Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer II the Towhead^[1] or Cap de estopes^[2] (1053 or 1054 – December 5, 1082) was Count of Barcelona from 1076 until his death. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, and Almodis de La Marche.^[3] The Chronicle of San Juan de la Pena called him, "… exceeding brave and bold, kind, pleasant, pious, joyful, generous, and of an attractive appearance".^[4] Because of the extremely thick hair he had on top of his head, he was known as Cap d'Estop."

Ramon Berenguer II
Count of Barcelona
Reign	1076–1082
Predecessor	Ramon Berenguer I
Successor	Berenguer Ramon II
Born	c. 1053
Died	6 December 1082 (aged c. 29) Sant Feliu de Buixalleu
Noble family	Barcelona
Spouse(s)	Mahalta of Apulia
Issue	Ramon Berenguer III
Father	Ramon Berenguer I
Mother	Almodis de La Marche
Signature

He succeeded his father as co-ruler with his twin brother, Berenguer Ramon II in 1075.^[5] The twins failed to agree and divided their possessions between them, against the will of their late father. Ramon Berenguer the Towhead, so called because of the thickness and colour of his hair, was killed while hunting in the woods in 1082.^[6] His brother, who went on to become the sole ruler of Catalonia, was credited by popular opinion of having orchestrated this murder.^[6] Berenguer Ramon II the Fratricide^[6] was later succeeded by Ramon Berenguer's son, Ramon Berenguer III.

Family and issue

Ramon Berenguer married Mahalta (or Maud) of Apulia, born ca. 1059, died 1111/1112, daughter of Duke Robert Guiscard and of Sikelgaita de Salerno.^[7] Following his murder, she remarried to Aimery I of Narbonne, and was the mother of his son Aimery II.

Ramon Berenguer and Mahalta's son, Ramon Berenguer III (before 1082–1131), was count of Barcelona and Provence.

References

1. Benito 2017, p. 95.
2. Bensch 1995, p. 61.
3. Graham-Leigh 2005, p. table 4.
4. Peña 1991, p. 48.
5. Peña 1991, p. 119.
6. Bamford 2018, p. 41.
7. Heygate 2013, p. 178.

Sources

• Bamford, Heather (2018). Cultures of the Fragment: Uses of the Iberian Manuscript, 1100–1600. University of Toronto Press.
• Benito, Pere (2017). "An Intense but Stymied Occitan Campaign". In Sabaté, Flocel (ed.). The Crown of Aragon: A Singular Mediterranean Empire. Brill. pp. 92–124.
• Bensch, Stephen P. (1995). Barcelona and Its Rulers, 1096–1291. Cambridge University Press.
• Graham-Leigh, Elaine (2005). The Southern French Nobility and the Albigensian Crusade. The Boydell Press.
• Heygate, Catherine (2013). "Marriage Strategies among the Normans of Southern Italy in the Eleventh Century". In Stringer, Keith J.; Jotischky, Andrew (eds.). Norman Expansion: Connections, Continuities and Contrasts. Routledge. pp. 165–186.
• Peña (1991). The Chronicle of San Juan de la Peña: A Fourteenth-century Official History of the Crown of Aragon. Translated by Nelson, Lynn H. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Preceded by Ramon Berenguer I

Count of Barcelona with Berenguer Ramon II 1076–1082

Succeeded by Berenguer Ramon II