 Briefly part of Charlemagne’s empire, the Catalan counties broke away when Carolingian monarchs proved unable to successfully defend them.By the 11th century the County of Barcelona embraced most of present-day Catalonia plus some territories in France, and had grown to be an important Mediterranean power.The County of Barcelona united by marriage with the Kingdom of Aragon in the mid-12th century, forming the Crown of Aragon, and the County became known as the Principality of Catalonia.