County of Urgell

County of Urgell (Crown of Aragon)
The County of Urgell (Catalan: Comtat d'Urgell, Latin: Comitatus Urgellensis) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of Pallars and Cerdanya.

History
The county of Urgell was carved by the Franks out of a former section of the Mark of Toulouse when the Alt Urgell area became part of the Carolingian Empire between 785 and 790.[1]

The original territory was made up of the Alt Urgell, also known as Urgellet from the end of the 12th century onwards, with the see at La Seu d'Urgell. From 839 onwards it would include 129 villages, the valleys of the Valira river, namely Andorraand Sant Joan Fumat, the Segre riverine area as well as the valleys located between El Pont de Bar and Oliana.[2]

Its maximal extension territory was between the Pyrenees and the taifa of Lleida, that is, the current comarques of Alt Urgell or Urgellet, Noguera, Solsonès, Pla d'Urgell, Baix Urgell and the still independent country of Andorra. The historical capital was first la Seu d'Urgell and later Balaguer. The county of Urgell was extinguished and absorbed by the Crown of Aragon in 1413 as a part of the Principality of Catalonia, after the revolt of the last count, James II of Urgell, against the king Ferdinand I of Aragon.

Territory