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The House of Montcada (in Catalan; Moncada in Spanish and Italian) is an aristocratic and noble Spanish Catalan House with important ramifications in Sicily. Queen Elisenda of the Crown of Aragon was a member of the family.
The House of Moncada was started by Guillem I de Muntanyola or de Vacarisses (b. ? - d. 1040). He was the son of Sunifred, the Vescomte de Girona (Viscount of Girona) who was granted the castle and lands of Montcada in Montcada i Reixac, Barcelona. Guillem I took the name Guillem I de Montcada in accordance with proper naming traditions upon being granted a landed title. Guillem I married Adelaida de Claramunt (b. 1000 - d. 1063). Their first child, Ramon I de Montcada, II Senyor del Castell de Montcada was appointed the office of Senescal of Barcelona and Catalonia. Their second son, Bernat I de Montcada became the Ardiaca (Archdeacon) of Barcelona. The third son, Renard de Montcada went on to become the Senyor del Castell (Lord of the Castle) of la Roca del Vallès and became the first head of the House of Sarroca or La Roca.
One of Ramón I's grandchildren, Guillem Ramon I de Montcada (b. ? - d. 1173), known as the Gran Senescal or the Dapifer became one of the infamous Nou Barons de la Fama who were the most influential nobles in the court of the Count of Barcelona. He became the Senescal of Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona, and of Alfonso I of Aragón. During the governance of Ramon Berenguer IV, he negotiated the count's marriage with Petronilla of Aragon, the daughter of Ramiro I. This power move was the masterstroke in uniting the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona. Guillemo Ramon was also present during the military campaigns in Tortosa and Fraga. He married his cousin, Beatriu de Montcada (another grandchild of Ramon I de Montcada), and the couple had two children. The firstborn, Guillem de Montcada, inherited the Viscounty of Béarn which passed in 1309 to the House of Foix-Castellbò. The second son, Ramon de Montcada el Vell, became the fourth Senescal and began the line of the lords of Tortosa and later of Fraga. His own son, Ramon de Montcada el Jove died fighting at the Battle of Portopí along with James I of Aragon in the Conquest of Majorca. His second son, Guillem Ramon, married Constança of Aragon, daughter of Peter II of Aragon and began a line that would hold lordship over Aitona. His cousin went on to further found a line of the family that moved to Sicily where they collaborated with the Sicilian Vespers.
The House of Montcada would go on to extend their roots throughout the Principality of Catalonia, Spain and parts of Europe. They intermarried with the noble houses of Aragon, Cardona, Béarn, Ayerbe, Cervera, Luna, Anglesola, Cornell, Aitona, Albalat, Abarca, Queralt, Vilaragut, Urgell, Entença, Illa Jordà, Pinós, Lloria, Seròs, Vilamarxant, Ribelles, Lioro, Tolsà, Caltanissetta, Vallgornera, Ventimiglia, Fenollar, and Sarrià amongst others.
Tortosa is the capital of the comarca of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain.
Ramon Berenguer IIIthe Great was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1086, Besalú from 1111, Cerdanya from 1117, and count of Provence in the Holy Roman Empire, from 1112, all until his death in Barcelona in 1131. As Ramon Berenguer I, he was Count of Provence in right of his wife.
Ramon Berenguer IV, sometimes called the Saint, was the count of Barcelona who brought about the union of the County of Barcelona with the Kingdom of Aragon to form the Crown of Aragon.
Maria of Portugal was a Portuguese infanta (princess) member of the House of Burgundy and by marriage Marchioness of Tortosa and Lady of Albarracín.
Berenguer Ramon I [Berengar Raymond I], called the Crooked or the Hunchback, was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1018 to his death.
