[1] The origins of Carcassonne as a county probably go back to the Visigothic period in Septimania, but the first count known by name is Bello of the time of Charlemagne.
Bello founded a dynasty, the Bellonids, which would rule many honores in Septimania and Catalonia for the centuries.
Bello was a loyal Carolingian follower and his successor in the county were Carolingian appointees down to about the time of Oliba II, at which point the counties in the outlying regions were beginning to become hereditary possessions in the hands of locally well-endowed families.
The counts of Comminges continued the practice, extensive in the Midi, of associating brothers, sons, grandsons, and nephews in the government.
In 1069, Garsenda, Ermengarde, and Adelaide sold their comital rights to Carcassonne to Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona.