Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona

Who was Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona?

Berenguer Ramon I the Crooked, also called the Hunchback was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1018 to his death.

He was the son of Ramon Borrell, Count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona and his wife Ermesinde of Carcassonne. He accepted the suzerainty of Sancho the Great of Navarre, and in 1021, he married the king's sister-in-law, Sancha Sánchez, daughter of Sancho I Garcés, Count of Castile. By her he had two sons: his successor, Ramon Berenguer, and Sancho. In 1027, he married secondly Guisla of Lluca, with whom he had two more sons, William and Bernard. Two daughters have also been tentatively assigned to this couple: Clemencia, who married Ermengol III of Urgell and another, incorrectly referred to as Sibylla, who was the mother of Hugh I and Eudes I, Dukes of Burgundy, and of Henry, Count of Portugal.

Berenguer Ramon as a historical figure is enigmatic, shrouded in incomprehensible contradictions and ambiguities. First, he was a man of peace, and peace ruled throughout his reign. He pacified his neighbours as well, bringing to heel the Count of Urgell, Ermengol II. He reestablished amicable relations with Hugh I, Count of Empúries, and maintained them with William I of Besalú and Wilfred II of Cerdanya. He was a son of the church who maintained relations with the papacy and went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1032. On many occasions he travelled to Zaragoza and Navarre to discuss with Sancho III the Great, King of Navarre their mutual stance against the Counts of Toulouse. His confidantes and councillors were the Abbot Oliva, the judge Ponç Bofill, Gombau de Besora, and the Bishops Pedro of Girona and Deudado of Barcelona. In 1025, he decreed that the proprietors of entails were free from taxation.