Berenguer Ramon II
Count of Barcelona
1053 CE to 1097 CE
Berenguer Ramon II the Fratricide (1053/1054 – 1097/1099) is Count of Barcelona from 1076 to 1097.
He is the son of Ramon Berenguer I, and initially rules jointly with his twin brother Ramon Berenguer II.
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Berenguer Ramon II, born in 1053 or 1054, had succeeded his father Ramon Berenguer I the Old in 1075 to co-rule with his twin brother Ramon Berenguer II.
The twins had failed to agree and divided their possessions between them, against the will of their late father.
Ramon Berenguer II had been killed while hunting in the woods on December 5, 1082.
Berenguer Ramon II, who became the sole ruler of Catalonia for the next four years, is credited by popular opinion with having orchestrated this murder.
This suspicion and other divisions of loyalty lead to a civil war.
Various parties assert ways to resolve this 'unjust and iniquitous murder', which lead to a moderate compromise in 1086 in which Berenguer Ramon II will rule Catalonia with his brother's four-year-old son Ramon Berenguer III for eleven years until he comes of age.
Berenguer Ramon II's involvement in the internal strife in the Moorish taifa kingdoms had brought him in conflict with El Cid in the 1080s.
In the ensuing war, the Count of Barcelona has twice been taken prisoner.
The troops of the count of Barcelona reconquer the ancient archiepiscopal see of Tarragona.
El Cid has set his sights over the past several years on the kingdom-city of Valencia, operating more or less independently of Alfonso while politically supporting the Banu Hud and other Muslim dynasties opposed to the Almoravids.
Around 1089-1090, El Cid, with a combined Christian and Moorish army, had begun maneuvering in order to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia.
Several obstacles lie in his way.
First was Berenguer Ramón II, who rules nearby Barcelona.
In May 1090, El Cid defeats and captures Berenguer in the Battle of Tébar (nowadays Pinar de Tévar, near Monroyo, Teruel).
Berenguer will later be released and his nephew Ramón Berenguer III will marry El Cid's youngest daughter Maria to ward against future conflicts.
Along the way to Valencia, a prize also desired by the new Almoravid rulers of southern Spain, …
…El Cid also conquers other towns, many of which are near Valencia, such as El Puig and …
…Quart de Poblet.