County of Pallars - Tenth-century Obscurity

Tenth-century Obscurity

The history of Pallars in the tenth century is obscure. It was ruled by brothers of the native dynasty, which had married into the Bellonid dynasty ruling in Barcelona. Pallars and Ribagorza had experienced a constant decline as brother and cousins divided it up, and the phrase in rem valentem appearing in charters indicates a transition from a money to a barter economy. By late in the tenth century, the counts of Pallars, still refusing to recognise any authority higher than themselves, began using the title marchio in documents. By 975, their underlings, the {{{2}}} (knights) who governed the countryside from the castles, levied dues, formerly Carolingian royal dues, on the inhabitants for the upkeep of defence, and to line their personal coffers. At the same time, a steady advance was made in the borderlands; many charters make reference to land acquired de ruptura along in line settlement along the frontier.

When Sunyer, who had outlived his brothers and nephews, and died in 1011, the once independent Pallars, through subdivision of authority, had become subject to influences from Urgel, Barcelona, and Aragon. Sunyer's two sons divided their inheritance, with Raymond III ruling in Pallars Jussà and William II in Pallars Sobirà.