Plain of Vic
The Plain of Vic is a 30 km long depression located at the eastern end of the Catalan Central Depression in the Osona comarca. It is named after the town of Vic, an important and ancient urban center in this natural region that lies in the midst of the plain. Other significant towns in the plain are Tona; this natural depression carved by river Ter and its tributaries is longer than it is wide and stretches in a N / S direction. It is surrounded by mountains: The Sub-Pyrenees, with Bellmunt mountain towering in the north, the Lluçanès and Moianès high plateaus in the West, the Montseny in the southeast and the Guilleries, located at the apex of the Catalan Transversal Range and the Pre-Coastal Range, in the east; the Plain of Vic was the bed of an ancient sea. It is formed by sedimentary rocks, like carbonatic lutite, from the eocene; the most remarkable characteristic of the landscape in the plain are low, isolated hills known as turons testimoni, "testimonial hills". Fossils are quite abundant in areas of the Plain of Vic.
The plain is subject to a phenomenon of thermal inversion marked in calm weather days during the fall and the winter, by which the surrounding mountain ranges are warmer than the plain. This inversion in temperature reflects in the vegetation; the original vegetation of the plain was oak forest, but little is left owing to continuous human intervention since ancient times. Some ancient oaks have been preserved as a tourist attraction. Vic Tona Catalan Central Depression Sub-Pyrenees Catalan Transversal Range Monitoring groundwater nitrate attenuation in a regional system coupling hydrogeology with multi-isotopic methods: The case of Plana de Vic La Plana de Vic
County of Empúries
The County of Empúries known as the County of Ampurias, was a medieval county centred on the town of Empúries and enclosing the Catalan region of Peralada. It corresponds to the historic comarca of Empordà. After the Franks conquered the regions in 785, Empúries and Peralada came under the authority of the County of Girona. Around 813, Empúries, with Peralada, became a separate county under Ermenguer, he and the other early counts were of Visigothic origin. In 817, Empúries was merged with the County of Roussillon, a union which lasted until 989. One of the ninth-century counts of Empúries assembled a fleet powerful enough to conquer the Balearic Islands, but only for a brief time. From 835 to 844, Sunyer I ruled Peralada while Alaric I ruled Roussillon and Vallespir. At the death of Gausfred I in 989, Roussillon and Empúries were separated. Gausfred's elder son Hugh. Hugh's comital dynasty lasted until 1322; the last count, Hugh VI, sold the county to Peter IV of Ribagorza in 1325 in exchange for the barony of Pego and the towns of Xaló and Laguar, all located within the Kingdom of Valencia.
Peter traded it with Ramon Berenguer d'Aragona for the county of Prades in 1341. From that point on, Empúries was an apanage of the Crown of Aragon. In a letter of December 1002, Pope Sylvester II confirmed the county of Empúries and the "county of Pedralbes" as a part of the diocese of Girona; the latter is to be identified with the Peralada region in the north of Empúries. A portion of the "taxes of the port", consisting of dues and anchorage, were passed on to the diocese. Ermenguer 813–817 Gaucelm 817–832 Berengar the Wise 832–835 Sunyer I 835–841 Alaric I 841–844 Sunyer I 844–848, again William 848–850 Odalric 852–858 Humfrid 858–862 Sunyer II 862–915 Dela 862–894, associated Gausbert 915–931 Bencion 915–916, associated Gausfred I 931–989, again Hugh I 989/91–1040 Ponç I 1040–1078 Hugh II 1078–1116 Ponç II 1116–1154 as Ponç Hug I Hugh III 1154–1173 Ponç III 1173–1200 Ponç Hug II 1173–1175, associated known as Ponç Hug d'Entença Hugh IV 1200–1230 Ponç IV 1230–1269 as Ponç Hug III Hugh V 1269–1277 Ponç V 1277–1313 as Ponç Hug IV Ponç VI 1313–1322 as Ponç Hug V Malgauli Marquesa 1322–1327 Hugh VI 1322–1325 Peter I 1325–1341 Raymond Berengar 1341–1364 John I 1364–1386, 1387–1398 Peter II 1386–1387 king of Aragon John II 1398–1401 Peter III 1401–1402 Joana I 1402 Martin 1042, 1407–1410 king of Aragon Maria de Luna 1402–1407Empúries escheated to the crown between 1410 and 1436.
