The Hispanic Marches and surrounding regions. The Hispanic Marches or Spanish Marches (, , Aragonese and , , ), also known as the March of Barcelona, were a military buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania, established by Charlemagne in 795 as a defensive barrier between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Carolingian Empire (Duchy of Gascony, the Duchy of Aquitaine and Carolingian Septimania). In its broader meaning, Hispanic Marches sometimes refers to a group of early Iberian and trans-Pyrenean lordships or counts coming under Frankish rule. As time passed, these lordships merged or gained independence from Frankish imperial URL Geographical context The area broadly corresponds to the eastern regions between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River. The local population of the Marches was diverse. It included Basques in its north-western valleys, Jews,On the Role of the Jews in the Establishment of the Hispanic Marches (768-814) : STUDIES IN THE HISTORY, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF. / Bachrach, Bernard S. and a large Occitano-Romance-speaking Hispano-Roman population (Occitans and Catalans) governed by the Visigothic Code, all of them under the influence of Al-Andalus culture, since their lords had vowed allegiance to Cordoban rulers until Pepin's conquest of Andalusian Septimania (759). The Pyrenean valleys started to switch loyalties after 785 (Girona, Ribagorza, etc.) with the construction and garrisoning by counts loyal to the Carolingians of new outposts and fortresses on bordering areas. The territory changed with the fortunes of the Empires and the feudal ambitions of those, whether the counts or walis, appointed to administer the counties. Eventually  the rulers and people of the Marches became autonomous and claimed independence. Out of the welter of counties in the region emerged the Principality of Catalonia composed by a myriad of counties with the County of Barcelona as their main power centre. Counties that at various times formed part of the Marches included: Ribagorza (initially including Pallars), Urgell, Cerdanya, Perelada, Empúries, Besalú, Ausona (Osona), Barcelona, Girona (March of Hispania) and, Conflent, Roussillon, Vallespir and Fenollet (March of Gothia). The nominal boundaries of Gothia and the Hispanic Marches vary in time, not without confusion. While Navarre and Aragon have sometimes been depicted within the Hispanic Marches , they were not part of it, but they came under the Carolingian area of influence between 794 and 806 within the Basque (also rendered as "Gascon") marches, or Duchy of Vasconia. Origins Marca Hispanica and Gothia The Hispanic Marches resulted from the expansion south of the Frankish realm from their heartland in Neustria and Austrasia starting with Charles Martel in 732 and after various decades fighting between the Franks and Umayyads (Saraceni) in the Iberian Peninsula. Creation The Franks created the Hispanic Marches by conquering former north-eastern territory of the Visigothic kingdom of Hispania, which had been conquered by the Muslims. 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 Aragon between 798 and 802 (appointment of Count Aureolus). After subduing the Basques to the north of the Pyrenees (790), Frankish overlordship expanded to the upper Ebro (794) and Pamplona (798), when Alfonso II of Asturias also came under Charlemagne's influence. Sobrarbe was not incorporated into the Marches , as it appears later in history and was probably within the area of influence of the County of Aragon. The death of Charlemagne (814) was followed by a scene of open revolt and Carolingian setbacks around the Pyrenees. After being defeated by the Moors in the 816 Battle of Pancorbo, Pamplona, now led by the native Basque lord Iñigo Arista, broke away from the Hispanic Marches , with the County of Aragon following suit shortly thereafter in 820. The named Catalan counties - territories used by the Moors to enter and overrun Septimania in 719 - became, at this point, a natural extension of the March of Gothia ruled by Catalans and Toulousains under the Carolingian Empire. The local population of the Marches was diverse. The majority were Basques and Hispano-Romans (Goths). But there were also Muslims, and Jews from Septimania who repopulated the Frankish conquered easternmost territories of present-day North Spain and a small portion of South France. The area changed with the fortunes of the empires and the feudal ambitions of the counts appointed to administrate the counties. As Frankish imperial power waned, the rulers of the Marches of Hispania became independent fiefs. The region would later become part of 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 Marches. The Marches 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. The rulers were called counts; when they governed several counties they often took the name duke (Dux Gothiae). When the county formed the border with the Muslim Kingdom, the Frankish title marquis (Marquis de Gothie) was chosen. Besides, certain counts aspired to the Frankish title "Prince of Gothia". A margrave or Marcgravi is a Graf ("duke") of the Marches . The first Toulousains and Catalan lords who held the title of Counts of Barcelona, Bernard of Septimania, Humfrid, Bernard of Gothia, Borrell II and Ramon Borrell carried these titles. 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 the territories that later would become Catalonia followed 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). The County became de facto independent under count Borrell II, when he ceased to request royal charters after the kings Lothair and Hugh Capet failed to assist him in the defense of the County against Muslim leader al-Mansur, although the change of dynasty may have played a part in that decision. 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 Marches that has not been incorporated into either France or Spain. Andorra's national anthem, El Gran Carlemany, mentions this.
