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The consolidation of a country

The coat of arms with the four stripes (11b)

In the 12th century, the marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, and Peronella, princess of the kingdom of Aragón, marks the dynastic union between the two territories. From that moment, Catalonia and Aragón share a sovereign, but each territory continues to be governed in accordance with its laws and institutions and keeps its language and traditions.

At the same time certain symbolic elements are consolidated. Ramon Berenguer IV fixes the use of the emblem of the stripes in gules on a field of gold on the seals and his descendents use it to bear witness to their patronage, for example through this escutcheon from the cloister of Santes Creus monastery.

With the new strength that comes from the union, the kingdom undertakes the conquest of new territories. They are incorporated into the jurisdiction of Aragón or of Catalonia. At that time, the term ‘Catalonia’ was already in use, as shown by documents concerning the government of Ramon Berenguer III, such as the oath of fidelity sworn by the men of Carcassonne or the Liber Maiolichinus, a Pisan chronicle from 1115.

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