OUR HISTORY

Around the year 1000, a series of major political, social and economic changes took place. Were the prophecies true? Was the world coming to an end? In a way, it was: one particular world was breathing its last…

But another was beginning—the feudal world. A new era emerged in which political power became fragmented, military force exercised by feudal lords prevailed, the laws governing the people derived solely from seigneurial authority, and small landholders were forced to surrender their property to these new powers and swear obedience to them. This was how feudal lordships were established.

The origins of the Viscounty of Cabrera lie within this context, in the 11th century, when Ermessenda de Montsoriu and Guerau de Cabrera laid its foundations through their marriage. They could not have known that this emerging lordship, located within the present-day regions of La Selva, Osona, Vallès Oriental and Maresme, would make history through a relationship between dynasty and territory lasting more than five hundred years. Some genealogists of the period attributed legendary origins to the viscounty, but the true adventures and misfortunes of its viscounts, viscountesses and other figures surpass even the legends.

During the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, the Cabrera dynasty turned its gaze towards new landscapes in the western territories, which had recently been conquered from the Saracens. They became viscounts of Àger and also played a prominent role in the history of the County of Urgell, when one branch of the family obtained its title following a political dispute with King James I the Conqueror.

In 1278, Guerau VI de Cabrera died without a male heir. His only daughter, Marquesa, therefore took control of the viscounty when she came of age. In 1327, Marquesa de Cabrera granted an important privilege to the inhabitants of Hostalric, establishing their universitat—a legally recognised community of residents. This provided a decisive boost to Hostalric’s development as the administrative capital of the viscounty and also helped advance the careers of some of its inhabitants. One example was Pere de Santantoni, a public notary from Hostalric and a distinguished jurist who held several offices in the service of the Cabrera family during his lifetime: ordinary judge, procurator general and public notary for the entire viscounty.

Marquesa outlived her descendants, and upon her death the viscount’s title passed to her cousin, Bernat I de Cabrera. Before long, however, the lawsuit brought by Bernat I’s son against his own father bore fruit: Bernat II became the new Viscount of Cabrera.

By the 14th century, the House of Barcelona had consolidated its power over the other noble families of the Catalan counties. King Peter the Ceremonious pursued a policy of strict control over the territories under his rule while expanding maritime influence across the Mediterranean. In all these affairs, he relied upon a principal adviser of proven loyalty: Bernat II de Cabrera. The viscount lived a life worthy of a chivalric romance, although it ended in true tragedy. He took an active part in land and naval battles, achieved notable victories, became admiral of the Catalan-Aragonese fleet and participated alongside the king in matters of high politics…

Ultimately, however, he fell from favour. Accused of treason against the Crown, he was tried and beheaded in 1364. Shortly before the decline of the Cabrera family, Bernat III had been appointed Count of Osona by King Peter the Ceremonious. With the dynasty now in decline, the king used the viscounty’s rebellion against the Crown—prompted by the beheading of Bernat II—as an opportunity to confiscate all its possessions, including the newly created County of Osona. During the uprising, only Montsoriu Castle ultimately withstood the long siege by the royal troops sent to suppress it.

Bernat III died in 1368 while fighting in Castilian territory, having left the viscounty after the armed rebellion failed. Nevertheless, the Cabrera wives, Timbor de Fenollet and Margarida de Foix, demanded the restoration of their domains. They were assisted by the viscounty’s procurator general, the knight Berenguer de Malla, who remained unfailingly loyal to the Cabrera dynasty throughout these military and political difficulties. In 1373, Peter the Ceremonious restored the family’s possessions—except for the County of Osona—to Bernat IV de Cabrera, grandson of Bernat II.

