County of Urgell

The County of Urgell was the Pyrenean county from 785 to 1413, the mountain gate whose bishop still reigns in Andorra. The Franks cut it from Toulouse's mark in 785 to hold the passes; Borrell, first count, fortified La Seu and answered to Charlemagne's sons. The Ermengols codified customs and married into Barcelona until the male line failed in 1208, leaving Aurembiaix, a girl countess beset by uncles, popes and the king of Aragon, who held her county with lawsuits and soldiers until her death in 1231. The Cabrera line that followed fought Barcelona for a century over every toll and tower. In 1412 the Casp compromise gave Aragon's crown to Ferdinand of Castile, disinheriting Urgell's James, who rose, lost, and died in prison; in 1413 Ferdinand annexed the county outright. Six centuries of mountain counts ended, but the bishop of La Seu kept his half of Andorra's co-princeship, which he shares with the French president to this day: Urgell's strangest legacy outlived its county by six hundred years and counting.