Subsequently the title is honorific. Henry I 1436–1445 Henry II 1445–1522 Alfons I 1522–1563 Francesc I 1563–1572 Joana II 1572–1608 Enric III 1608–1640 Lluís 1640–1670 Joaquim 1670, died aged 3. Pere IV 1670–1690 Caterina 1690–1697 Luis Francisco de la Cerda 1697–1711 Nicolás Fernández de Córdoba-Figueroa de la Cerda 1711-1739 Luis Antonio Fernández de Córdoba-Figueroa y Spinola 1739-1768 Pedro de Alcántara Fernández de Córdoba-Figueroa y de Montcada 1768-1789 Luis María Fernández de Córdoba y Gonzaga 1789-1806 Luis Joaquin Fernández de Córdoba y Benavides 1806-1840 Luis Tomás Fernández de Córdoba y Ponce de León 1840-1873 Luis María Fernández de Córdoba y Pérez de Barradas 1873-1879 Luis Jesús María Fernandez de Cordoba y Salabert 1880-1956 María Victoria Eugenia Fernandez de Cordoba y Fernández de Henestrosa 1956-1987 Ignacio de Medina y Fernández de Córdoba 1987-2006 Sol María de La Blanca de Medina Orleáns Bragança 2006– Lattin, Harriet Pratt The Letters of Gerbert, with his Papal Privileges as Sylvester II.
Columbia University Press, 1961. Lewis, A. R. and Runyan, Timothy J. European Naval and Maritime History, 300–1500. Indiana University Press, 1985. Lewis, A. R; the Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. University of Texas Press, 1965. Riera Fortiana, Enrique. "Etapa barcelonesa del condado de Ampurias" Annals de l'Institut d'Estudis Empordanesos 11, 260–85
Spain
Spain the Kingdom of Spain, is a country located in Europe. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula, its territory includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country. Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are part of Spanish territory; the country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar. With an area of 505,990 km2, Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the fifth in the European Union. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago. Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE, after which the region was named Hispania, based on the earlier Phoenician name Spn or Spania.
At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe, invaded the Iberian peninsula and established independent realms in its western provinces, including the Suebi and Vandals. The Visigoths would forcibly integrate all remaining independent territories in the peninsula, including Byzantine provinces, into the Kingdom of Toledo, which more or less unified politically and all the former Roman provinces or successor kingdoms of what was documented as Hispania. In the early eighth century the Visigothic Kingdom fell to the Moors of the Umayyad Islamic Caliphate, who arrived to rule most of the peninsula in the year 726, leaving only a handful of small Christian realms in the north and lasting up to seven centuries in the Kingdom of Granada; this led to many wars during a long reconquering period across the Iberian Peninsula, which led to the creation of the Kingdom of Leon, Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom of Aragon and Kingdom of Navarre as the main Christian kingdoms to face the invasion.
Following the Moorish conquest, Europeans began a gradual process of retaking the region known as the Reconquista, which by the late 15th century culminated in the emergence of Spain as a unified country under the Catholic Monarchs. Until Aragon had been an independent kingdom, which had expanded toward the eastern Mediterranean, incorporating Sicily and Naples, had competed with Genoa and Venice. In the early modern period, Spain became the world's first global empire and the most powerful country in the world, leaving a large cultural and linguistic legacy that includes more than 570 million Hispanophones, making Spanish the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese. During the Golden Age there were many advancements in the arts, with world-famous painters such as Diego Velázquez; the most famous Spanish literary work, Don Quixote, was published during the Golden Age. Spain hosts the world's third-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Spain is a secular parliamentary democracy and a parliamentary monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state.
It is a major developed country and a high income country, with the world's fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and sixteenth largest by purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, the Eurozone, the Council of Europe, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Union for the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Schengen Area, the World Trade Organization and many other international organisations. While not an official member, Spain has a "Permanent Invitation" to the G20 summits, participating in every summit, which makes Spain a de facto member of the group; the origins of the Roman name Hispania, from which the modern name España was derived, are uncertain due to inadequate evidence, although it is documented that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians referred to the region as Spania, therefore the most accepted etymology is a Semitic-Phoenician one.