Bernat IV de Cabrera fought alongside the Catalan-Aragonese Crown to regain control of Sicily and was rewarded with territory and a title on the island: the County of Modica. His favourable circumstances coincided with a period of transition towards the Renaissance—an age of new ideas, new methods of warfare and new ways of life. Hilltop castles appeared too rustic for this new aristocracy, which preferred urban palaces. In this context, the Viscount of Cabrera ordered the construction of the Viscounts’ Palace in Blanes. The sea and maritime trade became increasingly important, stimulating the development of the town and its harbour. Yet the viscounts increasingly set their course across the Mediterranean towards Sicily… Thus, alongside the revival of the dynasty’s splendour began another major historical transformation: the end of the fully feudal age and the arrival of the early modern period.

One man who served the Viscounts of Cabrera provides an excellent example of this transition and of the many talents displayed by the men and women of the emerging European Renaissance: Jaume Ferrer de Blanes (1445?–1529). Ferrer served as treasurer, lieutenant general and collector general of the viscounties of Cabrera and Bas. As a cosmographer, cartographer and navigator, he corresponded with Christopher Columbus and advised the Catholic Monarchs during discussions concerning the territorial division established by the Treaty of Tordesillas. The influence of the Viscounty of Cabrera and its inhabitants was therefore spreading increasingly far beyond the Catalan counties.

Its influence was also felt at home. Miquel Samsó, abbot of the monastery of Sant Salvador de Breda, served as President of the Generalitat from 1470 to 1473. Despite the changes taking place, figures from the viscounty’s various spheres of power continued to move within the highest political circles.

Between 1566 and 1574, the viscounty’s territories passed to Francesc de Montcada, Marquis of Aitona. Through marriage, the seigneurial title eventually passed from the Montcada family to the House of Fernández de Córdoba, Dukes of Medinaceli. The Viscounty of Cabrera disappeared in the 19th century when seigneurial jurisdictions were abolished.

Nevertheless, many traces of this dynasty and its history survive today. The Cabrera heraldic emblem—a black goat on a gold background—still appears on several municipal coats of arms. The present-day organisation of the territory, its communication routes and the functions performed by some municipalities also have their roots in the period of the viscounty. Many elements of tangible and intangible heritage created or managed during the Cabrera family’s rule have likewise survived to the present day. Their functions may have changed, but their preservation continues to make their origins in the viscounty clearly visible.

The Viscounty of Cabrera existed from the 11th to the 19th century, although its most significant period was the Late Middle Ages, between the 11th and 14th centuries, during the feudal era. As feudal lordships were created and consolidated, the imposing new buildings of the period—castles, walls and churches—were also erected stone by stone. Their construction was made possible by the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few and by the strength of the narratives that structured society around obedience to military and religious authority. At the height of the Viscounty of Cabrera’s splendour, in the mid-14th century, its domains stretched from the Cabrera mountain range in Collsacabra—from which the lineage took its name—to the coastal area of Blanes, where the Costa Brava begins, and from the Lower Montseny sector of the Pre-Coastal Depression to the La Selva plain.

During this period, the Viscounts of Cabrera ruled over vast domains containing 4,071 hearths, or households, representing approximately 20,500 inhabitants. This figure was far greater than the number of subjects governed by the country’s other lords, whose domains contained fewer than 2,000 households on average. The main centres from which power was exercised within the viscounty were located in what is now the La Selva region, close to the Montseny massif and the lower course of the River Tordera.

From a military perspective, Montsoriu Castle, situated between Arbúcies and Sant Feliu de Buixalleu, was the most important of the more than thirty castles and fortified houses belonging to the Viscounty of Cabrera in the mid-14th century. Following the architectural renovation ordered by Bernat II de Cabrera around 1350, Montsoriu became an impregnable castle equipped with the most advanced defensive features—as its military captain, Berenguer de Malla, was able to demonstrate during the siege by Peter the Ceremonious. It was also transformed into a Gothic palace incorporating elements of exceptional luxury. The castle became a powerful symbol of the Cabrera family’s military and seigneurial authority.

