Ermengol or Armengol VIII (1158–1208), known as el de Sant Hilari ("the one from Sant Hilari") was the
Count of Urgell from 1184 until his death. He was a son of
Ermengol VII and Dulce, daughter of
Roger III of Foix.
During his reign, the decline of his house was initiated at the hands of the viscounts of
Àger. In 1206, a period of disorder commenced owing to the ambitions of
Guerau IV of Cabrera, who disputed the right of Aurembiaix to succeed. Ermengol extracted a promise from
Peter II of Aragon to defend the rights of his widow and daughter.
Notes
^The origins of Elvira have been subject to recent scholarly re-evaluation. She was once identified as the daughter of
Manrique Pérez de Lara, but Canal Sánchez-Pagín showed that Ermengol's wife was Elvira Pérez, daughter of
Pedro Alfonso of
Asturias. However, Sánchez de Mora has presented evidence that Aurembiaix was close kin to the Lara family and suggests that a documented countess Elvira Nuñez de Lara, daughter of
Nuño Pérez de Lara, was in fact a second wife of Ermengol whom he married after the death of Elvira Pérez, and that Aurembiaix was her daughter. Sánchez de Mora, pp. 300–305.