A Medieval Catalan Noble Family: The Montcadas, 1000-1230

by John Shideler

Shideler has mined the arches of Catalonia to work out the history of seven generations of Montcadas and their steady rise in status, wealth, and influence.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published February 23, 1984

Reviews

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Montcada (or Moncada) family held a notable place in the history of Barcelona and southwest France, and then of Spain generally, for seven hundred years. From post-Carolingian aristocrats (viscounts and what were called "vicars," though the meaning of the term was different from today), they became circa 1020 a castle-holding family and Great Seneschals to the counts of Barcelona. Soon, they were important advisors to the count-kings of Aragon-Barcelona, married into the ruling families of Béarn, Foix, and Aragon itself. At the same time, the family produced a series of archdeacons serving the bishops of Barcelona and filled other high ecclesiastical offices. In later generations (beyond the scope of this book), Montcadas were noted scholarly and literary figures. Shideler delved deeply into the Catalonian and other archives in order to redress the genealogical mythology perpetrated by earlier historians and has produced a new, well-documented lineage, combined with an astute study of the development and maintenance of lordship in medieval Spain.