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Birth:          ABT  940 of Barcelona
Death:          30 Sep  992 

Notes
vassal of the emirs of Cordova
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borrell_II,_Count_of_Barcelona
Borrell II (died 993) was Count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 945 and Count 
of Urgell from 948.

Borrell was first seen acting as Count during the reign of his father Sunyer in 945 at 
the consecration of the nunnery church of Sant Pere de les Puelles in Barcelona. In 
947, Sunyer retired to monastic life and ceded the government of his realms jointly to 
his sons Borrell and Miró I. In 948, Borrell inherited Urgell from his uncle Sunifred II.[1] 
Sunyer died in 950, and Miró died in 966, leaving Borrell sole ruler of more than half of 
Old Catalonia, a status which led outsiders and flatterers to refer to him as dux 
Gothiae, "Duke of Gothia". His own documents almost all refer to him merely as comes 
et marchio, "Count and Marquis".[2]

History[edit]

Borrell was the son of Sunyer. In 967 he married Letgarda, who is speculated to have 
been daughter of a Count of Toulouse or Rouergue based on the names given to her 
children. By her Borrell had two sons and two daughters: Ramon Borrell (972-1017), 
Ermengol (974–1010), Ermengarda and Richilda. After Letgarda's death circa 986, he 
married Eimeruda of Auvergne in 987.

Borrell's military career seems to have been undistinguished — he is recorded as 
fighting only two battles and seems to have lost both - and it was under his rule that 
Barcelona was sacked in 985 by the Muslim leader Almanzor.[3][4] On the other hand, 
he had far greater success as a diplomat. Before the attacks of the 980s, and 
discounting a single raid by the Caliph al-Hakam II soon after his succession in 961, 
he maintained cordial relations with the Muslim rulers of Córdoba and also sent 
emissaries to the kings of the Franks.[5] Furthermore, in 970, he voyaged to Rome to 
meet with both Pope John XIII and Emperor Otto I.[6]

Borrell was also a patron of learning and culture. In 967, Borrell visited the monastery 
of Aurillac and the Abbot asked the count to take Gerbert of Aurillac (the future Pope 
Sylvester II) with him so that the boy could study mathematics in Spain. In the 
following years, Gerbert studied under the direction of Bishop Atto of Vic, some 60 km 
north of Barcelona, and probably also at the nearby Monastery of Santa Maria de 
Ripoll.[7] He was also taken on the 970 embassy to Rome, during which the Pope 
persuaded Otto to employ Gerbert as a tutor for his young son, the future emperor Otto 
II.

In 985 the Hispanic March was attacked by the Muslim general Almanzor, who 
managed to take Barcelona, which was pillaged and sacked. Many citizens were 
taken prisoner by the Muslim forces.[8] Borrell sent a request for help to King Lothar 
III, the current King of the Western Franks,[9] but although documents of Borrell's 
refer to royal orders that must have come from this embassy,[10] actual military 
assistance was beyond Lothar's power. What appears to have been a similar plea to 
Hugh Capet resulted in a letter from Hugh to Borrell promising aid if the count 
preferred "to obey us rather than the Ishmaelites",[11] but in any event Hugh could 
not persuade his nobles to support a southern expedition.[12] No answer to Hugh's 
letter is known from Borrell, and the connection between the March and France was 
effectively broken. Catalan historians now consider this the point at which their nation 
became a sovereign power, and the millennium of their independence was celebrated 
in 1987 with conferences and numerous publications; however it appears that Catalan 
counties other than Borrell's retained links with the Frankish crown for a little longer.
[13]

From 988, Borrell's sons Ramon Borrell and Ermengol appear as rulers in a divided 
territory, with Ramon Borrell being count of Barcelona, Girona, and Osona and 
Ermengol being count of Urgell.[14] Borrell II continued to issue documents and tour 
his domains, however, and when he was taken ill in 993 in Castellciutat near la Seu 
d'Urgell, the will that he made provided for him outliving his executors.[15] It was not 
to be, however, and his death followed soon afterwards.[16]

Parents
____ Sunifred (Sunyer) (ABT  880 - 15 Oct  950)
DE ROUERGUE Richilde (ABT  897 - AFT 12 Nov  954)

Siblings
____ Borrell II (ABT  940 - 30 Sep  992)

Marriage To DE TOULOUSE Luitgarde (ABT  945 - AFT  977)
    m.  968 

Notes

Parents
PONS Raymond III (ABT  900 - )
OF GASCONY Gersende (ABT  900 - )

Children by DE TOULOUSE Luitgarde ABT  945 - AFT  977
BORREL Raymond (Ramon) (Raimund) I ( 972 - 25 Feb 1018)
____ Armengol (Ermengol) I (ABT  975 - 1 Sep 1010)

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