Wilfred the Hairy
Wilfred the Hairy
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Wilfred the Hairy

Wilfred or Wifred, called the Hairy (in Catalan: Guifré el Pilós), (died 11 August 897) was Count of Urgell (from 870), Cerdanya (from 870), Barcelona (from 878), Girona (from 878, as Wilfred II), Besalú (from 878) and Ausona (from 886). On his death in 897, his son, Wilfred Borrell, inherited these counties, known by the historiography as the Catalan counties.

He was responsible for the repopulation of the long-depopulated no-man's land around Vic (the county of Ausona, a frontier between Christians and Muslims), the re-establishment of the bishopric of Vic and the foundation of the Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll, where he is buried.

Wilfred was the Count of Barcelona (878–897) who created the tradition of hereditary passage of titles. His son, Wilfred Borrell, inherited the county without any interruption and held it from 897 to 911.

A number of primitive feudal entities developed in the Marca Hispánica during the 9th century. They were generally agrarian, self-sufficient, and ruled by a small military elite. This pattern in Catalonia was similar to that found in similar border lands or marches elsewhere in Europe.

Traditionally the Count of Barcelona was appointed directly by the Carolingian (Frankish) emperor, for example the appointment of Bera in 801. The appointment of heirs could not be taken for granted. However, with the rise of strong counts such as Sunifred (fl. 844–848) and Wilfred, and the weakening of Carolingian royal power, the appointment of heirs eventually become a formality. This trend resulted in the counts becoming de facto independent of the Carolingian crown under Borrell II in 985.

The Legend of Guifré el Pilós originally placed his birth near Prades, in the County of Conflent, one of the Catalan counties of the Spanish March; however, historians concluded that he was born in Girona, Catalonia, in northeastern Spain.

According to legend, he was the son of Wilfred of Arriaount (or Wilfred of Arri), a county near Prades. His father was murdered by Salomón and Wilfred became his avenger, killing the assassin. After the research done by French monks Dom De Vic and Dom Vaissete, authors of Histoire Générale de Languedoc, he is identified as the son of Sunifred I of Barcelona, count of many counties under Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald. Wilfred's mother may have been named Ermesende. Sunifred may have been the son of Belló, Count of Carcassonne during the reign of Charlemagne, or more probably, his son-in-law. Thus, as a descendant of Sunifred and his brother, Sunyer I, count of Empúries and Roussillon (834–848), Wilfred is considered to be a member of a Bellonid dynasty by Ramon d'Abadal and other historians.

The Bellonid lineage lost its power when Sunifred and Sunyer died in 848, but was revived slightly by the appointment of Dela and Sunyer II, sons of Sunyer I, to the countship of Empúries in 862. Later, at an assembly at Attigny in June 870, Charles the Bald made their cousins, Wilfred the Hairy and his brother Miró (known as the Old), counts of Urgell and Cerdanya, and Conflent, respectively. For in that year, the poorly-chronicled Solomon, count of Urgell, Cerdanya, and Conflent, had died.

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