ABSTRACT
For much of this period, the territory was marked by its borderland status between Christian and Islamic zones. The frontier of 801 remained largely unchanged for the next 300 years, with small bands of territory lost and regained. The majority of territory that will one day form Catalonia was initially found within Al-Andalus. The gradual decay and disintegration of the Carolingian empire created a power vacuum, which allowed the progressive independence of the northern Catalan counties. We can discern the shift towards feudal relations. This incipient feudalism was already appearing in many areas of Christian Europe. It was proximity to the kingdom of Charlemagne and the Franks that permitted the adoption of feudalism, in contrast to hybrid and diverse models in other regions of Spain. A parallel and linked process in the emergence of the feudal order was the development of the Church as a key component within the society. Catalan territory became increasingly integrated into the normal patterns of western Christendom. The union of Aragon and Catalonia took place in 1137 and by the 1150s, Catalonia was united and defined institutionally, under a sovereign who was king of Aragon and count of Barcelona.
