aragon.
Notes
- ^ In a charter dated 1066 – 1076, he appears as Ermengaudum, Urgellensem comitem, filium Adalaidis comitisse (Ermengol, count of Urgell, son of Countess Adelaide),[3] and, in another charter, dated 1069 – 1071, he identifies himself as Ego, Ermengaudus comes Urgelli, filius qui sum comitisse Adalaidis (I, Ermengol count of Urgell, son of Countess Adelaide). I this charter, he swears fealty to his brother-in-law William I, Count of Cerdanya and promises that if he died without issue, the county of Urgell would be inherited by his sister Isabella.[4]
References
- ^ a b Fernández-Xesta y Vázquez 2001, p. 15.
- ^ Lewis 1965, p. 380.
- ^ Baiges, Feliu & Salrach 2010, Doc. 66, pp. 234–38.
- ^ Baiges, Feliu & Salrach 2010, Doc. 51, pp. 211–12.
- ^ Chesé Lapeña 2011, Doc. 41, pp. 260–261.
Sources
- Aurell i Cardona, Martin. "Jalons pour une enquête sur les stratégies matrimoniales des comtes Catalans (IXe-XIe s.)" Symposium internacional, 1991, vol 1, pp 281–364.
- Baiges, Ignasi J.; Feliu, Gaspar; Salrach, Josep M. (2010). Els pergamins de l'Arxiu Comtal de Barcelona, de Ramon Berenguer II a Ramon Berenguer IV (PDF) (in Catalán). Vol. Vol. I. (Coord.). Barcelona: Fundació Noguera. ISBN 978-84-9779-958-4.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help); Invalid|ref=harv(help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - Chesé Lapeña, Ramon (2011). Collecció diplomàtica de Sant Pere dÀger fins 1198 (PDF) (in Catalán). Vol. Vol. I. Barcelona: Fundació Noguera. ISBN 978-84-9975-117-7.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help); Invalid|ref=harv(help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - Fernández-Xesta y Vázquez, Ernesto (2001). Relaciones del condado de Urgel con Castilla y León (in Spanish). Madrid: E&P Libros Antiguos, S.L. ISBN 84-87860-37-0.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Lewis, Archibald R. (1965). The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. Austin: University of Texas Press. OCLC 657400975.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Ponsich, Pierre. "Le Conflent et ses comtes du IXe au XIIe siècle." Etudes Roussillonnaises, 1, 1951, pp 241–344.