Els Santa Oliva, castlans d'Eramprunyà (segles XI-XIII)

Abstract

This article tells us the story of the Santa Oliva family, of her formation, consolidation and, later, of her decay. The Santa Oliva became lords of the Castle of Eramprunyà, not as we believed it -basing ourselves on studies realised by F. Bofarull- during the XIIth century, but in fact during the XIth century. This was when Mir Geribert proposed to the Earl of Barcelona to accept Ramon Isimbert as lord of Eramprunyà, an estate perched at the highest of a mountain and from which it was possible to embrace a wide area of the seaside, from the lower part of the Llobregat up to the Garraf massif. The article wants to demonstrate how the Santa Oliva family finds her origins under the protection of two important institutions such as Sant Cugat and the high noblesse of Sant Martí, allied to the House of Earls, and this, at a crucial moment of the European history, during the first half of the XIth century. Though the origins of the Santa Oliva family appear during the XIth century, their apogee takes place during the following century and their decay started during the XIIIth century. The patrimony was established only on the base of land and seigniorial power. The Santa Oliva were the last lords of Eramprunyà.