urgell

Urgell is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of Pallars and Cerdagne. Its maximal extension territory was between the Pyrenees and the taifa of Lleida, that is, the current comarques of Alt Urgell, Noguera, Solsons, Pla d'Urgell, Urgell itself, and the still independent country of Andorra. The historical capital was first La Seu d'Urgell and later Balaguer. The diocese was an old one, and traditions of the early Christian church lingered; Felix of Urgel's tendencies towards the heretical position of Adoptionism was attacked by Alcuin in Contra Felicem (Runciman 1947). Andorra was ceded to the bishop of La Seu d'Urgell by the count Ermengol IV of Urgell in the 12th century. The county of Urgell was extinguished and absorved by the Kingdom of Aragon and the Count of Barcelona, after the revolt of the count James II of Urgell against the king Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1413. There is still a Bishop of Urgell, who since 2003 has been Joan Enric Vives Siclia. This role carries with it the position of joint head of state of Andorra.

Reference

Steven Runciman, The Medieval Manichee. 1947, University Press, Cambridge, England.

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