Individual Details

Biography

Raimund was born about 1055, the son of Ramon Berenguer I 'el Viejo', conde de Barcelona, and his third wife Almodis de La Marche. His epithet 'Cabeza de Estope' ('Towhead') was given him because of the thickness and colour of his hair. In 1076 he succeeded his father, to co-rule with his twin brother Berenguer Ramon.

Raimund's first wife was Aimeris of Narbonne, with whom he had no progeny. Before 13 July 1078 he married Maud/Mafalda/Maaltis de Hauteville, daughter of Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia, and his second wife Sigelgaita de Salerno. Raimund and Maud had two children, Ramon Berenguer III and Almodis, both of whom would have progeny.

The twin brothers failed to agree and divided their possessions between them, against the will of their late father. Ramon Berenguer was killed while hunting in the woods of Perxa del Astor on 5 December 1082. His brother, who went on to become effectively the sole ruler of Catalonia (though nominally co-ruler with Ramon Berenguer's son Ramon Berenguer III), was viewed by popular opinion as having orchestrated his murder. Given the epithet 'the Fratricide', he was forced into exile in 1097 and died in Jerusalem, where he went either on pilgrimage or as part of the First Crusade, between 1097 and 1099. He was succeeded by Ramon Berenguer III.