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A Medieval Catalan Noble Family: the Montcadas, 1000-1230 John C. Shideler Conclusion
[2 !" During the years between 1000 and 1230, the Montcada lineage was founded and it evolved into an important family of territorial lords. The family s policy from the start was to preserve and augment its fortune, and the marriage of !eatriu de Montcada and "uillem #amon $%%& 'eneschal in the twelfth century assured its future. The career of the "reat 'eneschal made it possible for future Montcadas to achieve social status and political influence that were unsurpassed by any family in (atalonia e)cept the royal house. The very first Montcada too* part in the feudal transformation of the early eleventh century. +ithout ,oining the faction of castle lords that openly defied the authority of the count of !arcelona, the Montcadas established themselves as important castle lords, and their independence increased during a period of wea* comital leadership. - compromise of the mid.eleventh century, by which #amon !erenguer % recogni/ed the new banal lordship of the castellan class in e)change for ac*nowledgment of his political leadership, helped solidify the Montcada territorial lordship. 0erhaps as a conse1uence, the direct heirs of the first Montcada progressively abandoned the count s household, leaving to others the roles of comital escort, adviser, and companion. -mong the new faces to appear in the count s retinue in the late eleventh century was that of "uillem #amon $%& 'eneschal, who was named to the office by #amon !erenguer %. "uillem #amon became an important figure during the late eleventh century, when (atalonia again suffered from wea* comital leadership. 2is son "uillem #amon $%%% 'eneschal inherited his father s title and his patrimony, but he managed to elevate his lineage to the ran*s of the leading castellan families by marrying !eatriu de [2 #" Montcada. The union of the two lineages raised a potential political problem, however. The seneschal was now a full member of a circle of barons whose independence *new no limit but the oaths of fidelity granted by their predecessors in the eleventh century to #amon !erenguer %. The inevitable conflict arose when (ount #amon !erenguer %3 reasserted the primacy of comital authority, and it ended when he forced "uillem #amon $%%& into personal submission. - new synthesis resulted from the struggles between "uillem #amon and #amon !erenguer4 the Montcada family retained its territorial lordships and cemented its ties to the dynasty of !arcelona. 5rom the regency of -lfons % onward, the Montcadas influence on the political activities of the count. *ings was constant and for the most part positive. !ut the views of individual Montcadas were important even when they were opposed to the count.*ing, because they sometimes represented opinions held by numbers of their peers. !y providing a channel for the e)pression of baronial sentiment, the Montcadas may have contributed to a stable functioning of the feudal monarchy. Their politics benefited the Montcadas themselves as well, for the lineage reached new heights of social prominence during the reign of 6aume %. !y the turn of the twelfth century, the political influence of the Montcada family depended substantially upon the economic resources of the head of each of its branches. These resources, which

derived primarily from the income of lordship, were shared among do/ens of feudatories .. who contributed in turn to the political and military might of their 7best7 lords. During the half.century from 1180 to 1230 the patrimonies of first three, then four Montcada branches were evidently strained by the demands placed on them by their lords, especially for cash. This led in some cases to borrowing, in other cases to alienations of property, and yet in other cases to the introduction of rent.farming. The economic conditions of peasants on Montcada domains seem to have worsened during this period, especially in 9ld (atalonia, due to the demands by lords at every level for an increased share in their sub,ects production. This period of strained resources followed a century and a half :1020.11;0< during which the e)penditures of first the Montcadas, then the lineage born of the union of !eatriu de Montcada and [2 $" "uillem #amon $%%& had not e)ceeded available income. That situation had prevailed partly because the Montcadas and the "reat 'eneschal were successful in e)tending their lordship into new districts and partly because they often received generous grants from the counts of !arcelona. The eventual financial crunch resulted from an increase in the number of Montcadas ma*ing demands on virtually the same patrimony that had supported the "reat 'eneschal at the height of his career= from fewer grants from the count.*ings= and from an increased number of feudatories in Montcada service. -nother cause was the greater e)penditures .. perhaps largely related to travel .. that accompanied the Montcadas increased activities as magnates of regional importance. These developments brought economic difficulties to a noble lineage that was very much on the rise in (atalan society. The patrimony of the earliest Montcada remained intact from the establishment of the lineage in the early eleventh century to its merger with the family of "uillem #amon $%& 'eneschal because of succession practices that favored inheritance by a single heir and that severely limited the number of children allowed to marry. The heirs of "uillem de Montcada were able to transmit a heritage to "uillem #amon $%%& 'eneschal that had grown through successive generations. 2is inheritance, too, was preserved in its entirety for Montcada descendants by allowing his brother 9t only lifetime rights. These practices and late marriages, which helped e)tend the span of years between generations, were ideally suited to preserving the Montcada patrimony. The succession practices that had benefited the Montcadas in the eleventh century were discarded by "uillem #amon $%%& 'eneschal, who even before his death had established two separate legacies, one in 9ld (atalonia and another in Tortosa.>leida. These inheritances later supported four Montcada branches, though by 122? only three remained. The division of the "reat 'eneschal s heritage might have been disastrous for his heirs if another, 1uite different factor had not been at wor*. The social status of the women whom Montcada men married in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries seems to have been generally higher than in the period 10?0.1130, when the lords of Montcada married women of whom almost nothing is *nown and who apparently brought little if anything to the patrimony. !ut the heirs of the [2 %" "reat 'eneschal married, among others, a viscountess, a countess, and the daughter of a count.*ing. The #amons of Tortosa.>leida married less distinguished women, but at least one of them was the daughter of an important Montcada vassal, and the marriage probably further cemented that tie. The Montcadas marriages in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries demonstrated the breadth and unity of ruling society of the period. Their class had become a nobility whose rite of initiation .. *nighthood .. was shared by *ing and castle lord ali*e. +ithin this social group, the Montcadas forged marriage alliances that lin*ed their descendants to the families of counts on the one hand and vassals on the other. Thus established, transformed, and renewed, the lineage continued to play an important role not only in (atalonia, but also in 'pain and the Mediterranean, throughout the late Middle -ges and well into the early modern period of @uropean history.