The County of Besalú (Catalan: Comtat de Besalú, IPA: [kumˈtad də βəzəˈlu]; Latin: Comitatus Bisuldunensis) was one of the landlocked medieval Catalan counties near the Mediterranean coastline. It was roughly coterminous with the modern comarca of Garrotxa and at various times extended as far north as Corbières, Aude, now in France. Its capital was the village of Besalú. Throughout most of its history it was attached to one of the other more powerful counties, but it experienced a century of independence before it was finally and irrevocably annexed to the County of Barcelona.

Besalú was reconquered from the Moors by 785. It was originally a pagus of the County of Girona in the Marca Hispanica. The original pagus comprised the territories of Garrotxa and those neighbouring Montgrony and Setcases in the comarca of Ripollès as far as Agullana and Figueres (in Alt Empordà) and Banyoles in Pla de l'Estany.

In the Ordinatio Imperii of 817, Louis the Pious made it a part of Aquitaine and ruled it directly along with the other maritime counties of the Marca: Roussillon, Girona, Barcelona, and Empúries. Besalú, along with Barcelona and Girona were placed under Count Bera, a Visigoth. Under Louis the Pious Gothia saw a reinvigorated monasticism spread first in Pallars and then eastward into Roussillon, Empúries, and Besalú. Under Louis and his successors, a system of aprisiones was established in Besalú, largely held by native Goths and immigrant Gascons.

During the reign of Charles the Bald, Besalú was attached to the counties of Urgel and Cerdanya. In 871, Wilfred the Hairy and his kin began the encastellation of Besalú by constructing a forward castle at Castellaris. Wilfred later separated it and made his brother Radulf its count and it became one of the last de facto independent Catalan counties.

Sometime between 913 and 920, Radulf died and Miro the Younger, Count of Cerdanya, took over Besalú, even though it should have gone to Sunyer II, Count of Barcelona and Girona. When Miro died in 927, his counties were ruled indivisibly by his widow Ava as regent for his two sons, Sunifred II and Wilfred II. When the two reached their majority, Sunifred governed Cerdanya and the younger Wilfred Besalú under the suzerainty of his older brother.

The brothers, and their younger brothers Oliba Cabreta and Miro Bonfill, acted consonantly throughout their lives. In 943 Sunyer of Barcelona attacked Besalú and Ripoll and Sunifred came to Wilfred's aid. The brother also retained their ties to the French crown, though they often carried the title marchio, probably without royal sanction but perhaps as an honour from Carolingian times. Oliba received royal lands and rights in Besalú from Rudolph in 929, indicating the presence and memory of the royal fisc in Besalú. Wilfred even going to the court of Louis IV in order to solicit a privilege of immunity to the monastery of Sant Pere de Camprodon which he and his brother had jointly founded as their legacy. Wilfred also received a portion of the property which the viscount Unifred had treacherously taken from Ermengol of Osona by a precept of Louis's.

In the latter half of the tenth century, the power and authority of the counts of Besalú and Cerdanya increased. In 957, Besalú was rocked by the rebellion of a faction of the noblesse backing the sons of the deceased count Radulf. Wilfred was assassinated and Sunifred annexed the property of the rebels and took over the county. In 965, Sunifred passed all his counties on to Oliba, who gave Besalú as a subordinate countship to Miro, but when Miro became Bishop of Girona in 971, Besalú was reattached to Cerdanya.

In 988, Oliba entered Montecassino and left Besalú — along with Vallespir, Fenouillèdes, and Peyrepertuse — to Bernard Tallaferro. He annexed Ripoll in 1002. He inaugurated an independent line of rulers in Besalú and thus diminished the power of his dynasty. Pope Benedict VIII established diocese in Besalú for Bernard's benefit, but it was short-lived.