Alfonso II of Aragon in the context of Petronilla of Aragon

The County of Forcalquier was a large medieval county in the region of Provence in the Kingdom of Arles, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was named after the fortress around which it grew, Forcalquier.

The earliest mention of a castle at Forcalquier dates to 1044, when it was in the possession of Fulk Bertrand, joint count of Provence. When Fulk died in 1051 his lands were shared between his sons William Bertrand and Geoffrey II, who inherited Forcalquier. Sometime in the 1060s Forcalquier was inherited by William's daughter Adelaide, who was the first person to be styled "Countess of Forcalquier". She married Ermengol IV of Urgell and died in 1129, at a time when Provence was sharply disputed by the many persons who had inherited some title to it. The counts of Toulouse claimed the title marchio as descendants of Emma of Provence, while the counts of Barcelona laid claim to Provence as descendants of Douce I. In 1125 a formal division of Provence into a march and a county was effected, but in 1131 a new claimant, the House of Baux, provoked a series of wars, the Baussenque Wars, fought over the rights to the county of Provence. Meanwhile, the county north of the Durance, with Forcalquier and Embrun, had devolved to Adelaide's son by Ermengol, William III (the enumeration of counts of Forcalquier includes earlier counts of Provence). William III and his descendants, a cadet branch of the counts of Urgell, continued to rule Forcalquier until the end of the century, when the Treaty of Aix (1193) gave in marriage the last count's granddaughter, Garsenda of Sabran, to Alfonso, son of Alfonso II of Aragon and heir of the county of Provence. Their marriage in July 1193, Alfonso's inheritance in 1196, and Garsenda's in 1209 united the two counties permanently.

The count of Barcelona (Catalan: comte de Barcelona, Spanish: conde de Barcelona, French: comte de Barcelone, Latin: comes Barcinonensis) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality of Catalonia as prince (sovereign) for much of Catalan history, from the 9th century until the 18th century. After 1162, with Alfonso II of Aragon and I of Barcelona, the title of count of Barcelona was united with that of king of Aragon, and after the 16th century, with that of king of Spain.

Alfonso II (1180 – 2 February 1209) was the second son of Alfonso II of Aragon (who was Alfonso I of Provence) and Sancha of Castile. His father transferred the County of Provence from his uncle Sancho to him in 1185. Alfonso II was born in Barcelona.

In 1193, Alfonso married Gersenda II of Sabran, daughter of Rainou of Sabran and Garsenda I of Forcalquier, daughter of William IV of Forcalquier. Garsenda was named after her mother, who was the heiress of William IV, but predeceased him. Garsenda therefore inherited Forcalquier from her grandfather. She was only thirteen years of age when, in 1193, her grandfather William IV and Alfonso II signed the Treaty of Aix whereby Garsenda would inherit William's county and would marry Alfonso, who was in line to become Count of Provence. The marriage took place at Aix-en-Provence in July 1193.

Petronilla (29 June/11 August 1136 – 15 October 1173), whose name is also spelled Petronila or Petronella (Aragonese: Peyronela or Payronella, and Catalan: Peronella), was Queen of Aragon (1137–1164) from the abdication of her father, Ramiro II, in 1137 until her own abdication in 1164. After her abdication she acted as regent during the minority of her son Alfonso II of Aragon (1164–1173). She was the last ruling member of the Jiménez dynasty in the Kingdom of Aragon, and by marriage to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona brought the House of Barcelona to the throne of Aragon, uniting the Kingdom of Aragon with the County of Barcelona to create the Crown of Aragon.

The Vall de Ribes is a geographic zone in the northwest of the Ripollès in the valley of the river Freser. Its largest municipality is Ribes de Freser. It also contains the municipalities of Queralbs, Toses, Planoles, Pardines and Campelles, and the sanctuary and resort of Vall de Núria.

The Vall de Ribes was historically a part of the county of Cerdanya and ecclesiastically pertained to the diocese of Urgell. This made it unlike the rest of the Ripollès, which was part of the county of Osona and the diocese of Vic. During the rule of Count Ramon Berenguer IV, it was associated with the county of Besalú. There must have been fortifications there, and both these and the comital demesne lands were enfeoffed to Galceran de Sales before 1151. The demesne was administered by (but not enfeoffed to) Ramon de Ribes in 1158, when the entire valley was inventoried. In 1162, along with Besalú, the Vall de Ribes was granted for life to Peronella, the widow of the count, and a survey of it was made. During this time, several complaints were lodged with the count, Alfons I, against Ramon, alleging that he acted independently of any higher authority. At Peronella's death in 1173, the demesne reverted to Alfons, who in 1194 granted the mills to the monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll. In 1198 Ramon's son and namesake was baiulus and castellan there.