Berenguer Ramon II, Count of Barcelona

Who was Berenguer Ramon II, Count of Barcelona?

Berenguer Ramon II the Fratricide was Count of Barcelona from 1076 to 1097. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer I, and initially ruled jointly with his twin brother Ramon Berenguer II.

Born in 1053 or 1054, he succeeded his father Ramon Berenguer I the Old in 1075 to co-rule with his twin brother Ramon Berenguer II. The twins failed to agree and divided their possessions between them, against the will of their late father. Ramon Berenguer II was killed while hunting in the woods on 5 December 1082. Berenguer Ramon II, who became the sole ruler of Catalonia for the next four years, was credited by popular opinion with having orchestrated this murder. This suspicion and other divisions of loyalty led to a civil war. Various parties asserted ways to resolve this 'unjust and iniquitous murder', which led to a moderate compromise in 1086 in which Berenguer Ramon II would rule Catalonia with his brother's four-year-old son Ramon Berenguer III for eleven years until he came of age.

In the 1080s Berenguer Ramon's involvement in the internal strife in the Moorish taifa kingdoms brought him in conflict with El Cid. In the ensuing war the Count of Barcelona was twice taken prisoner.