The History of Spain Podcast

The History of Spain Podcast


Birth of Catalonia

May 22, 2020

This is episode 36 called Birth of Catalonia and in this episode you will learn:

SHOW NOTES

- Why the title of the episode is misleading
- The chaos within the Carolingian Empire, like in the Emirate of Córdoba, and the government of Odalrico and Hunifredo
- The traditional, legendary story of how Wifredo the Hairy, of the House of Barcelona, seized power
- The real story of how Wifredo the Hairy became Count of Barcelona and how Wifredo’s family monopolized both secular and religious posts in the Marca Hispanica
- The gradual independence of the Catalan counties after the deposition of Carolingian emperor Charles the Fat, and how that contrasts with the myths that originated in the late Medieval period
- The first attempt to make the dioceses of Catalonia independent from the archbishop fo Narbonne
- The different popular and official repopulations during Wifredo’s rule
- Why the Christian repopulations occurred and how was life in the borderlands
- How Count Wifredo the Hairy died fighting the Banu Qasi and the continuist rule of Wifredo II
- The Legend of the Four Blood Bars, that gives a different version of how Wifredo the Hairy died and how the Senyera was created
- The legacy and importance of Count Wifredo the Hairy
- A reflection on how his historical figure is manipulated to serve the purposes of the Catalan separatist agenda