Everything about The Marca Hispanica totally explained
The
Marca Hispanica (
Hispanic or
Spanish March, also
March of Barcelona) 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. It was known as the Upper Mark by the Caliphate to the south.
In its broader meaning, Marca Hispanica refers to a group of early Iberian lordships or counts created by the Franks, of which
Andorra is the sole autonomous survivor. As time passed, these lordships merged or gained independence from Frankish imperial rule.
Geographical context
The area broadly corresponds to the region between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River. The local population of the March was diverse, including Iberians, Basques, Jews and Goths who had been conquered or subjugated by the Muslim emirate or the Frankish Empire to the south and north. The territory changed with the fortunes of the Empires and the feudal ambitions of those, whether the Counts or Walis, appointed to administrate the counties. Eventually the rulers and people of the March became autonomous and claimed independence. Out of the welter of counties in the region emerged the principalities of Navarre, Aragon, and Catalonia.
Counties that at various times formed part of the March included:
Pamplona,
Sangüesa,
Jaca (Aragón),
Sobrarbe,
Ribagorza,
Pallars,
Urgell,
Cerdanya,
Conflent,
Roussillon,
Vallespir,
Perelada,
Empúries,
Besalú,
Ausona (Osona),
Barcelona and
Girona.
Origins
The Marca Hispanica developed as the result of three generations of fighting by the Franks and
Muslims (Moors) in the Iberian Peninsula. The
Muslim invasions reached the Pyrenees in the Iberian Peninsula. In
719 Al-Samh ibn Malik surged up the east coast overwhelming the remaining Visigoth kingdom of
Septimania and establishing a fortified base at
Narbonne. Control was secured by offering the local population generous terms, inter-marriage between ruling families or treaties.
Further expansion was halted by defeat in the
Battle of Toulouse (721).
Wālis were installed in
Girona and
Barcelona. The Muslim forces however continued to raid their Frankish neighbours to the north, reaching as far as
Autun.
Peace was made in
730 between the victor at Toulouse the
Duke of Aquitaine and '
Uthman ibn Naissa (Munuza), the
Berber deputy governor of Narbonne. A peace treaty was sealed with the marriage of the Duke’s daughter to Munuza. However, when Munuza rebelled against his Andalusian masters he was defeated, and another period of Muslim expansion commenced.
In
732, Muslim forces again attacked Gaul and Aquitaine and secured initial victories including the sacking of
Bordeaux. The Duke of Aquitaine failed to secure support from his Frankish overlord
Charles Martel who wanted to re-impose control over the dukedom. At the
Battle of Tours, Charles defeated the Muslim army and repelled the invasion. Control was re-imposed by the Carolingian monarchs who now sought to secure the southern boundary of their kingdom from further Muslim attacks.
Further campaigns in
736–
737 drove the Moors further south, although Charles failed to re-take Narbonne which was defended by both its Muslim and its Visigoth citizens. However, in
759 Narbonne fell to
Pippin Charles’ son.
Although his attempts to extend the defensive boundaries of his kingdom beyond
Septimania ended when he died, his son Charlemagne finished the job, creating a strong barrier state between the Umayyad
Emirate/
Caliphate of
Iberia, and the Frankish Kingdom.
Creation
The Franks created the Marca Hispanica by conquering former Visigoth states which had been captured by the Muslims or had become allied with them.
The first county to be conquered was
Roussillon (with
Vallespir) in around
760. In
785 the county of
Girona (with
Besalú) to the south of the Pyrenees was taken.
Ribagorza and
Pallars were linked to
Tolosa and were added to this county around 790.
Urgell and
Cerdanya were added in
798. The first records of the county of
Empúries (with
Perelada) are from
812 but the county was probably under Frankish control before
800.
After a series of struggles the
County of Barcelona (with
Ausona) was taken by Frankish forces in
801. A number of castles were established in
Aragón between
798 and
802.
Pamplona (and
Sangüesa) were briefly controlled by the Franks until
817, when it was lost to
Basque and Christian Iberian forces. The date
Sobrarbe was incorporated into the March is unsure.
After the loss of Pamplona (817) and Aragón (820) the March was often called Gothia after the Visigoth population. In addition, as the Counts often held land in Septimania, the whole region was sometimes referred to as Septimania.
Structure
The local population of the Marches was diverse including Hispano-Romans, Iberians, Basques, Jews and Goths who had been conquered or subligated by the Muslim or Frankish Empires to the north and south. The area changed with the fortunes of the Empires and the feudal ambitions of the Counts or Walis appointed to administrate the Counties. As Frankish imperial power waned, the rulers of the March became independent fiefs. The region would later become part of the principalities of Navarre, Aragon, and Catalonia.
Charlemagne's son
Louis took
Barcelona from its Moorish ruler in
801, thus securing Frankish power in the borderland between the Franks and the Moors. The
Counts of Barcelona then became the principal representatives of Frankish authority in the Hispanic March. The March included various outlying smaller territories, each ruled by a lesser
Miles with his armed retainers and who theoretically owed allegiance through the Count to the
Emperor. This oath of loyalty weakened with each successive
Carolingian and, later,
Ottonian successor.
The rulers were called Counts, when they governed several Counties they often took the name Ducem (Duke). When the County formed the border with the Muslim Kingdom the Frankish title, Marquis was chosen.
In the counties occupying the area of modern Catalonia, each Mile incorporated a
catlá ("castellan" or lord of the castle) in an area largely defined by a day's horse ride. The region became dotted with these strongholds and became known by their name as "
Catalunya". The same thing occurred later in
Castile.
Counties formed in the
9th century at the eastern end of
Pyrenees as an
appanages of the Counts of Barcelona included
Cerdanya,
Girona and
Urgell.
In the early 9th century, Charlemagne began issuing a new kind of land grant, the
Aprisio, which reallocated land previously held by the imperial crown
fisc in deserted or abandoned areas. This included special rights and immunities that allowed considerable independence from the imperial control. Historians have interpreted the
aprisio both as an early form of
feudalism and in economic and military terms as a mechanism to entice settlers to a depopulated border region. Such self-sufficient landholders would aid the Counts in providing armed men to defend the Frankish
frontier.
Aprisio grants (the first ones were in
Septimania) were given personnally by the Carolingian king, so that they reinforced loyalty to central power, to counterbalance the local power exercised by the Marcher Counts.
However poor communications and a distant central power allowed basic
feudal entities to develop often self-sufficient and heavily agrarian. Each was ruled by a small hereditary military elite. These developments in Catalonia follow similar patterns in other borderlands and Marches. For example the first Count of Barcelona
Bera was appointed by the King in
801), however subsequently strong heirs of Counts were able to inherit the title such as
Sunifred, fl.
844–
848. This gradually became custom until Countship became hereditary (for
Wifred the Hairy in
897). Eventually the County was declared independent (by
Borrell II in
985).
At each stage the
de facto situation precedes the
de jure assertion. The law regularising the existing facts. Certain Counts aspired to the Frankish (Germanic) title "
Margrave of the Hispanic March". A "Margrave" is a
Graf ("Count") of the March. The early
History of Andorra in the Pyrenees provides a fairly typical example of a lordship of the region, and is the only modern survivor of the Hispanic March.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Marca Hispanica'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://marca_hispanica.totallyexplained.com">Marca Hispanica Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
