Berenguer Ramon II, Count of Barcelona
Berenguer Ramon II the Fratricide (
1050s -
1090s) was Count of
Barcelona (
1076-
1097). He was the son of
Ramon Berenguer I, and initially ruled jointly with his twin brother
Ramon Berenguer II.
Born in
1053 or
1054 he succeeded his father Ramon Berenguer I
the Old to co-rule with his twin brother Ramon Berenguer, in
1075. The twins failed to agree and divided their possessions between them, against the will of their late father. Ramon Berenguer II was killed while hunting in the woods on
December 5,
1082. His brother, who went on to become the sole ruler of
Catalonia, was credited by popular opinion with having orchestrated this murder.
In the
1080s Berenguer Ramon's involvement in the internal strife in the Moorish
taifakingdoms brought him in conflict with
Cid. In the ensuing war the Count ofBarcelona was twice taken prisoner.
His life in the
1090s is obscure. Some Catalan nobles are said to have accused him ofhis brother's assassination before King
Alfonso VI of Castile. It is also said that hisguilt was determined by
trial by combat, which he lost. After that he went to
Jerusalem, either on
pilgrimage or as part of the
First Crusade, and perishedthere between
1097 and
1099. Berenguer Ramon II was succeeded by his nephew
Ramon Berenguer III,son of
Ramon Berenguer II.
