Ricard Guillem, senyor de Barcelona del segle XI

·54 min·5 clips

Ricard Guillem, an 11th-century businessman, secretly built the mercantile culture that made Barcelona a Mediterranean powerhouse.

The episode focuses on Ricard Guillem, a 11th-century figure born near Ulèrdula who moved to Barcelona in 1065. Host Enric Calpena introduces Guillem as a businessman who helped establish Barcelona's economic foundations. Guest José Enrique Ruiz Domènech, author of "Vida i anells de Ricard Guillem," joins the discussion. He explains that Guillem's 140 surviving documents provide unprecedented detail for an 11th-century individual. The archive was preserved because Count Ramon Berenguer IV inventoried Guillem's properties in 1140. Guillem focused on vineyard cultivation, credit systems, and urban property acquisition. He married Armacenda, daughter of Bernat Ramon, a wealthy Barcelona family. Guillem was involved in politics, supporting Ramon Berenguer II and later his son Ramon Berenguer III. After Ramon Berenguer II's assassination, Guillem was briefly exiled. He returned to become an advisor and tutor to Ramon Berenguer III. Guillem undertook a diplomatic mission to El Cid in Valencia to propose a marriage alliance. The episode includes dramatized segments of Guillem's property negotiations and his encounter with El Cid. Later, Guillem faced a lawsuit over the Castell de Raona, involving mortgage credit principles. He died after making a will at the castle, not witnessing Ramon Berenguer III's conquest of Mallorca. The discussion highlights how microhistory reveals the complexity of medieval society beyond warfare.

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