The County of Barcelona was a polity in northeastern Iberian Peninsula, originally located in the southern frontier region of the Carolingian Empire. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona progressively achieved independence from Frankish rule, becoming hereditary rulers in constant warfare with the Islamic Caliphate of Córdoba and its successor states. The counts, through marriage, alliances and treaties, acquired or vassalized the other Catalan counties and extended their influence over Occitania. In 1164, the County of Barcelona entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Aragon. Thenceforward, the history of the county is subsumed within that of the Crown of Aragon, but the city of Barcelona remained preeminent within it.
The Diocese of Lleida, or Diocese of Lerida is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Lleida, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The diocese forms part of the ecclesiastical province of Tarragona, and is thus suffragan to the Archdiocese of Tarragona.
The Catalan counties were the administrative Christian divisions of the eastern Carolingian Hispanic Marches and the southernmost part of the March of Gothia in the Pyrenees created after their rapid conquest by the Franks.
William I, called Guillem de Montcada II, was the Viscount of Béarn from 1171 to 1173 with opposition.
Francisco de Moncada, 3rd Marquis of Aytona, (1586–1635) was a Spanish diplomat, soldier and writer of the early 17th century. He was also interim Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.
The so-called Bars of Aragon, Royal sign of Aragon, Royal arms of Aragon, Four Bars, Red Bars or Coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which bear four red pallets on gold background, depicts the familiar coat of the Kings of Aragon. It differs from the flag because this latter instead uses bars. It is one of the oldest coats of arms in Europe dating back to a seal of Raymond Berengar IV, Count of Barcelona and Prince of Aragon, from 1150.
The House of Entença was an ancient and noble dynasty of the Crown of Aragon.
Elisenda de Montcada was queen consort of Aragon as the fourth and last spouse of James II of Aragon. She served as Regent or "Queen-Lieutenant" of Aragon during the absence of her spouse from 1324 until 1327. She and James II founded the Monastery of Pedralbes, a Franciscan convent of the Poor Clares. After James II's death in 1327, Elisenda lived adjacent to the monastery for the remaining 37 years of her life.
The Mural paintings of the Conquest of Majorca is a group of Gothic paintings, created on 1285-1290, conserved at the National Art Museum of Catalonia, in Barcelona, Spain.
The conquest of the island of Majorca on behalf of the Roman Catholic kingdoms was carried out by King James I of Aragon between 1229 and 1231. The pact to carry out the invasion, concluded between James I and the ecclesiastical and secular leaders, was ratified in Tarragona on 28 August 1229. It was open and promised conditions of parity for all who wished to participate.
Guillem Ramon de Moncada or Guillermo II de Bearn was, from 1224 until his death, Lord of Montcada and Castellví de Rosanes and, as Guillermo II, Viscount of Bearn, of Marsan, of Gabardan and of Brulhois. He was the son of Guillem Ramon de Montcada and Guilleuma de Castellvell.
Berenguer de Vilademuls was the Archbishop of Tarragona from 1174 until his assassination. He was the sixth bishop after the re-founding of the diocese in 1118. His predecessor, Hug de Cervelló, had been assassinated in 1171. Tarragona was in an internationally ambiguous position in Berenguer's time, between the Kingdom of France on the one side, the traditional suzerain of the Catalan counties, and the Crown of Aragon on the other, which had acquired the Catalan counties in the 12th century. In 1180 a council was convened in Tarragona that declared that thenceforth documents should be dated by the year of the Incarnation rather than in the traditional way, by the regnal year of the French kings.
Ramon I de Montcada or Ramón I de Moncada was a Catalan noble from Tortosa of the House of Montcada and a diplomat in the service of the crown. He was head of the House Moncada and the Seneschal of Barcelona from 1173 to 1181.
Joana de Castre (1430-1480), was a Catalan noble.
Bernat Guillem de Montpeller also known as Bernat Guillem I d'Entença was a noble of the Catalan House of Entença. He was the lord of Fraga. He is best known for his participation in the Conquest of Majorca and Valencia during the Reconquista. He died after the Battle of the Puig in 1238.