Administratively, the walled town of Hostalric, dominated by its hilltop medieval castle, centralised the management and government of the Viscounty of Cabrera. In 1327, Viscountess Marquesa granted it the status of universitat, in the medieval sense of a municipal community or town council. Hostalric consequently became the seat of the jurisdictional court, where notaries such as Pere de Santantoni and various scribes carried out their duties. The town also occupied a strategically important geographical location on one of the principal routes into the Iberian Peninsula and midway between the major cities of Girona and Barcelona. This strategic position meant that the town’s and castle’s defences continued to be used into the modern era. While the walls and towers surrounding the town are medieval originals, the former medieval castle was subsequently transformed into a fortress with bastions and ravelins.

The Benedictine monastery of Sant Salvador de Breda was the principal spiritual centre of the Viscounty of Cabrera. Founded in 1038 by Viscounts Ermessenda de Montsoriu and Guerau de Cabrera, it possesses a magnificent Romanesque bell tower that still marks the passing hours today, just as it regulated the daily life of its Benedictine monastic community until the 19th century. Major Gothic renovations were planned at the beginning of the 14th century, primarily to transform the nave of the monastery church. Miquel Samsó, abbot of the Breda monastery between 1470 and 1507 and the thirty-first President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, completed these lengthy works by promoting the construction of the church’s new façade and the Gothic abbatial palace.

The coastal town of Blanes, dominated by Sant Joan Castle, gained greater geopolitical importance within the Viscounty of Cabrera when the viscounts acquired new domains across the Mediterranean at the end of the 14th century. Blanes’s growing prominence was also reflected in the presence of distinguished residents such as the multifaceted Jaume Ferrer (1445?–1529). The Viscounts’ Palace, the Gothic fountain, the arcades of carrer Ample and the Verge Maria gateway are the principal surviving physical testimonies of this period. Access to the coast was a highly prized asset for any territorial political entity. During a period of commercial and military expansion across the Mediterranean, when coastal navigation played a vital role in transporting goods, the port of Blanes therefore held considerable importance for the Viscounty of Cabrera. Its role became even more significant when Bernat IV de Cabrera acquired the title of Count of Modica in Sicily.

In addition to these centres of power, many other sites form part of the Viscounty of Cabrera’s rich architectural heritage: the former Sant Pere Sestronques Hermitage in Anglès, Caldes de Malavella Castle, Sant Joan Castle in Lloret de Mar, the Cistercian monastery of Valldemaria in Maçanet de la Selva, Torre d’en Pega in Riells i Viabrea, the church of Sant Feliu de Buixalleu, the church of Santa Maria de Sils, Fornils Castle in Susqueda and Sant Iscle Castle in Vidreres, among others.

The Viscounty of Cabrera therefore possesses an extensive architectural heritage of exceptional importance. This is complemented by a fascinating intangible heritage—including legends, festivals and traditional craft techniques—and set within an extraordinarily varied natural environment. Its landscapes extend from the highest peaks of the Montseny Biosphere Reserve, with their beech and fir forests, to the pine-covered cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean along the Costa Brava. Between them lie the hills, plains, rivers, streams and wetlands of La Selva, with its holm oak woods, cork oak forests and riverside woodland. In short, this is a living territory of remarkably diverse landscapes, where the spirit of each place remains clearly perceptible.

Visiting the various places, towns and heritage elements of the Viscounty of Cabrera allows you to relive and understand the Middle Ages with rigor, following in the footsteps of one of the most important noble lines of Catalonia: the Cabrera. At the same time, while we enter the viscounty to discover its attractive medieval past, we have the opportunity to live intensely a territory that is very active in the present: parties, commerce, gastronomy, accommodation, sports and cultural activities …

Multiple possibilities to provide the visitor with a fully enriching customized experience in a context where the essence of the Viscounty of Cabrera is maintained, as one of the identity traits of a community that claims it without nostalgia but with pride, and that wants to share it with its visitors…