Birth of Catalonia

The History of Spain Podcast

This is episode 36 called Birth of Catalonia and in this episode you will learn:
SHOW NOTES
- Why the title of the episode is misleading
- The chaos within the Carolingian Empire, like in the Emirate of Córdoba, and the government of Odalrico and Hunifredo
- The traditional, legendary story of how Wifredo the Hairy, of the House of Barcelona, seized power
- The real story of how Wifredo the Hairy became Count of Barcelona and how Wifredo’s family monopolized both secular and religious posts in the Marca Hispanica
- The gradual independence of the Catalan counties after the deposition of Carolingian emperor Charles the Fat, and how that contrasts with the myths that originated in the late Medieval period
- The first attempt to make the dioceses of Catalonia independent from the archbishop fo Narbonne
- The different popular and official repopulations during Wifredo’s rule
- Why the Christian repopulations occurred and how was life in the borderlands
- How Count Wifredo the Hairy died fighting the Banu Qasi and the continuist rule of Wifredo II
- The Legend of the Four Blood Bars, that gives a different version of how Wifredo the Hairy died and how the Senyera was created
- The legacy and importance of Count Wifredo the Hairy
- A reflection on how his historical figure is manipulated to serve the purposes of the Catalan separatist agenda