Tortosa taken by the Count of Barcelona

1149

Raymond Berenguer IV of Barcelona captured the fortified town at the mouth of the Ebro from the Almohads after a six-month siege with Genoese naval support. The capture completed Catalan control of the lower Ebro valley and opened it to Christian settlement. Colonists from across the Pyrenees were granted generous land charters, transforming the conquered territory from a Muslim frontier march into a Catalan-speaking agricultural heartland.