It's hard to summarize but the short of it would be: The principality of Catalonia was a frontier land, forgotten territory of the crumbling Frankish Empire. It had been ruled independently for many years, but in 988 the Catalan ruler decided not to renew his oath of fealty to the new Frankish (Capetian) kings. This is considered the birth of the Catalan nation. From here, the distinct Catalan culture and language develops. In 1150, the Catalan ruler marries the heiress of the neighbor