The Hispanic March and surrounding regions. The Hispanic March or Spanish March (, , Aragonese and , , ), also known as the March of Barcelona, was a military buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania, established by Charlemagne in 795 as a defensive barrier between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Carolingian Empire (Duchy of Gascony, the Duchy of Aquitaine and Carolingian Septimania). In its broader meaning, Hispanic March sometimes refers to a group of early Iberian and trans-Pyrenean lordships or counts coming under Frankish rule. As time passed, these lordships merged or gained independence from Frankish imperial URL Geographical context The area broadly corresponds to the eastern regions between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River. The local population of the March was diverse. It included Basques in its north-western valleys, Jews,On the Role of the Jews in the Establishment of the Hispanic March (768-814) : STUDIES IN THE HISTORY, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF. / Bachrach, Bernard S. and a large Occitano-Romance-speaking Hispano-Roman population (Occitans and Catalans) governed by the Visigothic Code, all of them under the influence of Al-Andalus culture, since their lords had vowed allegiance to Cordoban rulers until Pepin's conquest of Andalusian Septimania (759). The Pyrenean valleys started to switch loyalties after 785 (Girona, Ribagorza, etc.) with the construction and garrisoning by counts loyal to the Carolingians of new outposts and fortresses on bordering areas. The territory changed with the fortunes of the Empires and the feudal ambitions of those, whether the counts or walis, appointed to administer 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 Principality of Catalonia composed by a myriad of counties with the County of Barcelona as their main power centre. Counties that at various times formed part of the March included: Ribagorza (initially including Pallars), Urgell, Cerdanya, Perelada, Empúries, Besalú, Ausona (Osona), Barcelona, Girona (March of Hispania) and, Conflent, Roussillon, Vallespir and Fenollet (March of Gothia). The nominal boundaries of Gothia and the Hispanic March vary in time, not without confusion. While Navarre and Aragon have sometimes been depicted within the Hispanic March , they were not part of it, but they came under the Carolingian area of influence between 794 and 806 within the Basque (also rendered as "Gascon") marches, or Duchy of Vasconia. Origins Marca Hispanica and Gothia The Hispanic March resulted from the expansion south of the Frankish realm from their heartland in Neustria and Austrasia starting with Charles Martel in 732 and after various decades fighting between the Franks and Umayyads (Saraceni) in the Iberian Peninsula. Creation The Franks created the Hispanic March by conquering former north-eastern territory of the Visigothic kingdom of Hispania, which had been conquered by the Muslims. 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 Aragon between 798 and 802 (appointment of Count Aureolus). After subduing the Basques to the north of the Pyrenees (790), Frankish overlordship expanded to the upper Ebro (794) and Pamplona (798), when Alfonso II of Asturias also came under Charlemagne's influence. Sobrarbe was not incorporated into the March , as it appears later in history and was probably within the area of influence of the County of Aragon. The death of Charlemagne (814) was followed by a scene of open revolt and Carolingian setbacks around the Pyrenees. After being defeated by the Moors in the 816 Battle of Pancorbo, Pamplona, now led by the native Basque lord Iñigo Arista, broke away from the Hispanic March , with the County of Aragon following suit shortly thereafter in 820. The named Catalan counties - territories used by the Moors to enter and overrun Septimania in 719 - became, at this point, a natural extension of the March of Gothia ruled by Catalans and Toulousains under the Carolingian Empire. The local population of the March was diverse. The majority were Basques and Hispano-Romans (Goths). But there were also Muslims, and Jews from Septimania who repopulated the Frankish conquered easternmost territories of present-day North Spain and a small portion of South France. The area changed with the fortunes of the empires and the feudal ambitions of the counts appointed to administrate the counties. As Frankish imperial power waned, the rulers of the March of Hispania became independent fiefs. The region would later become part of 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. The rulers were called counts; when they governed several counties they often took the name duke (Dux Gothiae). When the county formed the border with the Muslim Kingdom, the Frankish title marquis (Marquis de Gothie) was chosen. Besides, certain counts aspired to the Frankish title "Prince of Gothia". A margrave or Marcgravi is a Graf ("duke") of the March . The first Toulousains and Catalan lords who held the title of Counts of Barcelona, Bernard of Septimania, Humfrid, Bernard of Gothia, Borrell II and Ramon Borrell carried these titles. 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 the territories that later would become Catalonia followed similar patterns in other borderlands and March . 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). The County became de facto independent under count Borrell II, when he ceased to request royal charters after the kings Lothair and Hugh Capet failed to assist him in the defense of the County against Muslim leader al-Mansur, although the change of dynasty may have played a part in that decision. 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 that has not been incorporated into either France or Spain. Andorra's national anthem, El Gran Carlemany, mentions this.
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