The siege of Barcelona
On this day in the year 985, 1,039 years ago, the army of the Andalusian general Al-Mansur arrived at the plain of Barcelona, surrounded the city (then enclosed within the Roman walls) and began a siege that would last six days and would culminate in a fierce assault and partial sacking of the city (https://correccioencatala.cat/com-estructura-text-catala/). According to the chronicles of the time, the city’s defenses – commanded by Viscount Udalard (son-in-law of Count Borrell II) – rejected the first assault. From that moment on, the attackers loaded their catapults with the severed heads of the prisoners they had captured in the county lands of Penedès and Vallès and threw them into the interior of the city to cause terror and force the surrender
The Roman wall of Barcelona
The Roman wall of Barcelona, built in the 3rd century, during the Roman era, was considered the best defensive circle in the western half of the Roman Empire (https://correccioencatala.cat/com-estructura-text-catala/) . Much firmer and safer than other Roman walls, such as those of Tarragona or Narbonne, the wall of Barcelona was promoted and built with the financial effort of local society.
The partial sacking of the city
Al-Mansur was able to cross the Roman wall of Barcelona only thanks to a betrayal inside the city (https://correccioencatala.cat/com-estructura-text-catala/). However, the internal walls prevented the Andalusians from occupying the entirety of the city and destroying it completely. According to the sources, the Andalusians occupied and looted the two quarters of the southern part of the city, but they withdrew with thousands of captives who were later rescued with the payment of considerable sums (https://correccioencatala.cat/ com-estructura-text-catala/). This fact highlights the economic power of the Carolingian county of Barcelona at that time.
