(1131) The Frankish conquest of the area from Muslim control began in 759, shortly after the capture of
Narbonne, with the establishment of the
County of Rosselló, the first of what would later become the Catalan counties to be established. In 785,
Rostany (or
Rostaing) was made
Count of Girona, the first one south of the Pyrenees.
Besalú and
Empúries were originally part of Girona. When
Urgell and
Cerdanya were conquered by Carolingian forces around 798, they were also made counties of the Hispanic March and
Borrell was made count. He took a very active part in the subsequent conquest of
Osona in 799 and the successful siege of Barcelona in 801. He was made count of Osona in 799, perhaps as a reward for his services. In 801, in the greatest military triumph of his long career, Louis the Pious, son of Charlamagne,
took Barcelona from its Muslim rulers, making it the greatest city of the Hispanic March's littoral. The
County of Barcelona was established and
Bera was made its count. In 812, Count dilo of Girona (which included Besalú and Empúries) died and the county also passed to Bera. In 804 and 805, Borrell participated in the expeditions to
Tortosa, but not in the subsequent
campaigns of 808 and 809. On Borrell's death in 820, Osona was given to
Rampon and Urgell and Cerdanya went to
Aznar Galíndez. Also in 820, Bera went into political disfavour and lost the countships of Barcelona and Girona, which also went to Rampon. Around 813, Empúries became a separate county under
Ermenguer, and in 817, it was united to the
County of Roussillon. From 835 to 844,
Sunyer I was count of Empúries and
Peralada while
Alaric I was count of Roussillon and
Vallespir. Besalú was made a separate county in 878 for
Radulf on the condition that it pass to the heirs of
Wilfred the Hairy on his death. It went to
Miro I the Younger in 912. Barcelona soon overshadowed the other counties in importance, especially during the reign of
Wilfred the Hairy in the late 9th century. At that time, the power of the Carolingian Empire was waning and the neglected Hispanic March counties were practically independent of its royal authority. In the early 11th century,
Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona, was able to submit to
Sancho III of Navarre as his suzerain, even though he was still legally a vassal of
Robert II of France. With the accession of Robert's father,
Hugh Capet, the first non-Carolingian king, in 987, most of the counts refused to pay homage to the new dynasty. Over the next century, most of the counties were absorbed or became vassals of the County of Barcelona. In 1137, the Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer IV married the heiress of the
Kingdom of Aragon Petronella, daughter of the Aragonese king Ramiro II, thus uniting the County of Barcelona and its vassals with the Kingdom of Aragon to create the
Crown of Aragon. After 1173, the Catalan counties, including the vassals of Barcelona, fell under the legal definition of Catalonia, which was officially defined as a principality in 1343. Several of the later Aragonese kings re-created some of the counties as appanages for younger sons. ==Catalan Counties and Viscounties==