Bera, Count of Barcelona

Bera took part in the Frankish campaigns in 804, 808, and 809 to extend the southern border of the Marca Hispanica to the River Ebro which was felt to be a natural defendable barrier between the two empires.

The army went as far as Vila Rubea before being forced to turn back to Vallis Ibana (this is possibly modern Vallibona), near Morella.

The "Astronomer", author of the Vita Hludovici, writes that the forces of Bera and Adhemar crossed the Ebro in boats while their horses swam across.

This time equipped with siege engines, Tortosa was besieged for forty days by Frankish and troops from the Marca (under Bera).

The Moorish chronicler Al Maqqari records a Muslim victory, while Astronomus simply states that the besieged offered Louis's the keys to the city and, satisfied, the King of Aquitaine lifted his siege and left.

Advised by his mother, and supported by the city's residents keen for continued peaceful relations with the nearby Muslim states, Bera sought to institute a truce.

[3] In 812, Bera also travelled to the Imperial Court in Aachen with several other Counts of the region: Adhemar of Narbonne, Gaucelm of Roussillon, Odilo of Girona, Guiscafred of Carcassonne, Ermengar of Empúries, Laibulf of Provence, and Erlin of Béziers.

Several Visigoth (hispani) nobles had accused the Counts of Frankish paternity and of imposing unjust tributes and excises on their lands.

The Magnates defence was unsuccessful and Charlemagne decided in favour of the claimants Around 813, Count Odilo of Girona and Besalú died and these Counties passed to Bera.

The Muslim army under the command of Ubayd Allah Abu Marwan, uncle of the Emir Al-Hakam I, attacked Barcelona.

However, despite attempts to secure alliances in Pamplona, the Basques remained allied to the Banu Qasi family based in the valley of the River Ebro.