Ramon Berenguer III was Count of Barcelona, Girona and Osona from 1097-1131.
He was the son of Ramon Berenguer II, and became count when his uncle Berenguer Ramon II was forced into exile.
During his rule Catalan interests were extended to the other side of the Pyrenees. He inherited the counties of BesalĂș (1111) and Cerdanya (1117) and in-between married Doulce, heiress of Provence (1112).
In 1114 joined with Pisa and Genoa in a short-lived occupation of Majorca.
Toward the end of his life Ramon Berenguer became a Templar. He gave his 5 Catalonian counties to his eldest son Ramon Berenguer IV and Provence to the younger son Berenguer Ramon.
Ramon Berenguer also had a daughter Berengaria (d.1147), who married Alfonso VII of Castile.
Ramon Berenguer III the Great was Count of Barcelona, Girona and Osona from 1082-1131 and Count of Provence, Holy Roman Empire, from 1112.
Born in 1082 in Rodez, he was the son of Ramon Berenguer II. He succeded his father to co-rule with his uncle Berenguer Ramon II. After 1097, when Berenguer Ramon II was forced into exile, he was the sole ruler.
During his rule Catalan interests were extended on both sides of the Pyrenees. By marriage or vassalage he incorporated into his realm almost all of the Catalan counties (except those of Urgell and Peralada). He inherited the counties of Besal (1111) and Cerdanya (1117) and in-between married Douce, heiress of Provence (1112). Now his dominions stretched as far east as Nice In alliance with the Count of Urgell Ramon Berenguer conquered Barbastro and Balaguer. In 1118 he captured and rebuilt Tarragona, which became the metropolitan seat of the church in Catalonia (before that, Catalans had depended ecclesiastically on the archbishopric of Narbonne). He also established relations with the Italian maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa and in 1114-1115 raided with them the Moorish pirate strongholds of Majorca and Ibiza.
They became his tributaries and many Christian slaves were recovered and set free. Jointly with Pisa Ramon Berenguer also raided Muslim dependencies on the mainland, including lands of Valencia, Lleida and Tortosa.
Toward the end of his life Ramon Berenguer became a Templar. He gave his five Catalonian counties to his eldest son Ramon Berenguer IV and Provence to the younger son Berenguer Ramon.
Ramon Berenguer's marriages and descendants
First wife, Mar a Rodr guez de Vivar, second daughter of Cid, died ca. 1105
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Sources:
1. Abbrev: Ancestry of Richard Plantagenet & Cecily de Nevill
Title: Ernst-Friedrich Kraentzler, Ancestry of Richard Plantagenet & Cecily de Neville (published by author 1978)evilleeville. published by author 1978.
Note:
Call number:
J.H. Garner
Page: chart 1074
Text: Raimund Arnold Berenger III Count de Provence
2. Abbrev: Ahnentafel for Margery Arundell
Title: Marlyn Lewis, Ahnentafel for Margery Arundell (08 Oct 1997)
Note:
Call number:
Text: Raimond III Berenger, no parents
3. Abbrev: Pullen010502.FTW
Title: Pullen010502.FTW
Note:
Call number:
Text: Date of Import: Jan 5, 2002
4. Abbrev: Ancestry of Richard Plantagenet & Cecily de Nevill
Title: Ernst-Friedrich Kraentzler, Ancestry of Richard Plantagenet & Cecily de Neville (published by author 1978)evilleeville. published by author 1978.
Note:
Call number:
J.H. Garner
Page: chart 1066
Text: d 19 Jun 1131