County of Cerdanya
The county of Cerdanya has its origin in the Spanish Marches established by Charlemagne. In the 9th century Cerdanya was one of the lordships united in the person of the counts of Barcelona, who were also counts of Girona, Narbonne and Urgell. Wilfred the Hairy (count 870–897) had three sons and established the youngest, Miron (died 927), as Count of Cerdanya, a sovereign state.
The sovereign county of Cerdanya bordered the county of Urgell, the county of Barcelona, the county of Besalú, the county of Roussillon, and the county of Razès. The county of Cerdanya was made up of Cerdanya proper with the addition of other areas which it managed to acquire over time through inheritance, such as Capcir and Conflent. Thus, the county of Cerdanya was actually quite an important county. The counts of Cerdanya were great patrons of abbeys, most famously Saint-Michel de Cuxa (Catalan: Sant Miquel de Cuixà), dating back to the 10th century and located in Conflent, and Saint-Martin-du-Canigou (Catalan: Sant Martí del Canigó), dedicated by Count Guifred of Cerdanya in 1009.
However, the line of the counts died out in 1117 and the county was inherited by the counts of Barcelona, later to become kings of Aragon.
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