Count of Barcelona


The Count of Barcelona was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and the Principality of Catalonia for much of Catalan history, from the 9th century until the 15th century.

History

The County of Barcelona was created by Charlemagne after he had conquered lands north of the river Ebro. These lands, called the Marca Hispanica, were partitioned into various counties, of which the count of Barcelona, usually holding other counties simultaneously, eventually obtained the primacy over the region. As the county became hereditary in one family, the bond of the counts to their Frankish overlords loosened, especially after the Capetian dynasty supplanted the Carolingians.
In the 12th century, the counts of Barcelona became kings of Aragon through inheritance, establishing the Crown of Aragon. In 1258, the king of France relinquished his feudal authority over the county in the Treaty of Corbeil. The counts were also hereditary kings of Castile from the 16th century, eventually forming the Kingdom of Spain. The title of count of Barcelona remained one of the many hereditary titles of the Spanish monarchy.
In the 20th century, the title regained some prominence when Juan de Borbón, the exiled heir to the Spanish throne, adopted the title of count of Barcelona. In doing so, he claimed a historical royal title without claiming to be the current king of Spain, especially after his son Juan Carlos became the prospective successor of the then-ruler of Spain, Francisco Franco. In 1977, after Juan Carlos had become king upon Franco's death in 1975, he officially awarded the comital title to his father, who had renounced his rights to the throne. Juan held that title until his death in 1993, when it reverted to Juan Carlos. Juan de Borbón's widow used the title countess of Barcelona until her death in 2000.

List of counts of Barcelona

Non-dynastic, 801–878

NamePortraitReignNotes
Berà801-820son of Guilhèm I of Razès, brother of Bello of Razès, also Count of Razès and Conflent, Girona, Besalú, Ausona, deposed.
Rampon
820-826also Count of Girona and Besalú
Bernard I
826-832son of William of Gellone, also margrave of Septimania and Imperial Chamberlain, deposed.
Berenguer832-835also Count of Toulouse.
Bernard I
836-844restored, executed on orders of Charles the Bald.
Sunifred844-848son or son-in-law of Belló of Carcassone, also Count of Ausona, Besalú, Girona, Narbonne, Agde, Béziers, Lodève, Melgueil, Cerdanya, Urgell, Conflent and Nîmes.
William
848-850son of Bernard I, also Count of Toulouse, rebelled and was killed.
Aleran850-852also Count of Empúries and Roussillon and Margrave of Septimania.
Odalric852-858son of Hunfrid, Margrave of Istria, also Count of Girona, Roussillon, Empúries and Margrave of Septimania.
Humfrid858-864son of Hunfrid II, Duke of Rhaetia, also Count of Girona, Empúries, Roussillon, and Narbonne and Margrave of Gothia.
Bernard II
865-878son of Bernard of Poitiers also Count of Girona and Margrave of Gothia and Septimania, rebelled.

House of Sunifred, 878–1162

[House of Barcelona], 1164–1410

Reapers' War, 1641-1659

During the Reapers' War, the States-General on 21 January 1641 declared the French king Louis XIII Count of Barcelona as Louis I. Despite the reconquest of Barcelona by Spain in 1652, the kings of France held on to the part of Catalonia north of the Pyrénées, where Catalan institutions remained. This lasted until the conclusion of the Franco-Spanish War and the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, where French authorities renounced Catalonia, but received Northern Catalonia, which became the French province of Roussillon.

House of Bourbon, 1641-1659

Courtesy title

House of Bourbon, 1977–1993