Petronilla of Aragon in the context of Alfons II of Aragon

Alfonso II (1–25 March 1157 – 25 April 1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour, was the King of Aragon and, as Alfons I, the Count of Barcelona from 1164 until his death. The eldest son of Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Queen Petronilla of Aragon, he was the first King of Aragon who was also Count of Barcelona. He was also Count of Provence, which he secured from Douce II and her would-be father-in-law Raymond V, Count of Toulouse, from 1166 until 1173, when he ceded it to his brother, Ramon Berenguer III. His reign has been characterised by nationalistic and nostalgic Catalan historians as l'engrandiment occitànic or "the Pyrenean unity": a great scheme to unite various lands on both sides of the Pyrenees under the rule of the House of Barcelona.

The recorded history of the lands of what today is known as Catalonia begins with the development of the Iberian peoples while several Greek colonies were established on the coast before the Roman conquest. It was the first area of Hispania conquered by the Romans. It then came under Visigothic rule after the collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire. In 718, the area was occupied by the Umayyad Caliphate and became a part of Muslim ruled al-Andalus. The Frankish Empire conquered northern half of the area from the Muslims, ending with the conquest of Barcelona in 801, as part of the creation of a larger buffer zone of Christian counties against Islamic rule historiographically known as the Marca Hispanica. In the 10th century the County of Barcelona became progressively independent from Frankish rule.

In 1137, Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona betrothed the heiress of the Kingdom of Aragon, Petronilla, establishing the dynastic union of the County of Barcelona with Aragon, resulting in a composite monarchy later known as Crown of Aragon, while the County of Barcelona and the other Catalan counties merged into a state, the Principality of Catalonia, which developed an institutional system (Catalan Courts, constitutions, Generalitat) that limited the power of the kings. Catalonia sponsored and contributed to the expansion of the Crown's trade and military, most significantly their navy. The Catalan language flourished and expanded as more territories were added to the Crown of Aragon, including Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, and Athens. The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages, the end of the reign of House of Barcelona, serf and urban conflicts and a civil war (1462–1472) weakened the role of the Principality within the Crown and internationally.

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.