Raymond of Roda

Who is Raymond of Roda?

Raymond, known in Spanish as Raimundo Dalmacio, was the bishop of Roda from 1076 until his death. He was the last bishop at Roda de Isábena before the see was moved to Barbastro and his episcopate was "key in the development of the dominion of the diocese, with respect to both ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the formation of an ecclesial territory."

Raymond came to power at Roda by a special dispensation from Pope Gregory VII, who deposed his predecessor, Bishop Solomon, at the insistence of King Sancho V of Navarre and Aragon. The reasons for Solomon's fall from favour are unclear, but it may have been that he was a Catalan and his loyalty in the disputes between the County of Ribagorza, which lay within Roda's diocese and Sancho's kingdom, and the neighbouring County of Pallars, which was within the sphere of influence of the Count of Barcelona, was suspect. It may also have been that Solomon did not press the claims of Roda to territory taken away from it at the Council of Jaca as forcefully as the king would have liked. At the time, the beneficiary of the territorial adjustments of 1063 was the king's brother, García, bishop of Jaca, with whom the king was often at odds.