The
Marca Hispanica (or
Spanish March, also
March of Barcelona) was a
buffer zone beyond the province of
Septimania, created by
Charlemagne in 795 as a defensive barrier between the
Umayyad Moors of
Al-Andalus and the
Frankish Kingdom.
In its broader meaning, Marca Hispanica refers to a group of early Iberian lordships or counts created by the Franks, of which Andorra is the sole autonomous survivor. As time passed, these lordships merged or gained independence from Frankish imperial rule.
The area broadly corresponds to the region between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River. The local population of the March was diverse, including Iberians, Basques, Jews and Goths who had been conquered or subjugated by the Muslim emirate to the south or the Frankish Empire to the north. The territory changed with the fortunes of the Empires and the feudal ambitions of those, whether the Counts or Walis, appointed to administrate the counties. Eventually the rulers and people of the March became autonomous and claimed independence. Out of the welter of counties in the region emerged the principalities of Navarre, Aragon, and Catalonia.
Counties that at various times formed part of the March included Pamplona, Sangüesa, Jaca (Aragón), Sobrarbe, Ribagorza, Pallars, Urgell, Cerdanya, Conflent, Roussillon, Vallespir, Perelada, Empúries, Besalú, Ausona (Osona), Barcelona and Girona.