Down the centuries there have been a number of accounts and hypotheses: The Renaissance scholar Antonio de Nebrija proposed that the word Hispania evolved from the Iberian word Hispalis, meaning "city of the western world". Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the term span is the Phoenician word spy, meaning "to forge metals". Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean "the land where metals are forged", it may be a derivation of the Phoenician I-Shpania, meaning "island of rabbits", "land of rabbits" or "edge", a reference to Spain's location at the end of the Mediterranean. The word in question means "Hyrax" due to Phoenicians confusing the two animals. Hispania may derive from the poetic use of the term Hesperia, reflecting the Greek perception of Italy as a "western land" or "land of the setting sun" (Hesperia
Wilfred the Hairy
Wilfred or Wifred, called the Hairy, was Count of Urgell, Barcelona, Besalú and Ausona. On his death in 897, his son, Wilfred Borrell, inherited these Catalan counties, he was responsible for the repopulation of the long-depopulated no-man's land around Vic, 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 Catalan Count of Barcelona who created the tradition of hereditary passage of titles, his son, Wilfred Borrell, inherited the county without any interruption and held it from 897–911. A number of primitive feudal entities developed in the Marca Hispanica during the 9th century, they were self-sufficient and agrarian, but ruled by a small military elite. The pattern seen in Catalonia is similar to that found in similar border lands or marches elsewhere in Europe. Traditionally the Count of Barcelona was appointed directly by the Carolingian 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 and Wilfred, the weakening of Carolingian royal power, the appointment of heirs become a formality. This trend resulted in the counts becoming de facto independent of the Carolingian crown under Borrell II in 985. Wilfred remained obscure until drawn into the historians' net by Sir Richard Southern, in The Making of the Middle Ages, 1953. Wilfred was of Gothic lineage from the region of Carcassonne. Tradition claims he was born near Prades in the County of Conflent, now Rià, in France. According to legend, he was the son of Wilfred of 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 his son-in-law.
Thus, as a descendant of Sunifred and his brother, Sunyer I, count of Empúries and Roussillon, 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 by the appointment of Dela and Sunyer II, sons of Sunyer I, to the countship of Empúries in 862. At an assembly at Attigny in June 870, Charles the Bald made their cousins, Wilfred the Hairy and his brother Miró, counts of Urgell and Cerdanya, Conflent, respectively. For in that year, the poorly-chronicled Solomon, count of Urgell and Conflent, had died. After becoming Count of Urgell and Cerdanya in 870, Wilfred received the counties of Barcelona and Besalú in 878 from the Carolingian king of France, Louis the Stammerer, his reign coincided with the crumbling of Carolingian unity. Wilfred was thus the last count of the Hispanic March appointed by the French king and the first to pass his vast holdings as an inheritance to his sons.
Wilfred came into possession of Barcelona through his service to Charles the Bald against the rebel Bernard of Gothia, Count of Barcelona and numerous other Septimanian counties. Wilfred, Miró, their brother Sunifred, Lindoí, the Viscount of Narbonne, marched against Bernard on behalf of King Charles and his son, Louis the Stammerer. In March and April 878, they defeated the nobles loyal to Bernard, including Sigebuto, Bishop of Narbonne, expelled all partisan priests from the church. At the Council of Troyes in August 878, presided over by Pope John VIII and King Louis II the Stammerer, Wilfred was formally invested as Count of Urgell and Cerdanya, Miró as Count of Conflent, Sunyer as Count of Empúries, Oliba II as Count of Carcassonne. On 11 September 878, Bernard was dispossessed of all his titles. Bernard's former possessions were given to Wilfred and Miró; the counties of Narbonne, Béziers, Agde were separated from that of Barcelona. Sunifred was made Abbot of Arles, Riculf Bishop of Elna, the Bishops of Urgell and Barcelona were confirmed in their sees.
Wilfred ceded Besalú to his brother Radulph. After the investiture of 878, Wilfred's lands stretched from Urgell and Cerdanya in the Pyrenees to Barcelona and Girona on the Mediterranean coast; this was the first time since the reign of his father that these different areas had been united politically and the only other time within the 9th century. The land between these regions—Ripollès, Vall de Lord, Berguedà, Lluçanès, the Plana de Vic, Moianès, Bages—had long been depopulated due to the rebellion of Aissó in 827, but was considered territory belonging to the Count of Barcelona since 820, when it was given to Rampon upon the death of Borrell, the first Count of Urgell and Ausona. Wilfred embarked on the process of repopulating these territories with immigrants from the populated mountain regions—Pallars and Cerdanya—to which people had fled in the two centuries between the collapses of Visigothic and Carolingian authority. Wilfred's plan involved repopulating and subsequently annexing the counties to those he controlle
Basilica of Santa Maria, Igualada
The Basilica of Santa Maria is the main temple and the most important historical building of Igualada, province of Barcelona, Spain. Santa Maria church origin is from the 11th century, but the current building is from the 17th century; the church of Santa Maria known as the "big church", is the most important historical building of Igualada, capital of the Anoia comarca. The first settlement of Igualada is dated around year 1000, in the location were the current church lies today, at that time a crossing of the two routes which were linking Barcelona with Aragon, the north of Catalonia with its south; the origins of the church are from the 11th century, but most of the current building is from the 17th century. During the Spanish Civil War it was converted into a market, was restored after the war, under the guidance of the architect Cèsar Martinell. In 1949 Santa Maria obtained the title of Minor Basilica granted by the pope Pius XII; the most recent rehabilitation took place in the 1980s, inaugurated in 1990.
