Wilfred the Hairy

Wilfred
Count of Barcelona
Reign878–897
PredecessorBernard of Gothia
SuccessorWifred II, Count of Barcelona
BornPrades, Pyrénées-Orientales
Died11 August 897
BuriedMonastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll
Spouse(s)Guinidilda
IssueEmma
Wilfred II Borrel
Sunifred ΙΙ
Sunyer
Miró
Rodolfo
Riquilla
Ermesinde
Cixilona
?Guinidilda
FatherSunifred, Count of Barcelona

Wilfred or Wifred, called the Hairy (in Catalan: Guifré el Pilós),[1] (died 11 August 897) was Count of Urgell (from 870), Cerdanya (from 870), Barcelona (from 878), Girona (from 878, as Wilfred II), Besalú (from 878) and Ausona (from 886). On his death in 897, his son, Wilfred Borrell, inherited these counties, known by the historiography as the Catalan counties.

He was responsible for the repopulation of the long-depopulated no-man's land around Vic (the county of Ausona, a frontier between Christians and Muslims), the re-establishment of the bishopric of Vic and the foundation of the Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll, where he is buried.

  1. ^ Guifré el Pilós in Catalan. In the Gesta Comitum Barcinonensium he is called Guiffredus Pilosus, and other early medieval Latin spellings are Vuifredus, Wifredus, and Guifredus. The Crónica de San Juan de la Peña calls him Guiffré Pelloso.