Sunifred II, Count of Barcelona

Sunifred II (c.870-950) or, in Catalan language, "Sunyer II" was count of Barcelona, Girona, Urgell and Ausona from 911 to 948.

Origins

He was the son of Wilfred the Hairy and younger brother the previous Count of Barcelona, Wilfred II Borrel. He worked jointly with his brother in the government of the Counties held by their father after his death in 897. He did not reign independently until his brother's death in (911).

Family Conflict

However on the death of his uncle, Count Radulf I of Besalú, in 913 or 920, a conflict emerged between Sunifred and his brother Count Miró II of Cerdanya over the succession of the County of Besalú. In exchange for the total renunciation of all claims on the County of Barcelona, Sunifred gave up his claim on Besalú.

In 925, Sunifred married for the second time to Richilda of Toulouse, daughter of the Count of Rouergue, they had four sons and a daughter: Ermengol (925), Miró (926), Borrell (927), Adelaide (928), and William (929).

Politics

Sunifred made important efforts with domestic politics, protected the church and strengthened its institutions and gave it more land and income. He also continued to encourage the repopulation of the county of Ausona.

He abandoned defensive stance adopted by his predecessors and took up the fight actively against the Moorish states to the south. Battles were fought at Lleida and Tarragona. At the same time, he managed to retain diplomatic relations with Córdoba who had increasingly lost control of its northern provinces. In 912 the Moorish Wali of Lérida attacked and destroyed the Barcelonian army under Sunifred in the Tàrrega valley. However in 914 Sunifred's counterattack successfully pushed them back again. He subsequently repopulated the county of Penedès, which had been the scene of many conflicts between the Frankish and Muslim empires, as far as Olèrdola (929).

During the intervening period, 936 to 937, he led an expedition against the Muslims. He defeated the Valencia including the Germanic tribe of the Quadi. As a result the Moors temporarily abandoned Tarragona (which became a no-man's land) and Tortosa was forced to pay a tribute to the count.

In 947 he retired to monastic life and ceded the government of his realms to his sons; Borrell II and Miró I. He died in the Monastery of La Grassa (in Conflent) in 950.