Family History 2.11

 

Bigelow History: pre-1630

Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona and Prince of Aragon

In 1131, when he was around 18 years of age, Ramon Berenguer IV inherited the county of Barcelona from his father, Ramon Berenguer IV.

 

A few years later he was betrothed to the infant daughter of the King of Aragon, and the marriage treaty virtually made him King of Aragon when his father-in-law should die. This union of the two political entities, keeping their own laws and systems, but part of one kingdom, gave the noirth-eastern region of Spain a size which enabled it to balance the Castille region to the west.

 

Ramon Berenguer IV made deals with the rulers of Castille to share the takeover of Andalusian districts conquered from the Moors, and he also allied himself with Italian powers to conquer other Moorish principalities. So modern Catalonia was completed.

 

At the same time, he was also helping his brother, who was Count of Provence, against the County of Toulouse, and ensuring that his family's interests north of the Pyrenees were strengthened.

 

Wikipedia says:The Chronicle of San Juan de la Peña said he was, "[a] man of particularly great nobility, prudence, and probity, of lively temperament, high counsel, great bravery, and steady intellect, who displayed great temperance in all his actions. He was handsome in appearance, with a large body and very well-proportioned limbs."

 

In 1162 he died in Italy, leaving the Aragon/Barcelona kingdom to his son, Ramon Berenguer; he in turn changed his name to Alfonso II of Aragon, which left his younger brother, Peter, in charge of the French part of the family domains. Peter swapped his name for Ramon Berenguer. (Confusing!)