Bello de Carcasona, I Count of Carcassonne

Count of Carcassona in the time of Charlemagne. Father of Guiscafred, the count of Carcassona, Sunifred, the count of Urgell-Sardinia (the father of Wilfred the Hairy) and very probably also that of Oliba I, the count of Carcassona, and probably also of Sunyer I, the count of Empúries-Rosselló. He held patrimonial goods at El Conflent, but is really known for his family's history and the circumstances of his birth. He is considered to be the origin of El Casal de Barcelona (The House of Barcelona), the initial trunk from which several branches spread out from Alvèrnia, El Rosselló, Empordà, Urgell, La Cerdanya, Girona and Osona, apart from the above-mentioned regions of Carcassona and Barcelona.

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/TOULOUSE%20NOBILITY.htm#_Toc152730376:

BELLO (-[before 812]). “Bellon” is the first known count to have governed Carcassonne, and is named in documents dated after 778 and before 812.

COMTES de CARCASSONNE

According to Bisson[380], the family of the first comtes de Carcassonne was of Visigothic descent. Aurell suggests that they probably originated in Conflent, an ancient vicaria located in present-day Pyrénées-Orientales[381]. However, it is not at all clear that the different nobles who are attributed in the primary sources with jurisdiction over Carcassonne during the late 8th and early 9th centuries were related. It was unusual during this period for fiefdoms to be awarded with hereditary rights, as is demonstrated by the absence of dynastic counties among the Carolingian nobility (see the document CAROLINGIAN NOBILITY). In any case, it is not certain that the names of all the 9th century rulers in Carcassonne are known. For example, there is a gap of more than thirty years between the last mention of Comte Oliba [I] and the first mention of Comte Oliba [II] in 870.

During the first half of the 9th century, it is unclear whether Carcassonne was under the suzerainty of the Marquisate of Gothia or the March of Spain. However, the Annales Bertiniani record that Charles II “le Chauve” King of the West Franks granted “Carcasonem et Rhedas” to “Bernardo…Tholosæ comite” in 872[382]. No indication has been found that the county of Carcassonne left the suzerainty of the counts of Toulouse thereafter.

It is not clear how the county was transmitted to the family of the Comte de Comminges after the death of Comte Acfred [II] in [933]. Settipani highlights that the most obvious explanation is that Arsinde, wife of Arnaud Comte de Comminges and mother of Roger [I] Comte de Carcassonne who was the next recorded count, was the daughter of Acfred [II], although he accepts that there is no proof of this paternity[383]. As explained below, the chronology for this hypothesis is unfavourable. Another difficulty is that there is no indication who held the county of Carcassonne between the death of Comte Acfred and the time when Arsinde's son Roger was comte, the date of which is uncertain but is unlikely to have been before the 950s at the earliest. In particular, no proof has yet been found that the county was inherited by Arsinde's husband, Comte Arnaud, which would have been normal if his wife had been the heiress of Carcassonne. A third difficulty is that none of the names associated with the first family of Comtes de Carcassonne (especially Oliba, Acfred and Sunifred) are found among the descendants of Arsinde and Comte Arnaud.

After the death of Comte Raymond Roger [II] in 1067, the county of Carcassonne passed to the Condes de Barcelona, while the the viscounty of Béziers and Agde passed to his sister Ermengarde and through her to the Vicomtes d'Albi.

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Bello of Carcassonne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bello, d. 812, Count of Carcassonne, stands at the head of the Bellonid Dynasty of Carcassonne and Razes which reached its apex in Wilfred the Hairy, progenitor of the House of Barcelona.

It is not known who Bello married but several children have been suggested for him:

   * Guisclafred, his successor in Carcassonne

* Sunifred I, Count of Barcelona
* Oliba I, Count of Razes
* Sunyer I of Ampurias, Count of Empúries

    Born:  abt. 780    Died:  aft. 812 Wife/Partner:       (missing) 

Possible Children:       Ermesende de CARCASSONNE   ;   Gisclafred of CARCASSONNE 

Alternative Father of Possible Children:       poss. Bera (Borel) Comte de ROUSSILLON