The elements of the church are the result of different construction stages and therefore respond to different aesthetic influences and styles. Santa Maria has a single nave, its structure is typical of the Catalan Renaissance, characterized by the formal austerity. This is proved by the aesthetic treatment of the facade, which only emphasizes the rosette window, as well as the side walls, where the uniformity is broken only by windows and the buttresses, which are decorated by some of gargoyles, with human and animal forms; the roof of the nave has a design typical of the Gothic: the vault. The arches of the ceiling form a skeleton of ribs, which come together in different spherical elements, where there are carved figures of saints; the round arches rest on pillars of Italianate style, topped by a gallery of arcades, called triforium, a cornice. An apse with quadrangular base closes the end of the nave; this space, where the main altar is located, is covered by a star-shaped vault, where the keys represent the Virgin Mary, at the center, the evangelists, at the sides.
At both sides, the nave of Santa Maria is flanked by twelve chapels. Despite the Baroque style, the decoration of some of the chapels is recent, since they were rebuilt after the Spanish Civil War tanks to donations from "gremis", the local trade organizations; as examples, the altars of Saint Anthony Abbot, Saint Isidore the Laborer, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Christopher and Saint Antonio Maria Claret. Under the bell tower, covered by a pointed arch, there is the altar of Our Lady of Sorrows, considered the oldest part of the church and which corresponds to a widening of the old Romanesque chapel, built in the 14th century. One of the distinctive elements of the church is the "Sant Crist" chapel; this element, of baroque style, dates from the early 18th century and occupies an annex on the left side of the nave, near the bell tower. It has a Latin cross base, it is covered by a hemispherical dome, supported by four pairs of pilasters. The interior is decorated with a painting from Francesc Tremulles representing the Holy Trinity and Mary.
At the shells beneath the dome, this decoration is completed with figures of the Evangelists, painted by Miquel Llacuna. Regarding the exterior, it is covered with an octagonal dome. In the apse there is the altarpiece with the image of Saint Christ of Igualada, a reproduction of a 14th-century Gothic carving, which disappeared during the civil war. Two murals painted by Camps Dalmases evoke the miracle of Christ's blood sweat, which according to tradition took place in Igualada in 1590; the main altarpiece is the most important element of the church. Although construction began in the 18th century, the work was not completed until the end of that century, due to the War of the Spanish Succession; this delay meant that the Baroque style of the initial project was offset by a certain classicism during the final execution. The altarpiece is the work of Josep Sunyer. During the civil war it was dismantled and destroyed. After the conflict, it was rebuilt under the direction of the well-known architect Cèsar Martinell.
The most recent restoration of Santa Maria, in the 1980s, included cleaning work on the altarpiece. The altarpiece of Santa Maria is considered the first major work of Catalan art made after the Succession War, has three differentiated levels; the center is dominated by the figure of the Immaculate Conception, carried by angels and located within a niche. At the sides, the Virgin Mary is flanked by figures of her parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, under which there are medallions representing two passages from the life of the Virgin: the wedding and the Presentation of Mary; the image of the Virgin is crowned by a dove representing the Holy Spirit, on which there is a medallion with the Eternal Father. On the second floor of the altar there are images of Saint Roch and Saint Faust, linked to the traditional prayerbook of Igualada. Both figures are flanked by typical of the baroque imagery. Among them, the angel which plays the guitar is considered an unique specimen in the religious iconography of the period.
