Background
Ermesinde of Carcassonne was born in 972. She was the daughter of Roger I of Carcassonne and the mother Adelaise de Rouergue. Little is known about her early life.
Ermesinde of Carcassonne was born in 972. She was the daughter of Roger I of Carcassonne and the mother Adelaise de Rouergue. Little is known about her early life.
After Ermessenda's marriage to Count Ramon Borrell of Barcelona, the new couple worked together to strengthen their hold over the county, to recover control over the castles of the marcher lords, and to extend their political and military influence north into Languedoc (where Ermessenda's family held power) and south into Muslim territory. When Ramon Borrell died in 1018, Ermessenda assumed two successive coregencies with her brother, Bishop Pierre of Gerona: the first was for her son Beruenger Ramon I, and the second, after the latter's death in 1035, was for her grandson Ramon Berenguer I. Throughout this period Ermessenda, facing the opposition of recalcitrant viscounts and bishops in addition to external enemies, exercised considerable political and military power, presiding over courts, intervening in disputes, calling on the military services of allies, and even owning castles in her own right or receiving the homage of castellans.
Interestingly, one of these castellans, Gidinild, was also female - she was a noblewoman who had captured Cervera in 1026 and had constructed a fortress there. However, when Ermessend's grandson Ramon Berenguer I reached the age of majority, the two came into conflict. Their struggle for power lasted from the 1040s until 1057, when her claims were relinquished for a payment of 1,000 ounces of gold. Ermessend's career is an excellent example of the great power often wielded by noblewomen in Spain and southern France after the late ninth century when the increasing importance of hereditary succession and family ties to the construction and maintenance of military and political authority enabled many women to exercise such authority in their own right.
Ermessenda was of great importance as a promoter of the Church. She donated several monasteries and promoted together with her brother Pere the construction of the cathedral in Girona. Construction began around 1015 and the church was consecrated in 1038. She is also buried there. In the 14th century, King Peter had the graves of Ermessenda and her grandson gothic remodeled.
Ermessenda was politically active through her husband’s life, where she presided over tribunals and assemblies and dealt with finances and when he died in 1018 she became regent for their son.
Ermessenda was married to the heir to the county of Barcelona, Ramon Borrell. They had a son, Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona.