Vallespir

Vallespir

Vallespir is a region of Northern Catalonia, with the capital in Ceret. It borders the counties of Alt Empordà (to the southeast), Garrotxa (to the south), Ripollès (to the southwest), Conflent (to the northwest) and Rosselló (to the northeast).

The Vallespir is structured by the Tec river, which crosses it from west to east. To the north it is dominated by Guillem plan and Canigó, while to the south by Comanegra and Roc de Fraussa. There is a variety of opinions regarding sub-counties. Some divide the region[1] into two, Baix Vallespir and Alt Vallespir. In this case Alt Vallespir includes from the beginning of the Tec river basin and Prats de Molló to Palaldà.

The Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana and the works derived from it, such as the Regional Geography of Catalonia, divide it into three, with the inclusion of the Vallespir Mitjà, which would act as a border[2][3] between the higher valleys and the basin mentioned According to some studies, such as that of Norbert Font i Sagué, the Roussillon sub-regions of Albera and Marenda have been considered as part of the Vallespir, that is to say, all that is left to the south of the Tec when this river enters the Plain of Rosselló.

History

Pagus de Vallespir in Rosselló and Besalú[edit]

Vallespir depended on the bishopric of Elna and was part of the county of Roussillon since its creation. In 990 Oliba Cabreta occupied this region and joined it to that of Besalú with which it passed to Barcelona in 1111, which in 1172 also acquired Rosselló. The limits of the medieval Vallespir are not those of the current region, but the entire dominion of the count of Besalú in the north of the Pyrenees, up to Les Cases de Pena.

Viscounty of Vallespir

Main article: Viscounty of Vallespir

The counts of Besalú installed in the new castle of Cameles, called Castellnou, a deputy entitled Viscount. In the first mention of Castellnou, in 990, an "Oliba, Viscount" appears, perhaps the first Viscount of Vallespir. In 1015 a Guillem appears, viscount of Vallespir, who from 1021 is called viscount of Castellnou. All his descendants held the title of "Viscount of Castellnou" until Jaspert V, who died in 1321.

Restoration of Rosselló with Vallespir

When the county of Rosselló was reinstated as a feudal jurisdiction in 1212 by Nunó, nephew of Alfonso I, Vallespir was part of it. Nunó tried to install a vicar in Vallespir in 1241, a position that fell to the Viscount of Castellnou, but which was confiscated after Nunó's death. Later, before the Castellnou became extinct in the first half of the 14th century, it became a subsidiary of the Vegueria del Rosselló (called Vegueria del Rosselló i Vallespir).

Viscounts

• Guillem I c. 1000-1028

• Viscounty of Castellnou since 1020

La comarca del Vallespir i els cantons actuals

Com és sabut, la divisió que ha fet tradicionalment l'estat francès en cantons no s'ajusta mai a criteris geogràfics o històrics, sinó, quan existeix alguna motivació, a criteris demogràfics i polítics. Per això, en l'actualitat la comarca del Vallespir resta dividida entre dos cantons diferents:

· Cantó del Canigó. número 2: Arles, els Banys i Palaldà, Cortsaví, Costoja, la Menera, Montboló, Montferrer, Prats de Molló i la Presta, Reiners, Sant Llorenç de Cerdans, Serrallonga i el Tec.

· Cantó de Vallespir-Albera, número 17: L'Albera, Ceret, les Cluses, Morellàs i les Illes, el Pertús i Sant Joan de Pladecorts.

External links

• El Vallespir in Catalan Encyclopaedia.
• photos66.free.fr Virtual Photography Céret.