At the upper floor, the altar is crowned by the figure of St. Bartholomew, patron of Igualada, the Sun and the gates of Jerusalem. Symbolically, all the altarpiece is sustained by four Atlas made of marble, representing the four seasons of the year; the side walls have two sculptural panels, crowned by the emblem of the city, representing the Epiphany and the adoration of the shepherds. The organ is located at the upper floor of the church, under the rose
Josep Torras i Bages
Josep Torras i Bages, born at Les Cabanyes, Alt Penedès, on 12 September 1846, died at Vic, Osona, on 7 February 1916, was a Catalan thinker and bishop. He was one of the main figures in the turn of the 20th century Catholic Catalan nationalism. Josep Torras criticized the secularism displayed by the "militant nationalism" of Enric Prat de la Riba. In 1892 he wrote La tradició catalana, where he emphasized Conservative Nationalism and warned against the erosion of Christian values. Exalting rural life, the family and the love of Catalan language, the land and the language took an mystical dimension in his point of view, he was convinced that the Catalan nation had to be Christian in order to establish itself as something enduring and meaningful in the future. His words "Catalunya serà cristiana o no serà" are engraved at the gate of Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey. Torras was interested in the study of the seny, a virtue considered a Catalan cultural symbol, encouraged others, like Josep Abril i Virgili and Jaume Raventós, to do so.
Based on good sense and wisdom, seny was perceived by Torras to originate in the traditional Catalan rural farm. The life in the traditional non-urban setting with its frugality, hard work, religious piety was the right ground for the development of the values and social norms embodied in the Catalan seny. In 1882 Torras became counselor to bishop of Barcelona J. M. Urquinaona. Specializing in conflict-solving among Catholics, he was the censor of some newspapers that were compromised in certain inner troubles of the Spanish Church at the time. Years in 1888, Josep Torras, after analyzing the growing secularization of Spanish society, wrote the book El clero en la vida social moderna in Spanish. In his work he wrote straightforwardly about the integrist or reactionary position of the Catholic Church in Spain, sought to encourage the Spanish Catholic clergy to adapt to the spirit of the times and to focus on moderation and personal spiritual discipline, advice that went unheeded at the time.
Torras was promoted to become archbishop of Burgos in 1906 and Valencia in 1913, but he declined because he did not want to put a distance between himself and the mission he was committed to in the heart of Catalonia. Though most of his works have been published in compilations under the title Obres completes, his abundant correspondence, crucial for the understanding of certain issues surrounding Catalan nationalism, remains for the most part unpublished. Obres completes, 10 vols. Barcelona 1912-27 El clero en la vida social moderna, 1888 La tradició catalana, 1892 Seny Catalan nationalism Catalan symbols Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc Roman Catholic Diocese of Vic Josep Torras i Bages - Obres completes
Count of Barcelona
The Count of Barcelona was the ruler of Catalonia for much of Catalan history, from the 9th century until the 15th century. The County of Barcelona was created by Charlemagne after he had conquered lands north of the river Ebro; these lands, called the Marca Hispanica, were partitioned into various counties, of which the Count of Barcelona holding other counties eventually obtained the primacy over the region. As the county became hereditary in one family, the bond of the counts to their Frankish overlords loosened after the Capetian dynasty supplanted the Carolingians. In the 12th century, the counts formed a dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, merging the two realms under a single ruler. In 1258, the King of France relinquished his feudal authority over the county in the Treaty of Corbeil. Barcelona remained, as a part of the Principality of Catalonia, part of the Crown of Aragon when the latter around 1500 entered into a union with the Crown of Castile, thereby forming the Spanish Monarchy.
Catalonia maintained its own laws, institutions and privileges until they were removed after the War of the Spanish Succession in the 18th century. Count of Barcelona remained one of the many hereditary titles of the Spanish monarchy. In the 20th century, the title regained some prominence when Juan de Borbón, the exiled heir to the Spanish throne, adopted the title of Count of Barcelona. In doing so, he claimed a historical royal title without claiming to be the current king of Spain after his son Juan Carlos became the prospective successor of the then-ruler of Spain, Francisco Franco. In 1977, after Juan Carlos had become King upon Franco's death in 1975, he awarded the title of Count of Barcelona to his father, who had renounced his rights to the throne. Juan held that title until his death in 1993, when it reverted to the King who has held it since. Juan de Borbón's widow used the title Countess of Barcelona until her death in 2000; the succession of Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronilla led to the creation of the Crown of Aragon.
Martin was the last direct descendant of Wilfred the Hairy to rule. By the Compromise of Caspe of 1412 the County of Barcelona and all its associated dominions passed to a branch of the House of Trastámara; the County of Barcelona formed a constituent part of the Crown of Spain under the rule of the House of Habsburg, until the Nueva Planta decrees, when Philip de Bourbon declared that all the territories from the Crown of Aragon should merge into Castile, building the centralized Kingdom of Spain. In Barcelona this was promulgated in 1716, the title of Count of Barcelona became one of the many unused hereditary titles of the modern Spanish monarchy. List of Aragonese monarchs List of Spanish monarchs List of Viscounts of Barcelona
