The Formation of Catalonia
Watchtower of the Medieval castle Sota-ribes.
Despite its uncertain etymology, it is probably derived from "land of castles", the name of Catalonia began to be used in the mid 12th century to refer to the group of counties that made up the Hispanic March, which once liberated from the Moorish dominion in the 9th century, would gradually detach from Frank guardianship and become sovereign.
This sovereign territory known as Old Catalonia, a basically feudal society, started an important territorial expansion at the turn of the 11th century, in times of Count Ramon Berenguer III - the first appointed monarch of the Catalans. This expansion was carried out in different directions: towards the east of the peninsula, the Mediterranean islands and the northern Occitan region. As a result of this expansion, the known New Catalonia was incorporated, southeast of the Llobregat river and as far as the limit of the Ebro river.
The marriage of Count Ramon Berenguer IV, from the house of Barcelona, with Peronella, daughter of the King of Aragon, in 1137, made possible the formation of the Crown of Aragon and the continuation of the feudal expansion that started towards the Moorish south and west. Tortosa was conquered in 1148 and Lleida in 1149.